History · Hampton

Hampton dates to 1786, and 20% of its homes were built before 1940

More historic than 89% of U.S. towns. What drives it

1 place in town is on the National Register, among them a historic district with 50 buildings. Below: maps from 1892 on and the census since 1820.

1786founded

1on the National Register

20%homes built before 1940

4famous people

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Quick answers

How Hampton began

When was Hampton founded?

1786

Hampton dates its founding to 1786 (Wikidata and Wikipedia’s history agree). The census first counted it in 1820.

First census: 1,313 in 1820240 years

How historic is Hampton?

More historic than 89% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓

Founding year: Wikidata; Wikipedia’s history section gives the same year. First post office: 1820.The full story ↓

History grade

What drives Hampton’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Hampton is more historic than 89% of U.S. towns. All 3 inputs are above most U.S. towns; its National Register listings ranks highest and its share of homes from before 1940 lowest.

HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Hampton’s overall grade.

Founding era1786, from Wikidata: founded 1776–1849, an older era than 75% of U.S. townsA⁻Homes built before 194019.5% of homes (±6.1) · typical CT town 15.1% · U.S. 8.4%B⁺National Register1 listing, 50 historic buildings, 304 per 10,000 residents · typical CT town 73.3 · U.S. 2.4A⁻

All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 89%

NewerOlder

Connecticut towns list more on the Register than most of the country (a typical Connecticut town has 73.3 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Hampton’s 304 sits above most of its state (84% of Connecticut towns have fewer) while its 50 historic buildings outnumber those of 85% of U.S. towns.

How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from A− to A. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±6.1 points). Two sources give 1786.

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 Hampton’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

A history waiting to be writtenNo old photos of Hampton are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Shrank, then grewLost two-thirds of its people between 1820 and 1920, then grew 3-fold.On the map since 18926 editions of the USGS map, 1892 to 1984. Watch Hampton change.Lost villages3 post offices opened and closed inside today’s Hampton, and 3 old place names are still on the map.

★ What stands out · Help out

Start Hampton’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Hampton’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos

00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s

0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.

Share a family photoSign in to add one+10

People over time

Hampton, census by census

Lost two-thirds of its people between 1820 and 1920, then grew 3-fold.

19 censuses, 1820–2020.

U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Hampton’s Wikipedia page.

On the map

Hampton on the map, 1892 to 1984

Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Hampton. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.

1892Woodstock sheet · 1:62,500

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Hampton.

The story

How Hampton came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Hampton.

Read it all →

Hampton is made up of lands originally shared by the towns of Pomfret and Windham. It was incorporated from the towns of Pomfret, Brooklyn, Canterbury, Mansfield, and Windham in 1786.

The Congregational Church is the second oldest church in the state still in use, with portions of the structure dating from 1754. Also preserved is "The House the Women Built," a two-story building built in 1776 by Sally Bowers and other young women of the town while the men fought in the Continental Army. At Clark's Corner there is a liberty pole dating from 1849. Erected by a resident named Jonathan Clark, it records the distance to Hartford and other towns.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

From the old history books

What they wrote about Hampton, 1864–1899

Passages that mention Hampton, cut from the printed page as they were published.

**A History of Captain Roswell Preston of Hampton, Connecticut, his ancestry and descendants**1899Read the page →
Read the text
Hampton station is sltuatetl 44 miles east of Hartford on the Highland division of the New Yorlc, New Haven & Hartford Railroad. When one steps from the train at that station he Immediately suspects he is very much in the country, the Ohly evidence of a settlement being" two houses, a small
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.

On 23 November, 1815, Uriah Litchfield of Hampton deeded to Capt. Roswell Preston and fifteen others, and to their heirs forever, the IJigelow burying-ground, comi)rising two-thirds of an acre of land with the " privilege to pass and repass to and from said piece of land north of my dwelling house.… — **A History of Captain Roswell Preston of Hampton, Connecticut, his ancestry and descendants**1899Read the page →
Read the text
On 23 November, 1815, Uriah Litchfield of Hampton deeded to Capt. Roswell Preston and fifteen others, and to their heirs forever, the IJigelow burying-ground, comi)rising two-thirds of an acre of land with the " privilege to pass and repass to and from said piece of land north of my dwelling house." The Bigelow cemetery is located midway between the town of Hampton Hill and the Preston homestead, on the west side of the Appaquay, or Little river, a half mile to the northward from the Bigelow school house. In 1897, I
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.

