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BHistory
History · Dunbarton

Dunbarton dates to 1765, and 10% of its homes were built before 1940

More historic than 56% of U.S. towns · #113 of 126 in New Hampshire. What drives it

Below: 5 old photos and papers, maps from 1927 on, and the census since 1790.

1765founded
0on the National Register
10%homes built before 1940
5old photos & papers
Add an old photoShare a memory
Photo: Ascended Dreamer · CC BY-SA 4.0
Quick answers

How Dunbarton began

When was Dunbarton founded?

1765

Dunbarton dates its founding to 1765 (Wikidata). It appears in the first U.S. census, 1790.

First census: 917 in 17902020 census: 3,005261 years

How historic is Dunbarton?

B

More historic than 56% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: Wikidata. First post office: 1814.The full story ↓
History grade

What drives Dunbarton’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Dunbarton is more historic than 56% of U.S. towns, #113 of 126 in New Hampshire. Its age holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.

B
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Dunbarton’s overall grade.
Founding era1765, from Wikidata: founded before 1776, an older era than 96% of U.S. townsA+Homes built before 194010.1% of homes (±3.4) · typical NH town 17.5% · U.S. 8.4%B−National RegisterNo listings counted · typical NH town 9.5 per 10,000 · U.S. 2.4C−
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 56%
NewerOlder
New Hampshire towns of 2,500+ (126)Ahead of 10%

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 Dunbarton’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 1765.
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 (±3.4 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 Dunbarton’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 1820 and 1920, then grew 7-fold.Lost villages1 post office opened and closed inside today’s Dunbarton, and 3 old place names are still on the map.Older than the countryEstablished in 1765, 11 years before the Declaration of Independence.Mystery photos5 old photos have no date. Neighbors can guess the decade.
★ What stands out · People over time

Dunbarton, census by census

05001,0001,5002,0002,5003,000180018501900195020001,450 in 1820Low: 405

Lost two-thirds of its people between 1820 and 1920, then grew 7-fold.

24 censuses, 1790–2020.

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

Places that used to be

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

Dunbarton had its own post office from 1814 to 1902. Another post office, East Dunbarton, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Dunbarton
1814–1902
East Dunbarton
1832–1899
18101920today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Baileys CornerDunbarton CenterPages Corner
Gone or out of use
Burnham SchoolschoolSchool Number 1schoolWaite Schoolschool
3cemeteries and burying grounds inside Dunbarton
Dunbarton CenterEast DunbartonStark

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

Timeline

Dunbarton, 1765 to 2020

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

  1. 18th century
  2. 1765
    FoundingDunbarton is established
  3. 19th century
  4. 1814Post officeThe Dunbarton post office opens
  5. 1832Post officeThe East Dunbarton post office opens
  6. 1899Post officeThe East Dunbarton post office closes
  7. 20th century
  8. 1902Post officeThe Dunbarton post office closes
  9. 1927On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  10. 21st century
  11. 2020CensusPopulation peaks at 3,005
The story

How Dunbarton came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Dunbarton.

Read it all →

Originally granted as "Gorham's-town" in 1735, and re-granted as "Starkstown" in 1748, the town was incorporated in 1765 as Dunbarton. The name came from Dunbartonshire in Scotland, hometown to Archibald Stark, a prominent settler.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

By decade

Dunbarton, decade by decade

Date unknown5 to date
History of the town of Dunbarton, Merrimack County, New-Hampshire, from the grant by Mason's assigns, in 1751, to the y…Date?History of the town of Dunbarton, Merrimack County, N…BookRecord of the centennial celebration of the incorporation of the town of Dunbarton, N.H., on Wednesday, September 13, 1…Date?Record of the centennial celebration of the incorpora…BookRecord of the centennial celebration of the incorporation of the town of Dunbarton, N.H., on Wednesday, September 13, 1…Date?Record of the centennial celebration of the incorpora…BookSketch ofDate?Sketch ofBookSketch of Dunbarton, New Hampshire [electronic resource]Date?Sketch of Dunbarton, New Hampshire [electronic resour…Book
Today6 recent
Dunbarton NH 4-21-262026Dunbarton NH 4-21-26Pages Corner Cemetery2018Pages Corner CemeteryFirst Congregational Church2013First Congregational ChurchDunbarton Library and Town Hall2013Dunbarton Library and Town HallCenter Cemetery2013Center CemeteryMolly Stark House Historical Marker2008Molly Stark House Historical Marker
On the map

Dunbarton on the map, 1927 to 1995

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

Dunbarton on the 1927 USGS mapDunbarton on the 1949 USGS mapDunbarton on the 1969 USGS mapDunbarton on the 1985 USGS mapDunbarton on the 1995 USGS map1927Concord 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 Dunbarton.

Help out

Start Dunbarton’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Date a photo5 archive items have no date. Guess the decade.+2Share 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.

BowIts storyB−Weare4 historic placesA−Goffstown8 historic placesAHopkinton6 historic placesAHooksett1 historic placeB−

Questions about Dunbarton’s history

What year was Dunbarton founded?

In 1765, according to Wikidata. Dunbarton’s post office opened in 1814, and the first U.S. census counted 917 people here in 1790.

How does Dunbarton rank for history?

Dunbarton is more historic than 56% of U.S. towns, #113 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.

How old are the homes in Dunbarton?

10% of Dunbarton’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±3.4 points), against a typical 17% for a New Hampshire town; the median home was built in 1990.

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 (11), Wikipedia, 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.