Rockport dates to 1623, and 46% of its homes were built before 1940
More historic than 97% of U.S. towns · #51 of 283 in Massachusetts. What drives it
10 places in town are on the National Register, among them the Twin Lights Historic District-Cape Ann Light Station, a National Historic Landmark, and two historic districts with 32 buildings between them. Below: 22 old photos and papers, maps from 1885 on, and the census since 1840.
Founding year: Wikidata. First post office: 1825.The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Rockport’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Rockport is more historic than 97% of U.S. towns, #51 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 Rockport’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 Rockport’s 57.1 sits near the middle of its state (52% of Massachusetts towns have fewer) while its 40 historic buildings outnumber those of 83% of U.S. towns.
NoteThe founding year comes from Wikidata alone; no second source gives 1623.
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 (±5.8 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 Rockport’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Before English explorers and colonists arrived, Cape Ann was home to a number of Native American villages, inhabited by members of the Agawam tribe. Samuel de Champlain named the peninsula "Cap Aux Isles" in 1605, and his expedition may have landed there briefly. Europeans founded a permanent settlement at nearby Gloucester in 1623.
Richard Tarr, a granite cutter and the first settler of the Sandy Bay Colony, lived in the area that is now Rockport in 1680. He and his wife, Elizabeth, had ten children, of whom those born after 1690 were recorded in the Sandy Bay Colony record books. Richard died around 1732.
Passages that mention Rockport, cut from the printed page as they were published.
History of Essex County, Massachusetts, with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men1888Read the page →
Read the text
on one side or the other. Among the most interesting of his cases may be noticed Boston and Lowell Railroad Corporation vs. Salem and Lowell Railroad Company, 2 Gray, 1 ; the famous Rockport liquor case. Brown vs. Perkins, et ux., 12 Gray, 89; and a case against the Sergeant-at-arms, upon writ of habeas corpus, Burnham vs. Morrissey, 14 Gray, 226, which settled the constitutional prerogative of the House of
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
Rockport, decade by decade
6 decades in the archive, from the 1850s to the 1940s. 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.
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 1623, according to Wikidata. Rockport’s post office opened in 1825, and the census of 1840 counted 2,650 people here.
How does Rockport rank for history?
Rockport is more historic than 97% of U.S. towns, #51 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 Rockport?
10 listings: 6 buildings, 2 historic districts, the Twin Lights Historic District-Cape Ann Light Station and the Rockport Downtown Main Street Historic District, with 32 contributing buildings, and 2 structures. 40 historic buildings in all.
How old are the homes in Rockport?
46% of Rockport’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±5.8 points), against a typical 21% for a Massachusetts town; the median home was built in 1951.
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 (7), the Library of Congress (15), Wikidata (2), the National Register of Historic Places (10), 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.
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1928![Sam Hersey [i.e. Hershey], mural for Rockport Town Hall](https://images.townratings.com/story/23943/d465c3889c4444d8f57c-s.jpg)
1936![Sam Hersey [i.e. Hershey], preliminary work on historic mural for Rockport Town Hall](https://images.townratings.com/story/23943/69022a3416cc790c5f7c-s.jpg)
1936
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