Laconia’s post office opened in 1855, and 25% of its homes were built before 1940
More historic than 71% of U.S. towns · #87 of 126 in New Hampshire. What drives it
14 places in town are on the National Register, among them a historic district with 17 buildings. Below: 11 old photos and papers, maps from 1885 on, and the census since 1860.
The Laconia post office opened in 1855, the earliest record of the town by name. Six smaller post offices, Meredith Bridge (1820), Weare's Bridge (1833) and Lake Village (1843), opened inside today’s city and later closed.
First census: 1,806 in 18602020 census: 16,871171 years
How did Laconia get its name?
Laconia is named after the Greek region of Laconia (Greek: Λακωνία, Lakonía, Greek pronunciation:) in the southeastern part of the Peloponnese peninsula.
How historic is Laconia?
B+
More historic than 71% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Laconia is more historic than 71% of U.S. towns, #87 of 126 in New Hampshire. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its age pulls it down.
B+
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Laconia’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 Laconia’s 17.0 sits near the middle of its state (60% of New Hampshire towns have fewer) while its 29 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 (±3.9 points). The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date.
Founding year: the first post office (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 Laconia’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Every building
Laconia, building by building, 1885–1923
Fire insurance maps drew every building, what it was made of and what it was used for, so insurers could price the risk of fire. Pick a year, then a sheet.
A large Abenaki Indian settlement called Aquadoctan once existed at the point now known as The Weirs, named by colonists for fishing weirs discovered at the outlet of the Winnipesaukee River. Early explorers had hoped to follow the Piscataqua River north to Lake Champlain in search of the great lakes and rivers of Canada mentioned in Indian folklore. About 1652, the Endicott surveying party visited the area, an event commemorated by Endicott Rock, a local landmark. A fort would be built at Laconia in 1746. But ongoing hostilities between the English, French, and their respective Native American allies prevented settlement until 1761, after which it remained for many years a part of Meredith and Gilford called Meredith Bridge.
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.
The Laconia post office opened in 1855, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Laconia rank for history?
Laconia is more historic than 71% of U.S. towns, #87 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 Laconia?
14 listings: 12 buildings, among them the Belknap-Sulloway Mill (listed 1971, the first), 1 historic district, the New Hampshire Veterans' Association Historic District, with 17 contributing buildings, and 1 site. 29 historic buildings in all.
How old are the homes in Laconia?
25% of Laconia’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±3.9 points), against a typical 17% for a New Hampshire town; the median home was built in 1974.
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 (11), Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (14), 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 Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
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