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A+History
History · Lancaster

Lancaster dates to 1763, and 49% of its homes were built before 1940

More historic than 97% of U.S. towns · #13 of 126 in New Hampshire. What drives it

5 places in town are on the National Register, among them a historic district. Below: 13 old photos and papers, maps from 1887 on, and the census since 1790.

1763founded
5on the National Register
49%homes built before 1940
13old photos & papers
12famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Lancaster’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Lancaster began

When was Lancaster founded?

1763

Lancaster dates its founding to 1763 (Wikidata). It appears in the first U.S. census, 1790.

First census: 161 in 17902020 census: 3,218263 years

How historic is Lancaster?

A+

More historic than 97% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: Wikidata. First post office: 1802.The full story ↓
History grade

What drives Lancaster’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Lancaster is more historic than 97% of U.S. towns, #13 of 126 in New Hampshire. All 3 inputs are above most U.S. towns; its share of homes from before 1940 ranks highest and its National Register listings lowest.

A+
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Lancaster’s overall grade.
Founding era1763, from Wikidata: founded before 1776, an older era than 96% of U.S. townsA+Homes built before 194049.1% of homes (±9.0) · typical NH town 17.5% · U.S. 8.4%A+National Register5 listings, 7 historic buildings, 21.8 per 10,000 residents · typical NH town 9.5 · U.S. 2.4B+
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 97%
NewerOlder
New Hampshire towns of 2,500+ (126)Ahead of 90%

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 Lancaster’s 21.8 sits near the middle of its state (65% of New Hampshire towns have fewer) while its 7 historic buildings outnumber those of 73% of U.S. towns.

NoteThe founding year comes from Wikidata alone; no second source gives 1763.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from A to A+. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±9.0 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 Lancaster’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

Lost villages2 post offices opened and closed inside today’s Lancaster, and 4 old place names are still on the map.Mapped building by building6 fire insurance maps, 1887 to 1921, drew every building in Lancaster.On the map since 19003 editions of the USGS map, 1900 to 1982. Watch Lancaster change.Old housesHalf of Lancaster’s homes were built before 1942.
★ What stands out · Places that used to be

Lost post offices, old corners and burying grounds

Lancaster’s post office has been open since 1802. Two other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.

Lancaster
1802–today
South Lancaster
1872–1901
Grange
1886–1901
18001910today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Coos JunctionGrangeLost NationSouth Lancaster
2cemeteries and burying grounds inside Lancaster
Old CatholicSummer Street

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

Every building

Lancaster, building by building, 1887–1921

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.

Lancaster fire insurance map, 1887, sheet 11887Sheet 1 of 2
Edition
BrickWoodStone

Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.

On the map

Lancaster on the map, 1900 to 1982

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

Lancaster on the 1900 USGS mapLancaster on the 1935 USGS mapLancaster on the 1982 USGS map1900Whitefield 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 Lancaster.

The story

How Lancaster came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Lancaster.

Read it all →

Granted as "Upper Coos" in 1763 by colonial Governor Benning Wentworth to Captain David Page of Petersham, Massachusetts, the town was settled in 1764 by his son, David Page Jr. and Emmons Stockwell. It was the first settlement north of Haverhill, New Hampshire, 50 miles (80 km) to the south, and originally included land in what is now Vermont. It would be named for Lancaster, Massachusetts, hometown of an early inhabitant. Reverend Joshua Weeks, a grantee of the town, was among the group of explorers who named the mountains of the Presidential Range. Other grantees were Timothy Nash and Benjamin Sawyer, who discovered Crawford Notch in 1771, making a shorter route to Portland, Maine, possible.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

From the old history books

What they wrote about Lancaster in 1888

Passages that mention Lancaster, cut from the printed page as they were published.

The town voted, April 13, 1790, "that the town will well and truly pay to the Rev. Benjamin Bell, three hundred bushels of good wheat, annually, on the following and expressed conditions: That he, the said Rev. Benjamin Bell, shall settle in this town of Lancaster, in the work of the Gospel ministr…
History of Coos County, New Hampshire .1888 · page 299Read the page →
Read the text

The town voted, April 13, 1790, "that the town will well and truly pay to the Rev. Benjamin Bell, three hundred bushels of good wheat, annually, on the following and expressed conditions: That he, the said Rev. Benjamin Bell, shall settle in this town of Lancaster, in the work of the Gospel ministry, and that he preach a certain proportion of the time in the towns of Northumberland and Guildhall, as the towns may agree, saving to the Right of the said Rev. Benjamin Bell three weeks annually for the use of visiting his friends and relations, if he see occation, and that the

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

Lancaster, 1763 to 1983

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

  1. 18th century
  2. 1763
    FoundingLancaster is established
  3. 19th century
  4. 1802Post officeThe Lancaster post office opens
  5. 1828Born hereJohn Gould Stephenson is born here
  6. 1832Born hereEdward E. Cross is born here
  7. 1838In the archiveRecto Lancaster Bank (New Hampshire) 5 dollars 1838
  8. 1844In the archiveRecto Lancaster Bank (New Hampshire) 2 dollars 1844
  9. 1860Born hereJohn W. Weeks is born here
  10. 1862In the archiveLancaster, New Hampshire title QS:P1476,en:"Lancaster, New Hampshire "label QS:Len,"Lanca…
  11. 1872Post officeThe South Lancaster post office opens
  12. 1886Post officeThe Grange post office opens
  13. 20th century
  14. 1900On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  15. 1901Post officeThe South Lancaster post office closes
  16. 1901Post officeThe Grange post office closes
  17. 1907In the archiveLancaster NH station postcard
  18. 1910In the archiveMain Street in
  19. 1919Born hereWilliam Stokoe is born here
  20. 1941BuiltWeeks Estate is built
  21. 1983BuiltMount Orne Covered Bridge is built
By decade

