Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 57% of U.S. towns · #112 of 126 in New Hampshire. What drives it
Most of Pelham was built recently: 5% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1987. Its Register listing is the Pelham Library and Memorial Building. Below: maps from 1886 on and the census since 1790.
Pelham dates its founding to 1746 (Wikidata and Wikipedia’s history agree). It appears in the first U.S. census, 1790.
More historic than 57% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Pelham is more historic than 57% of U.S. towns, #112 of 126 in New Hampshire. Its age holds the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls 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 Pelham’s 0.7 sits below most of its state (17% of New Hampshire towns have fewer) while its 1 listings outnumber those of 51% 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 Pelham’s history is told.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Pelham. 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 Pelham.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
Born hereWilliam M. Richardson is born here
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
Born hereCaroline Harvey is born hereFrom Wikipedia’s history of Pelham.
Originally part of Lowell, Massachusetts, Pelham was split from Old Dunstable in 1741, when the border between Massachusetts and New Hampshire was settled. It was incorporated in 1746. The town is named after Thomas Pelham-Holles, 1st Duke of Newcastle.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Passages that mention Pelham, cut from the printed page as they were published.
"At A meeting of a Number of the Inhabitants of the Town of Pelham, they Agreed to Build a Meeting-House in Pelham by Proprietors. Voted that the following Articals Should be ofered to the inhabitants of the Town of Pelham to see who would sign fur building s^ House, viz. : " We, the subscribers, being sensible of the unhappy situation we are in at Present with Regard to a Comfortable and decent Place for Publick worship, and the Meeting-house, in our Opinion, is not worth repairing, we hereby manifest our desire to Build a Meeting-house by subscription,
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
unsettled condition of the line between the provinces of Massachusetts and New Hampshire. The old town of Dunstable included a large territory. The northwest portion of the present town of Pelham was within this territory. In 1732 that part of Dunstable east of the Merrimack was set off' as the Nottingham District. The boundary line between the provinces was established in 1741, leaving a portion that was des-
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.
2022Hand Held Electronic Devices Prohibited
2022Dunkin Donuts
2019Pelham for God and Country - Pelham, MA - DSC06598
2019Gazebo - Pelham, MA - DSC06611
2017Pelham Memorial School
2016Pelham High School
2014Saint Patrick School
2014Main Street
201113th Annual Wellesley's Wonderful Weekend & 43rd Annu…
2010Abbott BridgeThe country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
Grew from 791 people in 1790 to 14,222 in 2020, more than tenfold.
24 censuses, 1790–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Pelham’s Wikipedia page.
Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.
Pelham’s post office has been open since 1801. Another post office, North Pelham, opened and closed inside today’s town.
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 1746, according to Wikidata and Wikipedia’s history of the town. Pelham’s post office opened in 1801, and the first U.S. census counted 791 people here in 1790.
Pelham is more historic than 57% of U.S. towns, #112 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.
One place: the Pelham Library and Memorial Building (listed 2011).
5% of Pelham’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±2.1 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 (10), Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (1), 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.
