Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 86% of U.S. towns · #178 of 283 in Massachusetts. What drives it
4 places in town are on the National Register. Below: 4 old photos and papers, maps from 1888 on, and the census since 1790.
Rowley dates its founding to 1638 (Wikidata). It appears in the first U.S. census, 1790.
More historic than 86% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Rowley is more historic than 86% of U.S. towns, #178 of 283 in Massachusetts. Its age holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.
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 Rowley’s 9.6 sits below most of its state (27% of Massachusetts towns have fewer) while its 6 historic buildings outnumber those of 72% 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.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
BuiltPlatts-Bradstreet House is built
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
In the archiveHome in
BuiltAgawan Diner is built
In the archiveHistoric American Buildings Survey Frank O. Branzetti, Photographer Aug. 14, 1940 (bbb) 2…
In the archiveMcIntyre's Restaurant building sign, Route 133The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Rowley’s history is told.
Lost half of its people between 1830 and 1850, then grew 5-fold.
24 censuses, 1790–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Rowley’s Wikipedia page.
From Wikipedia’s history of Rowley.
The area was inhabited by the Agawam people under sachem Masconomet. Although the area that would become Rowley was colonized by English settlers starting in 1639, it was not until 1700 that the town would pay Masoconomet's heirs nine pounds for a quitclaim deed.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Passages that mention Rowley, cut from the printed page as they were published.
In the expedition referred to, the town of Rowley furnished one captain, one lieutenant, and thirty non-commissioned officers and privates. The lieutenant was Abel Platts, whose appointment as ensign of the Rowley foot was dated July 15, 1(389. Subsequently he received from the town of Rowley thirteen pounds, one shilling, and two pence for services in Canada. He was the grandfather of Abel Platts, of Rindge. Deacon Ezekiel Jewett was paid
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
These owners of lands in Rowley were under the old grant. The new grant was made not long after. It will be recalled that in 1681, a request came to Rowley from Bradford, for an enlargement of their territory, and perhaps after many appeals, the town of Rowley, April 7, 1699, appointed a committee, " to meet with the Bradford Committee, when there may be a convenient opportunity, to settle thelinebetween
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
The record of the Jewett family in this country commences with the settlement of Rowley, Mass. In 1638, about sixty families, led by Rev. Ezekiel Rogers, eminent in the annals of New England, came from Yorkshire, England, and by them the town of Rowley was planted early in the following year. Among these emigrants were the brothers Maximillian and Joseph Jewett, men of good estate, from Bradford, Yorkshire, England. From them the multitude of Jewetts in this country are descended, among whom are included many persons of distinction in
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
At this date, 1733, the line between Byfield and this parish was settled "with Leonard Harriman 's widow and David pearsons to belong to the west parish of Rowley, and so Jedediah pearsons' Land to belong to Byfield." " Dea. Searl was chosen to go down to the Generall Court, to see what may be gotten of the town rents." December, 1735, the same was chosen to receive the money that the parish is to have of the
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.
3 decades in the archive, from the 1930s to the 1980s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Rowley. 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 Rowley.
No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.
Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Rowley’s page.
Retake this view · +15The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
Rowley’s post office has been open since 1806.
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
In 1638, according to Wikidata. Rowley’s post office opened in 1806, and the first U.S. census counted 1,772 people here in 1790.
Rowley is more historic than 86% of U.S. towns, #178 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.
4 listings: 4 buildings, among them the Chaplin-Clarke House (listed 1979, the first). 6 historic buildings in all.
23% of Rowley’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±5.7 points), against a typical 21% for a Massachusetts town; the median home was built in 1975.
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 (5), Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (4), Wikipedia, 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.
1940
2006
