4 places in town are on the National Register, among them a historic district with 28 buildings. Below: 4 old photos and papers, maps from 1886 on, and the census since 1790.
Founding year: Wikipedia. First post office: 1796.The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Worthington’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Worthington is more historic than 98% of U.S. towns. 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 Worthington’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 Worthington’s 294 sits above most of its state (84% of Massachusetts towns have fewer) while its 30 historic buildings outnumber those of 82% of U.S. towns.
NoteThe founding year comes from Wikipedia alone; no second source gives 1764.
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 (±10.7 points).
Founding year: Wikipedia (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 Worthington’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Worthington was first settled in 1764 and was officially incorporated in 1768. The town's officials had settled for new land after the settling of Northampton in 1654. In the 1760s, the wilderness that became Worthington was largely unpopulated. The 1840s and 1850s saw the arrival of a new form of transportation: railways. An effort to bring a line through Worthington failed. Although a train station was built in Huntington, many Worthington families began selling their farms and moving to western New York State, Ohio and further west in search of cheap land. By the 1860s, Worthington's population had declined to 925. These were years marked by deep conflict and rapid technological change.
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 1764, according to Wikipedia’s history of the town. Worthington’s post office opened in 1796, and the first U.S. census counted 1,116 people here in 1790.
How does Worthington rank for history?
Worthington is more historic than 98% of U.S. towns. 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 Worthington?
4 listings: 1 historic district, the South Worthington Historic District, with 28 contributing buildings, and 3 sites. 30 historic buildings in all.
How old are the homes in Worthington?
36% of Worthington’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±10.7 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 (5), Wikidata (2), 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) 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.
1939
Date?
2012
