Founding year: Wikidata; Wikipedia’s history section gives the same year. First post office: 1808.The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Townsend’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Townsend is more historic than 63% of U.S. towns, #265 of 283 in Massachusetts. Its age holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.
B
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Townsend’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 Townsend’s 0.0 sits below most of its state (3% of Massachusetts towns have fewer) while its 0 listings outnumber those of 23% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from C to A. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±4.1 points). Two sources give 1676.
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 Townsend’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Townsend was first settled by Europeans in 1676 in an area known by indigenous people of the area as Wistequassuck, and was officially incorporated in 1732. The town was named after Charles Townshend, English secretary of state and an opponent of the Tories. The town initially used the same spelling as its namesake, but the "h" was dropped in patriotic fervor in response to the Townshend Acts of 1767. The current spelling of Townsend became official by 1780.
Passages that mention Townsend, cut from the printed page as they were published.
History of Middlesex County, Massachusetts1890 · page 595Read the page →
Read the text
There was a mail-route established between Lowell and Worcester in 1832, which gave the Harbor a postoffice at that early date. The post-office at Townsend Centre was discontinued in 1834, because the returns to the department were not made as promptly as was required, so that all mail matter for Townsend, from October, 1834, to April 11, 1835, came to Townsend Harbor.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
History of Middlesex County, Massachusetts1890 · page 571Read the page →
Read the text
ways, since which time the correct method of spelling has been abandoned, perhaps contrary to the principles of good taste or jastice. The town has three postal centres, known as Townsend Harbor, Townsend and West Townsend, each situated about two miles from the other and clustering on both banks of the Squanicook. The Peterborough and Shirley Railroad, a branch of the Fitchburg Railroad
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
Townsend, decade by decade
4 decades in the archive, from the 1900s to the 1980s. 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.
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 1676, according to Wikidata and Wikipedia’s history of the town. Townsend’s post office opened in 1808, and the first U.S. census counted 993 people here in 1790.
How does Townsend rank for history?
Townsend is more historic than 63% of U.S. towns, #265 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.
How old are the homes in Townsend?
17% of Townsend’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±4.1 points), against a typical 21% for a Massachusetts town; the median home was built in 1976.
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), 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, Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress) 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.
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