Founding year: Wikidata; Wikipedia’s history section gives the same year. First post office: 1826.The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Plaistow’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Plaistow is more historic than 71% of U.S. towns, #86 of 126 in New Hampshire. Its age holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.
B+
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Plaistow’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 Plaistow’s 1.3 sits below most of its state (20% of New Hampshire towns have fewer) while its 1 listings outnumber those of 51% of U.S. towns.
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 (±5.3 points). Two sources give 1749.
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 Plaistow’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
The land of what is now Plaistow was originally allocated to Haverhill, Massachusetts, as a part of Old Norfolk County. When New Hampshire was separated by decree of King Charles II in 1679, the portion of Haverhill north of the new border was incorporated into the new province.
Plaistow was officially established as a town in 1749 after the 1739 resolution of a long-running boundary dispute between the Province of Massachusetts Bay and the Province of New Hampshire. It is the only town outside the United Kingdom with the name Plaistow. In 1776 the western part of Plaistow became a separate town, Atkinson.
Passages that mention Plaistow, cut from the printed page as they were published.
History of Rockingham County, New Hampshire1915 · page 625Read the page →
Read the text
Plaistow was originally a part of Haverhill, Mass., and was included in the Indian purchase of 1642. It subsecjuently became annexed to New Hampshire, and was chartered as a separate parish February 28, 1749. The following is a copy of the petition for incorporation as a town or parish: PETITION FOR A TOWN OR PARISH To His Excellency Benning Wentworth Escjr. Governour and Commander in Chief in and over his Majesty's Province of New Hampre and the honble his Majestys Council for said Province.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
History of Rockingham County, New Hampshire1915 · page 920Read the page →
Read the text
tion as day operator. He then successively filled the following positions, the duties of which began at the time mentioned: in June, 1893, operator and ticket seller at Andover. Mass.: in September, 1894, freight clerk at Haverhill; in May, 1901, station agent at Plaistow: August 28, 1905, station agent at Melrose, Mass. : in September, 1906, station agent at Reading: in November, 1912, general agent at Salem, Mass.: and in July, 1913, general agent at Haverhill. He has always been interested in public movements wherever he has been located and during the vears
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
Plaistow, 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 1749, according to Wikidata and Wikipedia’s history of the town. Plaistow’s post office opened in 1826, and the first U.S. census counted 521 people here in 1790.
How does Plaistow rank for history?
Plaistow is more historic than 71% of U.S. towns, #86 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 Plaistow?
One place: the Plaistow Carhouse (listed 1980).
How old are the homes in Plaistow?
13% of Plaistow’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±5.3 points), against a typical 17% for a New Hampshire town; the median home was built in 1978.
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), 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.
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