Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 88% of U.S. towns · #164 of 283 in Massachusetts. What drives it
7 places in town are on the National Register, among them two historic districts with 46 buildings between them. Below: 5 old photos and papers, maps from 1885 on, and the census since 1850.
West Boylston dates its founding to 1642 (Wikidata). The census first counted it in 1850.
More historic than 88% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, West Boylston is more historic than 88% of U.S. towns, #164 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 West Boylston’s 64.3 sits near the middle of its state (56% of Massachusetts towns have fewer) while its 50 historic buildings outnumber those of 85% 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.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
BuiltBenjamin Flagg House is built
Born hereDavid Lee Child is born here
Born hereErastus Brigham Bigelow is born here
Born hereEdwin Holmes is born here
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
BuiltOld Stone Church is built
In the archiveWest Boylston Massachusetts 1891
BuiltBeaman Memorial Public Library is builtEvery edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of West Boylston. 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 West Boylston.
Lost half of its people between 1890 and 1910, then grew 6-fold.
18 censuses, 1850–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on West Boylston’s Wikipedia page.
From Wikipedia’s history of West Boylston.
West Boylston was originally part of several neighboring towns—Lancaster, Shrewsbury, Boylston, Holden and Sterling. The town was created as part of a dispute between Boylston and West Boylston over the location of a new town meeting house. The town was officially incorporated in 1808.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Passages that mention West Boylston, cut from the printed page as they were published.
tion of state taxes, previous to a ne^v general valuation, there shall be seventeen cents deducted from the town of Ilolden, as it no"w stands in the aggregate, and set to the said town of West Boylston. And the expense of representative, until this act shall be in force, shall be paid by the said towns of Ilolden and West Boylston, in the same proportion which they have heretofore paid.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Sect. 2. And be it further enacted, That any persons, with their families and estates, who dwell within the limits of the said town of West Boylston, and who were not originally incorporated in said second precinct, by the provisions in said act, and who shall choose to belong to the town to which such persons now belong, and shall certify such choice in writing, to the clerk of said town of West Boylston, within six months from the first Monday in March next, such persons, who so
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
At the commencement and during the progress of the war of the American Revolution, the inhabitants of the district now comprising the town of West Boylston, were zealous and active in efforts to obtain and secure for themselves and the Colonies, liberty and independence. Major Beaman was a prominent and leading spirit in this important and patriotic enterprise, while others around him were also firm and determined in favor of freedom and
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.
One decade in the archive so far: the 1890s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
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 West Boylston’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.
Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.
West Boylston’s post office has been open since 1812.
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 1642, according to Wikidata. West Boylston’s post office opened in 1812, and the census of 1850 counted 1,749 people here.
West Boylston is more historic than 88% of U.S. towns, #164 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.
7 listings: 3 buildings, among them the Old Stone Church (listed 1973, the first), 2 historic districts, the Bigelow Tavern Historic District and the Oakdale Village Historic District, with 46 contributing buildings, 1 site, and 1 structure. 50 historic buildings in all.
15% of West Boylston’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±4.5 points), against a typical 21% for a Massachusetts town; the median home was built in 1967.
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 (5), Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (7), 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.
1896
1896
1896
1898