Guest, Sign inJoin

Post to Nahant

We’ll email a one-tap link to publish your post. No password, and nothing is public until you click it.
Already a member? Sign in
A+History
History · Nahant

Nahant dates to 1630, and 53% of its homes were built before 1940

More historic than 95% of U.S. towns · #75 of 283 in Massachusetts. What drives it

5 places in town are on the National Register, among them the Henry Cabot Lodge House, a National Historic Landmark, and three historic districts with 5 buildings between them. Below: 11 old photos and papers, maps from 1892 on, and the census since 1860.

1630founded
5on the National Register
53%homes built before 1940
11old photos & papers
5famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Nahant’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Nahant began

When was Nahant founded?

1630

Nahant dates its founding to 1630 (Wikidata). The census first counted it in 1860.

First census: 380 in 18602020 census: 3,334396 years

How historic is Nahant?

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. First post office: 1847.The full story ↓
History grade

What drives Nahant’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Nahant is more historic than 95% of U.S. towns, #75 of 283 in Massachusetts. All 3 inputs are above most U.S. towns; its share of homes from before 1940 ranks highest and its National Register listings lowest.

A+
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Nahant’s overall grade.
Founding era1630, from Wikidata: founded before 1776, an older era than 96% of U.S. townsA+Homes built before 194052.8% of homes (±8.5) · typical MA town 21.1% · U.S. 8.4%A+National Register5 listings, 10 historic buildings, 30.1 per 10,000 residents · typical MA town 46.0 · U.S. 2.4B
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 95%
NewerOlder
Massachusetts towns of 2,500+ (283)Ahead of 74%

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 Nahant’s 30.1 sits near the middle of its state (40% of Massachusetts towns have fewer) while its 10 historic buildings outnumber those of 76% of U.S. towns.

NoteThe founding year comes from Wikidata alone; no second source gives 1630.
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 (±8.5 points).

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 Nahant’s past

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

Older than the countryEstablished in 1630, 146 years before the Declaration of Independence.On the map since 18927 editions of the USGS map, 1892 to 1997. Watch Nahant change.Old housesHalf of Nahant’s homes were built before 1938.A National Historic Landmark5 places on the National Register, including Henry Cabot Lodge House, a National Historic Landmark.
★ What stands out · Timeline

Nahant, 1630 to 1976

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

  1. 17th century
  2. 1630
    FoundingNahant is established
  3. 19th century
  4. 1847Post officeThe Nahant post office opens
  5. 1887In the archiveStart, Dorchester regatta
  6. 1892In the archiveThe Cliffs at Nahant, North Shore, Massachusetts
  7. 1892On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  8. 20th century
  9. 1901Post officeThe Nahant post office closes
  10. 1902In the archive"The path of national greatness never is easy or smooth" - President Roosevelt
  11. 1902Born hereHenry Cabot Lodge Jr. is born here
  12. 1916In the archiveNahant Tide-Pool Group, American Museum of Natural History
  13. 1917Born hereCleveland Amory is born here
  14. 1921Born hereBarbra Fuller is born here
  15. 1930In the archiveEast Point, Nahant, Mass (61225)
  16. 1960Born hereGlenn Sherlock is born here
  17. 1976LandmarkHenry Cabot Lodge House named a National Historic Landmark
On the map

Nahant on the map, 1892 to 1997

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

Nahant on the 1892 USGS mapNahant on the 1903 USGS mapNahant on the 1944 USGS mapNahant on the 1956 USGS mapNahant on the 1970 USGS mapNahant on the 1985 USGS mapNahant on the 1997 USGS map1892Boston Bay 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 Nahant.

The story

How Nahant came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Nahant.

Read it all →

The area around Nahant was inhabited for thousands of years prior to European colonization of the Americas, but little is known of this period until European records began to document the area in the early 1600s.

In 1605, Samuel de Champlain interacted briefly with native people in Nahant and remarked that "all along this coast there is much cleared land sewn with Indian corn."

ChaptersDevelopment

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

From the old history books

What they wrote about Nahant in 1928

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

Section 4. In case said city of Lynn and town of Nahant shall disagree in respect to a division of paupers, city property, city debts, or state and county taxes, the court of common pleas for the county of Essex are hereby authorized to and shall on ap¬ plication of said city of Lynn or of said tow…
Some annals of Nahant, Massachusetts1928 · page 255Read the page →
Read the text

Section 4. In case said city of Lynn and town of Nahant shall disagree in respect to a division of paupers, city property, city debts, or state and county taxes, the court of common pleas for the county of Essex are hereby authorized to and shall on ap¬ plication of said city of Lynn or of said town of Nahant appoint three disinterested persons to hear the parties and award thereon; which award when accepted by said court shall be final.

Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
To Washington H. Johnson of Nahant in said County , Greeting : In the name of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts you are hereby required forthwith to warn the inhabitants of Nahant qualified as the law directs to assemble at the schoolhouse on Saturday, the ninth day of April next at three o’clock p…
Some annals of Nahant, Massachusetts1928 · page 256Read the page →
Read the text

To Washington H. Johnson of Nahant in said County , Greeting : In the name of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts you are hereby required forthwith to warn the inhabitants of Nahant qualified as the law directs to assemble at the schoolhouse on Saturday, the ninth day of April next at three o’clock p.m., by posting copies of this warrant in at least two conspicuous places in said town of Nahant, there and then to act upon the following

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

Nahant, decade by decade

5 decades in the archive, from the 1880s to the 1930s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1880s–1900s8 items
Start, Dorchester regatta1887Start, Dorchester regattaStart, Dorchester regatta1887Start, Dorchester regattaThe Cliffs at Nahant, North Shore, Massachusetts1892The Cliffs at Nahant, North Shore, MassachusettsThe cliffs at Nahant1897The cliffs at Nahant"The path of national greatness never is easy or smooth" - President Roosevelt1902"The path of national greatness never is easy or smoo…Bass Point Boat Landing1907Bass Point Boat LandingPostcardHalf-way tree on Nahant Beach Boulevard - postcard1907–1915Half-way tree on Nahant Beach Boulevard - postcardPostcardRelay House with streetcar postcard1907–1915Relay House with streetcar postcardPostcard
1910s–1930s3 items
Nahant Tide-Pool Group, American Museum of Natural History1916Nahant Tide-Pool Group, American Museum of Natural Hi…East Point, Nahant, Mass (61225)c. 1930East Point, Nahant, Mass (61225)PostcardNahant Beach, State Bath House, Nahant, Mass (61221)c. 1930Nahant Beach, State Bath House, Nahant, Mass (61221)Postcard
1940s–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
Today13 recent
Nahant from Salem–Boston Ferry 2024c2024Nahant from Salem–Boston Ferry 2024cNahant from Salem–Boston Ferry 2024b2024Nahant from Salem–Boston Ferry 2024bNahant from Salem–Boston Ferry 2024a2024Nahant from Salem–Boston Ferry 2024aNahant Bay at Dusk2018Nahant Bay at DuskEgg Rock, Nahant Bay2015Egg Rock, Nahant BayBoston seen from Nahant 8.26.20122013Boston seen from Nahant 8.26.2012Forty Steps2012Forty StepsForty Steps Point2012Forty Steps Point155mm-Gun-Plans-19422012155mm-Gun-Plans-1942Vibrio Cells 12011Vibrio Cells 1Life on a Grain of Sand 32010Life on a Grain of Sand 3Life on a Grain of Sand 22010Life on a Grain of Sand 2Bailey's Hill gazebo in2006Bailey's Hill gazebo in
Every building

Nahant, building by building, 1907–1914

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.

Nahant fire insurance map, 1907, sheet 11907Sheet 1 of 15
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.

Start, Dorchester regatta
Retake this viewStart, Dorchester regatta, 1887

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

Retake this view · +15
On the National Register

5 historic places in Nahant

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving. One is a National Historic Landmark, the highest tier.

places listed
5
National Historic Landmark
1
Henry Cabot Lodge House
historic buildings protected
10
each building in a district counts
first listed
1976
Henry Cabot Lodge House
Nahant Civic Historic DistrictGreenlawn CemeteryNahant Beach Boulevard-Metropolitan Park System of Greater BostonNahant Life-Saving StationHenry Cabot Lodge House★
BuildingsDistricts★ landmark

Architectural styles listings

Colonial Revival1
Jacobethan Revival1
Late Gothic Revival1
Late Victorian1
Shingle Style1
★ Landmark
Henry Cabot Lodge HouseBuilding
Nahant Civic Historic DistrictColonial Revival
Greenlawn CemeteryLate Gothic Revival
Nahant Beach Boulevard-Metropolitan Park System of Greater BostonDistrict
Nahant Life-Saving StationLate Victorian

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

People over time

Nahant, census by census

05001,0001,5002,0002,5003,0003,5004,0004,500190019502000Peak: 4,119

Between 380 and 4,119 people in every census since 1860.

17 censuses, 1860–2020.

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

Famous people

5 famous people were born in Nahant

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

See all →
Henry Cabot Lodge Jr.American politician · b. 1902
Cleveland AmoryAmerican writer · b. 1917
B
Barbra FullerAmerican actress · b. 1921
Glenn SherlockAmerican baseball coach · b. 1960
William F. JohnsonAmerican politician · b. 1819
Places that used to be

Lost post offices, old corners and burying grounds

Nahant had its own post office from 1847 to 1901.

Nahant
1847–1901
18401930today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Little Nahant
1cemetery inside Nahant
Greenlawn

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

Help out

Finish Nahant’s story

Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
3 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewStart, Dorchester regatta: 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.

Lynn29 historic placesA+Revere9 historic placesAWinthrop Town5 historic placesA+Boston324 historic placesA+

Questions about Nahant’s history

What year was Nahant founded?

In 1630, according to Wikidata. Nahant’s post office opened in 1847, and the census of 1860 counted 380 people here.

How does Nahant rank for history?

Nahant is more historic than 95% of U.S. towns, #75 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 Nahant?

5 listings: 2 buildings, among them the Henry Cabot Lodge House (a National Historic Landmark since 1976), and 3 historic districts, the Nahant Civic Historic District, the Greenlawn Cemetery and the Nahant Beach Boulevard-Metropolitan Park System of Greater Boston, with 5 contributing buildings. 10 historic buildings in all.

How old are the homes in Nahant?

53% of Nahant’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±8.5 points), against a typical 21% for a Massachusetts town; the median home was built in 1938.

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 (20), the Library of Congress (4), 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, 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.