Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Among the most historic 1% of U.S. towns · #20 of 283 in Massachusetts. What drives it
3 places in town are on the National Register, among them two historic districts with 218 buildings between them. Below: 2 old photos and papers, maps from 1886 on, and the census since 1920.
Millville dates its founding to 1662 (Wikidata and Wikipedia’s history agree). The census first counted it in 1920.
Among the most historic 1% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Millville is among the most historic 1% of U.S. towns, #20 of 283 in Massachusetts. All 3 inputs put Millville near the top nationally; its age ranks highest.
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 Millville’s 693 sits above most of its state (94% of Massachusetts towns have fewer) while its 219 historic buildings outnumber those of 94% of U.S. towns.
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 →
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Millville’s history is told.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Millville. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Millville.
From Wikipedia’s history of Millville.
Millville was first settled in 1662, and officially incorporated in 1916 by division from Blackstone, Massachusetts (which had itself originally been part of Mendon). This region was originally inhabited by the Nipmuc people.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
In the archiveMillville station postcard
In the archiveMillville Lock MA2 decades in the archive, from the 1900s to the 1980s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
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.
1893Sheet 1 of 2Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.
Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Millville’s page.
Retake this view · +15Between 1,567 and 3,190 people in every census since 1920.
11 censuses, 1920–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Millville’s Wikipedia page.
Nobody well known was born in Millville itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
Millville’s post office has been open since 1827.
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
In 1662, according to Wikidata and Wikipedia’s history of the town. Millville’s post office opened in 1827, and the census of 1920 counted 2,224 people here.
Millville is among the most historic 1% of U.S. towns, #20 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.
Three places: the Chestnut Hill Meetinghouse (listed 1984), the Central Street Historic District (2003) and the Main Street Historic District (2006).
30% of Millville’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±8.1 points), against a typical 21% for a Massachusetts town; the median home was built in 1974.
What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.
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 (6), 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 and Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
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