Guest, Sign inJoin

Post to Plainfield

We’ll email a one-tap link to publish your post. No password, and nothing is public until you click it.
Already a member? Sign in
AHistory
History · Plainfield

Plainfield dates to 1761, and 24% of its homes were built before 1940

More historic than 92% of U.S. towns · #35 of 126 in New Hampshire. What drives it

5 places in town are on the National Register. Below: maps from 1906 on and the census since 1790.

1761founded
5on the National Register
24%homes built before 1940
3famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Plainfield began

When was Plainfield founded?

1761

Plainfield dates its founding to 1761 (Wikidata). It appears in the first U.S. census, 1790.

First census: 1,024 in 17902020 census: 2,459265 years

How historic is Plainfield?

A

More historic than 92% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: Wikidata. First post office: 1819.The full story ↓
History grade

What drives Plainfield’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Plainfield is more historic than 92% of U.S. towns, #35 of 126 in New Hampshire. All 3 inputs are above most U.S. towns; its age ranks highest and its National Register listings lowest.

A
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Plainfield’s overall grade.
Founding era1761, from Wikidata: founded before 1776, an older era than 96% of U.S. townsA+Homes built before 194023.6% of homes (±6.5) · typical NH town 17.5% · U.S. 8.4%A−National Register5 listings, 19.8 per 10,000 residents · typical NH town 9.5 · U.S. 2.4B+
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 92%
NewerOlder
New Hampshire towns of 2,500+ (126)Ahead of 73%

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 Plainfield’s 19.8 sits near the middle of its state (62% of New Hampshire towns have fewer) while its 5 listings outnumber those of 70% of U.S. towns.

NoteThe founding year comes from Wikidata alone; no second source gives 1761.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from A− to A+. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±6.5 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 Plainfield’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 Plainfield are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Shrank, then grewLost half of its people between 1860 and 1920, then more than doubled.Lost villages1 post office opened and closed inside today’s Plainfield, and 5 old place names are still on the map.On the map since 19063 editions of the USGS map, 1906 to 1998. Watch Plainfield change.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Plainfield’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Plainfield’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

Plainfield, census by census

05001,0001,5002,0002,500180018501900195020001,620 in 1860Low: 853

Lost half of its people between 1860 and 1920, then more than doubled.

24 censuses, 1790–2020.

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

Places that used to be

Lost post offices, old corners and burying grounds

Plainfield’s post office has been open since 1819. Another post office, East Plainfield, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Plainfield
1819–today
Meriden
1824–today
East Plainfield
1831–1910
18101920today
Hamlets and corners on the map
East PlainfieldHell HollowMeridenMill HollowMill Village
13cemeteries and burying grounds inside Plainfield
ColbyCoreyvilleDanielsFreemanGilkey CemeteriesGleasonHopkinsMillMoulton-YardPennimanPlainfieldRaynis-FordWestgate-Peterson

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

The story

How Plainfield came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Plainfield.

Read it all →

The town was first settled by a group from Plainfield, Connecticut. It was one of the towns incorporated by colonial governor Benning Wentworth in 1761, at the beginning of the reign of King George III. A part of Plainfield known as "Meriden Parish", named for the farm of Massachusetts Governor Jonathan Belcher, became the site of Kimball Union Academy, built in 1813.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Plainfield, 1761 to 2020

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

  1. 18th century
  2. 1761
    FoundingPlainfield is established
  3. 1790Born hereLemuel Wellman Wright is born here
  4. 19th century
  5. 1800Born hereHollis Smith is born here
  6. 1819Post officeThe Plainfield post office opens
  7. 1824Post officeThe Meriden post office opens
  8. 1831Post officeThe East Plainfield post office opens
  9. 1846BuiltPlainfield Town Hall is built
  10. 1875Born hereKathryn W. Leighton is born here
  11. 20th century
  12. 1901BuiltMothers' and Daughters' Club House is built
  13. 1906On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  14. 1910Post officeThe East Plainfield post office closes
  15. 21st century
  16. 2020CensusPopulation peaks at 2,459
By decade

Plainfield, decade by decade

Today6 recent
Plainfield NH 3-28-262026Plainfield NH 3-28-26A most unusual church building that's more dairy-barn like than a traditional church structure: It's the Christ Communi…2017A most unusual church building that's more dairy-barn…One of several roadside "pumpkinhead" figures, dressed to resemble humans in various walks of life, mounted near Plainf…2017One of several roadside "pumpkinhead" figures, dresse…Plainfield Town Hall2014Plainfield Town HallMothers' and Daughters' Club House2014Mothers' and Daughters' Club HouseBlow-Me-Down Grange2010Blow-Me-Down Grange
On the map

Plainfield on the map, 1906 to 1998

Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Plainfield. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.

Plainfield on the 1906 USGS mapPlainfield on the 1980 USGS mapPlainfield on the 1998 USGS map1906Hanover 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 Plainfield.

On the National Register

5 historic places in Plainfield

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

places listed
5
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
5
each building in a district counts
first listed
1980
Meriden Bridge
Meriden BridgeMothers' and Daughters' Club House, built 1901Plainfield Town Hall, built 1846Meriden Town HallBlow-Me-Down Grange
BuildingsStructures

Architectural styles listings

Greek Revival2
Colonial Revival1
Meriden BridgeStructure
Mothers' and Daughters' Club HouseBuilt 1901
Plainfield Town HallGreek Revival · Built 1846
Meriden Town HallColonial Revival
Blow-Me-Down GrangeGreek Revival

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

Famous people

3 famous people were born in Plainfield

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

See all →
L
Lemuel Wellman WrightAmerican inventor, active in England · b. 1790
Kathryn W. LeightonAmerican painter · b. 1875
H
Hollis SmithCanadian politician · b. 1800
Stories next door

History across the town line

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

Cornish10 historic placesA+GranthamIts storyC+Lebanon3 historic placesA

Questions about Plainfield’s history

What year was Plainfield founded?

In 1761, according to Wikidata. Plainfield’s post office opened in 1819, and the first U.S. census counted 1,024 people here in 1790.

How does Plainfield rank for history?

Plainfield is more historic than 92% of U.S. towns, #35 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.

What is on the National Register in Plainfield?

5 listings: 4 buildings and 1 structure.

How old are the homes in Plainfield?

24% of Plainfield’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±6.5 points), against a typical 17% for a New Hampshire town; the median home was built in 1977.

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).

From Wikimedia Commons (4), the Library of Congress (2), Wikidata (3), the National Register of Historic Places (5), 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) 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.