2 places in town are on the National Register, among them a historic district with 23 buildings. Below: 12 old photos and papers, maps from 1894 on, and the census since 1850.
Founding year: Wikidata. First post office: 1829.The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Jackson’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Jackson is more historic than 87% of U.S. towns. All 3 inputs are above most U.S. towns; its National Register listings ranks highest and its share of homes from before 1940 lowest.
A
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Jackson’s 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 Jackson’s 301 sits above most of its state (94% of New Hampshire towns have fewer) while its 27 historic buildings outnumber those of 81% 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 (±5.1 points). Two sources give 1829.
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 Jackson’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Once consisting of several large land grants by colonial Governor John Wentworth, the town was first named "New Madbury", after the seacoast town of Madbury. In 1772, a road was built through Pinkham Notch, and the area was first settled in 1778 by Benjamin Copp and his family. In 1800, the community was renamed in honor of President John Adams, who was then in office. The name "Adams" stuck until the town was incorporated in 1829, when Andrew Jackson, the hero of the Battle of New Orleans, was inaugurated president. Governor Benjamin Pierce, a staunch backer of President Jackson, was influential in changing the name to Jackson. Only one vote was cast against the switch. In 2021, town residents voted to rededicate the town name to honor geologist Charles Thomas Jackson (1805–1880) rather than Andrew Jackson.
Passages that mention Jackson, cut from the printed page as they were published.
History of Carroll County, New Hampshire1889 · page 913Read the page →
Read the text
Mills. -The first gristmill Hazen Pitman remembers was Joseph Thompson's at Centre Bartlett on Ellis river. This was carried off by a freshet years ago. Soon after the road from Jackson to Glen station was opened, Mr Goodrich built a saw and grist mill on the Kails that bear his name, and the site has been ever since occupied by a mill of some sort, a very line one being now there. Allium Allen had a mill close by the present village of Bartlett.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
History of Carroll County, New Hampshire1889 · page 959Read the page →
Read the text
Jackson has ever been a reading community. The Jackson Social Libra?3?/ was incorporated in 1S27 and existed for some years. The Jackson Public Library was organized in thiswise. The friends of General Wentworth were accustomed to remember his birthday by a present, generally of books. In 18T9 the general suggested that it form a nucleus for a town library. The suggestion was adopted, and Mr John K. Porter, a gentleman of Boston who had passed much time here, at once took great interest in forming a Library; himself did much, and interested others. As tin' result of his earnest labors,
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
Jackson, 1829 to 2020
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
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.
In 1829, according to Wikidata. Jackson’s post office opened in 1829, and the census of 1850 counted 589 people here.
How does Jackson rank for history?
Jackson is more historic than 87% 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 Jackson?
Two places: the Eagle Mountain House (listed 1990) and the Jackson Falls National Register Historic District (2003).
How old are the homes in Jackson?
16% of Jackson’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±5.1 points), against a typical 17% for a New Hampshire town; the median home was built in 1980.
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 (1), the Library of Congress (11), the National Register of Historic Places (2), 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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