Photo: P199 · CC BY-SA 3.0

History · Plymouth

Plymouth dates to 1763, and 22% of its homes were built before 1940

More historic than 89% of U.S. towns · #47 of 126 in New Hampshire. What drives it

3 places in town are on the National Register, among them a historic district with 4 buildings. Below: 30 old photos and papers, maps from 1885 on, and the census since 1790.

1763founded

3on the National Register

22%homes built before 1940

30old photos & papers

8famous people

Add an old photo Share a memory

From Plymouth’s archive · credits on each photo

Quick answers

How Plymouth began

When was Plymouth founded?

1763

Plymouth dates its founding to 1763 (Wikidata and Wikipedia’s history agree). It appears in the first U.S. census, 1790.

First census: 625 in 17902020 census: 6,682263 years

How historic is Plymouth?

More historic than 89% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓

Founding year: Wikidata; Wikipedia’s history section gives the same year. First post office: 1791.The full story ↓

History grade

What drives Plymouth’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Plymouth is more historic than 89% of U.S. towns, #47 of 126 in New Hampshire. All 3 inputs are above most U.S. towns; its age ranks highest and its National Register listings lowest.

HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Plymouth’s overall grade.

Founding era1763, from Wikidata: founded before 1776, an older era than 96% of U.S. townsA⁺Homes built before 194021.6% of homes (±6.8) · typical NH town 17.5% · U.S. 8.4%B⁺National Register3 listings, 6 historic buildings, 9.1 per 10,000 residents · typical NH town 9.5 · U.S. 2.4B

All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 89%

NewerOlder

New Hampshire towns of 2,500+ (126)Ahead of 63%

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 Plymouth’s 9.1 sits near the middle of its state (46% of New Hampshire towns have fewer) while its 6 historic buildings outnumber those of 72% 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 (±6.8 points). Two sources give 1763.

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 Plymouth’s past

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

A town in postcards30 old photos, postcards and papers, 1830–1908.Mapped building by building6 fire insurance maps, 1885 to 1918, drew every building in Plymouth.Lost villages2 post offices opened and closed inside today’s Plymouth, and 1 old place names are still on the map.Older than the countryEstablished in 1763, 13 years before the Declaration of Independence.

★ What stands out · By decade

Plymouth, decade by decade

5 decades in the archive, from the 1830s to the 1900s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1830s–1890s9 items

1830Morning Mist Rising InDocument

1860Pemigewasset House

1872Livermore Falls, Plymouth, N.H

1898Holderness School for Boys, Plymouth, MassPostcard

1898Main Street and Common, Plymouth, N.HPostcard

1898Main Street, Plymouth, N.HPostcard

1898Plymouth from the East, Plymouth, N. HPostcard

Confluence of Pemigewasset and Baker Rivers, Plymouth, N.H

1898Confluence of Pemigewasset and Baker Rivers, Plymouth…

1910s–1990snothing yet

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.

Add from your album

Every building

Plymouth, building by building, 1885–1918

Fire insurance maps drew every building, what it was made of and what it was used for, so insurers could price the risk of fire. Pick a year, then a sheet.

Plymouth fire insurance map, 1885, sheet 1

1885Sheet 1 of 2

Edition

Sheets

+1 more at the Library of Congress

BrickWoodStone

Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.

Places that used to be

Lost post offices and old corners

Plymouth’s post office has been open since 1791. Two other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.

Plymouth

1791–today

West Plymouth

1830–1900

Livermore

1881–1931

17901910today

Hamlets and corners on the map

West Plymouth

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

The story

How Plymouth came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Plymouth.

Read it all →

Plymouth was originally the site of an Abenaki village that was burned to the ground by Captain Thomas Baker in 1712. This was just one of the many British raids on American Indian settlements during Queen Anne's War. Part of a large plot of undivided land in the Pemigewasset Valley, the town was first named "New Plymouth", after the original Plymouth Colony in Massachusetts. Colonial Governor Benning Wentworth granted Plymouth to settlers from Hollis, all of whom had been soldiers in the French and Indian War. Some had originally come from Plymouth, Massachusetts. The town was incorporated in 1763. Parts of Hebron and Campton were annexed in 1845 and 1860.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

From the old history books

What they wrote about Plymouth, 1900–1906

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

Chester, March 3, 1757. He served in the Revolution, and removed, 1784, to Plymouth. In 1792 a section of Plymouth was severed and joined with other territory, incorporated as Hebron. In this proceeding Plymouth lost a good citizen. He was a deacon of the Baptist church of Hebron and a useful towns… — **History of Plymouth, New Hampshire**1906Read the page →
Read the text
Chester, March 3, 1757. He served in the Revolution, and removed, 1784, to Plymouth. In 1792 a section of Plymouth was severed and joined with other territory, incorporated as Hebron. In this proceeding Plymouth lost a good citizen. He was a deacon of the Baptist church of Hebron and a useful townsman. Late in life he removed to Haverhill, where lie d. March 3, 1840. He m. June 8, 178G, Abiah Worth, b. Jan. 13, 176 7, dau. of Edmund and Elizabeth (Webster) Worth, of West Newbury, Mass. She d. Sept. 1, 1822.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.

