8 places in town are on the National Register, among them two historic districts with 94 buildings between them. Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1931 on, and the census since 1790.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Sandwich is more historic than 98% of U.S. towns. All 3 inputs are above most U.S. towns; its age ranks highest and its share of homes from before 1940 lowest.
A+
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Sandwich’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 Sandwich’s 575 sits above most of its state (96% of New Hampshire towns have fewer) while its 101 historic buildings outnumber those of 89% of U.S. towns.
NoteThe founding year comes from Wikidata alone; no second source gives 1763.
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 (±5.3 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 Sandwich’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Chartered in 1763 by colonial Governor Benning Wentworth, the land was considered so inaccessible that the grant was enlarged, making Sandwich one of the largest towns in the state. It was named in honor of John Montagu, 4th Earl of Sandwich, said to be the inventor of the sandwich.
The earliest European settlers arrived in 1767. By 1830 Sandwich had grown to a population of 2,700, nearly double the current (2020) population. At that time the town contained farms, stores, mills, churches, schools, carpenters, blacksmiths, and wheelwrights.
By the end of the 1800s much of the population had left Sandwich to live in cities to the west. Sandwich began to be an attraction for visitors, summer residents and artists, which continues to this day.
Passages that mention Sandwich, cut from the printed page as they were published.
History of Carroll County, New Hampshire1889 · page 702Read the page →
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Receipts for Bounty. — 18(!3. March 17. We the undersigned residents of the town of Sandwich hereby acknowledge to have received of said town of Sandwich One Hundred I dollars each in full for a bounty voted August 14th 1862 to any one who would enlist as one of said towns quota or who had enlisted under the late calls of the President, and we having been examined and duly mustered into the service of the United States are entitled to said sum.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
History of Carroll County, New Hampshire1889 · page 695Read the page →
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Town of Sandwich. 695 the war & Each of them to Pass muster & serve as three Soldiers for this town of Sandwich as part of their Quoto of the Contanental army and nothing being allowed to the said Daniel By the si town voted ('minimus that if the Contananl or State should allow the Town of Sandwich the said sum of one hundred & fifty Dollers or an\ part thereof that it lie Paid to the said Danie] & that the said Daniel have the whole Benefil of what may be Recoverd for sd Mone\ advanced by him as afores'l. — It was voted this year to accept
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Sketches of Sandwich, New Hampshire, past and present1928 · page 32Read the page →
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It is interesting to note the comparatively short time which elapsed between the chartering of the town of Sandwich in 1763 and the beginning of the first secondary school, — the Sandwich Academy in the year 1824. This academy was located on the estate which is now known as Chestnut Manor, belonging to Mrs. Alfred H. Moorhouse. The exact site of the building was the area around the spot where the statue now stands, southeast of the house.
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Sketches of Sandwich, New Hampshire, past and present1928 · page 22Read the page →
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Industries of Yesterday Arthur J. Watson, ’28 The people who first settled Sandwich were of a very industrious and ambitious nature. When the early settlers came here about 1778 and scattered from place to place, a few of them went at once to Sandwich Notch to live, and this was one of the first sections of the town where industries developed to any extent.
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
Sandwich, 1763 to 1986
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 1763, according to Wikidata. Sandwich’s post office opened in 1812, and the first U.S. census counted 905 people here in 1790.
How does Sandwich rank for history?
Sandwich is more historic than 98% 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 Sandwich?
8 listings: 5 buildings, among them the Town Hall (listed 1980, the first), 2 historic districts, the Center Sandwich Historic District and the Lower Corner Historic District, with 94 contributing buildings, and 1 structure. 101 historic buildings in all.
How old are the homes in Sandwich?
27% of Sandwich’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±5.3 points), against a typical 17% for a New Hampshire town; the median home was built in 1971.
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 (5), the Library of Congress (1), the National Register of Historic Places (8), 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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