Quincy has 106 places on the National Register, 7 of them National Historic Landmarks
More historic than 94% of U.S. towns · #89 of 283 in Massachusetts. What drives it
Dated to 1625 (Wikidata), with 37% of its homes built before 1940 and 5 historic districts holding 117 contributing buildings. Below: 6 old photos and papers, maps from 1885 on, the census since 1800, and every listing on the Register.
Founding year: Wikidata. First post office: 1795.The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Quincy’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Quincy is more historic than 94% of U.S. towns, #89 of 283 in Massachusetts. All 3 inputs are above most U.S. towns; its age ranks highest and its National Register listings lowest.
A
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Quincy’s overall grade.
Among the 400 U.S. cities of 100,000 or more, Quincy ranks #48 on History.
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 Quincy’s 11.5 sits below most of its state (28% of Massachusetts towns have fewer) while its 117 historic buildings outnumber those of 90% of U.S. towns.
NoteThe founding year comes from Wikidata alone; no second source gives 1625.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from A− to A+. The pre-1940 share (±1.8 points) is firm at this size.
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 Quincy’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Atlantic Post Officepost officeAtlantic StationlocaleNaval Air Station SquantummilitaryQuincy StationlocaleWollaston Heights StationlocaleWollaston Post Officepost office
The road that eventually became the Old Coast Road from Boston to Plymouth, going through Quincy and Braintree, started out as a Native American trail.
Massachusett Sachem Chickatawbut had his seat on a hill called Moswetuset Hummock prior to the settlement of the area by English colonists, situated east of the mouth of the Neponset River near what is now called Squantum. It was visited in 1621 by Plymouth Colony commander Myles Standish and Squanto, a native guide.
Passages that mention Quincy, cut from the printed page as they were published.
Three hundred years of Quincy, 1625-19251926 · page 246Read the page →
Read the text
Ebenezer Woodward was moved to redress the balance by estab¬ lishing a school for girls. He began the practice of medicine in Quincy in 1823, and walked among his neighbors a worthy, highly regarded and eccentric man, passing away May 21, 1860. He left something over thirty thousand dollars, with the provision that whenever the income from the accumulating fund should be suffi¬ cient there should be established “and continue for the town of Quincy forever, a female institute for the education of females
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
65 Continue along Washington Street to the Quincy Point Bridge, erected, 1902. At the left on the Quincy shore is the site of the tollhouse of the Hingham and Quincy Turnpike Corporation, which Corporation, in 1812, laid out and constructed the road from this point to the northerly end of “Gould's Lane" in Hingham, and erected bridges across the
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Three hundred years of Quincy, 1625-19251926 · page 373Read the page →
Read the text
The New York, New Haven & Hartford Railroad Company kept gangs of men working here for several weeks before the cele¬ bration. All the station yards were cleaned up, the various railroad stations were repainted, the driveway around the Quincy railroad station was resurfaced ; part of the railroad property back of City Hall was thrown open for the parking of automobiles, and that part of the Hancock Cemetery adjacent to the railroad tracks cleaned up thoroughly. At this point tons of coal dust and cinders
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
History of Braintree, Massachusetts (1639-1708)1891 · page 10Read the page →
Read the text
among the hills and interior valleys. In 1708 the church of Braintree was divided, and the original settlement became the North Precinct. In 1792 this North Precinct was set off from the rest of the town, and became Quincy. The old town and present city of Quincy, therefore, was the original Braintree ; and subsequently, for more than eightj'^ years, the history of the North Precinct of Braintree is the history of Quincy.
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
Quincy, decade by decade
One decade in the archive so far: the 1900s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
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.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Quincy. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1944Boston South sheet · 1:24,000
U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Quincy.
Every building
Quincy, building by building, 1885–1906
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.
In 1625, according to Wikidata. Quincy’s post office opened in 1795, and the census of 1800 counted 1,081 people here.
How does Quincy rank for history?
Quincy is more historic than 94% of U.S. towns, #89 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 Quincy?
106 listings, 7 of them National Historic Landmarks: 94 buildings, among them the John Adams Birthplace (a National Historic Landmark since 1960), 5 historic districts with 16 contributing buildings, 3 sites, and 4 structures. 117 historic buildings in all.
How old are the homes in Quincy?
37% of Quincy’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±1.8 points), against a typical 21% for a Massachusetts town; the median home was built in 1958.
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 the Library of Congress (6), Wikidata (12), the National Register of Historic Places (106), 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.
★ Landmark
★ Landmark
★ Landmark
★ Landmark
★ Landmark
★ Landmark
★ Landmark
1904
1904
1904
1904
1907
