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BHistory
History · Greenland

Greenland dates to 1721, and 1 of its places is on the National Register

More historic than 60% of U.S. towns · #100 of 126 in New Hampshire. What drives it

Most of Greenland was built recently: 6% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1987. Its Register listing is the Weeks House. Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1916 on, and the census since 1790.

1721founded
1on the National Register
6%homes built before 1940
1old photo or paper
1famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Greenland’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Greenland began

When was Greenland founded?

1721

Greenland dates its founding to 1721 (Wikidata). It appears in the first U.S. census, 1790.

First census: 634 in 17902020 census: 4,067305 years

How historic is Greenland?

B

More historic than 60% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: Wikidata. First post office: 1820.The full story ↓
History grade

What drives Greenland’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Greenland is more historic than 60% of U.S. towns, #100 of 126 in New Hampshire. Its age holds the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.

B
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Greenland’s overall grade.
Founding era1721, from Wikidata: founded before 1776, an older era than 96% of U.S. townsA+Homes built before 19405.5% of homes (±2.6) · typical NH town 17.5% · U.S. 8.4%CNational Register1 listing, 2.4 per 10,000 residents · typical NH town 9.5 · U.S. 2.4C+
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 60%
NewerOlder
New Hampshire towns of 2,500+ (126)Ahead of 21%

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 Greenland’s 2.4 sits below most of its state (26% 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 1721.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from C to B+. The pre-1940 share (±2.6 points) is firm at this size.

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 Greenland’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 1 old photo is in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.Lost villages1 post office opened and closed inside today’s Greenland, and 4 old place names are still on the map.Older than the countryEstablished in 1721, 55 years before the Declaration of Independence.On the map since 19164 editions of the USGS map, 1916 to 1981. Watch Greenland change.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Greenland’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Date a photo1 archive item has no date. Guess the decade.+2Retake an old viewWeeks House: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
Places that used to be

Lost post offices, old corners and burying grounds

Greenland’s post office has been open since 1820. Another post office, Greenland Depot, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Greenland
1820–today
Greenland Depot
1850–1914
18201920today
Hamlets and corners on the map
BaysideBreakfast HillCamp GundalowGreenland Station
2cemeteries and burying grounds inside Greenland
Berry FamilyGreenland

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

Timeline

Greenland, 1721 to 1916

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

  1. 18th century
  2. 1721
    FoundingGreenland is established
  3. 1781Born hereJohn W. Weeks is born here
  4. 19th century
  5. 1820Post officeThe Greenland post office opens
  6. 1850Post officeThe Greenland Depot post office opens
  7. 20th century
  8. 1914Post officeThe Greenland Depot post office closes
  9. 1916On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
The story

How Greenland came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Greenland.

Read it all →

One of the earliest settlements in the state, Greenland was a parish of Portsmouth (then called Strawbery Banke) operating in 1638. Captain Francis Champernowne moved from Strawbery Banke in 1640 and settled in the area of the present Portsmouth Country Club. Although it was originally to be called "Canary", he would call his farm "Greenland". His extensive landholdings included a farm which is now the town of Madbury, named for his ancestral home in Devon, England.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

By decade

Greenland, decade by decade

Date unknown1 to date
Weeks HouseDate?Weeks House
Today4 recent
Weeks Library2013Weeks LibraryCommunity Parish House2013Community Parish HouseCommunity Congregational Church2013Community Congregational ChurchGreenland, New Hampshire Parade, circa 18802011Greenland, New Hampshire Parade, circa 1880
On the map

Greenland on the map, 1916 to 1981

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

Greenland on the 1916 USGS mapGreenland on the 1941 USGS mapGreenland on the 1956 USGS mapGreenland on the 1981 USGS map1916Dover 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 Greenland.

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.

Weeks House
Retake this viewWeeks House

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

Retake this view · +15
On the National Register

1 historic place in Greenland

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
1975
Weeks House
Weeks House
Buildings
Weeks HouseBuilding

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

People over time

Greenland, census by census

05001,0001,5002,0002,5003,0003,5004,0004,500180018501900195020004,067

Grew from 634 people in 1790 to 4,067 in 2020, 6 times over.

24 censuses, 1790–2020.

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

Stories next door

History across the town line

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

Newington3 historic placesnot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townStratham8 historic placesBRye6 historic placesANorth Hampton5 historic placesA+Newmarket2 historic placesA+Portsmouth42 historic placesA+

Questions about Greenland’s history

What year was Greenland founded?

In 1721, according to Wikidata. Greenland’s post office opened in 1820, and the first U.S. census counted 634 people here in 1790.

How does Greenland rank for history?

Greenland is more historic than 60% of U.S. towns, #100 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 Greenland?

One place: the Weeks House (listed 1975).

How old are the homes in Greenland?

6% of Greenland’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±2.6 points), against a typical 17% for a New Hampshire town; the median home was built in 1987.

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 (4), the Library of Congress (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) 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.