8. Asa Abbot, of Hampton, m. Sarah (Bidlack) Fuller, wid. of Stephen, Feb. 7, 1782. [Stephen Fuller was killed by Indians at Wyoming, Pa., at or about the time of the massacre there, July 3, 1778, leaving an only dau., Polly, by Sarah Bidlack above, who came with her mother to Hampton, and afterwar… — **History of ancient Windham, Ct. Genealogy**1864 · page 28Read the page →
Read the text
8. Asa Abbot, of Hampton, m. Sarah (Bidlack) Fuller, wid. of Stephen, Feb. 7, 1782. [Stephen Fuller was killed by Indians at Wyoming, Pa., at or about the time of the massacre there, July 3, 1778, leaving an only dau., Polly, by Sarah Bidlack above, who came with her mother to Hampton, and afterwards m. Ebenezer Oriffin, Esq.) Asa Abbot b.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.

**History of ancient Windham, Ct. Genealogy**1864 · page 94Read the page →
Read the text
There were braoches of several Bennett families in the towns of Windham, Mansfield and Hampton, the principal of which were Williana, of Hampton., and Nathaniel, of Mansfield. WILLIAM BENNETT.
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

Hampton, 1766 to 2010

Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.

18th century
1766Born hereJohn Brewster, Jr. is born here
1786
FoundingHampton is established
19th century
1803Born hereTheodore Dwight Weld is born here
1809Born hereWaterman Ormsby is born here
1820Post officeThe Hampton post office opens
1843Born hereWilliam Henry Barnes is born here
1874Post officeThe Clarks Corner post office opens
1880Post officeThe Rawson post office opens
1892On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
20th century
1908Post officeThe Rawson post office closes
1927Post officeThe Clarks Corner post office closes
21st century
2010CensusPopulation peaks at 1,863

On the National Register

1 listing protects 50 historic buildings

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.

place listed

National Historic Landmarks

none yet

historic buildings protected

each building in a district counts

first listed

1982

Hampton Hill Historic District

Districts

Architectural styles listings

Georgian1

Greek Revival1

Italianate1

Gothic Revival1

Queen Anne1

Shingle Style1

Hampton Hill Historic DistrictGeorgian

National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.

Famous people

4 famous people were born in Hampton

Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.

See all →

Theodore Dwight WeldAmerican abolitionist · b. 1803

John Brewster, Jr.American artist · b. 1766

William Henry BarnesAmerican jurist from Arizona · b. 1843

Waterman OrmsbyAmerican engraver · b. 1809

Places that used to be

Lost post offices, old corners, places now gone and burying grounds

Hampton’s post office has been open since 1820. Three other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.

Hampton

1820–today

Clarks Corner

1874–1927

Rawson

1880–1908

Howard Valley

1889–1904

18201920today

Hamlets and corners on the map

Clarks CornerHamptonvilleRawson

Gone or out of use

Hampton Stationlocale

4cemeteries and burying grounds inside Hampton

GrowLitchfieldNorthSouth

US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

Stories next door

History across the town line

Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.

Brooklyn6 historic placesA Canterbury7 historic placesA Chaplin2 historic placesA⁻Scotland3 historic placesA⁻Pomfret5 historic placesA⁺Eastford4 historic placesA⁻

Questions about Hampton’s history

What year was Hampton founded?

In 1786, according to Wikidata and Wikipedia’s history of the town. Hampton’s post office opened in 1820, and the census of 1820 counted 1,313 people here.

How does Hampton rank for history?

Hampton is more historic than 89% 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 Hampton?

One place: the Hampton Hill Historic District (listed 1982).

How old are the homes in Hampton?

20% of Hampton’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±6.1 points), against a typical 15% for a Connecticut town; the median home was built in 1980.

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →

Start a conversation

Sources

Where this page comes from

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 (22), the Library of Congress (2), 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.

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