Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Photo: Quintin Soloviev · CC BY 4.0Among the most historic 1% of U.S. towns · #1 of 283 in Massachusetts. What drives it
11 places in town are on the National Register, among them the Caleb Cushing House, a National Historic Landmark, and two historic districts with 2,537 buildings between them. Below: 7 old photos and papers, maps from 1888 on, and the census since 1790.
Newburyport dates its founding to 1635 (Wikidata). It appears in the first U.S. census, 1790.
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, Newburyport is among the most historic 1% of U.S. towns, #1 of 283 in Massachusetts. All 3 inputs put Newburyport near the top nationally; its National Register listings 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 Newburyport’s 1,366 sits above most of its state (99% of Massachusetts towns have fewer) while its 2,547 historic buildings outnumber those of 100% 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. One is a National Historic Landmark, the highest tier.
★ Landmark
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
BuiltBenjamin Coker House is built
In the archive1773 EssexJournal Newburyport Massachusetts Dec4
BuiltNewburyport Harbor Light is builtBuiltBrown Square House is built
In the archiveBowditch-1st-edition
Born hereWilliam Lloyd Garrison is born hereBuiltCaleb Cushing House is built
In the archiveMerrymac [i.e. Merrimack] bridge, Newbery Port [i.e. Newburyport], tracing from Worrall's…
In the archiveA view of the mansion of the late Lord Timothy Dexter in High Street
In the archiveSunset, Newburyport Meadows
Born hereRobert S. Mulliken is born here
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
Born hereJoe Keery is born hereFrom Wikipedia’s history of Newburyport.
In 1680 Elizabeth Morse was convicted of witchcraft in Newbury. She was confined to her property unless she was escorted by a clergymen until she died in 1690.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Passages that mention Newburyport, cut from the printed page as they were published.
Another industry inaugurated by Newburyport capital was located at the falls in Byfield. This was the Newburyport Woolen Company, established in 1794, the first company incorporated for that business in the state, and by some au¬ thorities named as the first woolen manufactory in America. The carding and other machines for its equipment were built by Standring, Guppy & Armstrong, in Newburyport, being set up in “Lord” Timothy Dexter’s stable; and were the first made in this country.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
It was a few miles from Newburyport, in the town of Amesbury, from the home of Whittier’s later years, that he was buried in 1892, the simple service attended by a gathering of genius such as few occasions could attract.
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.
5 decades in the archive, from the 1770s to the 1860s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Newburyport. 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 Newburyport.
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.
1888Sheet 1 of 14Sanborn 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.
![Merrymac [i.e. Merrimack] bridge, Newbery Port [i.e. Newburyport], tracing from Worrall's drawing](https://images.townratings.com/story/7525/f2b749f84e8e9106edc9-l.jpg)
Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Newburyport’s page.
Retake this view · +15Grew from 4,837 people in 1790 to 18,289 in 2020, 3 times over.
24 censuses, 1790–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Newburyport’s Wikipedia page.
Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.
Newburyport’s post office has been open since 1773.
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
In 1635, according to Wikidata. Newburyport’s post office opened in 1773, and the first U.S. census counted 4,837 people here in 1790.
Newburyport is among the most historic 1% of U.S. towns, #1 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.
11 listings: 8 buildings, among them the Caleb Cushing House (a National Historic Landmark since 1973), 2 historic districts, the Market Square Historic District and the Newburyport Historic District, with 2,537 contributing buildings, and 1 structure. 2,547 historic buildings in all.
45% of Newburyport’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±3.5 points), against a typical 21% for a Massachusetts town; the median home was built in 1954.
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 (4), the Library of Congress (3), Wikidata (4), the National Register of Historic Places (11), 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.
1810
1846
