Wenham dates to 1635, and 17% of its homes were built before 1940
More historic than 93% of U.S. towns · #114 of 283 in Massachusetts. What drives it
8 places in town are on the National Register, among them a historic district with 88 buildings. Below: 8 old photos and papers, maps from 1888 on, and the census since 1790.
Founding year: Wikidata; Wikipedia’s history section gives the same year. First post office: 1809.The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Wenham’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Wenham is more historic than 93% of U.S. towns, #114 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 Wenham’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 Wenham’s 195 sits above most of its state (76% of Massachusetts towns have fewer) while its 96 historic buildings outnumber those of 89% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from A− to A+. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±7.9 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 Wenham’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Wenham was settled in 1635 and officially incorporated in 1643.
English settlers came to Wenham in the 1630s, but the area had been home to the Agawam people, an Eastern Algonquian tribe whose numbers were greatly reduced by a massive epidemic around 1617, possibly smallpox.
Three grandchildren of Agawam Chief Masconomet pressed a claim to the lands of Wenham, Beverly, and Manchester in 1700, and Wenham selectmen paid them three pounds and ten shillings for the quitclaim. Indian artifacts were found frequently throughout Wenham, and a representative collection is in the possession of the Wenham Museum.
In a list of persons among whom the marsh and meadow lands were divided in 1640, his share was three-fourths of an acre, he having at that time a family of five persons. In 1646 he was in Wenham and was sworn as a constable. At the first town meeting held in Wenham, 1654, he was chosen Graineryman.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
This may certify whom it may concern that Stephen Patch and Ruth Sloan, both of Wenham, on October 26, 1728, and Elijah Dodge, of Beverly, and Elizabeth Moulton, of Wenham, on November 22, 1728, were married by Robert Ward, pastor of the church in Wenham.
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
Wenham, decade by decade
6 decades in the archive, from the 1690s 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 1635, according to Wikidata and Wikipedia’s history of the town. Wenham’s post office opened in 1809, and the first U.S. census counted 502 people here in 1790.
How does Wenham rank for history?
Wenham is more historic than 93% of U.S. towns, #114 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 Wenham?
8 listings: 7 buildings, among them the Claflin-Richards House (listed 1973, the first), and 1 historic district, the Wenham Historic District, with 88 contributing buildings. 96 historic buildings in all.
How old are the homes in Wenham?
17% of Wenham’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±7.9 points), against a typical 21% for a Massachusetts town; the median home was built in 1961.
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 (26), the Library of Congress (1), the National Register of Historic Places (8), 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.
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