Founding year: Wikidata. First post office: 1810.The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Southwick’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Southwick is more historic than 76% of U.S. towns, #241 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 Southwick’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 Southwick’s 4.3 sits below most of its state (20% of Massachusetts towns have fewer) while its 4 historic buildings outnumber those of 68% of U.S. towns.
NoteThe founding year comes from Wikidata alone; no second source gives 1770.
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 (±3.6 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 Southwick’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Southwick was originally inhabited by either the Matitacooke, Mayawaug, or Woronoake Native American tribes.
In the mid-17th century, pioneering English explorers moving up the Connecticut River Valley in search of fertile farmlands and game discovered the area and settled Southwick. It became a farming community, defined as the Southern (South-) village (-wick) part of the town of Westfield. Early on, it was nicknamed "Poverty Plains" because the land was thought to be infertile. Its first residential home was built by Samuel Fowler and his wife Naomi Noble on what is now College Highway (US 202 and MA 10), approximately one-quarter mile (0.4 km) north of the current town center.
The Congregational church of Southwick, dates its history to the year 1773, and appears to have been less dependent upon the town than many of the churches whose organization antedated the revolution. Still, in Southwick, tlie town did give material support to the mother church. The first pastor was Rev. Abel Forward. 1778 to 178(), and the second was Rev. Isaac ( 208 )
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Southwick attained its maximum population in 1830, since which time there has been a gradual though not serious decrease in number of inhabitants. At the time of the colonial census in 1776 the town had 841 inhabitants, and at the time of the fii-st regular federal census in 1790, the number was exactly the same.
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
Southwick, decade by decade
5 decades in the archive, from the 1790s to the 1930s. 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 1770, according to Wikidata. Southwick’s post office opened in 1810, and the first U.S. census counted 841 people here in 1790.
How does Southwick rank for history?
Southwick is more historic than 76% of U.S. towns, #241 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 Southwick?
One place: the Laflin-Phelps Homestead (listed 2005).
How old are the homes in Southwick?
13% of Southwick’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±3.6 points), against a typical 21% for a Massachusetts town; the median home was built in 1978.
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 (1), 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.
2007