Cranston dates to 1754, and 29% of its homes were built before 1940
More historic than 95% of U.S. towns · #9 of 38 in Rhode Island. What drives it
23 places in town are on the National Register, among them nine historic districts with 666 buildings between them. Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1894 on, and the census since 1790.
Founding year: Wikidata. First post office: 1847.The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Cranston’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Cranston is more historic than 95% of U.S. towns, #9 of 38 in Rhode Island. 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 Cranston’s overall grade.
Rhode Island towns list more on the Register than most of the country (a typical Rhode Island town has 94.7 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Cranston’s 82.4 sits near the middle of its state (42% of Rhode Island towns have fewer) while its 686 historic buildings outnumber those of 98% of U.S. towns.
NoteThe founding year comes from Wikidata alone; no second source gives 1754.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from A to A+. The pre-1940 share (±2.4 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 Cranston’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Amos Whitaker Lot · Bethany Lutheran Swedish Cemetery · Caleb Burlingame Lot · Captain Phillip Sheldon Lot · Charles Bennett Lot · Cranston Lot · Daniel S Congdon Lot · Dr George Waterman Lot · Dutee Colvin Lot · Elder Elisha Greene Lot · Fenner - Lawton Lot · Field - Lawton Lot · George Colvin Lot · Jacob Clarke Lot · James Hill Burial Ground · John Stafford Lot · John Stone Lot · Joseph Burton Lot · Josiah Wescott Lot · King - Randall Lot · Knight - Fiske Lot · Major Thomas Fenner Lot · Nathan Thornton Lot · Nicholas Sheldon Lot · Oakland Cemetery · Pocasset Cemetery · Roberts - Mathewson Lot · Saint Ann's Cemetery · Samuel Stone Lot · Sanford Knight Lot · State Institution Cemetery 2 · Thomas Andrews Lot · Thomas Baker Lot · Uriah Eddy Lot · Urian Westcott Lot · William Fenner Lot · William Knight Lot
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Much of the land was purchased by Roger Williams from the Narragansett Indians in 1638 as part of the Pawtuxet Purchase, and the first settler in the area was William Arnold, who was followed shortly by William Harris, William Carpenter, and Zachariah Rhodes. Stephen Arnold, a brother-in-law of Rhodes and William Arnold's, built a gristmill on the Pawtuxet Falls, and laid out the Arnold Road (modern-day Broad Street) connecting it to the Pequot Trail leading to Connecticut. Arnold's son Benedict Arnold became the first governor of Rhode Island under the charter of 1663. Residents could not agree on a name for a new town for decades, and the Town of Cranston was eventually created by the General Assembly in 1754 from a portion of Providence north of the Pawtuxet River. Historians debate whether the town was named after Governor Samuel Cranston, the longest-serving Rhode Island governor, …
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 1754, according to Wikidata. Cranston’s post office opened in 1847, and the first U.S. census counted 1,990 people here in 1790.
How does Cranston rank for history?
Cranston is more historic than 95% of U.S. towns, #9 of 38 in Rhode Island. 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 Cranston?
23 listings: 14 buildings, among them the Gov. William Sprague Mansion (listed 1971, the first), and 9 historic districts with 666 contributing buildings. 686 historic buildings in all.
How old are the homes in Cranston?
29% of Cranston’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±2.4 points), against a typical 20% for a Rhode Island 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 (9), Wikidata (3), the National Register of Historic Places (23), 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.
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