Yarmouth dates to 1639, and 6 of its places are on the National Register
More historic than 87% of U.S. towns · #170 of 283 in Massachusetts. What drives it
Most of Yarmouth was built recently: 7% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1974. 6 places in town are on the National Register, among them three historic districts with 590 buildings between them. Below: 11 old photos and papers, maps from 1887 on, and the census since 1790.
Founding year: Wikidata; Wikipedia’s history section gives the same year. First post office: 1795.The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Yarmouth’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Yarmouth is more historic than 87% of U.S. towns, #170 of 283 in Massachusetts. Its age holds the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.
A
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Yarmouth’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 Yarmouth’s 238 sits above most of its state (80% of Massachusetts towns have fewer) while its 601 historic buildings outnumber those of 98% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from B+ to A+. The pre-1940 share (±1.5 points) is firm at this size. Two sources give 1639.
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 Yarmouth’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Prior to European settlement, Yarmouth was inhabited by the Wampanoag, an Algonquian people. In the Wôpanâak language the area was called "Mattacheese". Wampanoag tribes living in Yarmouth at the time of European settlement included the Pawkunnawkuts on both sides of the lower Bass River, the Hokanums in what is now northeastern Yarmouth, and the Cummaquids in what is now western Yarmouth.
Passages that mention Yarmouth, cut from the printed page as they were published.
History of Barnstable County, Massachusetts, 1620-1637-1686-18901890 · page 454Read the page →
Read the text
The original township of Yarmouth comprised, besides its present limits, a region of about a mile in extent from east to west, of what is now a portion of the town of Barnstable; but at a court held in Yarmouth, June 17, 1641, by virtue of an order of the general court, the line between the two towns was established substantially as it now exists. The easterly boundaries of the township were somewhat indefinite, but embraced the whole of the present town of Dennis, and the town also exercised a sort of shadowy jurisdiction over the region
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
History of Barnstable County, Massachusetts, 1620-1637-1686-18901890 · page 489Read the page →
Read the text
Yarmouth Farms is the name given to the community at and around the depot at South Yarmouth. A post office was established there a few years ago under the name of East Yarmouth, and the railroad agents have successively been the postmasters. The name was only recently changed. The postmasters have been: N. B. Burgess, W; F. Kenney, Arthur Underwood and W. B. Snow.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
In the progress of events, Walter Devilles name appears in an order of court, 1G40, touching " lands hereafter to be laid out and assigned in the town of Yarmouth," and "the adjustment of bounds," 1041; and in connection with an order "for defraying the public charges," appear the additional names of Thomas Holland, Crannett White, and Thomas Starr.
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.
By decade
Yarmouth, decade by decade
7 decades in the archive, from the 1850s to the 1930s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
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 1639, according to Wikidata and Wikipedia’s history of the town. Yarmouth’s post office opened in 1795, and the first U.S. census counted 2,678 people here in 1790.
How does Yarmouth rank for history?
Yarmouth is more historic than 87% of U.S. towns, #170 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 Yarmouth?
6 listings: 3 buildings, among them the Baxter Mill (listed 1981, the first), and 3 historic districts, the Northside Historic District, the South Yarmouth/Bass River Historic District and the Yarmouth Camp Ground Historic District, with 590 contributing buildings. 601 historic buildings in all.
How old are the homes in Yarmouth?
7% of Yarmouth’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±1.5 points), against a typical 21% for a Massachusetts town; the median home was built in 1974.
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 (11), Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (6), 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.
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