Its Register listings are the Gov. Meshech Weare House and the Unitarian Church. Its Register listings are the Gov. Meshech Weare House and the Unitarian Church. Below: 5 old photos and papers, maps from 1932 on, and the census since 1790.
Founding year: Wikidata. First post office: 1813.The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Hampton Falls’ History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Hampton Falls is more historic than 81% of U.S. towns. All 3 inputs are above most U.S. towns; its age ranks highest and its National Register listings lowest.
A−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Hampton Falls’ 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 Hampton Falls’ 8.6 sits near the middle of its state (45% of New Hampshire towns have fewer) while its 2 listings outnumber those of 60% of U.S. towns.
NoteThe founding year comes from Wikidata alone; no second source gives 1709.
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 (±5.4 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 Hampton Falls’ past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Archaeological excavations have confirmed that what is now Hampton Falls has been occupied by humans for roughly 10,000 years. The first settlers were indigenous peoples of the Northeastern Woodlands.
The land of Hampton Falls was first settled by Europeans in 1638, the same time as Hampton, of which it was then a part. The settlement of Hampton joined Norfolk County, Massachusetts Colony, in 1643, along with Exeter, Dover, Portsmouth, Salisbury and Haverhill. The county existed until 1679, when the modern-day New Hampshire towns separated from the Massachusetts Bay Colony.
Passages that mention Hampton Falls, cut from the printed page as they were published.
History of Hampton Falls, N.H. ..1918 · page 39Read the page →
Read the text
In 1781 an attempt was made to get the town of Seabrook, together with the lower part of Hampton Falls adjacent, incorporated into a new town to be known as New Hampton Falls. The parish of Hampton Falls voted to oppose this movement. In 1783 the attempt to get the town of New Hampton Falls was renewed. The town chose a committee to oppose it before the assembly and were successful in defeating the project. Who were the instigators of this movement does not appear and proba-
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
History of Hampton Falls, N.H. ..1900 · page 76Read the page →
Read the text
Up to this time Hampton Falls had generally beeii known and spoken of as the parish of Hampton Falls, and very seldom as the town of Hampton Falls, and Falls Avas generally written and printed with a small "f."
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
History of the town of Hampton Falls, New Hampshire1900 · page 76Read the page →
Read the text
Up to this time Hampton Falls had generally been known and spoken of as the parish of Hampton Falls, and very seldom as the town of Hampton Falls, and Falls was generally written and printed with a small "f."
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
History of Hampton Falls, N.H. ..1918 · page 40Read the page →
Read the text
"Hampton Falls, Jan. 7th, 178L" Up to this time (1780) the town has been spoken of as the parish of Hampton Falls and not the town of Hampton Falls. In 1787 Dr. Langdon asked for more salary but no vote appears to have been taken in the matter. The same year he was chosen a delegate to attend the convention at Exeter to adopt the Constitution of the United States. In 1789, voted ten pounds increase to Dr. Langdon's salary.
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
Hampton Falls, decade by decade
3 decades in the archive, from the 1860s 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.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Hampton Falls. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1932Exeter 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 Hampton Falls.
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 viewJohn Hall, c. 1865
Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Hampton Falls’ page.
In 1709, according to Wikidata. Hampton Falls’ post office opened in 1813, and the first U.S. census counted 541 people here in 1790.
How does Hampton Falls rank for history?
Hampton Falls is more historic than 81% 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 Hampton Falls?
Two places: the Gov. Meshech Weare House (listed 1973) and the Unitarian Church (1984).
How old are the homes in Hampton Falls?
15% of Hampton Falls’ homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±5.4 points), against a typical 17% for a New Hampshire town; the median home was built in 1981.
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 (12), 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 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.
1907–1915
1909
2013
2013
2013
2013
2013
2013
2006
