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AHistory
History · Colebrook

Colebrook dates to 1796, and 33% of its homes were built before 1940

More historic than 89% of U.S. towns. What drives it

Its Register listing is the Benjamin Aldrich Homestead. Below: 8 old photos and papers, maps from 1887 on, and the census since 1790.

1796founded
1on the National Register
33%homes built before 1940
8old photos & papers
5famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Colebrook’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Colebrook began

When was Colebrook founded?

1796

Colebrook dates its founding to 1796 (Wikidata). It appears in the first U.S. census, 1790.

First census: 29 in 17902020 census: 2,084230 years

How historic is Colebrook?

A

More historic than 89% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: Wikidata. First post office: 1809.The full story ↓
History grade

What drives Colebrook’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Colebrook is more historic than 89% of U.S. towns. All 3 inputs are above most U.S. towns; its share of homes from before 1940 ranks highest and its National Register listings lowest.

A
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Colebrook’s overall grade.
Founding era1796, from Wikidata: founded 1776–1849, an older era than 75% of U.S. townsA−Homes built before 194032.6% of homes (±8.5) · typical NH town 17.5% · U.S. 8.4%ANational Register1 listing, 4 historic buildings, 20.1 per 10,000 residents · typical NH town 9.5 · U.S. 2.4B+
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 89%
NewerOlder

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 Colebrook’s 20.1 sits near the middle of its state (63% of New Hampshire towns have fewer) while its 4 historic buildings outnumber those of 68% of U.S. towns.

How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from A− to A. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±8.5 points). Two sources give 1796.

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 Colebrook’s past

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

Mapped building by building6 fire insurance maps, 1887 to 1921, drew every building in Colebrook.Lost villages2 post offices opened and closed inside today’s Colebrook, and 2 old place names are still on the map.Deep rootsEstablished in 1796: 230 years of Colebrook.Mystery photos6 old photos have no date. Neighbors can guess the decade.
★ What stands out · Every building

Colebrook, building by building, 1887–1921

Fire insurance maps drew every building, what it was made of and what it was used for, so insurers could price the risk of fire. Pick a year, then a sheet.

Colebrook fire insurance map, 1887, sheet 11887Sheet 1 of 1
Edition
Sheets
BrickWoodStone

Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.

Places that used to be

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

Colebrook’s post office has been open since 1811. Two other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.

Cockburn
1809–1816
Colebrook
1811–today
Mohawk
1897–1903
18001910today
Hamlets and corners on the map
KiddervilleUpper Kidderville
Gone or out of use
East Colebrook ChurchchurchFactory SchoolschoolForbes SchoolschoolHarvey Swell SchoolschoolPiper SchoolschoolWhittemore Schoolschool
1cemetery inside Colebrook
Village

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

Timeline

Colebrook, 1796 to 1930

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

  1. 18th century
  2. 1796
    FoundingColebrook is established
  3. 19th century
  4. 1809Post officeThe Cockburn post office opens
  5. 1811Post officeThe Colebrook post office opens
  6. 1816Post officeThe Cockburn post office closes
  7. 1834Born hereHorace White is born here
  8. 1839Born hereChester B. Jordan is born here
  9. 1845Born hereIrving W. Drew is born here
  10. 1870Born hereFrank Crawford is born here
  11. 1880In the archiveTea room at Polly's Place
  12. 1897Post officeThe Mohawk post office opens
  13. 20th century
  14. 1903Post officeThe Mohawk post office closes
  15. 1907In the archiveMain Street, Looking North
  16. 1930On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
The story

How Colebrook came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Colebrook.

