History · Worcester

Worcester has 283 places on the National Register, 2 of them National Historic Landmarks

More historic than 97% of U.S. towns · #47 of 283 in Massachusetts. What drives it

Dated to 1673 (Wikidata), with 41% of its homes built before 1940 and 34 historic districts holding 899 contributing buildings. Below: 7 old photos and papers, maps from 1885 on, the census since 1790, and every listing on the Register.

1673founded

283on the National Register

41%homes built before 1940

7old photos & papers

28famous people

Add an old photo Share a memory

From Worcester’s archive · credits on each photo

Quick answers

How Worcester began

When was Worcester founded?

1673

Worcester dates its founding to 1673 (Wikidata). It appears in the first U.S. census, 1790.

First census: 2,095 in 17902020 census: 206,518353 years

How historic is Worcester?

A⁺

More historic than 97% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓

Founding year: Wikidata. First post office: 1787.The full story ↓

History grade

What drives Worcester’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Worcester is more historic than 97% of U.S. towns, #47 of 283 in Massachusetts. All 3 inputs are above most U.S. towns; its age ranks highest and its National Register listings lowest.

A⁺

HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Worcester’s overall grade.

Founding era1673, from Wikidata: founded before 1776, an older era than 96% of U.S. townsA⁺Homes built before 194040.8% of homes (±1.3) · typical MA town 21.1% · U.S. 8.4%A National Register283 listings, 899 historic buildings, 43.4 per 10,000 residents · typical MA town 46.0 · U.S. 2.4B⁺

All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 97%

NewerOlder

Massachusetts towns of 2,500+ (283)Ahead of 84%

Among the 400 U.S. cities of 100,000 or more, Worcester ranks #31 on History.

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 Worcester’s 43.4 sits near the middle of its state (46% of Massachusetts towns have fewer) while its 899 historic buildings outnumber those of 98% of U.S. towns.

NoteThe founding year comes from Wikidata alone; no second source gives 1673.

How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from A to A+. The pre-1940 share (±1.3 points) is firm at this size.

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 Worcester’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

A National Historic Landmark283 places on the National Register, 2 of them National Historic Landmarks.Lost villages4 post offices opened and closed inside today’s Worcester, and 49 old place names are still on the map.On the map since 18857 editions of the USGS map, 1885 to 1983. Watch Worcester change.A historic districtThe Indian Hill-North Village takes in 93 historic buildings.

★ What stands out · On the National Register

283 listings protect 899 historic buildings

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving. 2 are National Historic Landmarks, the highest tier. Boundary changes and added documentation are counted with their listing.

places listed

283

National Historic Landmarks

American Antiquarian Society

historic buildings protected

899

each building in a district counts

first listed

1968

American Antiquarian Society

BuildingsDistrictsSitesStructures★ landmark

Architectural styles listings

Queen Anne35

Greek Revival25

Colonial Revival22

Classical Revival22

Romanesque Revival21

Italianate20

★ Landmark

American Antiquarian SocietyGeorgian Revival

★ Landmark

Liberty FarmFederal · Built 1810

Elm ParkStructure

Massachusetts Avenue Historic DistrictColonial

Mechanics HallItalianate

G.A.R. HallHigh Victorian

Salisbury Mansion and StoreClassical Revival · Built 1772

Salisbury HouseGreek Revival

All 284 listings

National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.

Places that used to be

Lost post offices, old corners, places now gone and burying grounds

Worcester’s post office has been open since 1787. Four other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.

Worcester

1787–today

Quinsigamond

1882–1894

Lakeview

1887–1894

Barbers

1888–1889

Greendale

1889–1894

17801900today

Hamlets and corners on the map

Beaver BrookBelmont HillBeverly RoadBloomingdaleBrittan SquareBurncoatCambridgeChadwick SquareChandler HillCollege HillColumbus ParkGreat Brook ValleyGreendaleHamiltonHammond HeightsHeard StreetIslandJamesvilleJune StreetLakeviewLudlowMassasoitMill StreetNew Worcester

Gone or out of use

Adriatic MillslocaleAsh Street SchoolschoolBarbers CrossinglocaleBarbers Crossing StationlocaleBarbers StationlocaleDavis TowertowerFreeland Street SchoolschoolGreendale StationlocaleJamesville StationlocaleLakeview Post Officepost officeNotre Dame Normal InstituteschoolStearns TavernbuildingSummit StationlocaleThe OvalparkWorcester Center Gallerialocale

6cemeteries and burying grounds inside Worcester

Bnai BrithHopeNotre DameOld SwedishRural Cemetery and CrematorySaint Johns

US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

On the map

Worcester on the map, 1885 to 1983

Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Worcester. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.

