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ChesterfieldNH TownHallAndHistoricalSocietyPhoto: User:Magicpiano · CC BY-SA 4.0
A−History
History · Chesterfield

Chesterfield dates to 1752, and 19% of its homes were built before 1940

More historic than 79% of U.S. towns · #66 of 126 in New Hampshire. What drives it

Its Register listing is the Asbury United Methodist Church. Below: 7 old photos and papers, maps from 1898 on, and the census since 1790.

1752founded
1on the National Register
19%homes built before 1940
7old photos & papers
13famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Chesterfield’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Chesterfield began

When was Chesterfield founded?

1752

Chesterfield dates its founding to 1752 (Wikidata). It appears in the first U.S. census, 1790.

First census: 1,905 in 17902020 census: 3,552274 years

How historic is Chesterfield?

A−

More historic than 79% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: Wikidata. First post office: 1802.The full story ↓
History grade

What drives Chesterfield’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Chesterfield is more historic than 79% of U.S. towns, #66 of 126 in New Hampshire. Its age holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.

A−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Chesterfield’s overall grade.
Founding era1752, from Wikidata: founded before 1776, an older era than 96% of U.S. townsA+Homes built before 194018.9% of homes (±8.1) · typical NH town 17.5% · U.S. 8.4%B+National Register1 listing, 2.8 per 10,000 residents · typical NH town 9.5 · U.S. 2.4C+
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 79%
NewerOlder
New Hampshire towns of 2,500+ (126)Ahead of 48%

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 Chesterfield’s 2.8 sits below most of its state (27% of New Hampshire towns have fewer) while its 1 listings outnumber those of 51% of U.S. towns.

NoteThe founding year comes from Wikidata alone; no second source gives 1752.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from B to A. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±8.1 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 Chesterfield’s past

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

Shrank, then grewLost two-thirds of its people between 1800 and 1940, then grew 6-fold.On the map since 18985 editions of the USGS map, 1898 to 1998. Watch Chesterfield change.Lost villages1 post office opened and closed inside today’s Chesterfield, and 3 old place names are still on the map.Older than the countryEstablished in 1752, 24 years before the Declaration of Independence.
★ What stands out · People over time

Chesterfield, census by census

05001,0001,5002,0002,5003,0003,5004,000180018501900195020002,161 in 1800Low: 591

Lost two-thirds of its people between 1800 and 1940, then grew 6-fold.

24 censuses, 1790–2020.

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

On the map

Chesterfield on the map, 1898 to 1998

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

Chesterfield on the 1898 USGS mapChesterfield on the 1932 USGS mapChesterfield on the 1958 USGS mapChesterfield on the 1984 USGS mapChesterfield on the 1998 USGS map1898Keene 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 Chesterfield.

Places that used to be

Lost post offices, old corners and burying grounds

Chesterfield’s post office has been open since 1802. Another post office, Chesterfield Factory, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Chesterfield
1802–today
Chesterfield Factory
1826–1896
West Chesterfield
1866–today
Spofford
1896–today
18001910today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Camp Notre DameSpoffordWest Chesterfield
1cemetery inside Chesterfield
New Boston

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

The story

How Chesterfield came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Chesterfield.

Read it all →

Granted in 1735 by Governor Jonathan Belcher of Massachusetts, this town was the site of Fort Number 1, first in the line of forts bordering the Connecticut River. After the border between Massachusetts and New Hampshire was fixed, the town was incorporated on February 11, 1752 by Governor Benning Wentworth as Chesterfield, named for Philip Stanhope, 4th Earl of Chesterfield. The first settlers were Moses Smith and William Thomas, who, with their families, came up the Connecticut in canoes, in the fall of 1761. Their chief subsistence through the winter and spring of their first year in the wilderness consisted of salmon and shad, of which there was a great abundance in the river, and deer, which were numerous in the forests. The town contains some of the finest farmland in Cheshire County, yet once was also home to small manufacturing, notably spinning wheel parts and hand tools.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

From the old history books

What they wrote about Chesterfield in 1884

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

The second was in 1838. Cheney, of Chesterfield, was colonel, and the ground chosen for the muster was on the plain on the south side of the road west of Stephen Buffum's. The day was fair, and everything went merry as a marriage bell, except that the liberty pole was cut down the night before by s…
History of the town of Richmond, Cheshire County, New Hampshire1884 · page I47Read the page →
Read the text

The second was in 1838. Cheney, of Chesterfield, was colonel, and the ground chosen for the muster was on the plain on the south side of the road west of Stephen Buffum's. The day was fair, and everything went merry as a marriage bell, except that the liberty pole was cut down the night before by someone, supposed to be Ira Wetherby, of Chesterfield.

