Founding year: Wikipedia. First post office: 1812.The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Richmond’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Richmond is more historic than 92% of U.S. towns. 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 Richmond’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 Richmond’s 30.4 sits above most of its state (69% of New Hampshire towns have fewer) while its 4 listings outnumber those of 68% of U.S. towns.
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 (±8.8 points). Two sources give 1735.
Founding year: Wikipedia (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 Richmond’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
The town was first chartered in 1735 by Governor Jonathan Belcher of Massachusetts. Granted to soldiers returning from the war in Canada, it was named "Sylvester-Canada" in honor of Captain Joseph Sylvester of Scituate, Massachusetts, who was killed in 1690 during an attempt to capture the city of Quebec. After the border between Massachusetts and New Hampshire was fixed, the town fell on the New Hampshire side of the line. It was incorporated in 1752 as "Richmond" by Governor Benning Wentworth. He named it after Charles Lennox, 3rd Duke of Richmond, a staunch advocate of colonial independence. It was settled about 1757 by emigrants from Rhode Island and Massachusetts.
Passages that mention Richmond, cut from the printed page as they were published.
History of the town of Richmond, Cheshire County, New Hampshire1884 · page 25Read the page →
Read the text
WHEREAS, our Loyall Subjects, Inhabiting the town of Richmond & Swansey, within our Province of New Hampshire, have humbly represented to us that it will be of advantage and utility to them the said Inhabitants to have a part of said town of Richmond taken oft" and annexed to Swansey aforesaid Without making any alteration in the Private Property of either communities. — And Praying that the dividing line of said Towns be altered in the following manner Viz : Beginning at the North West corner of Lott
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
History of the town of Richmond, Cheshire County, New Hampshire1884 · page 69Read the page →
Read the text
This is to Sartifie the town of Richmond that Rufus Whipple hath got mustered Thirteen men for the town of Richmond to Sarve two years in the Conental Sarvis.
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
Richmond, 1735 to 1962
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
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 1735, according to Wikipedia’s history of the town. Richmond’s post office opened in 1812, and the first U.S. census counted 1,380 people here in 1790.
How does Richmond rank for history?
Richmond is more historic than 92% of U.S. towns. 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 Richmond?
4 listings: 4 buildings, among them the Richmond Town Hall (listed 1979, the first).
How old are the homes in Richmond?
22% of Richmond’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±8.8 points), against a typical 17% for a New Hampshire town; the median home was built in 1985.
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 (8), Wikidata (3), the National Register of Historic Places (4), 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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