1885Worcester 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 Worcester.

The story

How Worcester came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Worcester.

Read it all →

The area was inhabited by members of the Nipmuc tribe at the time of European contact. The native people called the region Quinsigamond and built a settlement on Pakachoag Hill in Auburn.

In 1673, English settlers John Eliot and Daniel Gookin led an expedition to Quinsigamond to establish a new Christian Indian praying town and identify a new location for an English settlement. On July 13, 1674, Gookin obtained a deed to eight square miles (21 km2) of land in Quinsigamond from the Nipmuc people and English traders and settlers began to inhabit the region.

ChaptersUrban changes and recovery Since 1997

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

From the old history books

What they wrote about Worcester, 1862–1900

Passages that mention Worcester, cut from the printed page as they were published.

memberment. June 23, 1773, a precinct was erected, extending three miles into Worcester, three into Oxford, three into Leicester, and one mile and a half into Sutton, measured from the place designated for the new meeting house, along the roads then travelled. This district, which was denominated t… — **History of Worcester, Massachusetts, from its earliest settlement to 1861**1862 · page 140Read the page →
Read the text
memberment. June 23, 1773, a precinct was erected, extending three miles into Worcester, three into Oxford, three into Leicester, and one mile and a half into Sutton, measured from the place designated for the new meeting house, along the roads then travelled. This district, which was denominated the South Parish of Worcester, was incorporated, April 10, 1778, as the town of Ward, receiving its name from Artemas Ward, Esq., a brave general of the revolution, member of the Council of the Provincial Congress, judge of the County Courts, and representative in Congress. About thirty families were
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.

Although it miglit be a task and a tax on the industry of one individual, to compile the history of Worcester from its first settlement in 1664 to 1836, a period of one hundred and seventy-two years, without authentic records, and ■without a living man to gain any thing of by tradition, yet the wor… — **History of Worcester, Massachusetts, from its earliest settlement to 1861**1862Read the page →
Read the text
Although it miglit be a task and a tax on the industry of one individual, to compile the history of Worcester from its first settlement in 1664 to 1836, a period of one hundred and seventy-two years, without authentic records, and ■without a living man to gain any thing of by tradition, yet the work haa been accomplished, and the public has been favored with the history of the Town from its first attempt at settlement to 1836, by William Lincoln, Esq., whose indefatigable labors have done more for the history of Worcester than any man now living. Upon the death of Mr. Lincoln, who was then styled
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.

Worcester, Massachusetts. 131 No ease so thoroughly interested the public at large as the arrest, subsequent conviction, and escape of John Reed, as clever a bunco-man as ever operated in New England. He was arrested in Clinton Nov. 19, 1897, by officers of that town on the charge of gaming. He was… — **History of the Department of Police Service of Worcester, Mass., from 1674 to 1900, historical and biographical**1900 · page 130Read the page →
Read the text
Worcester, Massachusetts. 131 No ease so thoroughly interested the public at large as the arrest, subsequent conviction, and escape of John Reed, as clever a bunco-man as ever operated in New England. He was arrested in Clinton Nov. 19, 1897, by officers of that town on the charge of gaming. He was hurrying out of the city, and had with him a partner believed to be "Lou" Ludlum, also a bunco-man, who escaped. It was found a few days later that Charles R. Brown of
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.

Timeline

Worcester, 1673 to 1914

Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.

