1 place in town is on the National Register, among them a historic district with 122 buildings. Below: 2 old photos and papers, maps from 1957 on, and the census since 1850.
Founding year: Wikidata; Wikipedia’s history section gives the same year. First post office: 1843.The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Bennington’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Bennington is more historic than 94% of U.S. towns. All 3 inputs are above most U.S. towns; its National Register listings ranks highest and its age lowest.
A
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Bennington’s overall grade.
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 Bennington’s 768 sits above most of its state (98% of New Hampshire towns have fewer) while its 122 historic buildings outnumber those of 90% 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 (±6.4 points). Two sources give 1842.
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 Bennington’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Situated in an area once called "Society Land", the town was formed from parts of Deering, Francestown, Greenfield and Hancock. It was named to commemorate the 1777 Battle of Bennington, an American Revolutionary War battle fought in New York near Bennington, Vermont. The Vermont town in turn derived its name from New Hampshire governor Benning Wentworth. The town was incorporated in 1842. The first census, taken in 1850, recorded 541 residents.
Passages that mention Bennington, cut from the printed page as they were published.
History of Hillsborough County, New Hampshire1885 · page 285Read the page →
Read the text
August 19, 1824, it was voted to call it Society Land Baptist Church. When Bennington was incorporated, in 1842, the name was changed to Bennington Baptist Church, and August 29, 1857, it was voted to call it Antrim Baptist Church.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
History of Hillsborough County, New Hampshire1885 · page 397Read the page →
Read the text
was identified Avith the interests and included in the limits of Hancock, first as Putnam's Mills and later as Hancock Factory, but now the centre of the thriving town of Bennington. At the time of the incorporation of Hancock, Joseph Putnam, a native of Wilton, and of the same lineage as General Putnam, was a resident of and a miller in Temple ; but finding his water-power insulficient, he
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.
By decade
Bennington, decade by decade
2 decades in the archive, from the 1900s to the 1910s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
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 1842, according to Wikidata and Wikipedia’s history of the town. Bennington’s post office opened in 1843, and the census of 1850 counted 541 people here.
How does Bennington rank for history?
Bennington is more historic than 94% 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 Bennington?
One place: the Bennington Village Historic District (listed 2010).
How old are the homes in Bennington?
24% of Bennington’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±6.4 points), against a typical 17% for a New Hampshire town; the median home was built in 1978.
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 (10), 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 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.
2011
2011
2011
2011
2011
2011
2011
2008
