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B−History
History · Bartlett

Bartlett dates to 1790, and 1 of its places is on the National Register

More historic than 48% of U.S. towns · #118 of 126 in New Hampshire. What drives it

Most of Bartlett was built recently: 5% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1982. Its Register listing is the Bartlett Roundhouse. Below: 3 old photos and papers, maps from 1895 on, and the census since 1850.

1790founded
1on the National Register
5%homes built before 1940
3old photos & papers
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Bartlett’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Bartlett began

When was Bartlett founded?

1790

Bartlett dates its founding to 1790 (Wikidata). The census first counted it in 1850.

First census: 761 in 18502020 census: 3,200236 years

How historic is Bartlett?

B−

More historic than 48% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: Wikidata. First post office: 1804.The full story ↓
History grade

What drives Bartlett’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Bartlett is more historic than 48% of U.S. towns, #118 of 126 in New Hampshire. Its age holds the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.

B−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Bartlett’s overall grade.
Founding era1790, from Wikidata: founded 1776–1849, an older era than 75% of U.S. townsA−Homes built before 19405.0% of homes (±2.8) · typical NH town 17.5% · U.S. 8.4%CNational Register1 listing, 3.0 per 10,000 residents · typical NH town 9.5 · U.S. 2.4C+
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 48%
NewerOlder
New Hampshire towns of 2,500+ (126)Ahead of 6%

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 Bartlett’s 3.0 sits below most of its state (30% of New Hampshire towns have fewer) while its 1 listings outnumber those of 51% of U.S. towns.

How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from C to B. The pre-1940 share (±2.8 points) is firm at this size. Two sources give 1790.

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 Bartlett’s past

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

A history waiting to be writtenOnly 3 old photos are in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.Lost villages2 post offices opened and closed inside today’s Bartlett, and 7 old place names are still on the map.On the map since 18955 editions of the USGS map, 1895 to 1995. Watch Bartlett change.Mapped building by building3 fire insurance maps, 1897 to 1923, drew every building in Bartlett.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Bartlett’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
3 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewBartlett Boulder, Upper Bartlett, White…: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
Places that used to be

Lost post offices and old corners

Bartlett’s post office has been open since 1804. Two other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.

Bartlett
1804–today
Lower Bartlett
1823–1910
Center Bartlett
1874–1894
Kearsarge
1888–today
Glen
1894–today
18001910today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Cooks CrossingGlenGoodrich FallsJerichoKearsargeLower BartlettRogers Crossing

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

On the map

Bartlett on the map, 1895 to 1995

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

Bartlett on the 1895 USGS mapBartlett on the 1946 USGS mapBartlett on the 1950 USGS mapBartlett on the 1987 USGS mapBartlett on the 1995 USGS map1895Crawford Notch 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 Bartlett.

The story

How Bartlett came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Bartlett.

Read it all →

Settled after 1769 and incorporated in 1790, the town is named for Dr. Josiah Bartlett, the first chief executive to bear the name "governor", a representative to the Continental Congress, and one of New Hampshire's three signers of the Declaration of Independence. Dr. Bartlett founded the New Hampshire Medical Society in 1791. Bartlett became a railroad town in 1875 when the Maine Central Railroad's Mountain Division was built. In 1954, Story Land, a theme park designed for young children, opened in Glen. Attitash ski area opened in the 1960s.

The Bartlett Roundhouse in Bartlett village was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in September 2015.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

From the old history books

What they wrote about Bartlett in 1889

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

while individuals built and furnished places, and additional funds for their support. The last-named log schoolhouse was used but a short time, but while used it was for all of North Conway on both sides of the Saco, and also for some families on the McMillan grant, now lower Bartlett. The first fr…
History of Carroll County, New Hampshire1889 · page 857Read the page →
Read the text

while individuals built and furnished places, and additional funds for their support. The last-named log schoolhouse was used but a short time, but while used it was for all of North Conway on both sides of the Saco, and also for some families on the McMillan grant, now lower Bartlett. The first framed schoolhouses built in North Conway were located, one near where Thomas C. Eastman now lives, and the other on the left of the road between the pine woods and the Bigelow farm, and afterwards used for many years as the

