The land was originally named "Boyle" after Richard Boyle, Earl of Burlington, when the land was granted by the Masonian Proprietors in 1752, but ongoing hostilities during the French and Indian War prevented settlement. When the grant lapsed, the town was rechartered by Governor Benning Wentworth on July 13, 1763, as Gilsum, in a portmanteau of the surnames of two proprietors, Samuel Gilbert and his son-in-law, Thomas Sumner. It was first settled in 1764 by Josiah Kilburn from Hebron, Connecticut.
Passages that mention Gilsum, cut from the printed page as they were published.
History of the town of Gilsum, New Hampshire from 1752 to 18791881 · page 34Read the page →
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As already seen, that bloody conflict known as the " French and Indian War," occurred before the settlement of Gilsum. In it, however, were engaged some of those who afterwards settled in Gilsum, as, for instance, Solomon Mack and John Bingham, [Biog.] and doubtless many others. A curious letter relating to those times was written in 1813 by Abner Sanger, then residing in Gilsum. (Appendix B.)
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History of the town of Gilsum, New Hampshire from 1752 to 18791881 · page 30Read the page →
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some of their duties as members of their several towns are by their situation very burdensome — That if they might be incorporated into a separate and distinct township it would be highly advantageous to them, and no detriment to the towns to which they now belong — That they are encouraged to hope that no objections will be made to their being thus incorporated unless by the town of Gilsum, and that those objections may be easily obviated — The prayer of this their humble Petition therefore is — That the tract of land marked out upon the plan * Illegible.
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.
By decade
Gilsum, decade by decade
2 decades in the archive, from the 1900s to the 1910s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
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.
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). How TownRatings grades history →
From Wikimedia Commons (5), Wikidata (1), 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), 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.
![As already seen, that bloody conflict known as the " French and Indian War," occurred before the settlement of Gilsum. In it, however, were engaged some of those who afterwards settled in Gilsum, as, for instance, Solomon Mack and John Bingham, [Biog.] and doubtless many others. A curious letter re…](https://images.townratings.com/story/27828/bk-1b5309a14141509f-l.jpg)
1908
1911
2012
