Lincoln dates to 1650, and 14% of its homes were built before 1940
More historic than 91% of U.S. towns · #137 of 283 in Massachusetts. What drives it
9 places in town are on the National Register, among them the Gropius House, a National Historic Landmark, and three historic districts with 82 buildings between them. Below: 4 old photos and papers, maps from 1886 on, and the census since 1790.
Founding year: Wikidata. First post office: 1825.The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Lincoln’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Lincoln is more historic than 91% of U.S. towns, #137 of 283 in Massachusetts. All 3 inputs are above most U.S. towns; its age ranks highest and its share of homes from before 1940 lowest.
A
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Lincoln’s overall grade.
Massachusetts towns list more on the Register than most of the country (a typical Massachusetts town has 46.0 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Lincoln’s 144 sits above most of its state (71% of Massachusetts towns have fewer) while its 100 historic buildings outnumber those of 89% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from A− to A+. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±6.2 points). Two sources give 1650.
Founding year: Wikidata (other dates in Quick answers). Homes: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register: National Park Service, May 2026 list; each listing counted once (boundary changes and added documentation belong to their listing), and a historic district counts its contributing buildings. How TownRatings grades history →
What stands out about Lincoln’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Lincoln was settled by Europeans in 1654, as a part of Concord. The majority of Lincoln was formed by splitting off a substantial piece of southeast Concord and incorporated as a separate town in 1754. Due to their "difficulties and inconveniences by reason of their distance from the places of Public Worship in their respective Towns," local inhabitants petitioned the General Court to be set apart as a separate town. Because the new town was composed of parts "nipped" off from the adjacent towns of Concord, Weston (which itself had been part of Watertown) and Lexington (which itself had been part of Cambridge), it was sometimes referred to as "Niptown."
Passages that mention Lincoln, cut from the printed page as they were published.
History of the town of Lexington, Middlesex County, Massachusetts, from its first settlement to 18681913 · page 426Read the page →
Read the text
He was admitted to the church 4 Apr. 1736. He was one of the petitioners in 1744 to be set off to the new town of Lincoln and became a resident of Berlin when that town was set off from Lincoln.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Administration on Mr. Lincoln's estate was given, Aug. 5, 1819, in Chester county, to Azariah and Samuel Lincoln, his sons, and his residence at death is given as West Fallowfield, Pa. (Records of Henry-Philip Lincoln, adahd daa, Anna T Lincoln, adahb bee; and James-Minor Lincoln.)
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Eliza Lincoln, Edward Lincoln, Matilda Lincoln, Benjamin Lincoln and Abigail Lincoln, all of whom reside in Fayette county except Benjamin Lincoln who resides in Oswego, Kansas [sic]; Agnes Lincoln who died since her father, unmarried and without issue; and Henry Lincoln who also died since the death of his father, leaving a widow Hulda Lincoln and one child Charles F. Lincoln, who is a minor and has no guardian and resides with his mother. (Fayette County, Orphans' Court
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Scans and text from the Internet Archive. Books published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
By decade
Lincoln, decade by decade
4 decades in the archive, from the 1900s to the 1980s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving. One is a National Historic Landmark, the highest tier. Boundary changes and added documentation are counted with their listing.
In 1650, according to Wikidata. Lincoln’s post office opened in 1825, and the first U.S. census counted 740 people here in 1790.
How does Lincoln rank for history?
Lincoln is more historic than 91% of U.S. towns, #137 of 283 in Massachusetts. The History grade combines the town’s founding era, the share of homes built before 1940 and its National Register listings. It’s a character grade, so it isn’t part of the overall grade. How it works.
What is on the National Register in Lincoln?
9 listings: 7 buildings, among them the Gropius House (a National Historic Landmark since 2000), and 3 historic districts, the Minute Man National Historical Park, the Lincoln Center Historic District and the Woods End Road Historic District, with 82 contributing buildings. 100 historic buildings in all.
How old are the homes in Lincoln?
14% of Lincoln’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±6.2 points), against a typical 21% for a Massachusetts town; the median home was built in 1972.
Founding dates: Wikidata, Wikipedia, the U.S. post office records of Blevins & Helbock (CC0) and the Census. Homes by year built: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register of Historic Places: National Park Service (list of May 22, 2026). Old photos, postcards and papers: Wikimedia Commons, the Library of Congress and other public archives, credited on each item’s page. Maps: U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (via Esri) and Sanborn fire-insurance maps (Library of Congress). History text and census tables: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Places that used to be: USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
From Wikimedia Commons (5), Wikidata (7), the National Register of Historic Places (10), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock), the USGS Geographic Names Information System and old county and town histories (Internet Archive). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
![Eliza Lincoln, Edward Lincoln, Matilda Lincoln, Benjamin Lincoln and Abigail Lincoln, all of whom reside in Fayette county except Benjamin Lincoln who resides in Oswego, Kansas [sic]; Agnes Lincoln who died since her father, unmarried and without issue; and Henry Lincoln who also died since the dea…](https://images.townratings.com/story/23887/bk-6bc80569d1903b44-l.jpg)
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