History · Gilmanton

Gilmanton dates to 1727, and 13% of its homes were built before 1940

More historic than 84% of U.S. towns · #57 of 126 in New Hampshire. What drives it

5 places in town are on the National Register. Below: 4 old photos and papers, maps from 1919 on, and the census since 1790.

1727founded

5on the National Register

13%homes built before 1940

4old photos & papers

Add an old photo Share a memory

From Gilmanton’s archive · credits on each photo

Quick answers

How Gilmanton began

When was Gilmanton founded?

1727

Gilmanton dates its founding to 1727 (Wikidata and Wikipedia’s history agree). It appears in the first U.S. census, 1790.

First census: 2,613 in 17902020 census: 3,945299 years

How historic is Gilmanton?

A⁻

More historic than 84% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓

Founding year: Wikidata; Wikipedia’s history section gives the same year. First post office: 1800.The full story ↓

History grade

What drives Gilmanton’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Gilmanton is more historic than 84% of U.S. towns, #57 of 126 in New Hampshire. 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 Gilmanton’s overall grade.

Founding era1727, from Wikidata: founded before 1776, an older era than 96% of U.S. townsA⁺Homes built before 194013.4% of homes (±5.8) · typical NH town 17.5% · U.S. 8.4%B National Register5 listings, 6 historic buildings, 14.9 per 10,000 residents · typical NH town 9.5 · U.S. 2.4B

All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 84%

NewerOlder

New Hampshire towns of 2,500+ (126)Ahead of 55%

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 Gilmanton’s 14.9 sits near the middle of its state (56% of New Hampshire towns have fewer) while its 6 historic buildings outnumber those of 72% 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 (±5.8 points). Two sources give 1727.

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 Gilmanton’s past

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

A history waiting to be writtenOnly 4 old photos are in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.Shrank, then grewLost two-thirds of its people between 1810 and 1930, then grew 5-fold.Lost villages1 post office opened and closed inside today’s Gilmanton, and 5 old place names are still on the map.Older than the countryEstablished in 1727, 49 years before the Declaration of Independence.

★ What stands out · Help out

Start Gilmanton’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos

00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s

1 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.

Retake an old viewGilmanton Corner from Gilman [...]: stand where they stood+15 Share a family photoSign in to add one+10

People over time

Gilmanton, census by census

Lost two-thirds of its people between 1810 and 1930, then grew 5-fold.

24 censuses, 1790–2020.

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

Places that used to be

Lost post offices, old corners and burying grounds

Gilmanton’s post office has been open since 1800. Another post office, Lower Gilmanton, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Gilmanton

1800–today

Lower Gilmanton

1815–1902

Gilmanton Iron Works

1818–today

18001910today

Hamlets and corners on the map

Allens MillsGilmanton IronworksJones MillsKelleys CornerLower Gilmanton

3cemeteries and burying grounds inside Gilmanton

Pickering LotPine GroveSmith Meeting House

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

The story

How Gilmanton came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Gilmanton.

Read it all →

Gilmanton was incorporated in 1727. First known as "Gilmantown", the town was home to the Gilman family, originally settled at Exeter. Twenty-four members of the Gilman family received land grants in the new town of Gilmanton. (Other families related to the Gilmans also received grants in the new town, including the Dudleys, the Leavitts, the Folsoms and the Coffins.) At one time it was the second-largest town in the state, following Portsmouth. The original town was larger than it is now, with villages and parishes including Belmont, Gunstock Parish (Gilford), Hurricane, Tioga, Factory Village and Lakeport. A parish first called "Averytown", the site of an unprofitable iron-mining enterprise, is still known as Gilmanton Iron Works.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

From the old history books

What they wrote about Gilmanton in 1845

Passages that mention Gilmanton, cut from the printed page as they were published.

In 1761, the Proprietors laid off six miles square on the head of Barnstead, for a Parish. This has ever since been called the Lower Parish in Gilmanton. The portion of the town remaining was designed by the Proprietors for two other Parishes, of nearly equal territory, Upper Gilmanton and Gunstock… — **The history of Gilmanton**1845 · page 133Read the page →
Read the text
In 1761, the Proprietors laid off six miles square on the head of Barnstead, for a Parish. This has ever since been called the Lower Parish in Gilmanton. The portion of the town remaining was designed by the Proprietors for two other Parishes, of nearly equal territory, Upper Gilmanton and Gunstock Parishes.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.

The early settlement of the town was not fraught with those thrilling incidents, which enliven the History of many of the neighboring settlements. The town of Concord was settled the same year that Gilmanton was granted. The town of Canterbury, which was granted the same day with Gilmanton, was ear… — **The history of Gilmanton**1845 · page 35Read the page →
Read the text
The early settlement of the town was not fraught with those thrilling incidents, which enliven the History of many of the neighboring settlements. The town of Concord was settled the same year that Gilmanton was granted. The town of Canterbury, which was granted the same day with Gilmanton, was early settled ; and these together with Boscawen, being frontier towns, were the theatre of many depredations by the Indians during the French War. But the settlement of Gilmanton,
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

Gilmanton, 1727 to 1919

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

18th century
1727
FoundingGilmanton is established
19th century
1800Post officeThe Gilmanton post office opens
1810CensusPopulation peaks at 4,338
1815Post officeThe Lower Gilmanton post office opens
1818Post officeThe Gilmanton Iron Works post office opens
1868In the archiveGilmanton Corner from Gilman [...]
20th century
1902Post officeThe Lower Gilmanton post office closes
1909In the archiveCrystal Lake, Gilmanton Hills, NH
1919On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey

By decade

Gilmanton, decade by decade

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

1860s3 items

c. 1868Gilmanton Corner from Gilman [...]

c. 1869Gilmanton Academy

1900s1 item

1909Crystal Lake, Gilmanton Hills, NH

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

Today2 recent

2010Gilmanton Academy

2010First Baptist

On the map

Gilmanton on the map, 1919 to 1987

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

1919Gilmanton 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 Gilmanton.

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.

Retake this viewGilmanton Corner from Gilman [...], c. 1868

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

Retake this view · +15

On the National Register

5 historic places in Gilmanton

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

places listed

National Historic Landmarks

none yet

historic buildings protected

each building in a district counts

first listed

1983

Centre Congregational Church

Buildings

Architectural styles listings

Colonial Revival2

Greek Revival2

Federal1

Centre Congregational ChurchFederal

Gilmanton AcademyColonial Revival

Gilmanton Iron Works LibraryColonial Revival

First Baptist Church of GilmantonGreek Revival

Smith Meeting HouseGreek Revival

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

Stories next door

History across the town line

Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.

Barnstead1 historic placeB Belmont2 historic placesC Alton5 historic placesA⁻Loudon1 historic placeB Gilford4 historic placesB⁺

Questions about Gilmanton’s history

What year was Gilmanton founded?

In 1727, according to Wikidata and Wikipedia’s history of the town. Gilmanton’s post office opened in 1800, and the first U.S. census counted 2,613 people here in 1790.

How does Gilmanton rank for history?

Gilmanton is more historic than 84% of U.S. towns, #57 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 Gilmanton?

5 listings: 5 buildings, among them the Centre Congregational Church (listed 1983, the first). 6 historic buildings in all.

How old are the homes in Gilmanton?

13% of Gilmanton’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±5.8 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 (6), the National Register of Historic Places (5), Wikipedia, 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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