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A+History
History · Medway

Medway dates to 1657, and 19% of its homes were built before 1940

More historic than 95% of U.S. towns · #80 of 283 in Massachusetts. What drives it

3 places in town are on the National Register, among them three historic districts with 302 buildings between them. Below: 6 old photos and papers, maps from 1884 on, and the census since 1790.

1657founded
3on the National Register
19%homes built before 1940
6old photos & papers
9famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Medway’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Medway began

When was Medway founded?

1657

Medway dates its founding to 1657 (Wikidata and Wikipedia’s history agree). It appears in the first U.S. census, 1790.

First census: 1,035 in 17902020 census: 13,115369 years

How historic is Medway?

A+

More historic than 95% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: Wikidata; Wikipedia’s history section gives the same year. First post office: 1803.The full story ↓
History grade

What drives Medway’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Medway is more historic than 95% of U.S. towns, #80 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 Medway’s overall grade.
Founding era1657, from Wikidata: founded before 1776, an older era than 96% of U.S. townsA+Homes built before 194019.4% of homes (±3.9) · typical MA town 21.1% · U.S. 8.4%B+National Register3 listings, 302 historic buildings, 225 per 10,000 residents · typical MA town 46.0 · U.S. 2.4A
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 95%
NewerOlder
Massachusetts towns of 2,500+ (283)Ahead of 72%

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 Medway’s 225 sits above most of its state (78% of Massachusetts towns have fewer) while its 302 historic buildings outnumber those of 95% 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 (±3.9 points). Two sources give 1657.

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 Medway’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

A historic districtThe Medway Village Historic District takes in 239 historic buildings.Older than the countryEstablished in 1657, 119 years before the Declaration of Independence.On the map since 18878 editions of the USGS map, 1887 to 1987. Watch Medway change.Shrank, then grewLost a third of its people between 1880 and 1910, then grew 4-fold.
★ What stands out · On the National Register

3 listings protect 302 historic buildings

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.

places listed
3
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
302
each building in a district counts
first listed
1988
Rabbit Hill Historic District
Rabbit Hill Historic DistrictMedway Village Historic DistrictEvergreen Cemetery
Districts

Architectural styles listings

Greek Revival2
Federal2
Late Victorian2
Colonial1
Georgian1
Early Republic1
Rabbit Hill Historic DistrictGreek Revival
Medway Village Historic DistrictColonial
All 3 listings
Evergreen CemeteryDistrict · listed 2021

National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.

Timeline

Medway, 1657 to 2020

Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.

  1. 17th century
  2. 1657
    FoundingMedway is established
  3. 19th century
  4. 1803Post officeThe Medway post office opens
  5. 1812Born hereJames "Grizzly" Adams is born here
  6. 1822Born hereWilliam Taylor Adams is born here
  7. 1834Post officeThe West Medway post office opens
  8. 1859In the archiveMedway Village, Mass
  9. 1887On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  10. 20th century
  11. 1908In the archiveSanford Hall and streetcar in Medway - 1908 postcard
  12. 1963Post officeThe West Medway post office closes
  13. 1976Born hereDennis Crowley is born here
  14. 1990Born hereKyle Casey is born here
  15. 21st century
  16. 2020CensusPopulation peaks at 13,115
On the map

Medway on the map, 1887 to 1987

Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Medway. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.

Medway on the 1887 USGS mapMedway on the 1893 USGS mapMedway on the 1919 USGS mapMedway on the 1921 USGS mapMedway on the 1953 USGS mapMedway on the 1969 USGS mapMedway on the 1977 USGS mapMedway on the 1987 USGS map1887Franklin sheet · 1:62,500

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Medway.

The story

How Medway came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Medway.

Read it all →

Medway was first settled in 1657 and was officially incorporated in 1713. At that time, Medway began as a farming community of two hundred thirty-three. It was not long before the water power of the Charles River and Chicken Brook stimulated the formation of cotton and paper mills, straw and boot factories, and a variety of cottage industries. Medway demonstrates the central importance of the Charles River and the thriving town that grew alongside it. Today, the one-room schoolhouses are gone and the country stores have moved to the mall, but the open town meetings continue.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

From the old history books

What they wrote about Medway, 1884–1918

Passages that mention Medway, cut from the printed page as they were published.

By an act of the Legislature, October 25, 1713, the town of Medway was set off and the Charles River became the western boundary of Medfield. This division is treated more at length in Chapter XXI on the Town of Medway.
History of Norfolk County, Massachusetts, 1622-19181918 · page 177Read the page →
Read the text

By an act of the Legislature, October 25, 1713, the town of Medway was set off and the Charles River became the western boundary of Medfield. This division is treated more at length in Chapter XXI on the Town of Medway.

Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
When it was learned by the people living in the central and western portions of the town that this movement was on foot, they circulated a counter petition, which was also addressed to the Legislature, and which was as follows : "The undersigned, legal voters of the Town of Medway, in said Commonwe…
History of Norfolk County, Massachusetts, 1622-19181918 · page 198Read the page →
Read the text

When it was learned by the people living in the central and western portions of the town that this movement was on foot, they circulated a counter petition, which was also addressed to the Legislature, and which was as follows : "The undersigned, legal voters of the Town of Medway, in said Commonwealth, in view of the possible division of the town, upon petition to be presented to your Honorable Body of citizens of East Medway, so called, respectfully represent that the population of the Town of Medway is substantially divided into three distinct communities in all their social and business relations, and

Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
" To the Selectmen in the Town of Medway. Gentlemen : You are Hereby Directed to Detach from the East Company in the Town of Medway two Privit Souldier armed and equipt according to Law to Guard the Sea Coast in this or the Neighboring States as the Council or General Court may thereafter order to …
The military history of Medway, Mass. 1745-18851886Read the page →
Read the text