Lancaster, decade by decade

5 decades in the archive, from the 1830s to the 1910s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1830s–1840s6 items
Recto Lancaster Bank (New Hampshire) 5 dollars 18381838Recto Lancaster Bank (New Hampshire) 5 dollars 1838DocumentVerso Lancaster Bank (New Hampshire) 5 dollars 18381838Verso Lancaster Bank (New Hampshire) 5 dollars 1838DocumentRecto Lancaster Bank (New Hampshire) 2 dollars 18441844Recto Lancaster Bank (New Hampshire) 2 dollars 1844Verso Lancaster Bank (New Hampshire) 2 dollars 18441844Verso Lancaster Bank (New Hampshire) 2 dollars 1844Recto Lancaster Bank 5 dollars 18461846Recto Lancaster Bank 5 dollars 1846Verso Lancaster Bank 5 dollars 18461846Verso Lancaster Bank 5 dollars 1846
1860s1 item
Lancaster, New Hampshire title QS:P1476,en:"Lancaster, New Hampshire "label QS:Len,"Lancaster, New Hampshire "1862Lancaster, New Hampshire title QS:P1476,en:"Lancaster…
1900s–1910s6 items
Lancaster NH station postcard1907–1915Lancaster NH station postcardPostcardOld Holton Placec. 1908Old Holton PlacePostcardMain Street inc. 1910Main Street inPostcardMain Streetc. 1910Main StreetWeeks Memorial Libraryc. 1912Weeks Memorial LibraryPostcardNew Hampshire1917New Hampshire
1920s–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
Today11 recent
Lancaster NH old courthouse 52013Lancaster NH old courthouse 5Lancaster NH Post Office 52013Lancaster NH Post Office 5Lancaster NH Cemetery 52013Lancaster NH Cemetery 5Downtown Lancaster, NH 52013Downtown Lancaster, NH 5Downtown Lancaster 242013Downtown Lancaster 24Downtown Lancaster 232013Downtown Lancaster 23Downtown Lancaster 222013Downtown Lancaster 22Downtown Lancaster 212013Downtown Lancaster 21Downtown Lancaster 202013Downtown Lancaster 20Coös County Courthouse 52013Coös County Courthouse 5Evans Block2010Evans Block
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.

Recto Lancaster Bank (New Hampshire) 2 dollars 1844
Retake this viewRecto Lancaster Bank (New Hampshire) 2 dollars 1844, 1844

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

Retake this view · +15
On the National Register

5 historic places in Lancaster

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.

places listed
5
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
7
each building in a district counts
first listed
1975
Wilder-Holton House
Wilder-Holton HouseMount Orne Covered Bridge, built 1983Garland MillWeeks Estate, built 1941US Post Office-Lancaster MainWeeks, William Dennis, Memorial LibraryWeeks State Park
BuildingsDistrictsStructures

Architectural styles listings

New England Colonial1
Bungalow1
Starved Classicism1
Beaux Arts1
Wilder-Holton HouseNew England Colonial
Mount Orne Covered BridgeBuilt 1983
Garland MillBuilding
Weeks EstateBungalow · Built 1941
US Post Office-Lancaster MainStarved Classicism
Weeks, William Dennis, Memorial LibraryBeaux Arts
All 7 listings
Weeks State ParkDistrict · listed 2023

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

People over time

Lancaster, census by census

05001,0001,5002,0002,5003,0003,50018001850190019502000Peak: 3,522

Between 161 and 3,522 people in every census since 1790.

24 censuses, 1790–2020.

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

Famous people

12 famous people were born in Lancaster

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

See all →
William StokoeScholar of American Sign Language · b. 1919
John W. WeeksAmerican politician · b. 1860
John Gould StephensonLibrarian of Congress · b. 1828
Edward E. CrossUnion Army officer · b. 1832
C
Chris OhlsonAmerican film producer · b. 1975
J
Jacob BiamonteAmerican physicist · b. 1979
Help out

Finish Lancaster’s story

Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
2 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewRecto Lancaster Bank (New Hampshire) 2 …: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
Stories next door

History across the town line

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

NorthumberlandIts storyA−Jefferson1 historic placeADaltonIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Lancaster’s history

What year was Lancaster founded?

In 1763, according to Wikidata. Lancaster’s post office opened in 1802, and the first U.S. census counted 161 people here in 1790.

How does Lancaster rank for history?

Lancaster is more historic than 97% of U.S. towns, #13 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 Lancaster?

5 listings: 5 buildings, among them the Wilder-Holton House (listed 1975, the first), 1 historic district, the Weeks State Park,, and 1 structure. 7 historic buildings in all.

How old are the homes in Lancaster?

49% of Lancaster’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±9.0 points), against a typical 17% for a New Hampshire town; the median home was built in 1942.

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 (24), the National Register of Historic Places (7), 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, Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress) 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.