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B+History
History · Rumney

Rumney dates to 1767, and 25% of its homes were built before 1940

More historic than 72% of U.S. towns. What drives it

Below: 3 old photos and papers from 1909 on and old-book passages.

1767founded
0on the National Register
25%homes built before 1940
3old photos & papers
2famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Rumney’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Rumney began

When was Rumney founded?

1767

Rumney dates its founding to 1767 (Wikidata). Its post office opened in 1817.

2020 census: 1,498259 years

How historic is Rumney?

B+

More historic than 72% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: Wikidata. First post office: 1817.The full story ↓
History grade

What drives Rumney’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Rumney is more historic than 72% of U.S. towns. Its age holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.

B+
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Rumney’s overall grade.
Founding era1767, from Wikidata: founded before 1776, an older era than 96% of U.S. townsA+Homes built before 194024.7% of homes (±5.5) · typical NH town 17.5% · U.S. 8.4%A−National RegisterNo listings counted · typical NH town 9.5 per 10,000 · U.S. 2.4C−
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 72%
NewerOlder

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 Rumney’s 0.0 sits below most of its state (8% of New Hampshire towns have fewer) while its 0 listings outnumber those of 23% of U.S. towns.

NoteThe founding year comes from Wikidata alone; no second source gives 1767.
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 (±5.5 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 Rumney’s past

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

Lost villages4 post offices opened and closed inside today’s Rumney, and 4 old place names are still on the map.A history waiting to be writtenOnly 3 old photos are in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.Older than the countryEstablished in 1767, 9 years before the Declaration of Independence.
★ What stands out · Places that used to be

Lost post offices, old corners, places now gone and burying grounds

Rumney’s post office has been open since 1817. Four other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.

Rumney
1817–today
West Rumney
1828–1958
Rumney Depot
1872–1966
Quincy
1883–1957
Stinson Lake
1905–1966
18101920today
Hamlets and corners on the map
QuincyRumney DepotStinson LakeWest Rumney
Gone or out of use
Swainboro StationlocaleWest Rumney Post Officepost office
2cemeteries and burying grounds inside Rumney
Pleasant ViewSandhill

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

Help out

Start Rumney’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Rumney’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
1 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewRumney, N.H: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
Timeline

Rumney, 1767 to 1966

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

  1. 18th century
  2. 1767
    FoundingRumney is established
  3. 19th century
  4. 1803Born hereNathan Clifford is born here
  5. 1817Post officeThe Rumney post office opens
  6. 1828Post officeThe West Rumney post office opens
  7. 1858Born hereJ. J. Donovan is born here
  8. 1872Post officeThe Rumney Depot post office opens
  9. 20th century
  10. 1909In the archiveRumney, N.H
  11. 1958Post officeThe West Rumney post office closes
  12. 1966Post officeThe Rumney Depot post office closes
The story

How Rumney came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Rumney.

Read it all →

Rumney was named after Robert Marsham, 2nd Baron Romney (pronounced Rumney). The town was originally granted in 1761 by Governor Benning Wentworth to settlers from Colchester and East Haddam, Connecticut. It was first settled in 1765; however, some grantees failed to comply with the charter, so Rumney was regranted to another group of settlers in 1767.

Farmers found the town's soil fertile. By 1859, when the population was 1,109, other industries included fifteen sawmills, a large tannery, and a ladder factory. The Boston, Concord and Montreal Railroad commenced service to West Rumney in 1850–1851.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

From the old history books

What they wrote about Rumney in 1904

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

Rumney, Sept. 5, 1839. He is a farmer at the Hoyt tavern stand in Bridgewater, where for several years Mrs. Dolloff has kept a summer boarding-house — Elm Lawn.
History of the town of Bristol, Grafton County, New Hampshire1904 · page 145Read the page →
Read the text

Rumney, Sept. 5, 1839. He is a farmer at the Hoyt tavern stand in Bridgewater, where for several years Mrs. Dolloff has kept a summer boarding-house — Elm Lawn.

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

Rumney, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1900s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1900s3 items
Rumney, N.H1909Rumney, N.HRattlesnake Mt1909Rattlesnake MtScenes around Rumney, N.H1909Scenes around Rumney, N.H
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
Today3 recent
Baker River Historic Marker2008Baker River Historic MarkerFeeding Fallow Deers Animal Exhibit Polar Caves Park2005Feeding Fallow Deers Animal Exhibit Polar Caves ParkFallow Deers Animal Exhibit Polar Caves Park2005Fallow Deers Animal Exhibit Polar Caves Park
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.

Rumney, N.H
Retake this viewRumney, N.H, 1909

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

Retake this view · +15
Famous people

2 famous people were born in Rumney

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

See all →
Nathan CliffordAmerican politician · b. 1803
J. J. DonovanWashington State pioneer · b. 1858
Stories next door

History across the town line

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

Plymouth3 historic placesAEllsworthIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townWentworthIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townGrotonIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townCamptonIts storyB−Dorchester2 historic placesnot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Rumney’s history

What year was Rumney founded?

In 1767, according to Wikidata. Rumney’s post office opened in 1817.

How does Rumney rank for history?

Rumney is more historic than 72% 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.

How old are the homes in Rumney?

25% of Rumney’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±5.5 points), against a typical 17% for a New Hampshire town; the median home was built in 1976.

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 (3), the Library of Congress (3), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, 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.