" To the Selectmen in the Town of Medway. Gentlemen : You are Hereby Directed to Detach from the East Company in the Town of Medway two Privit Souldier armed and equipt according to Law to Guard the Sea Coast in this or the Neighboring States as the Council or General Court may thereafter order to Do Duty till the first Day of January Next unless sooner Discharged. Said men to hold themselves Ready to march at the shortest Notice & to Receive such pay as the General Court shall thereafter order. You are also Required Immediately to Compleat your Quota of men for ye six months service at Rhode

Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
until January, 1853, was the puff of an engine and the rumble of a railroad train heard within the precinct of Medway. The first railroad opened to the public was the Medway Branch of the Norfolk County Railroad, January, 1853, having its terminus in Medway Village. This was discontinued in 1864, a…
History of Norfolk County, Massachusetts, with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men1884 · page 544Read the page →
Read the text

until January, 1853, was the puff of an engine and the rumble of a railroad train heard within the precinct of Medway. The first railroad opened to the public was the Medway Branch of the Norfolk County Railroad, January, 1853, having its terminus in Medway Village. This was discontinued in 1864, and the rails removed in the night. The New York and Boston Railroad, which was an extension of the

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

Medway, decade by decade

2 decades in the archive, from the 1850s to the 1900s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1850s1 item
Medway Village, Massc. 1859Medway Village, Mass
1900s1 item
Sanford Hall and streetcar in Medway - 1908 postcardc. 1908Sanford Hall and streetcar in Medway - 1908 postcardPostcard
1910s–1990snothing yet
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.
Add from your album
Date unknown4 to date
The history of Medway, MassDate?The history of Medway, MassBookThe history of Medway, MassDate?The history of Medway, MassBookThe history of Medway, Mass., 1713-1885Date?The history of Medway, Mass., 1713-1885BookThe military history of Medway, Mass. 1745-1885Date?The military history of Medway, Mass. 1745-1885Book
Today11 recent
1994-02-04 - MEDWAY - Cassidy Farms - aerial - 00420221994-02-04 - MEDWAY - Cassidy Farms - aerial - 0041994-02-04 - MEDWAY - Cassidy Farms - aerial - 00320221994-02-04 - MEDWAY - Cassidy Farms - aerial - 0031994-02-04 - MEDWAY - Cassidy Farms - aerial - 00220221994-02-04 - MEDWAY - Cassidy Farms - aerial - 0021994-02-04 - MEDWAY - Cassidy Farms - aerial - 00120221994-02-04 - MEDWAY - Cassidy Farms - aerial - 001Medway High School2017Medway High SchoolMain Street2017Main StreetMBTA bus stop sign in Medway, May 20172017MBTA bus stop sign in Medway, May 2017Map of the town of Medway, Norfolk Co., Mass2012Map of the town of Medway, Norfolk Co., MassMapWilliam H. Cary House2010William H. Cary HouseView of2008View ofMA Route 109 eastbound entering2008MA Route 109 eastbound entering
Every building

Medway, building by building, 1884–1922

Fire insurance maps drew every building, what it was made of and what it was used for, so insurers could price the risk of fire. Pick a year, then a sheet.

Medway fire insurance map, 1884, sheet 11884Sheet 1 of 5
Edition
BrickWoodStone

Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.

Then & now

Stand where they stood

No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.

Medway Village, Mass
Retake this viewMedway Village, Mass, c. 1859

Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Medway’s page.

Retake this view · +15
People over time

Medway, census by census

02,0004,0006,0008,00010,00012,00014,000180018501900195020003,956 in 1880Low: 2,696

Lost a third of its people between 1880 and 1910, then grew 4-fold.

19 censuses, 1790–2020.

U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Medway’s Wikipedia page.

Famous people

9 famous people were born in Medway

Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.

See all →
James "Grizzly" AdamsAmerican mountain man · b. 1812
Dennis CrowleyAmerican internet entrepreneur · b. 1976
William Taylor AdamsAmerican academic, author and politician · b. 1822
K
Kyle CaseyAmerican basketball player · b. 1990
A
Albert E. AustinPolitician, physician · b. 1877
Jasper AdamsAmerican clergyman · b. 1793
Places that used to be

Lost post offices, old corners, places now gone and burying grounds

Medway’s post office has been open since 1803. Another post office, West Medway, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Medway
1803–today
West Medway
1834–1963
18001910today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Camp Breezy MeadowWest Medway
Gone or out of use
Medway Post Officepost officeMedway StationlocaleWest Medway Stationlocale
3cemeteries and burying grounds inside Medway
EvergreenOaklandSaint Josephs

US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

Help out

Start Medway’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Medway’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
1 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Date a photo4 archive items have no date. Guess the decade.+2Retake an old viewMedway Village, Mass: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
Stories next door

History across the town line

Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.

Franklin Town3 historic placesA−Bellingham1 historic placeA−Norfolk7 historic placesA−Holliston5 historic placesAMillis5 historic placesAMilford7 historic placesA

Questions about Medway’s history

What year was Medway founded?

In 1657, according to Wikidata and Wikipedia’s history of the town. Medway’s post office opened in 1803, and the first U.S. census counted 1,035 people here in 1790.

How does Medway rank for history?

Medway is more historic than 95% of U.S. towns, #80 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 Medway?

Three places: the Rabbit Hill Historic District (listed 1988), the Medway Village Historic District (2008) and the Evergreen Cemetery (2021).

How old are the homes in Medway?

19% of Medway’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±3.9 points), against a typical 21% for a Massachusetts town; the median home was built in 1976.

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
Start a conversation
Sources

Where this page comes from

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 (17), Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (3), 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, Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress) 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.