Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 61% of U.S. towns · #97 of 126 in New Hampshire. What drives it
Most of Barnstead was built recently: 7% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1985. Its Register listing is the Foss, Oscar, Memorial Library. Below: maps from 1919 on and the census since 1790.
Barnstead dates its founding to 1767 (Wikidata). It appears in the first U.S. census, 1790.
More historic than 61% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Barnstead is more historic than 61% of U.S. towns, #97 of 126 in New Hampshire. Its age holds the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.
New Hampshire towns list more on the Register than most of the country (a typical New Hampshire town has 9.5 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Barnstead’s 2.0 sits below most of its state (23% of New Hampshire towns have fewer) while its 1 listings outnumber those of 51% 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 Barnstead’s history is told.
Lost half of its people between 1830 and 1930, then grew 6-fold.
24 censuses, 1790–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Barnstead’s Wikipedia page.
Barnstead’s post office has been open since 1820. Two other post offices 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).
From Wikipedia’s history of Barnstead.
The town was granted on May 20, 1727, by Lieutenant Governor John Wentworth to the Reverend Joseph Adams and others. Settlement commenced in 1765, and two years later Barnstead was incorporated as a town by Governor John Wentworth. Many of the settlers came from Barnstable, Massachusetts, and Hempstead, New York—the name is taken from these two.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Passages that mention Barnstead, cut from the printed page as they were published.
"Barnstead, Dec. 30, 1774. Notice is hereby given to ye inhabitants of ye town of Barnstead, that a meeting is to be held at Benjamin Nutter's, on Monday, ye 16th day of January, at 10 o'clock, A. M., for ye purpose as followeth : — " First, to choose a moderator; 2nd, to choose a Deputy Committee to meet the Committee at Exeter, to choose a man to go to Philadelphia.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Barnstead was not indifferent to the public weal in such an emergency. In the war of the Revolution her sons had acted well their part. It is worthy of praise that b}r the " test list" of that day, not a man could be found within the lines of Barnstead, who was not true to the Constitution, and ready to help fight the battles of his countiy. (See Appendix, C.) So it was in the conflict of 1812, and so it has ever been, and thus, as we trust, it
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 hereHarriet Patience Dame is born here
Born hereHiram A. Tuttle is born here
Born hereFanny E. Minot is born here
BuiltFoss, Oscar, Memorial Library is built
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological SurveyEvery edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Barnstead. 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 Barnstead.
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.
Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
In 1767, according to Wikidata. Barnstead’s post office opened in 1820, and the first U.S. census counted 807 people here in 1790.
Barnstead is more historic than 61% of U.S. towns, #97 of 126 in New Hampshire. 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.
One place: the Foss, Oscar, Memorial Library (listed 1985).
7% of Barnstead’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±3.1 points), against a typical 17% for a New Hampshire town; the median home was built in 1985.
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 (5), Wikidata (1), 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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