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AHistory
History · Franconia

Franconia dates to 1764, and 20% of its homes were built before 1940

More historic than 92% of U.S. towns. What drives it

4 places in town are on the National Register. Below: 12 old photos and papers, maps from 1967 on, and the census since 1790.

1764founded
4on the National Register
20%homes built before 1940
12old photos & papers
1famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Franconia’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Franconia began

When was Franconia founded?

1764

Franconia dates its founding to 1764 (Wikidata). It appears in the first U.S. census, 1790.

First census: 72 in 17902020 census: 1,083262 years

How historic is Franconia?

A

More historic than 92% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: Wikidata. First post office: 1808.The full story ↓
History grade

What drives Franconia’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Franconia is more historic than 92% of U.S. towns. All 3 inputs are above most U.S. towns; its age ranks highest and its share of homes from before 1940 lowest.

A
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Franconia’s overall grade.
Founding era1764, from Wikidata: founded before 1776, an older era than 96% of U.S. townsA+Homes built before 194020.4% of homes (±5.9) · typical NH town 17.5% · U.S. 8.4%B+National Register4 listings, 5 historic buildings, 47.2 per 10,000 residents · typical NH town 9.5 · U.S. 2.4B+
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 92%
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 Franconia’s 47.2 sits above most of its state (76% of New Hampshire towns have fewer) while its 5 historic buildings outnumber those of 70% of U.S. towns.

NoteThe founding year comes from Wikidata alone; no second source gives 1764.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from A− to A. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±5.9 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 Franconia’s past

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

Shrank, then grewLost a third of its people between 1860 and 1920, then more than doubled.A town in old photos12 old photos, postcards and papers, 1861–1900.Older than the countryEstablished in 1764, 12 years before the Declaration of Independence.Landmarks on the Register4 places on the National Register.
★ What stands out · People over time

Franconia, census by census

02004006008001,0001,20018001850190019502000708 in 1860Low: 440

Lost a third of its people between 1860 and 1920, then more than doubled.

24 censuses, 1790–2020.

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

By decade

Franconia, decade by decade

4 decades in the archive, from the 1860s to the 1900s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1860s–1870s6 items
DAILY DINNER MENU (held by) PROFILE HOUSE (at) "FRANCONIA MTS,NEW HAMPSHIRE" (HOTEL)1861DAILY DINNER MENU (held by) PROFILE HOUSE (at) "FRANC…Flume, at the time of the flood, Oct. 1869c. 1864Flume, at the time of the flood, Oct. 1869Flume, at the time of the flood, Oct. 1869c. 1864Flume, at the time of the flood, Oct. 1869From the Flume House1872From the Flume HouseFrom the Flume House1872From the Flume HouseEmil Otto Grundmann001878Emil Otto Grundmann00
1890s5 items
On the road to Franconia, White Mountains1890On the road to Franconia, White MountainsForest Hills Hotel from Franconia Village, White Mountains1890Forest Hills Hotel from Franconia Village, White Moun…Forest Hills Hotel, Mt. Washington, N. H1898Forest Hills Hotel, Mt. Washington, N. HOn the Road, Franconia, N. H1898On the Road, Franconia, N. HPemigewasset Valley, Franconia, West Compton, N.H1898Pemigewasset Valley, Franconia, West Compton, N.H
1900s1 item
Franconia Village and Sugar Hill, White Mountains1900Franconia Village and Sugar Hill, White Mountains
1910s–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
Timeline

Franconia, 1764 to 2010

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

  1. 18th century
  2. 1764
    FoundingFranconia is established
  3. 19th century
  4. 1808Post officeThe Franconia post office opens
  5. 1820BuiltLovett's by Lafayette Brook is built
  6. 1861In the archiveDAILY DINNER MENU (held by) PROFILE HOUSE (at) "FRANCONIA MTS,NEW HAMPSHIRE" (HOTEL)
  7. 1864Born hereFred A. Howland is born here
  8. 1872In the archiveFrom the Flume House
  9. 1890In the archiveOn the road to Franconia, White Mountains
  10. 20th century
  11. 1900In the archiveFranconia Village and Sugar Hill, White Mountains
  12. 1912BuiltGreenleaf, Abbie, Library is built
  13. 1967On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  14. 21st century
  15. 2010CensusPopulation peaks at 1,104
The story

How Franconia came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Franconia.

Read it all →

Town status was first granted in 1764 by colonial Governor Benning Wentworth as "Franconia", a name widely applied to the region by 1760 due to the terrain's resemblance to the Franconian Switzerland in Upper Franconia, Bavaria, Germany. Upon claims that a settlement was not made within the time prescribed under the terms of the charter, it was regranted in 1772 by his nephew, Governor John Wentworth, as "Morristown". Sometime between 1779 and 1782, after a legal battle over the two grants, the first grant was recognized and the original name of the town was resumed.

The town sits on a rich iron deposit, and the region once produced pig iron and bar iron for farm tools and cast iron ware.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

On the map

Franconia on the map, 1967 to 1995

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

Franconia on the 1967 USGS mapFranconia on the 1995 USGS map1967Franconia sheet · 1:24,000

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Franconia.

Then & now

Stand where they stood

No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.

DAILY DINNER MENU (held by) PROFILE HOUSE (at) "FRANCONIA MTS,NEW HAMPSHIRE" (HOTEL)
Retake this viewDAILY DINNER MENU (held by) PROFILE HOUSE (at) "FRANCONIA MTS,NEW HAMPSHIRE" (HOTEL), 1861

Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Franconia’s page.

Retake this view · +15
On the National Register

4 historic places in Franconia

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.

places listed
4
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
5
each building in a district counts
first listed
1976
Frost Place
Frost PlaceLovett's by Lafayette Brook, built 1820Dow AcademyGreenleaf, Abbie, Library, built 1912
Buildings

Architectural styles listings

Greek Revival1
Georgian Revival1
Jacobethan Revival1
Frost PlaceBuilding
Lovett's by Lafayette BrookGreek Revival · Built 1820
Dow AcademyGeorgian Revival
Greenleaf, Abbie, LibraryJacobethan Revival · Built 1912

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

Franconia’s post office has been open since 1808.

Hamlets and corners on the map
Mittersill
2cemeteries and burying grounds inside Franconia
ElmwoodWillow

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

Help out

Finish Franconia’s story

Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
1 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewDAILY DINNER MENU (held by) PROFILE HOU…: stand where they stood+15Share 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.

Sugar HillIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townLincolnIts storyB−Bethlehem3 historic placesAEastonIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Franconia’s history

What year was Franconia founded?

In 1764, according to Wikidata. Franconia’s post office opened in 1808, and the first U.S. census counted 72 people here in 1790.

How does Franconia rank for history?

Franconia is more historic than 92% 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 Franconia?

4 listings: 4 buildings, among them the Frost Place (listed 1976, the first). 5 historic buildings in all.

How old are the homes in Franconia?

20% of Franconia’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±5.9 points), against a typical 17% for a New Hampshire town; the median home was built in 1981.

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 Library of Congress (3), Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (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) 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.