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History · Onset

Onset’s post office opened in 1884, and 64% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: 6 old photos and papers from 1905 on.

1884first post office
0on the National Register
64%homes built before 1940
6old photos & papers
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Onset’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Onset began

When was Onset founded?

1884

The Onset post office opened in 1884, the earliest record of the town by name.

2020 census: 1,617142 years
Founding year: the first Onset post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Onset’s past

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

Old housesHalf of Onset’s homes were built before 1938.
★ What stands out · The story

How Onset came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Onset.

Read it all →

Onset was developed in the 1880s as a summer camp meeting for Spiritualists. Many of the existing cottages in Onset were built as second homes for individuals from Boston, Taunton, Brockton and other northeastern cities who gathered to hear mediums communicate with the dead. While it was run by the Spiritualists, the village was known as Onset Bay Grove.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

By decade

Onset, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1900s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1900s6 items
Bay view. First cottage built1905Bay view. First cottage builtEclipse of the sun 6-30 A.M. 30.05 Onset, Mass1905Eclipse of the sun 6-30 A.M. 30.05 Onset, MassOnset Avenue streetcars postcard1907–1915Onset Avenue streetcars postcardPostcardOnset station postcard (2)1907–1915Onset station postcard (2)PostcardOnset station postcard1907–1915Onset station postcardPostcardStreetcar on Onset Avenue, Onset - postcard1907–1915Streetcar on Onset Avenue, Onset - postcardPostcard
1910s–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
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.

Bay view. First cottage built
Retake this viewBay view. First cottage built, 1905

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

Retake this view · +15
Famous people

Famous people close to Onset

Nobody well known was born in Onset itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.

See all →
G
Geena DavisAmerican actress · b. 1956
Casey AffleckAmerican actor · b. 1975
Dave FarrellAmerican bassist · b. 1977
William Le Baron JenneyAmerican architect · b. 1832
K
Katharine Lee BatesAmerican poet and songwriter · b. 1859
Francis Davis MilletAmerican painter, sculptor, and writer who died… · b. 1846
Help out

Finish Onset’s story

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
1 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewBay view. First cottage built: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10

Questions about Onset’s history

What year was Onset founded?

The Onset post office opened in 1884, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

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). How TownRatings grades history →

From Wikimedia Commons (4), the Library of Congress (2) and Wikipedia. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.