Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 97% of U.S. towns. What drives it
2 places in town are on the National Register, among them two historic districts with 65 buildings between them. Below: maps from 1887 on and the census since 1820.
Worcester dates its founding to 1788 (Wikidata). The census first counted it in 1820.
More historic than 97% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Worcester is more historic than 97% of U.S. towns. All 3 inputs are above most U.S. towns; its share of homes from before 1940 ranks highest and its age lowest.
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 Worcester’s 302 sits above most of its state (87% of New York towns have fewer) while its 65 historic buildings outnumber those of 87% of U.S. towns.
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 →
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Worcester’s history is told.
The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
From Wikipedia’s history of Worcester.
Settlement began on Schenevus Creek around 1788. The town was established from part of the town of Cherry Valley in 1797. In 1808, the towns of Decatur, Maryland, and Westford were formed from part of Worcester.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Passages that mention Worcester, cut from the printed page as they were published.
Worcester's Attitude toward Shays' Rebellion.— It would be a source of greater satisfaction for every citizen of Worcester if the part which that town took in the only serious revolt against the supremacy of law in Massachusetts had been one of absolute and uninterrupted vindication of the rights of the Government. But, considering the force of opinion in almost every town in the county, the easy
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Library of the Worcester Choral Union. — The Worcester Mozart and the Worcester Beethoven Societies united November 16, 1866, under the name of the Worcester Mozart and Beethoven Choral Union, and the new organization was incorporated, with the name of the Worcester Choral Union, March 31, 1871.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
One of the most important step-down transformer stations is that at Greendale, in the northern part of the city of Worcester, where the voltage is stepped to 13,000, and distributed to the American Steel & Wire Company, Bradley Car Company, Morgan Spring Company, Norton Grinding Company, Norton Company, Heald Machine Company, Worcester Pressed Steel Company, Wright Wire "Company, Wyman & Gordon Company, Worcester Consolidated Street Railway Company, and the Worcester Electric Light Company. During 1917 almost 20 per
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
The corporate title of the institution as decreed by act of the Legislature, May 7, 1869, was "Trustees of the Home for Aged Females in the City of Worcester." Agreeable to a petition signed by the trustees, the General Court amended the original title February 27, 1888, so as to read "Trustees of the Home for Aged Women, in the City of Worcester."
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.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
Born hereLionel Allen Sheldon is born here
Born hereMary Gage Day is born here
Born hereJan Boxill is born here
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
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2004Charlotteville Road - EastThe U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Worcester.
1985Amsterdam sheet · 1:100,000U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Worcester.
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.
1887Sheet 1 of 1Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
Between 1,925 and 2,741 people in every census since 1820.
20 censuses, 1820–2010.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Worcester’s Wikipedia page.
Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.
Worcester’s post office has been open since 1816. Another post office, South Worcester, opened and closed inside today’s town.
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
In 1788, according to Wikidata. Worcester’s post office opened in 1816, and the census of 1820 counted 1,958 people here.
Worcester is more historic than 97% 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.
Two places: the Worcester Historic District (listed 1975) and the South Worcester Historic District (1992).
55% of Worcester’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±8.9 points), against a typical 27% for a New York town; the median home was built in 1938.
What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.
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 (18), the National Register of Historic Places (2), 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.
