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AHistory
History · Millis

Millis dates to 1657, and 13% of its homes were built before 1940

More historic than 90% of U.S. towns · #140 of 283 in Massachusetts. What drives it

5 places in town are on the National Register, among them a historic district with 163 buildings. Below: maps from 1887 on and the census since 1890.

1657founded
5on the National Register
13%homes built before 1940
1famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Millis began

When was Millis founded?

1657

Millis dates its founding to 1657 (Wikipedia’s history). The census first counted it in 1890.

First census: 786 in 18902020 census: 8,460369 years

How historic is Millis?

A

More historic than 90% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: Wikipedia. First post office: 1819.The full story ↓
History grade

What drives Millis’ History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Millis is more historic than 90% of U.S. towns, #140 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 Millis’ overall grade.
Founding era1657, from Wikipedia: founded before 1776, an older era than 96% of U.S. townsA+Homes built before 194012.6% of homes (±3.8) · typical MA town 21.1% · U.S. 8.4%B−National Register5 listings, 166 historic buildings, 187 per 10,000 residents · typical MA town 46.0 · U.S. 2.4A−
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 90%
NewerOlder
Massachusetts towns of 2,500+ (283)Ahead of 51%

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 Millis’ 187 sits above most of its state (75% of Massachusetts towns have fewer) while its 166 historic buildings outnumber those of 92% of U.S. towns.

NoteThe founding year comes from Wikipedia alone; no second source gives 1657.
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 (±3.8 points).

Founding year: Wikipedia (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 Millis’ past

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

A historic districtThe Millis Center Historic District takes in 163 historic buildings.A history waiting to be writtenNo old photos of Millis are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.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 Millis change.
★ What stands out · On the National Register

5 listings protect 166 historic buildings

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

places listed
5
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
166
each building in a district counts
first listed
1974
John Partridge House
John Partridge House, built 1659Prospect Hill Cemetery, built 1714Millis Center Historic DistrictEllice SchoolOak Grove Farm, built 1725
BuildingsDistrictsSites

Architectural styles listings

Colonial3
Greek Revival3
Georgian2
Mid-19th Century2
Mid 19th Century1
Gothic Revival1
John Partridge HouseColonial · Built 1659
Prospect Hill CemeteryBuilt 1714
Millis Center Historic DistrictColonial
Ellice SchoolMid-19th Century
Oak Grove FarmMid-19th Century · Built 1725

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

Help out

Start Millis’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
Timeline

Millis, 1657 to 1920

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

  1. 17th century
  2. 1657
    FoundingMillis is established
  3. 1659BuiltJohn Partridge House is built
  4. 18th century
  5. 1714BuiltProspect Hill Cemetery is built
  6. 1725BuiltOak Grove Farm is built
  7. 19th century
  8. 1819Post officeThe East Medway post office opens
  9. 1838Post officeThe Rockville post office opens
  10. 1885Post officeThe East Medway post office closes
  11. 1885Post officeThe Millis post office opens
  12. 1887On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  13. 20th century
  14. 1900Born hereHaskell Curry is born here
  15. 1920Post officeThe Rockville post office closes
The story

How Millis came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Millis.

Read it all →

Millis was first settled in 1657 and was officially incorporated in 1885. Millis was originally part of Dedham, until that town granted the lands of Millis, and other present day surrounding towns, to Medfield in 1651. In 1713, pioneers of Medfield applied for a grant to create a new town and, when approved, named this new land Medway. This new town consisted of West Medway (the present day town of Medway) and East Medway (present day Millis). Lansing Millis, the founder of the town of Millis, successfully incorporated Millis in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts on February 24, 1885.

