Founding year: Wikidata. First post office: 1798.The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Salisbury’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Salisbury is more historic than 81% of U.S. towns. Its age holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.
A−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Salisbury’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 Salisbury’s 6.2 sits near the middle of its state (39% of New Hampshire towns have fewer) while its 1 listings outnumber those of 51% of U.S. towns.
NoteThe founding year comes from Wikidata alone; no second source gives 1768.
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 (±10.6 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 Salisbury’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
While still part of Massachusetts, the town was granted as "Baker's Town" after Captain Thomas Baker in 1736. After the border between Massachusetts and New Hampshire was fixed, the town was on the New Hampshire side of the border. It was re-granted by the Masonian proprietors in 1749 with the name "Stevenstown", after Colonel Ebenezer Stevens of Kingston, New Hampshire, and settled as early as 1750. Additionally known as "Gerrishtown" and "New Salisbury", the name "Salisbury" was taken when the town was incorporated in 1768.
Passages that mention Salisbury, cut from the printed page as they were published.
The history of Salisbury, New Hampshire1890 · page 227Read the page →
Read the text
In 1753 Plausawa and Sabbatis were both slain, either in the town of Salisbury or Boscawen, (Stevenstown or Contoocook,) there is no means at this late day of telling which ; or whether their slayers, Peter Bowen and John (or Jacob or Henry) Morrill, were residents of one town or the other; nor is there anything to show whether they were slain by Bowen and Morrill in self-defence, or wantonly. They were buried in the town of Salisbury, under Indian Bridge, this name being given the
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
The history of Salisbury, New Hampshire1890 · page 330Read the page →
Read the text
I Joel Eastman of Lawfull age testify and say that sometime in the fall of the year 1795 I was called on by the Selectmen of Kearsarge Gore to perambulate the line between the Town of Salisbury and said Gore and I did attend to that duty as one of the Selectmen of the Town of Salisbury and that the .Selectmen of the Gore at the South west corner bounds of Salisbury, which is now a large Stone, and agreed to run a due North course and did run that course, and found a Number of bounds of both and in particular a bass Stub, which bound appeared to agree well with our corner, and on said corner found ancient mark of a line and I well remember a
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
Salisbury, 1768 to 1933
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 1768, according to Wikidata. Salisbury’s post office opened in 1798, and the first U.S. census counted 1,372 people here in 1790.
How does Salisbury rank for history?
Salisbury is more historic than 81% 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 Salisbury?
One place: the Salisbury Academy Building (listed 1975).
How old are the homes in Salisbury?
18% of Salisbury’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±10.6 points), against a typical 17% for a New Hampshire town; the median home was built in 1982.
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 (11), 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 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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