Rochester dates to 1679, and 13% of its homes were built before 1940
More historic than 75% of U.S. towns · #242 of 283 in Massachusetts. What drives it
2 places in town are on the National Register, among them a historic district with 2 buildings. Below: 6 old photos and papers, maps from 1888 on, and the census since 1790.
Founding year: Wikipedia. First post office: 1800.The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Rochester’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Rochester is more historic than 75% of U.S. towns, #242 of 283 in Massachusetts. Its age holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.
A−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Rochester’s overall grade.
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 Rochester’s 5.1 sits below most of its state (22% of Massachusetts towns have fewer) while its 3 historic buildings outnumber those of 65% of U.S. towns.
NoteThe founding year comes from Wikipedia alone; no second source gives 1679.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from B− to A−. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±5.4 points).
Founding year: Wikipedia (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 Rochester’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Rochester was settled in 1679 on the lands called "Sippican" by the local Wampanoags, along the coast of Buzzards Bay. (Sippican was the name of the local tribe.) It originally included the lands of Mattapoisett, Marion and parts of Wareham (which was lost when Wareham was founded in 1739). The town was officially incorporated on June 4, 1686, as Rochester, and was named for Rochester, England, from which early settlers to the town came. The town originally thrived with the early shipbuilding and whaling trade in Mattapoisett Harbor. However, in 1852 and 1857 the towns of Marion and Mattapoisett, respectively, were separated and incorporated as separate towns, thus landlocking Rochester. Since that time, the town has become mostly rural-residential, with some farms located in town. Rochester is a "Right to Farm" community.
Passages that mention Rochester, cut from the printed page as they were published.
A history and genealogy of the descendants of William Hammond of London, England, and his wife Elizabeth Penn1894Read the page →
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It is said that the " First })urchase of the town of Rochester was by Joseph Lothroj), Barnabas Lothrop, Knellan Winslow, and \yilliam Clark, of floseph Winslow, Governor of Plymouth, for the sum of £200 current money, Jul. 2, 1679." That "The town of Rochester was divided into 33 shares, every 33rd being reserved for the support of the jVIinistry." That "Benjamin Hanniiond the son of AVilliam of Lc)ndon, the first in our line from England, moved from Sandwich to Rochester
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
A history and genealogy of the descendants of William Hammond of London, England, and his wife Elizabeth Penn1894Read the page →
Read the text
In 1<S;34, the southeasterly part of the town of Rochester, containing Sippican Village and adjacent territory, was set off as the present town of ^Marion. In 1857 all tlic southerly part of Rochester, including Mattapoisett Village, Hannnondtown and Mattapoisett Neck, was set off as the present town of Mattapoisett, leaving in the present Rochester, Rochester Centre and North Rochester. It is probable that but few, if any, Hammonds lived within the limits of the present town of
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Mattapoisett and Old Rochester, Massachusetts1907Read the page →
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ure united. At a town meeting held June 4, 1700, "The inhabitance had before them the accompts of some of the chang that necessarily is coming and hath been in sd town of Rochester, and being sensable of the necessity of mony to be Received for a town stock or Treasury, the inhabitance voted that a Rat of thirty shillings be raised to defray the necessary chang arising in sd town of Rochester, in the year 1700."
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Mattapoisett and Old Rochester, Massachusetts1907Read the page →
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ROCHESTER, 1777 "In obedience to a law of Massachusetts Bay, entitled, 'An Act to Prevent Monopolies and Oppression;' we the selectmen & Committee in the Town of Rochester, in the said state, have proceeded to a Statement of the several articles enumerated in their act, & others as directed by the said law to be stated, as shall not be sold in the said Town of Rochester, anytime hereafter for more than the prices affixed to the said article, as hereunder enumerated:"
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
Rochester, decade by decade
4 decades in the archive, from the 1870s to the 1910s. 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.
In 1679, according to Wikipedia’s history of the town. Rochester’s post office opened in 1800, and the first U.S. census counted 2,644 people here in 1790.
How does Rochester rank for history?
Rochester is more historic than 75% of U.S. towns, #242 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 Rochester?
Two places: the East Rochester Church and Cemetery Historic District (listed 2008) and the North Rochester Congregational Church (2008).
How old are the homes in Rochester?
13% of Rochester’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±5.4 points), against a typical 21% for a Massachusetts town; the median home was built in 1984.
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 (5), the Library of Congress (1), Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (2), 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 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.
1911
1911