17th century
1673
FoundingWorcester is established
18th century
1772BuiltSalisbury Mansion and Store is built
1787Post officeThe Worcester post office opens
1793In the archive1793 Worcester Associate Library Company Massachusetts
19th century
1810BuiltLiberty Farm is built
1837In the archiveView of Worchester, Mass. Taken from Union Hill
1850In the archive1940 Census Enumeration District Descriptions - Massachusetts - Worcester County - ED 23-…
1877BuiltAddison Prentiss House is built
1882Born hereRobert H. Goddard is born here
1882Post officeThe Quinsigamond post office opens
1885On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
1887Post officeThe Lakeview post office opens
1894BuiltAbbott Street School is built
1894Post officeThe Quinsigamond post office closes
1894Post officeThe Lakeview post office closes
1895In the archiveSalem square-Worcester Massachusetts 1895c
20th century
1911Born hereElizabeth Bishop is born here
1914Born hereArthur Kennedy is born here

By decade

Worcester, decade by decade

4 decades in the archive, from the 1790s to the 1890s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1790s1 item

17931793 Worcester Associate Library Company MassachusettsDocument

1830s–1850s3 items

1837View of Worchester, Mass. Taken from Union HillDocument

1940 Census Enumeration District Descriptions - Massachusetts - Worcester County - ED 23-27, ED 23-28, ED 23-29, ED 23-…

18501940 Census Enumeration District Descriptions - Massa…

1853Verso City Bank (Worcester Mass.) 2 dollars 1853

1890s3 items

1895Salem square-Worcester Massachusetts 1895c

1898Armory, Worcester, MassPostcard

1898Art Museum, Worcester, MassPostcard

1900s–1990snothing yet

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.

Add from your album

Every building

Worcester, building by building, 1892–1910

Fire insurance maps drew every building, what it was made of and what it was used for, so insurers could price the risk of fire. Pick a year, then a sheet.

Worcester fire insurance map, 1892, sheet 2

1892Sheet 2 of 117

Edition

Sheets

+116 more at the Library of Congress

BrickWoodStone

Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.

Then & now

Stand where they stood

No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.

Retake this view1940 Census Enumeration District Descriptions - Massachusetts - Worcester County - ED 23-27, ED 23-28, ED 23-29, ED 23-…, 1850

Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Worcester’s page.

Retake this view · +15

People over time

Worcester, census by census

Grew from 2,095 people in 1790 to 206,518 in 2020, more than tenfold.

24 censuses, 1790–2020.

U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Worcester’s Wikipedia page.

Famous people

28 famous people were born in Worcester

Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.

See all →

Robert H. GoddardAmerican physicist · b. 1882

Elizabeth BishopAmerican poet · b. 1911

Alicia WittAmerican actress and singer-songwriter · b. 1975

Arthur KennedyAmerican actor · b. 1914

John AdamsAmerican composer · b. 1947

Ronald DworkinAmerican legal philosopher · b. 1931

Help out

Finish Worcester’s story

Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.

Decades since 1900 with photos

00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s

0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.

Retake an old view1940 Census Enumeration District Descri…: stand where they stood+15 Share a family photoSign in to add one+10

Stories next door

History across the town line

Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.

Shrewsbury4 historic placesA⁻Auburn3 historic placesA⁻Millbury3 historic placesA⁻West Boylston7 historic placesA Grafton8 historic placesA

Questions about Worcester’s history

What year was Worcester founded?

In 1673, according to Wikidata. Worcester’s post office opened in 1787, and the first U.S. census counted 2,095 people here in 1790.

How does Worcester rank for history?

Worcester is more historic than 97% of U.S. towns, #47 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 Worcester?

283 listings, 2 of them National Historic Landmarks: 246 buildings, among them the American Antiquarian Society (a National Historic Landmark since 1968), 34 historic districts with 583 contributing buildings, 2 sites, and 2 structures. 899 historic buildings in all.

How old are the homes in Worcester?

41% of Worcester’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±1.3 points), against a typical 21% for a Massachusetts town; the median home was built in 1951.

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →

Start a conversation

Sources

Where this page comes from

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 (7), Wikidata (5), the National Register of Historic Places (284), 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, Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress) 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.

Post to Worcester

Check your email