Topsfield dates to 1635, and 13% of its homes were built before 1940
More historic than 87% of U.S. towns · #169 of 283 in Massachusetts. What drives it
9 places in town are on the National Register, among them the Parson Capen House, a National Historic Landmark, and two historic districts with 49 buildings between them. Below: 6 old photos and papers, maps from 1888 on, and the census since 1790.
Founding year: Wikidata. First post office: 1802.The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Topsfield’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Topsfield is more historic than 87% of U.S. towns, #169 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.
A
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Topsfield’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 Topsfield’s 86.8 sits near the middle of its state (61% of Massachusetts towns have fewer) while its 57 historic buildings outnumber those of 86% 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 (±6.2 points). Two sources give 1635.
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 Topsfield’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
The Agawam tribe inhabited Topsfield prior to and during the British colonization in the early seventeenth century. They were one of the Algonquian peoples. They claimed the land north of the Danvers River, the whole of Cape Ann and from there to the Merrimack River. However, the first European explorers had brought smallpox to New England, decimating all the shore tribes from the Penobscot River to Narragansett Bay in 1616.
Passages that mention Topsfield, cut from the printed page as they were published.
The history of Boxford, Essex County, Massachusetts, from the earliest settlement known to the present time1880 · page 21Read the page →
Read the text
23, 1658, in Topsfield, Mr. Gould “ joined himself and estate to Topsfield for seven years, or term of his life, or until a minister was settled in Rowley Village.” Ata meeting of the selectmen of Topsfield, March 10, 1661-62, he “ gives his farm into Topsfield forever, with all the privileges and appurtenances thereunto belonging.” This made the change in the line which is now seen on the map.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
The history of Boxford, Essex County, Massachusetts, from the earliest settlement known to the present time1880 · page 110Read the page →
Read the text
“We, whose names are underwritten, having been appointed by the town of Rowley May Ith, 1699, to empower the town of Boxford to settle bounds with the towns of Salem, Topsfield, Andover, and Bradford, or any other that the township of Rowley formerly granted was bordering upon; we do fully and absolutely grant and give to the town of Boxford as full power to settle any bounds, or run any line or lines, with any town or towns, farm or farms, that was formerly adjoining to the bounds of the town of Rowley before Boxford had 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.
By decade
Topsfield, decade by decade
2 decades in the archive, from the 1900s 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 1635, according to Wikidata. Topsfield’s post office opened in 1802, and the first U.S. census counted 780 people here in 1790.
How does Topsfield rank for history?
Topsfield is more historic than 87% of U.S. towns, #169 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 Topsfield?
9 listings: 7 buildings, among them the Parson Capen House (a National Historic Landmark since 1960), and 2 historic districts, the Topsfield Town Common District and the River Road-Cross Street Historic District, with 49 contributing buildings. 57 historic buildings in all.
How old are the homes in Topsfield?
13% of Topsfield’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±6.2 points), against a typical 21% for a Massachusetts town; the median home was built in 1969.
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 (9), 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.
1933
1936
1936
1936
★ Landmark
