Founding year: Wikidata. First post office: 1808.The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Stow’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Stow is more historic than 86% of U.S. towns, #179 of 283 in Massachusetts. All 3 inputs are above most U.S. towns; its age ranks highest and its National Register listings lowest.
A
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Stow’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 Stow’s 11.2 sits below most of its state (27% of Massachusetts towns have fewer) while its 8 historic buildings outnumber those of 74% 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 (±7.3 points). Two sources give 1660.
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 Stow’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Previous to its incorporation in 1683, Stow was called Pompositticut Plantation. Stow was officially incorporated in 1683. The earliest Colonial settlers, c. 1660, were Matthew Boon and John Kettell, who settled the land of Tantamous (Jethro), a Native American, whose land was called "Pompocitticut." Boon settled by a pond (later bearing his name: Lake Boon) with a vast tract of land surrounding him. It is said that he traded all this for a single jackknife. A monument bearing his name is located on the plot of land where he formerly resided. John Kettell took up residence in a portion of land in the southwestern corner of Stow where another monument marks the alleged site of his farm. Both families were affected by King Philip's War, an attempt by Native Americans to drive out colonists. Boon and Kettell were killed. Their families had been moved to other locations, and survived. The a…
Passages that mention Stow, cut from the printed page as they were published.
History of Middlesex County, Massachusetts1890 · page 304Read the page →
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The grandfather of Moses Taylor was Silas Taylor, a resident of Stow, formerly of Watertown. He commanded a company from Stow in the battle of Bennington, Vermont, August 16, 1777, and was present at the capture of Burgoyne. He was for many years a justice of the peace in Stow, and town clerk, and did most of the marrying and other town business.
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History of Middlesex County, Massachusetts1890Read the page →
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The town of Stow is situated in the west part of Middlesex, and adjoins Worcester County. It is about twenty-five miles a little north of west from Boston, and nearly eight south of west from Concord. It was originally noted for two quite conspicuous hills, known as Pompasittacult and Shabbukin, which are now respectively within the bounds of Maynard and Harvard. There are, however, within its borders, at
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History of the town of Lexington, Middlesex County, Massachusetts, from its first settlement to 18681913 · page 486Read the page →
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iv. David Patterson, b. 8 Nov. 1838; m. 17 Feb. 1876 Sarah Abby Turner of Stow; d. at Cambridge 3 Aug. 1910. They resided at Cambridge. He practised law at Cambridge previous to the Rebellion. He enlisted 23 May 1861 in the 1st Mass. Inf'y, and was in the first battle of Bull Run, Va., July 1861; was six months a private, then commissioned second lieutenant; was in the battles of Roanoke Island and Newbern, N. C, under Gen. Burnside. He was promoted to first lieutenant, and detailed by Gen. Banks as deputy provost marshal of Baton Rouge,
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A history of the town of Concord, Middlesex County, Massachusetts1835 · page 193Read the page →
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tive churches, composed the council, of which the Rev. Dr. Kendall was moderator, and Thomas B. Gannett scribe. The church in Harvard College, the Twelfth church in Boston, the Second in Waltham, the First in Cambridge, and the churches in Stow and Sudbury, were also represented in the council by a delegate, the pastors being engaged at the same time in an ordination at Natick.
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
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Weddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
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In 1660, according to Wikidata. Stow’s post office opened in 1808, and the first U.S. census counted 801 people here in 1790.
How does Stow rank for history?
Stow is more historic than 86% of U.S. towns, #179 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 Stow?
5 listings: 5 buildings, among them the Brown-Stow House (listed 1990, the first). 8 historic buildings in all.
How old are the homes in Stow?
22% of Stow’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±7.3 points), against a typical 21% for a Massachusetts town; the median home was built in 1974.
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 Wikidata (5), the National Register of Historic Places (5), 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.
