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History · Brookfield

Brookfield dates to 1794, and 28% of its homes were built before 1940

Its Register listing is the Brookfield Town Hall. Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1928 on, and the census since 1800.

1794founded
1on the National Register
28%homes built before 1940
1old photo or paper
From Brookfield’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Brookfield began

When was Brookfield founded?

1794

Brookfield dates its founding to 1794 (Wikidata). The census first counted it in 1800.

First census: 504 in 18002020 census: 755232 years
Founding year: Wikidata. First post office: 1832.The full story ↓

What stands out about Brookfield’s past

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

★ What stands out · Help out

Start Brookfield’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
1 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
People over time

Brookfield, census by census

020040060080018001850190019502000690 in 1820Low: 142

Lost two-thirds of its people between 1820 and 1940, then grew 5-fold.

23 censuses, 1800–2020.

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

Timeline

Brookfield, 1794 to 2020

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

  1. 18th century
  2. 1794
    FoundingBrookfield is established
  3. 19th century
  4. 1832Post officeThe Brookfield post office opens
  5. 20th century
  6. 1908Post officeThe Brookfield post office closes
  7. 1915In the archiveTown Hall
  8. 1928On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  9. 21st century
  10. 2020CensusPopulation peaks at 755
The story

How Brookfield came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Brookfield.

Read it all →

Settled in 1726 by Scots-Irish immigrants, the town was first named "Coleraine" after the Protestant-majority town of that name in County Londonderry in what has since become Northern Ireland. Fertile ground made it popular with farmers. It was later renamed "Brookfield", after Brookfield, Massachusetts, and made a part of the town of Middleton. However, in 1785, Brookfield petitioned, unsuccessfully, to be set off from Middleton. This was due to the division of the original town of Middleton into two parts by the long, high ridge of the Moose Mountains, then a considerable obstacle to travel. Town meetings, traditionally held in the muddy season of March, were particularly difficult to attend for those beyond the ridge. In 1794, however, permission was granted, and Brookfield was incorporated. In 1840, when Carroll County was set off from Strafford County, Brookfield went with Carroll,…

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

From the old history books

What they wrote about Brookfield in 1889

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

Allen since 1880 will be long remembered for his zeal and kind heart among his parishioners at Brookfield, Hackett Schoolhouse, and at North Wakefield. Frank Chamberlain, a local [(readier, supplied for a season. A church was organized at Wolfboro Junction in January, 1887, with seven members, and …
History of Carroll County, New Hampshire1889 · page 503Read the page →
Read the text

Allen since 1880 will be long remembered for his zeal and kind heart among his parishioners at Brookfield, Hackett Schoolhouse, and at North Wakefield. Frank Chamberlain, a local [(readier, supplied for a season. A church was organized at Wolfboro Junction in January, 1887, with seven members, and a new circuit was formed embracing Wolfboro Junction, Brookfield, East Wolfeborough, and North Wakefield, and April,

Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
BROOKFIELD was a part of the early township of Kingswood which existed only on paper. Later it formed a part of Middleton, which was created in 1778. In December, 1794, Brookfield was incorporated, and William Chamberlin was appointed to call the first town-meeting and act as moderator. For many ye…
History of Carroll County, New Hampshire1889Read the page →
Read the text

BROOKFIELD was a part of the early township of Kingswood which existed only on paper. Later it formed a part of Middleton, which was created in 1778. In December, 1794, Brookfield was incorporated, and William Chamberlin was appointed to call the first town-meeting and act as moderator. For many years Brookfield was united with Middleton in sending a representative to the legislature. Neither town had the constitutional number of votes to entitle it to a representative, and in 1826 David Davis, Esq., then a member of the legislature from the two towns, caused a

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

Brookfield, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1910s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1920s–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
On the map

Brookfield on the map, 1928 to 2000

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

Brookfield on the 1928 USGS mapBrookfield on the 1958 USGS mapBrookfield on the 1987 USGS mapBrookfield on the 2000 USGS map1928Wolfeboro 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 Brookfield.

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.

Town Hall
Retake this viewTown Hall, 1915

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

Retake this view · +15
On the National Register

1 historic place in Brookfield

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
1985
Brookfield Town Hall
Buildings

Architectural styles listings

Victorian1

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

Places that used to be

Lost post offices

Brookfield had its own post office from 1832 to 1908.

Brookfield
1832–1908
18301930today

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

Stories next door

History across the town line

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

Questions about Brookfield’s history

What year was Brookfield founded?

In 1794, according to Wikidata. Brookfield’s post office opened in 1832, and the census of 1800 counted 504 people here.

What is on the National Register in Brookfield?

One place: the Brookfield Town Hall (listed 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). How TownRatings grades history →

From Wikimedia Commons (3), 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 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.