Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 47% of U.S. towns · #120 of 126 in New Hampshire. What drives it
Most of Litchfield was built recently: 6% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1987. Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1905 on, and the census since 1790.
Litchfield dates its founding to 1734 (Wikidata and Wikipedia’s history agree). It appears in the first U.S. census, 1790.
More historic than 47% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Litchfield is more historic than 47% of U.S. towns, #120 of 126 in New Hampshire. Its age holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.
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 Litchfield’s 0.0 sits below most of its state (8% of New Hampshire towns have fewer) while its 0 listings outnumber those of 23% of U.S. towns.
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 →
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Litchfield’s history is told.
Lost half of its people between 1830 and 1920, then grew more than tenfold.
24 censuses, 1790–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Litchfield’s Wikipedia page.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Litchfield. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Litchfield.
From Wikipedia’s history of Litchfield.
Prior to European settlement, the area was populated by the Abenaki people. They were skilled with fishing and were adept in agriculture as well. The New Hampshire Archaeological Society has located over 30 Native American sites along the shore of the Merrimack River in Litchfield, with artifacts several thousands of years old being uncovered.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Passages that mention Litchfield, cut from the printed page as they were published.
Following the dismissal of Mr. Tufts, an unsuccessful attempt was made to establish a union church in Merrimack. The town of Litchfield voted to join with the town of Merrimack in settling a minister, provided Merrimack built a meeting-house within forty rods of the Merrimack River, between Thornton's ferry and the mouth of the Souhegan River. Annual appropriations were made for the support of the gos-
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
" Persuant to an act of ye Great and General Court or .\ssembly, July 4, 1734, I, y« subscriber. Do in his Majesty's Name Require all ye freeholders and other inhabitants of the Town of Litchfield lawfully qualified to vote in Town-Meeting, to meet and convene at ye house of Aquila Underwood, in Litchfield, on Monday ye twenty ninth Day of July, current at one of ye clock in ye afternoon, then and there to choose town officers, to stand until ye annivei-siiry meeting in March next.
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.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
Born hereJack McQuesten is born here
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
In the archiveManchester & Nashua Street Railway Trolley Trestle 1907One decade in the archive so far: the 1900s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.
Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Litchfield’s page.
Retake this view · +15Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.
Litchfield had its own post office from 1804 to 1867.
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
In 1734, according to Wikidata and Wikipedia’s history of the town. Litchfield’s post office opened in 1804, and the first U.S. census counted 357 people here in 1790.
Litchfield is more historic than 47% of U.S. towns, #120 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.
6% of Litchfield’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±6.8 points), against a typical 17% for a New Hampshire town; the median home was built in 1987.
What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.
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 (4), 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.
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