Founding year: Wikidata. First post office: 1795.The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Marlborough’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Marlborough is more historic than 66% of U.S. towns. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.
B+
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Marlborough’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 Marlborough’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.
NoteThe founding year comes from Wikidata alone; no second source gives 1776.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from C+ to A. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±7.4 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 Marlborough’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Lost a third of its people between 1800 and 1820, then more than doubled.
24 censuses, 1790–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Marlborough’s Wikipedia page.
On the map
Marlborough on the map, 1898 to 1998
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Marlborough. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1898Monadnock 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 Marlborough.
Every building
Marlborough, building by building, 1892–1910
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.
First granted as "Monadnock No. 5" in 1752 by Governor Benning Wentworth, this was one of the fort towns originally known only by a number. Lots were drawn in 1762 and first settled two years later. The town was at one time called "Oxford", then "New Marlborough", but was incorporated in 1776 as Marlborough. Many of the settlers were from Marlborough, Massachusetts, which had been named for John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough, in the late 17th century. Land was set off in 1815 to create the town of Troy.
Passages that mention Marlborough, cut from the printed page as they were published.
History of the town of Marlborough, Cheshire County, New Hampshire1881 · page 267Read the page →
Read the text
Although the line of the town of Marlborough is at the foot of the grand Monadnock on the west side, yet, it being so situated that no other town can have access to it without passing through Marlborough, unless the ascent be made on some other side, it would seem that the History of Marlborough should give, at least, a description of that part of the mountain which has been looking down upon the town since its settlement. Formerly, a large portion of it was
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
History of the town of Marlborough, Cheshire County, New Hampshire1881 · page 358Read the page →
Read the text
Gentlemen, — Accept my thanks for your cordial invitation to be present at the centennial celebration of the incorporation of the town of Marlborough on the 4th of July next, to respond to the sentiment, "The Public Men of Marlborough." Be assured it would give me great pleasure to comply with your invitation ; but distance, and the liability to sudden attacks of indisposition of persons of my age, admonish me to forego that pleasure. But, permit me to say, a vivid recollection of more than two-thirds of the past cen-
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
Marlborough, 1776 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 1776, according to Wikidata. Marlborough’s post office opened in 1795, and the first U.S. census counted 786 people here in 1790.
How does Marlborough rank for history?
Marlborough is more historic than 66% 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.
How old are the homes in Marlborough?
32% of Marlborough’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±7.4 points), against a typical 17% for a New Hampshire town; the median home was built in 1976.
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 (12), 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.
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