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AHistory
History · Danbury

Danbury dates to 1771, and 27% of its homes were built before 1940

More historic than 87% of U.S. towns. What drives it

Its Register listing is the South Danbury Christian Church. Below: 4 old photos and papers, maps from 1927 on, and the census since 1790.

1771founded
1on the National Register
27%homes built before 1940
4old photos & papers
3famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Danbury’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Danbury began

When was Danbury founded?

1771

Danbury dates its founding to 1771 (Wikipedia’s history). It appears in the first U.S. census, 1790.

First census: 111 in 17902020 census: 1,250255 years

How historic is Danbury?

A

More historic than 87% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: Wikipedia. First post office: 1829.The full story ↓
History grade

What drives Danbury’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Danbury is more historic than 87% of U.S. towns. Its age holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.

A
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Danbury’s overall grade.
Founding era1771, from Wikipedia: founded before 1776, an older era than 96% of U.S. townsA+Homes built before 194027.0% of homes (±7.1) · typical NH town 17.5% · U.S. 8.4%A−National Register1 listing, 6.9 per 10,000 residents · typical NH town 9.5 · U.S. 2.4B−
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 87%
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 Danbury’s 6.9 sits near the middle of its state (41% of New Hampshire towns have fewer) while its 1 listings outnumber those of 51% of U.S. towns.

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 (±7.1 points). Two sources give 1771.

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 Danbury’s past

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

A history waiting to be writtenOnly 4 old photos are in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.Shrank, then grewLost half of its people between 1860 and 1960, then more than doubled.Then and nowOne place photographed years apart. Drag to compare.Lost villages1 post office opened and closed inside today’s Danbury, and 4 old place names are still on the map.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Danbury’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
1 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old view1912postConverseStationNH: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
People over time

Danbury, census by census

02004006008001,0001,2001,40018001850190019502000947 in 1860Low: 435

Lost half of its people between 1860 and 1960, then more than doubled.

24 censuses, 1790–2020.

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

Then & now

The same spot, 109 years apart

Drag across each photo to compare.

George Gamble LibraryGeorge Gamble Libraryc. 19122021
George Gamble LibraryMatched from the two captions
The story

How Danbury came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Danbury.

Read it all →

Danbury was first settled c. 1771 as a part of Alexandria, but mountainous terrain separated it from the rest of the town. In 1795, it was set off and incorporated, the name suggested by a settler from Danbury, Connecticut. The town later grew by adding land from Wilmot and Hill. Farmers found the surface mostly hilly, but with some good intervales suitable for agriculture. Raising cattle and sheep became the principal occupation. By 1859, when the population was 934, it had seven sawmills, two shingle, lath and clapboard mills, and one tannery.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Danbury, 1771 to 2020

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

  1. 18th century
  2. 1771
    FoundingDanbury is established
  3. 19th century
  4. 1819Born hereWilliam True Sleeper is born here
  5. 1829Post officeThe Danbury post office opens
  6. 1852Born hereFrancis Reed is born here
  7. 1855Post officeThe South Danbury post office opens
  8. 1877Born hereAmos Taylor is born here
  9. 20th century
  10. 1912In the archive1912postConverseStationNH
  11. 1927On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  12. 1965Post officeThe South Danbury post office closes
  13. 21st century
  14. 2020CensusPopulation peaks at 1,250
By decade

Danbury, decade by decade

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

1910s4 items
1912postConverseStationNH19121912postConverseStationNHGeorge Gamble Libraryc. 1912George Gamble LibraryDanbury Inn1916Danbury InnInland Farm1916Inland Farm
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
Today10 recent
Northern Rail Trail2022Northern Rail TrailGeorge Gamble Library2021George Gamble LibraryDanbury, NH post office2021Danbury, NH post officeDanburyNH UnionChurch2016DanburyNH UnionChurchDanburyNH TownHall2016DanburyNH TownHallDanburyNH GeneralStore2016DanburyNH GeneralStoreDanburyNH CommunityCenter2016DanburyNH CommunityCenterDanburyNH ChristianChurch2016DanburyNH ChristianChurchDanburyNH BlazingStarGrange2016DanburyNH BlazingStarGrangeDanburyNH SouthDanburyChristianChurch2012DanburyNH SouthDanburyChristianChurch
On the map

Danbury on the map, 1927 to 1987

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

Danbury on the 1927 USGS mapDanbury on the 1930 USGS mapDanbury on the 1956 USGS mapDanbury on the 1987 USGS map1927Cardigan 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 Danbury.

On the National Register

1 historic place in Danbury

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
South Danbury Christian Church
South Danbury Christian Church
Buildings

Architectural styles listings

Vernacular1
South Danbury Christian ChurchVernacular

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

Famous people

3 famous people were born in Danbury

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

See all →
William True SleeperAmerican clergyman, educator, and hymn-writer · b. 1819
A
Amos TaylorAmerican lawyer · b. 1877
F
Francis ReedAmerican inventor · b. 1852
Places that used to be

Lost post offices, old corners and burying grounds

Danbury’s post office has been open since 1829. Another post office, South Danbury, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Danbury
1829–today
South Danbury
1855–1965
18201920today
Hamlets and corners on the map
ElmwoodFords CrossingFords MillSouth Danbury
1cemetery inside Danbury
Riverside

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.

Hill2 historic placesAWilmot1 historic placeA−GraftonIts storyB+AlexandriaIts storyC+

Questions about Danbury’s history

What year was Danbury founded?

In 1771, according to Wikipedia’s history of the town. Danbury’s post office opened in 1829, and the first U.S. census counted 111 people here in 1790.

How does Danbury rank for history?

Danbury is more historic than 87% 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 Danbury?

One place: the South Danbury Christian Church (listed 1985).

How old are the homes in Danbury?

27% of Danbury’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±7.1 points), against a typical 17% for a New Hampshire town; the median home was built in 1977.

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 (14), 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) 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.