Millbury dates to 1716, and 26% of its homes were built before 1940
More historic than 84% of U.S. towns · #198 of 283 in Massachusetts. What drives it
Its Register listings are the Asa Waters Mansion, the US Post Office-Millbury Main and the First Presbyterian Society Meeting House. Below: 9 old photos and papers, maps from 1888 on, and the census since 1850.
Founding year: Wikidata; Wikipedia’s history section gives the same year. First post office: 1816.The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Millbury’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Millbury is more historic than 84% of U.S. towns, #198 of 283 in Massachusetts. Its age holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.
A−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Millbury’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 Millbury’s 2.1 sits below most of its state (14% of Massachusetts towns have fewer) while its 3 listings outnumber those of 65% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from B+ to A+. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±4.5 points). Two sources give 1716.
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 Millbury’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Millbury. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1889Webster 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 Millbury.
Every building
Millbury, building by building, 1888–1913
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.
Millbury was first settled in 1716. It was originally known as the Second or North Parish of Sutton. Because traveling from one part of the town to the other for meetings was time-consuming, inhabitants of the North Parish petitioned the Massachusetts General Court to split Sutton. North Parish became Millbury on June 11, 1813, by way of an act of incorporation. Its name derived from its long history as a mill town. The Blackstone River flows through the town, and during the Industrial Revolution, provided water power to its many textile mills and factories. During this time, the inventor William Crompton worked in Millbury.
Passages that mention Millbury, cut from the printed page as they were published.
Centennial history of the town of Millbury, Massachusetts, including vital statistics, 1850-18991915 · page 74Read the page →
Read the text
a bill, which had previously passed both houses of the Legislature, was signed June 11, 1813, by the governor, giving the North, or Second, Parish the right to become the separate town of Millbury. The following is a copy of the Act of Incorporation for the town of Millbury: "June 11, 1813, An Act to Incorporate the North Parish in the Town of Sutton into a separate town by the name of Millbury.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Centennial history of the town of Millbury, Massachusetts, including vital statistics, 1850-18991915Read the page →
Read the text
There is published in the Town Records for 1910 a copy of "An Act to provide a water supply for the Town of Millbury. " A special meeting was called for July 16, 1910, when the Legislative act of 1910 was accepted, and, in accordance with this act, on August 12, 1910, the Millbury Water Company filed with the Town Clerk a fist of its property.
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
Millbury, decade by decade
5 decades in the archive, from the 1870s 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.
In 1716, according to Wikidata and Wikipedia’s history of the town. Millbury’s post office opened in 1816, and the census of 1850 counted 3,081 people here.
How does Millbury rank for history?
Millbury is more historic than 84% of U.S. towns, #198 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 Millbury?
Three places: the Asa Waters Mansion (listed 1978), the US Post Office-Millbury Main (1987) and the First Presbyterian Society Meeting House (2010).
How old are the homes in Millbury?
26% of Millbury’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±4.5 points), against a typical 21% for a Massachusetts town; the median home was built in 1965.
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 (10), Wikidata (2), the National Register of Historic Places (3), Wikipedia, 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.
1907–1915
1913
c. 1915
1982
2006