West Springfield Town dates to 1660, and 28% of its homes were built before 1940
More historic than 86% of U.S. towns · #181 of 283 in Massachusetts. What drives it
Its Register listings are the Josiah Day House and the Our Mother of Sorrows Monastery and Retreat Center. Below: 6 old photos and papers, maps from 1886 on, and the census since 1790.
Founding year: Wikidata. First post office: 1802.The full story ↓
History grade
What drives West Springfield Town’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, West Springfield Town is more historic than 86% of U.S. towns, #181 of 283 in Massachusetts. Its age holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.
A
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of West Springfield Town’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 West Springfield Town’s 1.7 sits below most of its state (11% of Massachusetts towns have fewer) while its 5 historic buildings outnumber those of 70% of U.S. towns.
NoteThe founding year comes from Wikidata alone; no second source gives 1660.
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 (±3.6 points).
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 West Springfield Town’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Lost post offices, old corners and burying grounds
Five other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.
West Springfield
1802–1902
Ireland
1822–1883
Ashleyville
1837–1880
Mittineaque
1851–1930
Merrick
1880–1902
West Springfield
1930–today
18001910today
Hamlets and corners on the map
AmostownAshleyvilleBrush Hill Mobile Home ParkCayenneMerrickMittineaguePaucatuckRiverdaleTathamWest Springfield
4cemeteries and burying grounds inside West Springfield Town
AshleyBeth IsraelPaucatuckSaint Thomas
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
On the map
West Springfield Town on the map, 1886 to 1920
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of West Springfield Town. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1886Springfield sheet · 1:62,500
U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of West Springfield Town.
Timeline
West Springfield Town, 1660 to 2020
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
The area that became known as West Springfield was settled in 1635. The settlers fled to higher ground on the east side of the river and founded Springfield in the aftermath of the great hurricane of 1635. West Springfield was good farm land, so some families did stay on the west side.
Other than the trade in beaver skins, economic activity in early colonial Springfield consisted largely of subsistence farming and animal husbandry, with barter being the preferred medium of exchange for neighbors' crops, and locally produced goods. Gristmills and saw mills were also present in the early settlement.
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 1660, according to Wikidata. West Springfield Town’s post office opened in 1802, and the first U.S. census counted 2,367 people here in 1790.
How does West Springfield Town rank for history?
West Springfield Town is more historic than 86% of U.S. towns, #181 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 West Springfield Town?
Two places: the Josiah Day House (listed 1975) and the Our Mother of Sorrows Monastery and Retreat Center (2002).
How old are the homes in West Springfield Town?
28% of West Springfield Town’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±3.6 points), against a typical 21% for a Massachusetts town; the median home was built in 1958.
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) and the USGS Geographic Names Information System. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
c. 1930
c. 1930
c. 1930
1933
