Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 83% of U.S. towns · #208 of 283 in Massachusetts. What drives it
Its Register listings are the Knowlton Hat Factory and the Upton Town Hall. Below: 6 old photos and papers, maps from 1886 on, and the census since 1790.
Upton dates its founding to 1728 (Wikipedia’s history). It appears in the first U.S. census, 1790.
More historic than 83% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Upton is more historic than 83% of U.S. towns, #208 of 283 in Massachusetts. Its age holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.
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 Upton’s 8.5 sits below most of its state (26% of Massachusetts towns have fewer) while its 7 historic buildings outnumber those of 73% of U.S. towns.
Founding year: Wikipedia (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.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Upton. 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 Upton.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
In the archiveHannah-taft marriage
Born hereElijah B. Stoddard is born here
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
In the archiveFiske's Pharmacy, Upton - postcardFrom Wikipedia’s history of Upton.
Archeological evidence indicates that present-day Upton began to be inhabited by indigenous peoples during the late Archaic Period. The area was originally settled by Algonquin peoples, but was mainly inhabited by Nipmuc peoples by the Woodland Period.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Passages that mention Upton, cut from the printed page as they were published.
accepted the position of master mechanic of the Fisher Manufacturing Company at Fisherville, Massachusetts. After eight years there and one year as engineer on the Grafton & Upton Railroad, he returned to LTxbridge to become master mechanic for the Capron Woolen Company. March 12, 1895, he bought of Jane Bacon his original farm of thirtytwo years acres at Uxbridge and conducted it un-
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
The town of Upton is situated in the south-east part of Worcester County. It is bounded on the north hy AVestl)orough and Ilopkinton, on the east by Hopkiuton and Jlilford, south by Mendon and Northbridge, and west by Grafton. The town contains thirteen thousand and eighty-four acres. The northern, eastern, and central parts are quite hilly and rocky ; the south part plain laud, with light soil. West River runs nearly the whole length of the town, rising in the east or north-easterly part of Grafton, joining the Centre Brook near the south part of the town, and running through Northbridge and
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Upton was incorporated June 25, 1735. The act of incorporation was formally passed June 14, 1735, O. S., in the following words: — " Whereas, the out lauds of the several towns of Sutton, Uxbridge, Mendon and Ilopkhiton are complctel_v filled with inhabitants who labor under difficulties by reason of their remoteness from i)laces of Public Worship in said towns, and have thereupon adihvssed this Court, that they may be set off, and vested with all the powers and privileges that other towns are vested in in this Province : Be it therefore enacted b^- his Excellency the Governor, Council and Representatives in General Court assembled, and
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
James, born April 28, 1696. 2. Ebenezer, born December 6, 1698. 3. Jonathan, born November 2, 1701, settled in Upton. 4. David, born May 30. 1704, settled in Upton. 5. Samuel, born May 21, 1706, settled in Upton. 6. Jane, born March 2, 1708-9. 7. Moses, born April 3, 1712. 8. Eliphalet, born August 15, 1714.
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.
2 decades in the archive, from the 1740s to the 1900s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
1901–1907Fiske's Pharmacy, Upton - postcardPostcard
1901–1907Knowlton Hat Factory and Main Street, West Upton - po…Postcard
1907–1915Tenements and Knowlton factory, West Upton - postcardPostcard
c. 1908Hotel Pleasant and Unitarian church, West Upton - 190…Postcard
c. 1909Central Square, Upton, Massachusetts - 1909 postcardPostcardFire insurance maps drew every building, what it was made of and what it was used for, so insurers could price the risk of fire. Pick a year, then a sheet.
1910Sheet 1 of 7Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
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 Upton’s page.
Retake this view · +15The 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.
Grew from 833 people in 1790 to 8,000 in 2020, 9 times over.
19 censuses, 1790–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Upton’s Wikipedia page.
Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.
Upton’s post office has been open since 1818.
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
In 1728, according to Wikipedia’s history of the town. Upton’s post office opened in 1818, and the first U.S. census counted 833 people here in 1790.
Upton is more historic than 83% of U.S. towns, #208 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.
Two places: the Knowlton Hat Factory (listed 1982) and the Upton Town Hall (1999).
19% of Upton’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±5.4 points), against a typical 21% for a Massachusetts town; the median home was built in 1981.
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 (6), the National Register of Historic Places (2), 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.
