Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 58% of U.S. towns · #110 of 126 in New Hampshire. What drives it
Below: 4 old photos and papers, maps from 1893 on, and the census since 1790.
Brookline dates its founding to 1769 (Wikidata). It appears in the first U.S. census, 1790.
More historic than 58% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Brookline is more historic than 58% of U.S. towns, #110 of 126 in New Hampshire. Its age holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.
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 Brookline’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.
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 →
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Brookline’s history is told.
Lost a third of its people between 1860 and 1910, then grew more than tenfold.
24 censuses, 1790–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Brookline’s Wikipedia page.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Brookline. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Brookline.
From Wikipedia’s history of Brookline.
First a part of Dunstable, Massachusetts, then settled as West Hollis, New Hampshire, the town was granted in 1769 as "Raby". Colonial Governor John Wentworth named it after his cousin, the 4th Earl of Strafford and Baron of Raby Castle.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Passages that mention Brookline, cut from the printed page as they were published.
herst, Milford, Merrimack, Litchfield, Londonderry, Pelham, Brookline, Pepperell and Townsend were carved out of this township. In 1732 Townsend was incorporated, its northerly line passing, in the language of its charter, "West 31i° North," just at the south of Brookline village. In 1734 the General Court granted to Benjamin Prescott and others, inhabitants of Groton, for losses of land Avhich went to
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
of the extinct town of Monson, now the north i)art part of Hollis ; Samuel Farley, James, Joseph and Randall McDaniels, Melvin and Whitcomb, in the easterly part of Brookline, formerly the west part of Hollis. The house of Abraham Taylor was about sixty rods north of the present meeting-house in Hollis ; that of Samuel Cumings about thirty rods west of the meeting-house; that of Benjamin Farley,,
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Sally Gilson, formerly of Brookline, d. 1 February, 1847, aged 68. Esther Gilson, d. 8 December, 1858, aged 77. Abigail Gilson, d. 28 June, 1869, aged 86 years and 10 months.
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.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
In the archiveBrookline Community ChurchOne decade in the archive so far: the 1900s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
2022Stone post, Potanipo Rail Trail
2022Potanipo Rail Trail bridge
2022Brookline Rail Trail sign
2022Brookline Rail Trail 2022
2019Brookline Rail Trail
2016Potanipo Pond
2016Nissitissit River
2016Nissitissit Bridge
2016Nissitissit Bridge profile
2015Brookline Community Church 2015
2014Main Street
2014Brookline Public LibraryDrag across each photo to compare.
19062015Brookline’s post office has been open since 1828.
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
In 1769, according to Wikidata. Brookline’s post office opened in 1828, and the first U.S. census counted 338 people here in 1790.
Brookline is more historic than 58% of U.S. towns, #110 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.
12% of Brookline’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 1993.
What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.
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 (16), 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.
Date?
Date?
Date?