Founding year: Wikidata. First post office: 1813.The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Deering’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Deering is more historic than 57% of U.S. towns. Its age holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.
B
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Deering’s overall grade.
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 Deering’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.
NoteThe founding year comes from Wikidata alone; no second source gives 1774.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from C− to A−. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±3.8 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 Deering’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
First settled about 1765, the town was incorporated on 17 January 1774, by John Wentworth, governor of the Province of New Hampshire. He named it "Deering" after the maiden name of his wife, Frances Deering Wentworth, just as two years earlier he had bestowed Francestown with her first name. Deering had 928 residents when the first census was taken in 1790. By 1859, the population was 890. Its hills and valleys were well suited for agriculture. Industries included two sawmills, one gristmill, and one clothing factory.
Passages that mention Deering, cut from the printed page as they were published.
History of Hillsborough County, New Hampshire1885 · page 418Read the page →
Read the text
" Whereas, the Proprietors of the town of Deering, in the County of Hillsborough, have given up To the Town of Weare a Certain Tract of Non-Improved Land, and said Proprietors of Deering have Denied paying taxes on said Land for the year 1786, And said Land Being Inventoried and Returned To the HonWe General Court as Belonging to the Town of Deering, as it may Appear hereafter, Therefore, we humbly pray your Honours would be pleased to Abate the taxes for the years 178G, 1787, on said Land, or any part thereof, as your Petitioners are in
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
History of Hillsborough County, New Hampshire1885 · page 417Read the page →
Read the text
properly begins at Hillsborough line, on the south, about one-third of a mile from the stone bridge, is the principal market for produce and lumber of a large j)ortion of Deering at the present time. The war-cloud of the Revolution was gathering over the New England colonies, culminating in the battle of Lexington, on April 19, 1775. Deering, it will be seen in another place, was represented there by one
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
Deering, 1774 to 2010
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
In 1774, according to Wikidata. Deering’s post office opened in 1813, and the first U.S. census counted 928 people here in 1790.
How does Deering rank for history?
Deering is more historic than 57% 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.
How old are the homes in Deering?
11% of Deering’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±3.8 points), against a typical 17% for a New Hampshire town; the median home was built in 1977.
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 (4), 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.
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