ChaptersIndustrial historyNotable sitesKing Philip's War

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

From the old history books

What they wrote about Millis in 1918

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

FIRST SETTLEMENT The territory now comprising the Town of Millis was originally a part of Dedham. When Medfield was incorporated by act of the General Court on May 22, 1650, it included practically all of Millis. The first settlements were therefore made in this part of Norfolk County long before t…
History of Norfolk County, Massachusetts, 1622-19181918 · page 197Read the page →
Read the text

FIRST SETTLEMENT The territory now comprising the Town of Millis was originally a part of Dedham. When Medfield was incorporated by act of the General Court on May 22, 1650, it included practically all of Millis. The first settlements were therefore made in this part of Norfolk County long before the Town of Millis was even dreamed of by the inhabitants. Among the pioneers were George Fairbanks, Nicholas Woods, Daniel Morse, Thomas Holbrook, Thomas Bass, Joseph Daniel, John Fussell, Jonathan Adams, Peter Galley, Josiah Rockwood and some

Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
MILLIS The public library of Millis was organized in 1878 as the "East Medway Circulating Library." When the Town of Millis was set off from Medway and incorporated by the act of February 24, 1885, the members of the East Medway Circulating Library Association decided to tender to the selectmen of …
History of Norfolk County, Massachusetts, 1622-19181918 · page 412Read the page →
Read the text

MILLIS The public library of Millis was organized in 1878 as the "East Medway Circulating Library." When the Town of Millis was set off from Medway and incorporated by the act of February 24, 1885, the members of the East Medway Circulating Library Association decided to tender to the selectmen of the new town all books in their possession (about 325) as the foundation of a free public library. This was done at a meeting of the association held on March 19, 1885, and the offer was accepted by a town meeting four days later. The association

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

Millis, decade by decade

Today11 recent
Millis Industrial Track bridge over the Charles River, May 20172017Millis Industrial Track bridge over the Charles River…Millis Industrial Track at Island Road, May 20172017Millis Industrial Track at Island Road, May 2017Millis High School2017Millis High SchoolMain Street2017Main StreetCharles River Natural Valley Storage Area, Millis, MA. October 20142014Charles River Natural Valley Storage Area, Millis, MA…MillisMA OakGroveFarm2012MillisMA OakGroveFarmMillisMA ElliceSchool2012MillisMA ElliceSchoolVeterans Memorial Building2010Veterans Memorial BuildingJohn Partridge House2010John Partridge HouseMillis, Massachusetts2008Millis, MassachusettsEntering2007Entering
On the map

Millis on the map, 1887 to 1987

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

Millis on the 1887 USGS mapMillis on the 1893 USGS mapMillis on the 1919 USGS mapMillis on the 1921 USGS mapMillis on the 1945 USGS mapMillis on the 1957 USGS mapMillis on the 1970 USGS mapMillis 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 Millis.

People over time

Millis, census by census

02,0004,0006,0008,00019001920194019601980200020208,460

Grew from 786 people in 1890 to 8,460 in 2020, more than tenfold.

14 censuses, 1890–2020.

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

Places that used to be

Lost post offices, old corners and burying grounds

Millis’s post office has been open since 1885. Two other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.

East Medway
1819–1885
Rockville
1838–1920
Millis
1885–today
18101920today
Hamlets and corners on the map
ClicquotRockville
1cemetery inside Millis
Prospect Hill

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

Stories next door

History across the town line

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

Medfield7 historic placesA−Norfolk7 historic placesA−Millis-Clicquot3 historic placesnot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townMedway3 historic placesA+Sherborn23 historic placesAHolliston5 historic placesA

Questions about Millis’ history

What year was Millis founded?

In 1657, according to Wikipedia’s history of the town. Millis’ post office opened in 1819, and the census of 1890 counted 786 people here.

How does Millis rank for history?

Millis is more historic than 90% of U.S. towns, #140 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 Millis?

5 listings: 3 buildings, among them the John Partridge House (listed 1974, the first), 1 historic district, the Millis Center Historic District, with 163 contributing buildings, and 1 site. 166 historic buildings in all.

How old are the homes in Millis?

13% of Millis’ homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±3.8 points), against a typical 21% for a Massachusetts town; the median home was built in 1974.

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 (11), Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (5), 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.