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B+History
History · East Kingston

East Kingston dates to 1738, and 12% of its homes were built before 1940

More historic than 73% of U.S. towns. What drives it

Its Register listing is the Greeley House. Below: maps from 1935 on and the census since 1790.

1738founded
1on the National Register
12%homes built before 1940
1famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How East Kingston began

When was East Kingston founded?

1738

East Kingston dates its founding to 1738 (Wikidata). It appears in the first U.S. census, 1790.

First census: 358 in 17902020 census: 2,441288 years

How historic is East Kingston?

B+

More historic than 73% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: Wikidata. First post office: 1825.The full story ↓
History grade

What drives East Kingston’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, East Kingston is more historic than 73% 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 East Kingston’s overall grade.
Founding era1738, from Wikidata: founded before 1776, an older era than 96% of U.S. townsA+Homes built before 194011.7% of homes (±4.3) · typical NH town 17.5% · U.S. 8.4%B−National Register1 listing, 4.3 per 10,000 residents · typical NH town 9.5 · U.S. 2.4C+
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 73%
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 East Kingston’s 4.3 sits below most of its state (34% 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 1738.
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 (±4.3 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 East Kingston’s past

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

A history waiting to be writtenNo old photos of East Kingston are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Shrank, then grewLost a third of its people between 1860 and 1930, then grew 7-fold.Older than the countryEstablished in 1738, 38 years before the Declaration of Independence.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start East Kingston’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
People over time

East Kingston, census by census

05001,0001,5002,0002,50018001850190019502000598 in 1860Low: 347

Lost a third of its people between 1860 and 1930, then grew 7-fold.

24 censuses, 1790–2020.

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

Timeline

East Kingston, 1738 to 2020

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

  1. 18th century
  2. 1738
    FoundingEast Kingston is established
  3. 1763Born hereDaniel Tilton is born here
  4. 19th century
  5. 1825Post officeThe East Kingston post office opens
  6. 20th century
  7. 1935On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  8. 21st century
  9. 2020CensusPopulation peaks at 2,441
The story

How East Kingston came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of East Kingston.

Read it all →

East Kingston was once a part of Kingston called "Kingston East Parish", but was granted a separate charter in 1738 by Governor Jonathan Belcher. Several residents of East Kingston had petitioned Governor Belcher that its location was too distant from the Kingston school and place of worship.

The town grew up around the saw and grist mill at the Trickling Falls on the edge of Powwow Pond. Farms prospered on the good soil, and ice-cutting in the Powwow River was a thriving winter business before the age of refrigeration. The New England Brick Company was once a principal industry.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

By decade

East Kingston, decade by decade

Today9 recent
Jones General Store2017Jones General StoreUnited Methodist Church2014United Methodist ChurchTown Offices2014Town OfficesNH108 EastKingstonLookingNorth2013NH108 EastKingstonLookingNorthNH107 EastKingstonLookingEast2013NH107 EastKingstonLookingEastEastKingstonNH TownHall2013EastKingstonNH TownHallEastKingstonNH Library2013EastKingstonNH LibraryEastKingstonNH GreeleyTavern2013EastKingstonNH GreeleyTavernEastKingstonNH GreeleyHouse2013EastKingstonNH GreeleyHouse
On the map

East Kingston on the map, 1935 to 1981

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

East Kingston on the 1935 USGS mapEast Kingston on the 1956 USGS mapEast Kingston on the 1981 USGS map1935Hampstead 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 East Kingston.

On the National Register

1 historic place in East Kingston

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
1980
Greeley House
Greeley House
Buildings

Architectural styles listings

Georgian1
Greeley HouseGeorgian

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

Places that used to be

Old corners and burying grounds

East Kingston’s post office has been open since 1825.

Hamlets and corners on the map
Monahan CornersPowwow RiverTappan Corners
3cemeteries and burying grounds inside East Kingston
East KingstonHillsideOld

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.

Kingston5 historic placesA−South Hampton6 historic placesnot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townNewtonIts storyB+Kensington5 historic placesAExeter10 historic placesA+

Questions about East Kingston’s history

What year was East Kingston founded?

In 1738, according to Wikidata. East Kingston’s post office opened in 1825, and the first U.S. census counted 358 people here in 1790.

How does East Kingston rank for history?

East Kingston is more historic than 73% 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 East Kingston?

One place: the Greeley House (listed 1980).

How old are the homes in East Kingston?

12% of East Kingston’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±4.3 points), against a typical 17% for a New Hampshire town; the median home was built in 1994.

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 (9), 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.