Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Most of Boston was built recently: 0.0% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 2002. Below: maps from 1943 on and old-book passages.
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 Boston’s history is told.
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Boston yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Boston is a census-designated place (CDP) in Accomack County, Virginia, United States. Per the 2020 census, the population was 454.
Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 504 to 454 (-10%).
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
Passages that mention Boston, cut from the printed page as they were published.
![[Bondsmen] Samuel Henshaw William Tucker 6942. THOMAS NEWTON, "the Attorney" at Boston, came there in 1688 from New Hampshire. He was Secretary of that province until 1690; was Controller of the Customs at Boston; Judge of the Admiralty, and Attorney- General for the Province of Massachusetts Bay. …](https://images.townratings.com/story/47067/bk-caa084243c31396e-l.jpg)
[Bondsmen] Samuel Henshaw William Tucker 6942. THOMAS NEWTON, "the Attorney" at Boston, came there in 1688 from New Hampshire. He was Secretary of that province until 1690; was Controller of the Customs at Boston; Judge of the Admiralty, and Attorney- General for the Province of Massachusetts Bay. He occupied this last position during and after the witchcraft prosecutions. "His opinion must have led to the cure of the infernal delusion, for in January, 1693, he wrote to Sir William P.hipps, the Ciovernor, that of the fifty-two charged at Salem, at that court, the
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Mr. Newton was a farmer in Southborough. He owned, lived upon, and worked the land successively in possession of his great-grandfatlier, grandfather and his father. In 1896 this farm, purchased by the Boston Water Board, was submerged in the "Great Basin," to become a reser\'oir which supplies the city of Boston with water.
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.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Boston. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Boston.
Nobody well known was born in Boston itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
Old hamlets and crossroads still carry their names on the map.
Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
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). How TownRatings grades history →
From Wikimedia Commons (1), U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, 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.
2017
