Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 93% of U.S. towns · #118 of 283 in Massachusetts. What drives it
4 places in town are on the National Register, among them a historic district with 61 buildings. Below: 5 old photos and papers, maps from 1887 on, and the census since 1790.
Westminster dates its founding to 1737 (Wikidata and Wikipedia’s history agree). It appears in the first U.S. census, 1790.
More historic than 93% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Westminster is more historic than 93% of U.S. towns, #118 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 Westminster’s 89.6 sits near the middle of its state (61% of Massachusetts towns have fewer) while its 75 historic buildings outnumber those of 88% 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.
Westminster’s post office has been open since 1804. Four other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Westminster. 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 Westminster.
Lost a third of its people between 1850 and 1900, then grew 6-fold.
19 censuses, 1790–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Westminster’s Wikipedia page.
From Wikipedia’s history of Westminster.
Westminster was first settled by Europeans in 1737, and was officially incorporated in 1759.
Westminster has four entries in the National Register of Historic Places: Ahijah Wood House, Nathan Wood House, Ezra Wood-Levi Warner Place, and Westminster Village-Academy Hill Historic District.
Westminster was the site of Westminster Academy, incorporated in 1833.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Passages that mention Westminster, cut from the printed page as they were published.
The action of the board is noted in the clerk's book of records as follows : "By Virtue of a Law of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and By order of the Town of Westminster, We the Subscribers Selectmen of the Town of Westminster for the year 1795, do agree to arrect the Following guide posts at the Crotch of the following Roads " I post Stands neer Oliver Whitcomb's [now Albert E. Smith's] with two Bords on s^ post the inscription on s^ Bords To Ashburnham to Winchen-
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
''Westminster Apr. 11, 1825. To the Gentlemen Selectmen of the town of Westminster. — We, the subscribers, inhabitants of said town, who with many others have procured a Fire Engine for the use of said town, and as there is no select company to take care and manage the same in case of fire, request you gentlemen to take from the Militia Companies in this town such persons as your wisdom may dictate to take charge of said Fire Engine and manage the same whenever necessery.
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.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
BuiltAhijah Wood House is built
In the archivePlan of Westminster, surveyor's name not given, dated May 6, 1795. - DPLA - 51235e5009a6c…
In the archivePlan of Westminster, surveyor's name not given, dated June 1831 - DPLA - c8096833df7f0f82…
Born hereGeneral Nelson A. Miles is born here
Born hereWilliam H. Upham is born here
Born hereFrederick Spaulding Coolidge is born here
Born hereMarcus A. Coolidge is born here
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
In the archiveFitchburg and Gardner Street Railway powerhouse postcard3 decades in the archive, from the 1790s to the 1900s. 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 Westminster’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.
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 1737, according to Wikidata and Wikipedia’s history of the town. Westminster’s post office opened in 1804, and the first U.S. census counted 1,176 people here in 1790.
Westminster is more historic than 93% of U.S. towns, #118 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.
4 listings: 3 buildings and 1 historic district, the Westminster Village-Academy Hill Historic District, with 61 contributing buildings. 75 historic buildings in all.
20% of Westminster’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±8.2 points), against a typical 21% for a Massachusetts town; the median home was built in 1977.
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 (4), 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.
1838
1908
