Farmington’s post office opened in 1815, and 21% of its homes were built before 1940
More historic than 74% of U.S. towns · #79 of 126 in New Hampshire. What drives it
Its Register listings are the Farmington Town Pound and the First Congregational Church. Below: 12 old photos and papers, maps from 1887 on, and the census since 1790.
The Farmington post office opened in 1815, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Places (1895), opened inside today’s town and later closed.
First census: 786 in 17902020 census: 6,722211 years
How historic is Farmington?
B+
More historic than 74% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
Founding year: the first Farmington post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Farmington’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Farmington is more historic than 74% of U.S. towns, #79 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 Farmington’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 Farmington’s 2.9 sits below most of its state (28% of New Hampshire towns have fewer) while its 2 listings outnumber those of 60% 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 (±6.4 points). The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date.
Founding year: the first post office (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 Farmington’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
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.
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.
The native Abenaki people called the area Chemung, meaning "canoe place", and used the three rivers—the Cocheco, the Ela, and the Mad—for transportation. They had a camping ground on Meetinghouse Hill, where they built birch bark canoes. Otherwise, the river valley was wilderness, through which the native peoples from the north traveled to and from Lake Winnipesaukee on their way to other areas and hunting grounds.
The Farmington post office opened in 1815, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Farmington rank for history?
Farmington is more historic than 74% of U.S. towns, #79 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.
What is on the National Register in Farmington?
Two places: the Farmington Town Pound (listed 1993) and the First Congregational Church (2018).
How old are the homes in Farmington?
21% of Farmington’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±6.4 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 (21), the Library of Congress (1), Wikidata (2), the National Register of Historic Places (2), 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.
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