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History · Pittsburg

Pittsburg dates to 1840, and 1 of its places is on the National Register

Most of Pittsburg was built recently: 8% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1983. Its Register listing is the Indian Stream Schoolhouse. Below: maps from 1989 on and the census since 1840.

1840founded
1on the National Register
8%homes built before 1940
2famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Pittsburg began

When was Pittsburg founded?

1840

Pittsburg dates its founding to 1840 (Wikidata). The census first counted it in 1840.

First census: 315 in 18402020 census: 800186 years
Founding year: Wikidata. First post office: 1835.The full story ↓

What stands out about Pittsburg’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

A history waiting to be writtenNo old photos of Pittsburg are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Boom and bustPeaked at 1,311 in 1920; 800 people lived here in 2020.Lost villages1 post office opened and closed inside today’s Pittsburg, and 3 old place names are still on the map.Deep rootsEstablished in 1840: 186 years of Pittsburg.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Pittsburg’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Pittsburg’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
People over time

Pittsburg, census by census

02004006008001,0001,2001,4001850190019502000Peak: 1,311

Peaked at 1,311 in 1920; 800 people lived here in 2020.

19 censuses, 1840–2020.

U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Pittsburg’s Wikipedia page.

Places that used to be

Lost post offices, old corners and places now gone

Pittsburg’s post office has been open since 1851. Another post office, Indian Stream, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Indian Stream
1835–1839
Pittsburg
1851–today
18301930today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Happy CornerIdlewildeThe Glen
Gone or out of use
Camp Number 31localeCamp Number 32localeCamp Number 36localeCurrier CamplocaleFalkenham CamplocaleGreeley CamplocaleHalls Stream SchoolschoolIndian Stream SchoolschoolKim Day DamdamKlondyke CamplocaleMoose Bog CamplocaleVarney CamplocaleVarney CamplocaleWheeler Schoolschool

US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

The story

How Pittsburg came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Pittsburg.

Read it all →

Pittsburg derives its name from William Pitt, Prime Minister of Great Britain. Prior to its incorporation in 1840, the area was settled c. 1810 and known as the Territory of Indian Stream. It had the unique distinction of having been its own microstate briefly during the 1830s, called the Republic of Indian Stream, due to an ambiguous boundary between the United States and Canada.

The Indian Stream Schoolhouse on Tabor Road, which dates to 1897, is listed in both the National Register of Historic Places and the New Hampshire State Register of Historic Places; the town hall on Main Street, which dates to 1883, is listed in the State Register.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

From the old history books

What they wrote about Pittsburg in 1888

Passages that mention Pittsburg, cut from the printed page as they were published.

enhanced value of real estate; and, although the easterly portion of the town is at a considerable distance from the nearest railroad station, yet, with the certain prospect of an early construction of a branch road to Connecticut lake, Pittsburg, with its vast undeveloped resources of forests, min…
History of Coos County, New Hampshire .1888 · page 720Read the page →
Read the text

enhanced value of real estate; and, although the easterly portion of the town is at a considerable distance from the nearest railroad station, yet, with the certain prospect of an early construction of a branch road to Connecticut lake, Pittsburg, with its vast undeveloped resources of forests, minerals, abundant water-power, extensive areas of uncleared lands well adapted to agricultural purposes, and already opened to settlement, unrivalled attractions as a place of summer resort for tourists, its abundance of cool, refreshing, spring water, its altitude and healthful climate

Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
point on the railroad being North Stratford, thirteen miles away. In the legislature of 1883 a charter for a railroad was obtained from Stratford to Pittsburg, and in April and May, 1887, a subscription for a narrow gauge railroad was raised, stock to the amount of forty-five thousand dollars being…
History of Coos County, New Hampshire .1888 · page 138Read the page →
Read the text

point on the railroad being North Stratford, thirteen miles away. In the legislature of 1883 a charter for a railroad was obtained from Stratford to Pittsburg, and in April and May, 1887, a subscription for a narrow gauge railroad was raised, stock to the amount of forty-five thousand dollars being taken. The corporation was organized with J. H. Dudley, president; Albert Barker, clerk; and Sherburn R. Merrill, treasurer; and about $11,000 paid into the stock subscription, when Frank Jones, Charles A. Sinclair and George Van Dyke offered to build a standard gauge road

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

Pittsburg, 1835 to 1989

Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.

  1. 19th century
  2. 1835Post officeThe Indian Stream post office opens
  3. 1839Post officeThe Indian Stream post office closes
  4. 1840
    FoundingPittsburg is established
  5. 1848Born hereEdgar Aldrich is born here
  6. 1851Post officeThe Pittsburg post office opens
  7. 1868Born hereHarry B. Amey is born here
  8. 1897BuiltIndian Stream Schoolhouse is built
  9. 20th century
  10. 1920CensusPopulation peaks at 1,311
  11. 1989On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

Pittsburg, decade by decade

Today13 recent
Pittsburg NH 12-26-20252025Pittsburg NH 12-26-2025PittsburgNH LakeFrancis2016PittsburgNH LakeFrancisPittsburgNH IndianStreamSchoolhouse2016PittsburgNH IndianStreamSchoolhousePittsburgNH FirstConnecticutLake2016PittsburgNH FirstConnecticutLakeThe North Woods Nightmare2014The North Woods NightmarePittsburg NH town hall2013Pittsburg NH town hallPittsburg NH school2013Pittsburg NH schoolPittsburg NH post office2013Pittsburg NH post officePittsburg NH park2013Pittsburg NH parkMethodist Church2013Methodist ChurchMain Street Trading Post2013Main Street Trading PostConnecticut River valley2013Connecticut River valleyRoute 145 bridge2010Route 145 bridge
On the map

Pittsburg on the map in 1989

The U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Pittsburg.

Pittsburg on the 1989 USGS map1989Pittsburg sheet · 1:24,000

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Pittsburg.

On the National Register

1 historic place in Pittsburg

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.

place listed
1
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
1
each building in a district counts
first listed
2011
Indian Stream Schoolhouse
Indian Stream Schoolhouse, built 1897
Buildings
Indian Stream SchoolhouseBuilt 1897

National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.

Famous people

2 famous people were born in Pittsburg

Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.

See all →
Edgar AldrichAmerican federal judge · b. 1848
Harry B. AmeyAmerican lawyer and politician · b. 1868
Stories next door

History across the town line

Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.

ClarksvilleIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Pittsburg’s history

What year was Pittsburg founded?

In 1840, according to Wikidata. Pittsburg’s post office opened in 1835, and the census of 1840 counted 315 people here.

What is on the National Register in Pittsburg?

One place: the Indian Stream Schoolhouse (listed 2011).

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
Start a conversation
Sources

Where this page comes from

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). How TownRatings grades history →

From Wikimedia Commons (13), 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.