Winthrop Town dates to 1630, and 55% of its homes were built before 1940
More historic than 98% of U.S. towns · #41 of 283 in Massachusetts. What drives it
5 places in town are on the National Register, among them two historic districts with 101 buildings between them. Below: 18 old photos and papers, maps from 1892 on, and the census since 1860.
Founding year: Wikidata. First post office: 1853.The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Winthrop Town’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Winthrop Town is more historic than 98% of U.S. towns, #41 of 283 in Massachusetts. All 3 inputs are above most U.S. towns; its share of homes from before 1940 ranks highest and its National Register listings lowest.
A+
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Winthrop 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 Winthrop Town’s 55.4 sits near the middle of its state (52% of Massachusetts towns have fewer) while its 104 historic buildings outnumber those of 90% of U.S. towns.
NoteThe founding year comes from Wikidata alone; no second source gives 1630.
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 (±4.6 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 Winthrop Town’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
On the map
Winthrop Town on the map, 1892 to 1997
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Winthrop Town. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1892Boston Bay 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 Winthrop Town.
Winthrop was settled in 1630 by English Puritan colonists as "Pullen Poynt" (Pulling Point), so named because the tides made hard pulling for boatmen. The present town is named after John Winthrop (1587–1649), second governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony and an English Puritan leader. On April 8, 1630, Winthrop departed from the Isle of Wight, England on the ship Arbella, arriving in Salem in June where he was met by John Endecott, the first governor of the colony. John Winthrop served as governor for twelve of the colony's first twenty years of existence. It was he who decided to base the colony at the Shawmut Peninsula, where he and other colonists founded what is now the City of Boston.
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 1630, according to Wikidata. Winthrop Town’s post office opened in 1853, and the census of 1860 counted 544 people here.
How does Winthrop Town rank for history?
Winthrop Town is more historic than 98% of U.S. towns, #41 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 Winthrop Town?
5 listings: 3 buildings, among them the Deane Winthrop House (listed 1990, the first), and 2 historic districts, the Winthrop Shore Dr., Metropolitan Park System of Greater Boston and the Winthrop Center/Metcalf Square Historic District, with 101 contributing buildings. 104 historic buildings in all.
How old are the homes in Winthrop Town?
55% of Winthrop Town’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±4.6 points), against a typical 21% for a Massachusetts town; the median home was built in 1938.
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 (17), the Library of Congress (1), the National Register of Historic Places (5), 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.
1901–1907
1903–1907
1904
1907–1915
1907–1915
1907–1915
c. 1911
c. 1911
1915–1930
c. 1916
c. 1917
1917
1920
1920s
