The story
Read it all →How Mount Washington came to be
From Wikipedia’s history of Mount Washington.
Mount Washington was first settled by Europeans in 1692 and was officially incorporated in 1779.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
–Not graded
History · Mount Washington
Mount Washington dates to 1692, and 31% of its homes were built before 1940
Its Register listing is the Benjamin Osborn House. Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1885 on, and the census since 1790.
1692founded
1on the National Register
31%homes built before 1940
1old photo or paper
1famous people
Quick answers
How Mount Washington began
When was Mount Washington founded?
1692
Mount Washington dates its founding to 1692 (Wikidata and Wikipedia’s history agree). It appears in the first U.S. census, 1790.
First census: 261 in 17902020 census: 160334 years
Founding year: Wikidata; Wikipedia’s history section gives the same year. First post office: 1851.The full story ↓
What stands out about Mount Washington’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
A history waiting to be writtenOnly 1 old photo is in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.On the map since 18857 editions of the USGS map, 1885 to 1990. Watch Mount Washington change.Shrank, then grewLost two-thirds of its people between 1890 and 1950, then grew 4-fold.Older than the countryEstablished in 1692, 84 years before the Declaration of Independence.
★ What stands out · Help out
Start Mount Washington’s collection
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Mount Washington’s history is told.
Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.On the map
Mount Washington on the map, 1885 to 1990
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Mount Washington. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1885Sheffield sheet · 1:62,500U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Mount Washington.
People over time
Mount Washington, census by census
Lost two-thirds of its people between 1890 and 1950, then grew 4-fold.
19 censuses, 1790–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Mount Washington’s Wikipedia page.
Timeline
Mount Washington, 1692 to 1921
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
- 17th century
- 1692FoundingMount Washington is established
- 18th century
- 1759
BuiltBenjamin Osborn House is built - 19th century
- 1851Post officeThe Mount Washington post office opens
- 1866Born hereDora Read Goodale is born here
- 1885
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey - 1889Post officeThe Alandar post office opens
- 1890
In the archiveMount Washington, Massachusetts, July 22, 1890 - 1890CensusPopulation peaks at 418
- 20th century
- 1919Post officeThe Mount Washington post office closes
- 1921Post officeThe Alandar post office closes
By decade
Mount Washington, decade by decade
One decade in the archive so far: the 1890s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
1900s–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 albumToday10 recent
2012Mt Washington, MA, USA - panoramio (18)
2012Mt Washington, MA, USA - panoramio (17)
2012Mt Washington, MA, USA - panoramio (16)
2010Mount Washington MA lg
2008View from East St, Mt Washington MA
2008Vandersmissen Memorial Park
2008Town Hall
2008Sunset on Mt Washington
2008Sunset on Mt Washington
2006BishBashSummitThen & 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.
Retake this viewMount Washington, Massachusetts, July 22, 1890, 1890
Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Mount Washington’s page.
Retake this view · +15On the National Register
1 historic place in Mount Washington
The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.
place listed
1
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
1
each building in a district counts
first listed
1987
Benjamin Osborn House
Buildings
Architectural styles listings
New England Colonial1
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
Places that used to be
Lost post offices, old corners and places now gone
Mount Washington had its own post office from 1851 to 1919. Another post office, Alandar, opened and closed inside today’s town.
Mount Washington
Alandar
18501940today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Alander
Gone or out of use
Alander Post Officepost office
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.
Questions about Mount Washington’s history
What year was Mount Washington founded?
In 1692, according to Wikidata and Wikipedia’s history of the town. Mount Washington’s post office opened in 1851, and the first U.S. census counted 261 people here in 1790.
What is on the National Register in Mount Washington?
One place: the Benjamin Osborn House (listed 1987).
Memory lane
What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.
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). How TownRatings grades history →
From Wikimedia Commons (11), Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (1), 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) and the USGS Geographic Names Information System. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.