Founding year: Wikidata. First post office: 1816.The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Bristol’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Bristol is more historic than 72% of U.S. towns. Its age holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.
B+
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Bristol’s overall grade.
New York towns list more on the Register than most of the country (a typical New York town has 12.3 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Bristol’s 4.8 sits below most of its state (34% of New York towns have fewer) while its 1 listings outnumber those of 51% of U.S. towns.
NoteThe founding year comes from Wikidata alone; no second source gives 1788.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from B to A−. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±5.5 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 Bristol’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
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6cemeteries and burying grounds inside Bristol
AndrewsBristol CenterCaseCoddingDoyleEvergreen
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
The region was visited by the explorers Robert de La Salle and René de Bréhant de Galinée in 1669 in order to observe a burning spring known to the area's indigenous members of the Seneca tribe. Such "burning springs" occur in places where the water appears to support a flame caused by escaping natural gas.
The Sullivan Expedition destroyed native villages as it passed through Bristol in 1779. Some of the soldiers were impressed with the area and later returned to buy land.
The town area was first settled around 1788. The town of Bristol was formed in 1789, but the first town meeting was not held until 1797. In 1838 part of the town was used to form the town of South Bristol.
Passages that mention Bristol, cut from the printed page as they were published.
A history of the town of Norton, Bristol County, Massachusetts, from 1669-18591859 · page 251Read the page →
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" Sect. 1. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority of the same, That the Congregational society in the town of Norton, in the county of Bristol, where the Reverend Joseph Palmer now officiates, be, and they hereby are, incorporated into a distinct parish, by the name of the ' Congregational Parish in Norton ; ' and hereby are invested with all the powers, privileges, and immunities that precincts or parishes
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
A history of the town of Norton, Bristol County, Massachusetts, from 1669-18591859 · page 94Read the page →
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"John Hodges, John Wetherell, and John Skinner, assessors of the town of Norton in the year 1719, appellants, vs. Anna Leonard, Samuel Brintnell, and George Leonard, all of said Town, Appellees from the Order or sentance of a Court of General Sessions of the Peace, held at Bristol, for the County of Bristol, by adjournment, on the first Wednesday of August, 1720. Whereas, at a Court of General Sessions of the Peace, held at Bristol on the second Tuesday of January last, the said Assessors of Norton were complained of by the now Appellees for not Easing them in their Rates, made
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
A history of Bristol County, Massachusetts1924 · page 23Read the page →
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the history of property that the value of the latter is destined to vary ac¬ cording to its successive eras and possessors. Bristol county lands today, comprising the wealth of the townships, highways, railroads and bridges, have greatly amassed values over those of other ages. The impoverished province of 1640, for example, was worth to the nomad Indian, who cared but little for it, and to the white man, who gave all he could afford, only that wampum, those useful tools, and often the specie of circulation that were used as medium of exchange. Again and again we are told that the
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
A history of Bristol County, Massachusetts1924 · page 18Read the page →
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The town of Bristol, now in Rhode Island, formerly in Massachusetts, and the head of the county, was founded upon the site of the Indian en¬ campment of the Pokanokets, at Montaup (the Englishmen phonetically
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
Bristol, 1788 to 1972
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
In 1788, according to Wikidata. Bristol’s post office opened in 1816, and the census of 1820 counted 2,429 people here.
How does Bristol rank for history?
Bristol is more historic than 72% 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 Bristol?
One place: the Bristol Center Methodist Episcopal Church (listed 2022).
How old are the homes in Bristol?
21% of Bristol’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±5.5 points), against a typical 27% for a New York town; the median home was built in 1981.
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 the National Register of Historic Places (1), 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.