85. Hiram Wesley Merrill, son of Samuel and Sally (Foss) MeiTill, of Gilmantou, b. Gilmanton, 1822. Came to Plymouth, 1855. He was a carpenter and a bridge builder, and res. in Plymouth until his death. He m. Mary Emerson Johnson, of Campton, b. Feb. 7» 1823. d. June 27, 1845. He m. second, Nov. 30… — **History of Plymouth, New Hampshire**1900 · page 456Read the page →
Read the text
85. Hiram Wesley Merrill, son of Samuel and Sally (Foss) MeiTill, of Gilmantou, b. Gilmanton, 1822. Came to Plymouth, 1855. He was a carpenter and a bridge builder, and res. in Plymouth until his death. He m. Mary Emerson Johnson, of Campton, b. Feb. 7» 1823. d. June 27, 1845. He m. second, Nov. 30, 1854, Mary Emeline Foster, dau. of Samuel Foster. He d. Oct 21, 1898. Killed by moving cars at Plymouth station.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.

35. Hiram Wesley Merrill, son of Samuel and Sally (Foss) Merrill, of Gilmanton, b. Gilmanton, 1822. Came to Plymouth, 1855. He was a carpenter and a bridge builder, and res. in Plymouth until his death. He rn. Mary Emerson Johnson, of Campton, b. Feb. 7> 1823. d. June 27, 1845. He m. second, ^ov. S… — **History of Plymouth, New Hampshire**1906Read the page →
Read the text
35. Hiram Wesley Merrill, son of Samuel and Sally (Foss) Merrill, of Gilmanton, b. Gilmanton, 1822. Came to Plymouth, 1855. He was a carpenter and a bridge builder, and res. in Plymouth until his death. He rn. Mary Emerson Johnson, of Campton, b. Feb. 7> 1823. d. June 27, 1845. He m. second, ^ov. SO, 1854, Mary Emeline Foster, dau. of Samuel Foster. He d. Oct. 21, 1898. Killed by moving cars at Plymouth station.
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

Plymouth, 1763 to 1981

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

18th century
1763
FoundingPlymouth is established
1791Post officeThe Plymouth post office opens
1794Born hereNathaniel Peabody Rogers is born here
19th century
1830In the archiveMorning Mist Rising In
1830Post officeThe West Plymouth post office opens
1855Born hereClara Eaton Cummings is born here
1860In the archivePemigewasset House
1864Born hereFanny E. Langdon is born here
1872In the archiveLivermore Falls, Plymouth, N.H
1881Post officeThe Livermore post office opens
1898In the archiveHolderness School for Boys, Plymouth, Mass
20th century
1900In the archivePlymouth, N.H
1900Post officeThe West Plymouth post office closes
1928On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
1931Post officeThe Livermore post office closes
1981Born hereEliza Coupe is born here

On the map

Plymouth on the map, 1928 to 1995

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

1928Plymouth 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 Plymouth.

Then & now

Stand where they stood

No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.

Retake this viewPemigewasset House, 1860

Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Plymouth’s page.

Retake this view · +15

On the National Register

3 historic places in Plymouth

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

places listed

National Historic Landmarks

none yet

historic buildings protected

each building in a district counts

first listed

1982

Old Grafton County Courthouse

BuildingsDistricts

Architectural styles listings

Romanesque1

Richardsonian1

Colonial1

Classicism1

Old Grafton County CourthouseBuilding

Plymouth Historic DistrictRomanesque

All 3 listings

Lower Intervale Grange #321Building · listed 2022

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

People over time

Plymouth, census by census

Between 625 and 6,990 people in every census since 1790.

24 censuses, 1790–2020.

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

Famous people

8 famous people were born in Plymouth

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

See all →

Eliza CoupeAmerican actress · b. 1981

Clara Eaton CummingsAmerican cryptogamic botanist and university te… · b. 1855

Nathaniel Peabody RogersAmerican abolitionist and writer · b. 1794

Fanny E. LangdonAmerican botanist and zoologist · b. 1864

Harl PeaseAir Force Medal of Honor recipient · b. 1917

Jed HoyerMajor League Baseball executive · b. 1973

Help out

Finish Plymouth’s story

Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.

Decades since 1900 with photos

00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s

1 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.

Retake an old viewPemigewasset House: stand where they stood+15 Share a family photoSign in to add one+10

Stories next door

History across the town line

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

Holderness11 historic placesA⁺Ashland7 historic placesB⁺CamptonIts storyB⁻RumneyIts storyB⁺BridgewaterIts storyB⁻GrotonIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town Hebron3 historic placesnot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Plymouth’s history

What year was Plymouth founded?

In 1763, according to Wikidata and Wikipedia’s history of the town. Plymouth’s post office opened in 1791, and the first U.S. census counted 625 people here in 1790.

How does Plymouth rank for history?

Plymouth is more historic than 89% of U.S. towns, #47 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 Plymouth?

Three places: the Old Grafton County Courthouse (listed 1982), the Plymouth Historic District (1986) and the Lower Intervale Grange #321 (2022).

How old are the homes in Plymouth?

22% of Plymouth’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±6.8 points), against a typical 17% for a New Hampshire town; the median home was built in 1981.

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 (10), the Library of Congress (20), the National Register of Historic Places (3), 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, Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress) 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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