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B−History
History · Bow

Bow dates to 1727

More historic than 54% of U.S. towns · #114 of 126 in New Hampshire. What drives it

Most of Bow was built recently: 10% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1985. Below: 5 old photos and papers, maps from 1927 on, and the census since 1790.

1727founded
0on the National Register
10%homes built before 1940
5old photos & papers
5famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Bow’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Bow began

When was Bow founded?

1727

Bow dates its founding to 1727 (Wikidata). It appears in the first U.S. census, 1790.

First census: 568 in 17902020 census: 8,229299 years

How historic is Bow?

B−

More historic than 54% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: Wikidata. First post office: 1832.The full story ↓
History grade

What drives Bow’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Bow is more historic than 54% of U.S. towns, #114 of 126 in New Hampshire. Its age holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.

B−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Bow’s overall grade.
Founding era1727, from Wikidata: founded before 1776, an older era than 96% of U.S. townsA+Homes built before 19409.6% of homes (±4.4) · typical NH town 17.5% · U.S. 8.4%B−National RegisterNo listings counted · typical NH town 9.5 per 10,000 · U.S. 2.4C−
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 54%
NewerOlder
New Hampshire towns of 2,500+ (126)Ahead of 10%

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 Bow’s 0.0 sits below most of its state (8% of New Hampshire towns have fewer) while its 0 listings outnumber those of 23% of U.S. towns.

NoteThe founding year comes from Wikidata alone; no second source gives 1727.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from C− to A−. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±4.4 points).

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 Bow’s past

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

Shrank, then grewLost half of its people between 1830 and 1920, then grew more than tenfold.Lost villages2 post offices opened and closed inside today’s Bow, and 5 old place names are still on the map.Older than the countryEstablished in 1727, 49 years before the Declaration of Independence.
★ What stands out · People over time

Bow, census by census

02,0004,0006,0008,000180018501900195020001,065 in 1830Low: 568

Lost half of its people between 1830 and 1920, then grew more than tenfold.

24 censuses, 1790–2020.

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

Places that used to be

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

Bow had its own post office from 1832 to 1901. Two other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.

Bow
1832–1901
Bow Mills
1877–1903
North Bow
1891–1899
18301930today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Bow BogBow CenterBow JunctionBow MillsSouth Bow
Gone or out of use
Bow Bog SchoolschoolRiver Road SchoolschoolSouth Bow Schoolschool
7cemeteries and burying grounds inside Bow
Brown HillEvansGoodhueGreenHammondHeathOrdway

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

Timeline

Bow, 1727 to 2020

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

  1. 18th century
  2. 1727
    FoundingBow is established
  3. 19th century
  4. 1821Born hereMary Baker Eddy is born here
  5. 1832Post officeThe Bow post office opens
  6. 1841Born hereHenry Moore Baker is born here
  7. 1877Post officeThe Bow Mills post office opens
  8. 1891Post officeThe North Bow post office opens
  9. 1899Post officeThe North Bow post office closes
  10. 20th century
  11. 1900In the archiveBirthplace of Mary Baker G. Eddy
  12. 1901Post officeThe Bow post office closes
  13. 1903Post officeThe Bow Mills post office closes
  14. 1919In the archive"The Playground" in Bow, N.H. where Mrs. Mary Baker G. Eddy enjoyed many happy hours as a…
  15. 1922In the archiveWry fly tub wheel
  16. 1927On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  17. 1985Born hereAndy Thomas is born here
  18. 21st century
  19. 2004Born hereAustin Brummett is born here
  20. 2020CensusPopulation peaks at 8,229
The story

How Bow came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Bow.

