Founding year: Wikidata. First post office: 1822.The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Northumberland’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Northumberland is more historic than 78% of U.S. towns. Its age holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.
A−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Northumberland’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 Northumberland’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.
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 (±9.0 points). Two sources give 1767.
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 Northumberland’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Northumberland. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1920Guildhall 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 Northumberland.
North of the mountain ridge known as Cape Horn, near the Connecticut River, are the remains of Fort Wentworth, built by the New Hampshire Militia in 1755 during the French and Indian War. The town was granted as "Stonington" in 1761 to John Hogg and others by Governor Benning Wentworth, and first settled in 1767 by Thomas Burnside and Daniel Spaulding. Burnside was a member of Rogers' Rangers.
The land was regranted by Governor John Wentworth in 1771 as "Northumberland", the name derived from Northumberland in England. The town was incorporated November 16, 1779. In 1797, the town voted to construct a meeting house, which was completed in 1799. The structure can still be found alongside U.S. Route 3.
In 1767, according to Wikidata. Northumberland’s post office opened in 1822, and the first U.S. census counted 117 people here in 1790.
How does Northumberland rank for history?
Northumberland is more historic than 78% 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 Northumberland?
32% of Northumberland’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 1960.
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 (3), the Library of Congress (1), Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock) and the USGS Geographic Names Information System. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
2025
2025
2017
2013
