Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 94% of U.S. towns · #97 of 283 in Massachusetts. What drives it
32 places in town are on the National Register, among them five historic districts with 115 buildings between them. Below: 3 old photos and papers, maps from 1949 on, and the census since 1790.
Swansea dates its founding to 1662 (Wikidata). It appears in the first U.S. census, 1790.
More historic than 94% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Swansea is more historic than 94% of U.S. towns, #97 of 283 in Massachusetts. All 3 inputs are above most U.S. towns; its age ranks highest and its share of homes from before 1940 lowest.
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 Swansea’s 93.3 sits near the middle of its state (62% of Massachusetts towns have fewer) while its 162 historic buildings outnumber those of 92% 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.
The 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.
Swansea’s post office has been open since 1799. Seven other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Swansea’s history is told.
From Wikipedia’s history of Swansea.
Swansea was named after the Welsh city of Swansea, which had been the hometown of some original settlers. John Miles, the founder of the first Baptist Church in Wales, moved to Swansea c. 1662. William Brenton had purchased the land from Native Americans. Parts of its territory were originally part of Rehoboth, Massachusetts.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
BuiltBenjamin Cole House is builtBuiltBend of the Lane is built
Born hereOliver Chace is born here
BuiltSmuggler's House is built
Born hereJoshua K. Ingalls is born hereBuiltBark Street School is built
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
In the archiveSeal of
In the archiveFlag of
Born hereBob Evans is born here
In the archivePolish Princess piano statue3 decades in the archive, from the 1960s to the 1980s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Swansea. 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 Swansea.
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 Swansea’s page.
Retake this view · +15Grew from 1,784 people in 1790 to 17,144 in 2020, 9 times over.
19 censuses, 1790–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Swansea’s Wikipedia page.
Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
In 1662, according to Wikidata. Swansea’s post office opened in 1799, and the first U.S. census counted 1,784 people here in 1790.
Swansea is more historic than 94% of U.S. towns, #97 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.
32 listings: 26 buildings, among them the Luther Store (listed 1978, the first), and 5 historic districts with 115 contributing buildings. 162 historic buildings in all.
22% of Swansea’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±4.4 points), against a typical 21% for a Massachusetts town; the median home was built in 1966.
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 (8), Wikidata (4), the National Register of Historic Places (31), 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) and the USGS Geographic Names Information System. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
2017
2017
2017
2015
2008