Read it all →

The town was granted by the authorities of New Hampshire to Jonathan Wiggin and others in 1727, and was originally 9 miles (14 km) square, covering nearly all the territory granted to Ebenezer Eastman and others by the authorities of Massachusetts two years previous, under the name of "Pennacook" (now Concord). Massachusetts claimed to hold authority over a large portion of the territory of New Hampshire for many years, until the final boundary line was established in 1741, giving New Hampshire more territory than it had ever claimed.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

From the old history books

What they wrote about Bow in 1860

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

Secondly. To see what they will vote relating to Bow line ; whether they will agree to the proposals which were interchangeably signed by the committee of Bow and the committee of Starkstown. Thirdly. For all such to whom the town is indebted to bring in their accounts.
History of the town of Dunbarton, Merrimack County, New-Hampshire, from the grant by Mason's assigns, in 1751, to the year 18601860 · page 60Read the page →
Read the text

Secondly. To see what they will vote relating to Bow line ; whether they will agree to the proposals which were interchangeably signed by the committee of Bow and the committee of Starkstown. Thirdly. For all such to whom the town is indebted to bring in their accounts.

Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Thirdly. To see if the proprietors will vote to make good to every person who hath lost land in the settlement of Bow line. Dated at Dunbarton the eleventh day of September, A. D. 1787.
History of the town of Dunbarton, Merrimack County, New-Hampshire, from the grant by Mason's assigns, in 1751, to the year 18601860 · page 80Read the page →
Read the text

Thirdly. To see if the proprietors will vote to make good to every person who hath lost land in the settlement of Bow line. Dated at Dunbarton the eleventh day of September, A. D. 1787.

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

Bow, decade by decade

3 decades in the archive, from the 1900s to the 1920s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1900s–1920s5 items
Birthplace of Mary Baker G. Eddy1900Birthplace of Mary Baker G. Eddy"The Playground" in Bow, N.H. where Mrs. Mary Baker G. Eddy enjoyed many happy hours as a child, near the old Baker home1919"The Playground" in Bow, N.H. where Mrs. Mary Baker G…"The Playground"1919"The Playground"Wry fly tub wheel1922Wry fly tub wheelThe Mack Baker Homestead1923The Mack Baker Homestead
1930s–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
Today7 recent
CSX freight train in Bow, NH June 2026 12026CSX freight train in Bow, NH June 2026 1Bow High School, November 20162016Bow High School, November 2016Bow High School2014Bow High SchoolCrossroads Community Church2013Crossroads Community ChurchBow Town Hall, 18472013Bow Town Hall, 1847Bow Center School, 18942013Bow Center School, 1894Flooded road, Bow, New Hampshire, 20062006Flooded road, Bow, New Hampshire, 2006
On the map

Bow on the map, 1927 to 1985

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

Bow on the 1927 USGS mapBow on the 1949 USGS mapBow on the 1967 USGS mapBow on the 1985 USGS map1927Concord 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 Bow.

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.

Birthplace of Mary Baker G. Eddy
Retake this viewBirthplace of Mary Baker G. Eddy, 1900

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

Retake this view · +15
Famous people

5 famous people were born in Bow

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

See all →
Mary Baker EddyAmerican founder of Christian Science · b. 1821
H
Henry Moore BakerUnited States general · b. 1841
A
Andy ThomasAmerican ice hockey defenceman · b. 1985
A
Austin BrummettAmerican soccer player · b. 2004
S
Sam KnoxAmerican football player · b. 1910
Help out

Finish Bow’s story

Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
3 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewBirthplace of Mary Baker G. Eddy: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
Stories next door

History across the town line

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

Concord30 historic placesA+Suncook3 historic placesnot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townDunbartonIts storyBPembroke2 historic placesA+Hopkinton6 historic placesAHooksett1 historic placeB−

Questions about Bow’s history

What year was Bow founded?

In 1727, according to Wikidata. Bow’s post office opened in 1832, and the first U.S. census counted 568 people here in 1790.

How does Bow rank for history?

Bow is more historic than 54% of U.S. towns, #114 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.

How old are the homes in Bow?

10% of Bow’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±4.4 points), against a typical 17% for a New Hampshire town; the median home was built in 1985.

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 (9), the Library of Congress (3), 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.