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.

Timeline

Chesterfield, 1752 to 2010

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

  1. 18th century
  2. 1752
    FoundingChesterfield is established
  3. 19th century
  4. 1802Post officeThe Chesterfield post office opens
  5. 1826Post officeThe Chesterfield Factory post office opens
  6. 1833Born hereWilliam H. Haile is born here
  7. 1837Born hereElinor Mead Howells is born here
  8. 1840Born hereHelen Field Comstock is born here
  9. 1866Post officeThe West Chesterfield post office opens
  10. 1872Born hereHarlan F. Stone is born here
  11. 1885In the archiveSpafford [sic] Lake, looking north from Prospect House
  12. 1896Post officeThe Chesterfield Factory post office closes
  13. 1898On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  14. 20th century
  15. 1900In the archivePine Grove Springs Hotel, Lake Spofford, New Hampshire
  16. 21st century
  17. 2010CensusPopulation peaks at 3,604
By decade

Chesterfield, decade by decade

2 decades in the archive, from the 1880s to the 1900s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1880s–1900s7 items
Spafford [sic] Lake, looking north from Prospect House1885Spafford [sic] Lake, looking north from Prospect HousePine Grove Springs Hotel, Lake Spofford, New Hampshire1900Pine Grove Springs Hotel, Lake Spofford, New HampshirePine Grove Springs Hotel, Lake Spofford, N.H1900Pine Grove Springs Hotel, Lake Spofford, N.HPine Grove Springs Hotel, Lake Spofford, N.H1900Pine Grove Springs Hotel, Lake Spofford, N.HAlong the shore at Pine Grove Springs Hotel, Lake Spofford, N.H1905Along the shore at Pine Grove Springs Hotel, Lake Spo…Pine Grove Springs Hotel, Lake Spofford, N.H1905Pine Grove Springs Hotel, Lake Spofford, N.HOn the shore of Lake Spoffard [i.e. Spofford]1907On the shore of Lake Spoffard [i.e. Spofford]
1910s–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
Today5 recent
Dock Plate2013Dock PlateConnecticut River looking south from Stone Bridge2013Connecticut River looking south from Stone BridgeCenter Hole Of Dock Plate2013Center Hole Of Dock PlateBlizzard of March 1888 - the "Great Cut" on Hardscrabble Road, opening travel between Chesterfield and West Swanzey2010Blizzard of March 1888 - the "Great Cut" on Hardscrab…Blizzard of March 1888 - Deep cut in "Hardscrabble " Road2009Blizzard of March 1888 - Deep cut in "Hardscrabble " …
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.

Spafford [sic] Lake, looking north from Prospect House
Retake this viewSpafford [sic] Lake, looking north from Prospect House, 1885

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

Retake this view · +15
On the National Register

1 historic place in Chesterfield

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
1983
Asbury United Methodist Church
Asbury United Methodist Church
Buildings

Architectural styles listings

Greek Revival1
Asbury United Methodist ChurchGreek Revival

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

Famous people

13 famous people were born in Chesterfield

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

See all →
Harlan F. StoneChief justice of the United States from 1941 to… · b. 1872
E
Elinor Mead HowellsAmerican artist, architect and aristocrat · b. 1837
William H. HaileAmerican politician · b. 1833
Helen Field ComstockAmerican poet, philanthropist · b. 1840
Hoyt Henry WheelerUnited States federal judge · b. 1833
John Davis PierceMichigan public schools advocate and administra… · b. 1797
Help out

Finish Chesterfield’s story

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
1 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewSpafford [sic] Lake, looking north from…: 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.

Westmoreland2 historic placesASwanzey5 historic placesAHinsdale2 historic placesA−

Questions about Chesterfield’s history

What year was Chesterfield founded?

In 1752, according to Wikidata. Chesterfield’s post office opened in 1802, and the first U.S. census counted 1,905 people here in 1790.

How does Chesterfield rank for history?

Chesterfield is more historic than 79% of U.S. towns, #66 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.

What is on the National Register in Chesterfield?

One place: the Asbury United Methodist Church (listed 1983).

How old are the homes in Chesterfield?

19% of Chesterfield’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±8.1 points), against a typical 17% for a New Hampshire town; the median home was built in 1981.

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 (5), the Library of Congress (7), the National Register of Historic Places (1), 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.