Founding year: Wikidata. First post office: 1828.The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Mason’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Mason is more historic than 57% of U.S. towns. Its age holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.
B
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Mason’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 Mason’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 1768.
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 (±4.2 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 Mason’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Mason was first known as "Number One", the easternmost in a line of border towns including area allotted to the Province of New Hampshire after its border with neighboring Massachusetts was fixed in 1739. The town was granted its own charter in 1749 by colonial governor Benning Wentworth, and in 1768 his nephew, Governor John Wentworth, named it in honor of New Hampshire's founder, Captain John Mason, who along with Sir Ferdinando Gorges had been granted the territory in 1622 by the Council of New England. In 1629 the land grant was split between the two proprietors, with Gorges retaining the eastern portion of the territory (present-day Maine), and Mason holding the patent with title to the land that became New Hampshire.
Passages that mention Mason, cut from the printed page as they were published.
History of the town of Mason, N. H. from the first grant in 1749, to the year 18581858 · page 148Read the page →
Read the text
WJiereas, John Boynton, Esquire, of Templeton, in the State of Massachusetts, has given to the town of Mason, the sum of ten thousand dollars, in trust, the income of which is to be appropriated for the maintenance of common schools in said town of Mason; and, whereas, by the provisions of the grant, the said grant is to be under the control of five trustees, to be elected by said town of Mason ; therefore, Be it enacted hy the Senate and House of Representatives in Gen-
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
History of the town of Mason, N. H. from the first grant in 1749, to the year 18581858 · page 58Read the page →
Read the text
'•' Province of New Hampshire. By order of his Excellency, John Wentworth, Esquire, and the Honorable Council, for calling a meeting of the Inhabitants and Freeholders of Mason, in order for the choice of Town officers, <fec. I therefore notify and warn the Inhabitants and all Freeholders and voters by law of the Town of Mason, to meet att the meeting-house in Mason, on Monday, the nineteenth of September instant at ten of the clock in the forenoon, and
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.
By decade
Mason, decade by decade
One decade in the archive so far: the 1900s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
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 1768, according to Wikidata. Mason’s post office opened in 1828, and the first U.S. census counted 922 people here in 1790.
How does Mason rank for history?
Mason is more historic than 57% 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 Mason?
11% of Mason’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±4.2 points), against a typical 17% for a New Hampshire town; the median home was built in 1988.
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 (10), 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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