Founding year: Wikipedia. First post office: 1815.The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Bridgewater’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Bridgewater is more historic than 49% of U.S. towns. Its age holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.
B−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Bridgewater’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 Bridgewater’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 Wikipedia alone; no second source gives 1776.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from C to B+. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±4.3 points).
Founding year: Wikipedia (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 Bridgewater’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
The land comprising Bridgewater was originally part of a town known as "New Chester", which was separated into Bridgewater, Bristol, Hill, Danbury, and Wilmot. The town name was chosen because many of the settlers were from Bridgewater, Massachusetts.
Bridgewater originally included all of Bridgewater, Hill and Bristol. It was first settled in 1776, by Thomas Crawford. It was incorporated February 12, 1788.
In 1874, the Bridgewater station was served by the Montreal railroad.
The acclaimed author John Cheever spent many summers here at the home of his father-in-law, Milton Charles Winternitz.
In 1776, according to Wikipedia’s history of the town. Bridgewater’s post office opened in 1815, and the first U.S. census counted 281 people here in 1790.
How does Bridgewater rank for history?
Bridgewater is more historic than 49% 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.
How old are the homes in Bridgewater?
14% of Bridgewater’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±4.3 points), against a typical 17% for a New Hampshire town; the median home was built in 1979.
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 (4), Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock) and the USGS Geographic Names Information System. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
Date?
2017
2016
2016