Read it all →

First granted in 1762 by New Hampshire's colonial Governor Benning Wentworth, the territory was named "Dryden", after English poet and playwright John Dryden. Due to the inability of its original grantees to settle the remote area, however, it was regranted in 1770 by Colonial Governor John Wentworth, who renamed it "Colebrook Town" after Sir George Colebrooke, the East India Company's chairman of the board. It was settled that same year by a single family by the name of Rosebrook, but the family was driven out by the Revolutionary War, and further settlement did not occur until after the war's end. The 1790 census recorded a population of 29, and the town was incorporated as Colebrook on June 11, 1796. For many years, it was the shire town of the Northern Judicial District of Coos County. Today, it has a district branch of the Lancaster Superior Court.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

By decade

Colebrook, decade by decade

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

1880s–1900s2 items
Tea room at Polly's Place1880Tea room at Polly's PlaceMain Street, Looking North1907Main Street, Looking North
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
Date unknown6 to date
Bridge StreetDate?Bridge StreetHampshire InnDate?Hampshire InnMain StreetDate?Main StreetMonadnock HouseDate?Monadnock HouseParsons StreetDate?Parsons StreetOld Mill PondDate?Old Mill Pond
Today16 recent
Colebrook NH 9-15-26b2026Colebrook NH 9-15-26bColebrook NH 9-15-26a2026Colebrook NH 9-15-26aColebrook NH 12-26-20252025Colebrook NH 12-26-2025An exceptionally orderly row of evergreens near Colebrook, New Hampshire2017An exceptionally orderly row of evergreens near Coleb…Old, vine-assaulted barn2017Old, vine-assaulted barn2016-07-21 Ophiocordyceps stylophora (Berk. & Broome) G.H. Sung, J.M. Sung, Hywel-Jones & Spatafora 64103920162016-07-21 Ophiocordyceps stylophora (Berk. & Broome)…Baeospora myriadophylla (Peck) Singer 6494302015Baeospora myriadophylla (Peck) Singer 649430Snow Roller2013Snow RollerPark - panoramio (87)2013Park - panoramio (87)Colebrook NH 62013Colebrook NH 6Civil War memorial - panoramio (2)2013Civil War memorial - panoramio (2)Brook - panoramio (6)2013Brook - panoramio (6)Balsam hotel from lake Gloriette 19932013Balsam hotel from lake Gloriette 1993Colebrook NH2012Colebrook NHColebrook2009ColebrookBillDoingGuideWork2006BillDoingGuideWork
On the map

Colebrook on the map, 1930 to 1989

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

Colebrook on the 1930 USGS mapColebrook on the 1989 USGS map1930Dixville 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 Colebrook.

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.

Tea room at Polly's Place
Retake this viewTea room at Polly's Place, 1880

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

Retake this view · +15
On the National Register

1 historic place in Colebrook

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.

place listed
1
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
4
each building in a district counts
first listed
2003
Benjamin Aldrich Homestead
Benjamin Aldrich Homestead
Buildings

Architectural styles listings

Greek Revival1
Benjamin Aldrich HomesteadGreek Revival

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

People over time

Colebrook, census by census

05001,0001,5002,0002,50018001850190019502000Peak: 2,459

Between 29 and 2,459 people in every census since 1790.

24 censuses, 1790–2020.

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

Famous people

5 famous people were born in Colebrook

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

See all →
Irving W. DrewAmerican politician · b. 1845
Chester B. JordanAmerican politician · b. 1839
Horace WhiteAmerican journalist · b. 1834
Frank CrawfordAmerican football player and coach, lawyer and … · b. 1870
Edward CummingsAmerican minister and sociologist · b. 1861
Help out

Start Colebrook’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
1 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Date a photo6 archive items have no date. Guess the decade.+2Retake an old viewTea room at Polly's Place: 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.

StewartstownIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townColumbia2 historic placesnot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Colebrook’s history

What year was Colebrook founded?

In 1796, according to Wikidata. Colebrook’s post office opened in 1809, and the first U.S. census counted 29 people here in 1790.

How does Colebrook rank for history?

Colebrook is more historic than 89% 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.

What is on the National Register in Colebrook?

One place: the Benjamin Aldrich Homestead (listed 2003).

How old are the homes in Colebrook?

33% of Colebrook’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±8.5 points), against a typical 17% for a New Hampshire town; the median home was built in 1973.

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 (21), the Library of Congress (3), 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 Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.