The story
Read it all →How Southampton came to be
From Wikipedia’s history of Southampton.
In 1964, U.S. Senator Ted Kennedy was involved in a plane crash in the town.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
AHistory
History · Southampton
Southampton dates to 1732, and 3 of its places are on the National Register
More historic than 86% of U.S. towns · #183 of 283 in Massachusetts. What drives it
Most of Southampton was built recently: 9% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1983. 3 places in town are on the National Register, among them two historic districts with 95 buildings between them. Below: 6 old photos and papers, maps from 1886 on, and the census since 1790.
1732founded
3on the National Register
9%homes built before 1940
6old photos & papers
5famous people
Quick answers
How Southampton began
When was Southampton founded?
1732
Southampton dates its founding to 1732 (Wikipedia’s history). It appears in the first U.S. census, 1790.
First census: 829 in 17902020 census: 6,224294 years
How historic is Southampton?
A
What drives the grade ↓More historic than 86% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
Founding year: Wikipedia. First post office: 1819.The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Southampton’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Southampton is more historic than 86% of U.S. towns, #183 of 283 in Massachusetts. Its age holds the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.
A
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Southampton’s overall grade.
Founding era1732, from Wikipedia: founded before 1776, an older era than 96% of U.S. townsA+Homes built before 19408.5% of homes (±3.8) · typical MA town 21.1% · U.S. 8.4%C+National Register3 listings, 95 historic buildings, 152 per 10,000 residents · typical MA town 46.0 · U.S. 2.4A−
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 86%
NewerOlder
Massachusetts towns of 2,500+ (283)Ahead of 35%
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 Southampton’s 152 sits above most of its state (72% of Massachusetts towns have fewer) while its 95 historic buildings outnumber those of 89% of U.S. towns.
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 (±3.8 points). Two sources give 1732.
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 Southampton’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
★ What stands out · On the map
Southampton on the map, 1886 to 1998
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Southampton. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1886Springfield sheet · 1:62,500U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Southampton.
On the National Register
3 listings protect 95 historic buildings
The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.
places listed
3
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
95
each building in a district counts
first listed
1991
Southampton Center Historic District
DistrictsSites
Architectural styles listings
Georgian2
Federal2
Greek Revival1
Gothic Revival1
Italianate1
Queen Anne1
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
Timeline
Southampton, 1732 to 1939
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
- 18th century
- 1732FoundingSouthampton is established
- 1794
In the archivePlan of Southampton surveyed by Daniel Barrett, dated December, 1794. - DPLA - 3913590624… - 19th century
- 1809
Born hereAlvan Wentworth Chapman is born here - 1813
Born hereSilas Chapman is born here - 1816
Born hereSamuel C. Pomeroy is born here - 1819Post officeThe Southampton post office opens
- 1830
In the archivePlan of Southampton made by Justus Dwight, dated November 1830 - DPLA - 860f2bd593f44a9d3… - 1886
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey - 1888Born hereGenevieve Fox is born here
- 20th century
- 1939
In the archiveLand Utilization Town of Southampton - DPLA - 65057afaf7012bf9ea516fc7f834d806
From the old history books
What they wrote about Southampton in 1841
Passages that mention Southampton, cut from the printed page as they were published.
Address delivered at Southampton, Mass.1841Read the page →
Read the text
to come and settle with us as a doctor, and to report to the town at the fall meeting.” In the following spring, the same committee were directed to “ inform Mr. Sylvester Woodbridge of South Hadley, that the town of Southampton would be glad, that he would come and settle with them as doctor.”* At an earlier period, the town were equally so¬ licitous to procure a blacksmith. A most respectable com¬ mittee were appointed to superintend the7 erection of a shop
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Address delivered at Southampton, Mass.1841Read the page →
Read the text
ged in the responsible duties of their different vocations.* The county of Hampshire has furnished more students for college, with possibly a single exception, than any other county in the United States. The town of Southampton, it may be said, without any undue exultation, is in this re¬ spect at the head of the county. In that which is paramount to all things merely political or social, it is the banner town, of the banner county, of the banner State. Of these forty-
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
Southampton, decade by decade
3 decades in the archive, from the 1790s to the 1930s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
1930s4 items
1939
1939
19391940s–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 albumThen & 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.
Retake this viewLand Utilization Town of Southampton - DPLA - 65057afaf7012bf9ea516fc7f834d806, 1939
Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Southampton’s page.
Retake this view · +15People over time
Southampton, census by census
Grew from 829 people in 1790 to 6,224 in 2020, 7 times over.
19 censuses, 1790–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Southampton’s Wikipedia page.
Famous people
See all →5 famous people were born in Southampton
Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.
Places that used to be
Old corners and burying grounds
Southampton’s post office has been open since 1819.
Hamlets and corners on the map
FomerRussellvilleSwanson Corners
1cemetery inside Southampton
Southampton Center
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Help out
Finish Southampton’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.Stories next door
History across the town line
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
Questions about Southampton’s history
What year was Southampton founded?
In 1732, according to Wikipedia’s history of the town. Southampton’s post office opened in 1819, and the first U.S. census counted 829 people here in 1790.
How does Southampton rank for history?
Southampton is more historic than 86% of U.S. towns, #183 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 Southampton?
Three places: the Southampton Center Historic District (listed 1991), the Lockville Historic District (2001) and the Center Cemetery (2013).
How old are the homes in Southampton?
9% of Southampton’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±3.8 points), against a typical 21% for a Massachusetts town; the median home was built in 1983.
Memory lane
What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.
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).
From Wikimedia Commons (6), the National Register of Historic Places (3), 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.