The story
Read it all →How Raymond came to be
From Wikipedia’s history of Raymond.
The town was first settled by families from Exeter as a parish of Chester, and known as "Freetown".
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
B+History
History · Raymond
Raymond dates to 1764, and 10% of its homes were built before 1940
More historic than 72% of U.S. towns · #84 of 126 in New Hampshire. What drives it
Its Register listing is the Raymond Boston and Maine Railroad Depot. Below: 6 old photos and papers, maps from 1892 on, and the census since 1790.
1764founded
1on the National Register
10%homes built before 1940
6old photos & papers
1famous people
Quick answers
How Raymond began
When was Raymond founded?
1764
Raymond dates its founding to 1764 (Wikidata). It appears in the first U.S. census, 1790.
First census: 727 in 17902020 census: 10,684262 years
How historic is Raymond?
B+
What drives the grade ↓More historic than 72% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
Founding year: Wikidata. First post office: 1815.The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Raymond’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Raymond is more historic than 72% of U.S. towns, #84 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 Raymond’s overall grade.
Founding era1764, from Wikidata: founded before 1776, an older era than 96% of U.S. townsA+Homes built before 194010.1% of homes (±4.3) · typical NH town 17.5% · U.S. 8.4%B−National Register1 listing, 3 historic buildings, 2.8 per 10,000 residents · typical NH town 9.5 · U.S. 2.4B−
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 72%
NewerOlder
New Hampshire towns of 2,500+ (126)Ahead of 34%
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 Raymond’s 2.8 sits below most of its state (27% of New Hampshire towns have fewer) while its 3 historic buildings outnumber those of 65% of U.S. towns.
NoteThe founding year comes from Wikidata alone; no second source gives 1764.
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 (±4.3 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 Raymond’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
★ What stands out · Every building
Raymond, building by building, 1892–1908
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.
1892Sheet 1 of 1Edition
Sheets
BrickWoodStone
Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
On the map
Raymond on the map, 1917 to 1981
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Raymond. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1917Mt Pawtuckaway sheet · 1:62,500U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Raymond.
Timeline
Raymond, 1764 to 1918
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
- 18th century
- 1764FoundingRaymond is established
- 19th century
- 1815Post officeThe Raymond post office opens
- 20th century
- 1906
In the archiveThe Common - 1915Born hereMarjorie Goetschius is born here
- 1917
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey - 1918
In the archiveAwaiting Parade on Main Street
From the old history books
What they wrote about Raymond, 1893–1915
Passages that mention Raymond, cut from the printed page as they were published.
History of Rockingham County, New Hampshire1915 · page 865Read the page →
Read the text
tion awhile he gave it up to work under his father, who was station agent at Epsom, becoming assistant station agent. He soon learned the business and in 1874 was appointed station agent. In December, 1879, he became station agent at Raymond, in July. 1880, being transferred to Epping, since which time he has been station agent here, having now been in the service of the Boston & Maine Railroad over forty consecutive years.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
History of the town of Candia, Rockingham County, N.H.1893 · page 241Read the page →
Read the text
The first buildings burned in the town of which there is any account were the dwelling house and the saw and grist mills that were erected at the Island near Raymond line and owned by William Eastman. This fire took place in 1759.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
History of the town of Candia, Rockingham County, N.H.1893 · page 153Read the page →
Read the text
A case of this kind occurred in the town of Raymond, in the spring of 1835. One of the ununiformed companies of that town had neglected to choose officers, whereupon Col.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
History of Rockingham County, New Hampshire1915 · page 632Read the page →
Read the text
'Ihe Town of Raymond is situated in the western part of the county, and is bounded as follows : on the north by Nottingham and Deerfield, on the east by Epping and Fremont, on the south by Chester, and on the west by Chester and Candia. It contains 16,317 acres. The surface is generally level and the soil fertile.
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
Raymond, decade by decade
2 decades in the archive, from the 1900s to the 1910s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
1900s–1910s3 items
19081920s–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 albumDate unknown3 to date
Date?
Date?
Date?Today11 recent
2026NH Fence Company
2022Rockingham Recreational Rail Trail, Portsmouth Branch
2021Plaque for Mafera
2019Bridge, Rockingham Recreational Rail Trail
2017Array of fall colors near Raymond, New Hampshire
2017Raymond High School
2017Congregational Church of
2014Main Street
2013RaymondNH TorrentHoseCompany
2013Raymond NH Common 021813
2010Raymond, New Hampshire, in the future, circa 1910 - P…PostcardThen & 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 viewThe Common, 1906
Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Raymond’s page.
Retake this view · +15On the National Register
1 historic place in Raymond
The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.
place listed
1
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
3
each building in a district counts
first listed
1979
Raymond Boston and Maine Railroad Depot
Buildings
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
People over time
Raymond, census by census
Grew from 727 people in 1790 to 10,684 in 2020, more than tenfold.
24 censuses, 1790–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Raymond’s Wikipedia page.
Places that used to be
Old corners and burying grounds
Raymond’s post office has been open since 1815.
Hamlets and corners on the map
Onway Lake
1cemetery inside Raymond
Lovering
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Help out
Start Raymond’s collection
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Raymond’s history is told.
Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
2 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.Stories next door
History across the town line
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
Questions about Raymond’s history
What year was Raymond founded?
In 1764, according to Wikidata. Raymond’s post office opened in 1815, and the first U.S. census counted 727 people here in 1790.
How does Raymond rank for history?
Raymond is more historic than 72% of U.S. towns, #84 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 Raymond?
One place: the Raymond Boston and Maine Railroad Depot (listed 1979).
How old are the homes in Raymond?
10% of Raymond’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±4.3 points), against a typical 17% for a New Hampshire town; the median home was built in 1983.
Memory lane
What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.
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 (15), the Library of Congress (2), 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, 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.