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

Bartlett, 1790 to 1936

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

  1. 18th century
  2. 1790
    FoundingBartlett is established
  3. 19th century
  4. 1804Post officeThe Bartlett post office opens
  5. 1823Post officeThe Lower Bartlett post office opens
  6. 1874Post officeThe Center Bartlett post office opens
  7. 1887BuiltBartlett Roundhouse is built
  8. 1894Post officeThe Center Bartlett post office closes
  9. 1895On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  10. 20th century
  11. 1900In the archiveBartlett Boulder, Upper Bartlett, White Mountains
  12. 1910In the archiveKearsarge Peg Mill
  13. 1910Post officeThe Lower Bartlett post office closes
  14. 1936In the archiveOld wooden bridge on the Passaconway Road near Bartlett, New Hampshire
By decade

Bartlett, decade by decade

3 decades in the archive, from the 1900s to the 1930s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1900s–1930s3 items
Bartlett Boulder, Upper Bartlett, White Mountains1900Bartlett Boulder, Upper Bartlett, White MountainsKearsarge Peg Millc. 1910Kearsarge Peg MillOld wooden bridge on the Passaconway Road near Bartlett, New Hampshire1936Old wooden bridge on the Passaconway Road near Bartle…
1940s–1990snothing yet
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.
Add from your album
Today18 recent
Diana's Baths2021Diana's BathsCathedra Ledge2021Cathedra LedgeBartlettCDPNotchTrain2019BartlettCDPNotchTrainCrossing sign for the iconic Appalachian Trail, in this case a portion of it called the Webster Cliff Trail, near Bartl…2017Crossing sign for the iconic Appalachian Trail, in th…One entree point to the Webster Cliff Trail, which is a small piece of the iconic Appalachian Trail, near Bartlett, New…2017One entree point to the Webster Cliff Trail, which is…Bartlett Haystack March 20172017Bartlett Haystack March 2017BartlettNH UnionCongregationalChurch2016BartlettNH UnionCongregationalChurchBartlettNH SchoolAndLibrary2016BartlettNH SchoolAndLibraryBartlettNH Roundhouse2016BartlettNH RoundhouseBartlettNH FutureHistoricalSociety2016BartlettNH FutureHistoricalSocietyBartlettNH Depot2016BartlettNH DepotBear Notch Rd2013Bear Notch RdBear Notch Rd, Bartlett (494096)2013Bear Notch Rd, Bartlett (494096)Voyage To The Moon in 19832012Voyage To The Moon in 1983Attitash in summer2011Attitash in summerSnow Canyon2008Snow CanyonHoward Hotel2005Howard HotelDiana's Baths2005Diana's Baths
Every building

Bartlett, building by building, 1897–1923

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.

Bartlett fire insurance map, 1897, sheet 11897Sheet 1 of 2
Edition
BrickWoodStone

Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.

Then & now

Stand where they stood

No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.

Bartlett Boulder, Upper Bartlett, White Mountains
Retake this viewBartlett Boulder, Upper Bartlett, White Mountains, 1900

Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Bartlett’s page.

Retake this view · +15
On the National Register

1 historic place in Bartlett

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

place listed
1
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
1
each building in a district counts
first listed
2015
Bartlett Roundhouse
Bartlett Roundhouse, built 1887
Buildings
Bartlett RoundhouseBuilt 1887

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

People over time

Bartlett, census by census

05001,0001,5002,0002,5003,0003,50018501900195020003,200

Grew from 761 people in 1850 to 3,200 in 2020, 4 times over.

18 censuses, 1850–2020.

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

Famous people

Famous people close to Bartlett

Nobody well known was born in Bartlett itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.

See all →
J
John SheaAmerican actor and director · b. 1949
Eastman JohnsonAmerican artist · b. 1824
G
Gordon ClappAmerican actor · b. 1948
Orison Swett MardenAmerican writer · b. 1848
Leanne SmithAmerican alpine skier · b. 1987
John WentworthAmerican newspaper editor and politician · b. 1815
Stories next door

History across the town line

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

Jackson2 historic placesAConway7 historic placesAAlbany1 historic placenot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townHart's LocationIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townNorth Conway4 historic placesnot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townChathamIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Bartlett’s history

What year was Bartlett founded?

In 1790, according to Wikidata. Bartlett’s post office opened in 1804, and the census of 1850 counted 761 people here.

How does Bartlett rank for history?

Bartlett is more historic than 48% of U.S. towns, #118 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.

What is on the National Register in Bartlett?

One place: the Bartlett Roundhouse (listed 2015).

How old are the homes in Bartlett?

5% of Bartlett’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±2.8 points), against a typical 17% for a New Hampshire town; the median home was built in 1982.

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 (17), the Library of Congress (4), Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (1), Wikipedia, 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.