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A−History
History · Kingston

Kingston dates to 1694, and 11% of its homes were built before 1940

More historic than 79% of U.S. towns · #67 of 126 in New Hampshire. What drives it

5 places in town are on the National Register, among them the Josiah Bartlett House, a National Historic Landmark. Below: 3 old photos and papers, maps from 1935 on, and the census since 1790.

1694founded
5on the National Register
11%homes built before 1940
3old photos & papers
2famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Kingston’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Kingston began

When was Kingston founded?

1694

Kingston dates its founding to 1694 (Wikidata). It appears in the first U.S. census, 1790.

First census: 906 in 17902020 census: 6,202332 years

How historic is Kingston?

A−

More historic than 79% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: Wikidata. First post office: 1797.The full story ↓
History grade

What drives Kingston’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Kingston is more historic than 79% of U.S. towns, #67 of 126 in New Hampshire. Its age holds the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.

A−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Kingston’s overall grade.
Founding era1694, from Wikidata: founded before 1776, an older era than 96% of U.S. townsA+Homes built before 194011.0% of homes (±5.5) · typical NH town 17.5% · U.S. 8.4%B−National Register5 listings, 8.0 per 10,000 residents · typical NH town 9.5 · U.S. 2.4B
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 79%
NewerOlder
New Hampshire towns of 2,500+ (126)Ahead of 47%

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 Kingston’s 8.0 sits near the middle of its state (44% of New Hampshire towns have fewer) while its 5 listings outnumber those of 70% of U.S. towns.

NoteThe founding year comes from Wikidata alone; no second source gives 1694.
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 (±5.5 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 Kingston’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 3 old photos are in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.Older than the countryEstablished in 1694, 82 years before the Declaration of Independence.A National Historic Landmark5 places on the National Register, including Josiah Bartlett House, a National Historic Landmark.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Kingston’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Kingston’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 viewNew England Pergolas, Vinehurst, Reside…: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
Timeline

Kingston, 1694 to 1971

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

  1. 17th century
  2. 1694
    FoundingKingston is established
  3. 18th century
  4. 1768Born hereJosiah Bartlett Jr. is born here
  5. 1794In the archivePaine Wingate John Taylor Gilman
  6. 1797Post officeThe Kingston post office opens
  7. 19th century
  8. 1807Born hereLuella J. B. Case is born here
  9. 1841Post officeThe South Kingston post office opens
  10. 1898In the archiveNew England Pergolas, Vinehurst, Residence of L. G. Hoyt
  11. 20th century
  12. 1909Post officeThe South Kingston post office closes
  13. 1935On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  14. 1971LandmarkJosiah Bartlett House named a National Historic Landmark
On the National Register

5 historic places in Kingston

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving. One is a National Historic Landmark, the highest tier.

places listed
5
National Historic Landmark
1
Josiah Bartlett House
historic buildings protected
5
each building in a district counts
first listed
1971
Josiah Bartlett House
First Universalist ChurchNichols Memorial LibrarySanborn SeminaryPlains CemeteryJosiah Bartlett House★
BuildingsSites★ landmark

Architectural styles listings

Victorian1
Stick Style1
High Victorian Gothic1
★ Landmark
Josiah Bartlett HouseVictorian
First Universalist ChurchStick Style
Nichols Memorial LibraryBuilding
Sanborn SeminaryHigh Victorian Gothic
All 5 listings
Plains CemeterySite · listed 2021

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

The story

How Kingston came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Kingston.

Read it all →

Kingston was the fifth town to be established in New Hampshire. Originally, it was a part of Hampton. After King Philip's War, the establishment of new settlements was made possible by peace treaties with the local Indian tribes and, in 1692, by geographical and jurisdictional agreements between the provinces of Massachusetts Bay and New Hampshire. Consequently, certain residents of Hampton petitioned for a grant of a separate township to be created from the western part of Hampton. And so, in 1694, King William III of England granted a royal charter establishing the town of "Kingstown", so named in honor of the King. Use of the title rather than the King's name was common at the time. The original charter exists to this day.

ChaptersHistoric districtWest Kingston

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

By decade

Kingston, decade by decade

2 decades in the archive, from the 1790s to the 1890s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1790s1 item
Paine Wingate John Taylor Gilman1794Paine Wingate John Taylor GilmanDocument
1890s1 item
New England Pergolas, Vinehurst, Residence of L. G. Hoyt1898New England Pergolas, Vinehurst, Residence of L. G. H…
1900s–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
Date unknown1 to date
Greenwood LakeDate?Greenwood Lake
Today4 recent
Sanborn Regional High School2014Sanborn Regional High SchoolPowwow Pond2014Powwow PondGreat Pond2014Great PondFirst Universalist Church2013First Universalist Church
On the map

Kingston on the map, 1935 to 1981

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

Kingston on the 1935 USGS mapKingston on the 1956 USGS mapKingston on the 1981 USGS map1935Hampstead 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 Kingston.

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.

New England Pergolas, Vinehurst, Residence of L. G. Hoyt
Retake this viewNew England Pergolas, Vinehurst, Residence of L. G. Hoyt, 1898

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

Retake this view · +15
People over time

Kingston, census by census

05001,0001,5002,0002,5003,0003,5004,0004,5005,0005,5006,0006,500180018501900195020006,202

Grew from 906 people in 1790 to 6,202 in 2020, 6 times over.

24 censuses, 1790–2020.

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

Famous people

2 famous people were born in Kingston

Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.

See all →
Josiah Bartlett Jr.American physician and politician · b. 1768
Luella J. B. CaseAmerican author, hymn writer · b. 1807
Places that used to be

Lost post offices, old corners and burying grounds

Kingston’s post office has been open since 1797. Another post office, South Kingston, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Kingston
1797–today
South Kingston
1841–1909
17901910today
Hamlets and corners on the map
South KingstonWest Kingston
3cemeteries and burying grounds inside Kingston
Happy HollowMill HillPine Grove

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

Stories next door

History across the town line

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

Exeter10 historic placesA+Danville4 historic placesA−East Kingston1 historic placeB+NewtonIts storyB+Plaistow1 historic placeB+BrentwoodIts storyBHampstead1 historic placeB

Questions about Kingston’s history

What year was Kingston founded?

In 1694, according to Wikidata. Kingston’s post office opened in 1797, and the first U.S. census counted 906 people here in 1790.

How does Kingston rank for history?

Kingston is more historic than 79% of U.S. towns, #67 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 Kingston?

5 listings: 4 buildings, among them the Josiah Bartlett House (a National Historic Landmark since 1971), and 1 site.

How old are the homes in Kingston?

11% of Kingston’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±5.5 points), against a typical 17% for a New Hampshire town; the median home was built in 1982.

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 (7), Wikidata (3), the National Register of Historic Places (5), 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.