More historic than 46% of U.S. towns · #122 of 126 in New Hampshire. What drives it
Most of Seabrook was built recently: 5% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1986. Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1917 on, and the census since 1790.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Seabrook is more historic than 46% of U.S. towns, #122 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 Seabrook’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 Seabrook’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 1768.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from D to B+. The pre-1940 share (±2.3 points) is firm at this size.
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 Seabrook’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Seabrook yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Seabrook is a town in Rockingham County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 8,401 at the 2020 census. Located at the southern end of the coast of New Hampshire, on the border with Massachusetts, Seabrook is noted as the location of the Seabrook Station Nuclear Power Plant, the third-most recently constructed nuclear power plant in the United States. Seabrook is the first town one encounters when entering New Hampshire northbound on I–95.
Seabrook was established in 1768. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 8,693 to 8,401 (-3%).
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
From the old history books
What they wrote about Seabrook in 1915
Passages that mention Seabrook, cut from the printed page as they were published.
History of Rockingham County, New Hampshire1915 · page 703Read the page →
Read the text
was wholly a part of Amesbury and Salisbury, extending from the Atlantic on the east to the Town of Kingston on the northwest : thence south two and a quarter miles to the Mitchel line, so called, embracing the present Town of South Hampton, nearly two-thirds of the area of Seabrook, and the easterly portion of the Town of Newton. The town was chartered May 25, 1742, by Penning Wentworth, governor of the Province of New Hampshire in the reign of George H. The first meeting was authorized to be warned and called by Joseph Jewell, John Flanders, and Henry Currier on June 7, 1742.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
History of Rockingham County, New Hampshire1915 · page 689Read the page →
Read the text
In this last clause is found the first intimation of the town or parish of Seabrook. As to the result of the first petition of the Presbyterians the records are silent ; but it appears that in the final disposition of the matter the petitioners got more than they wished, while in the division of territory which followed Hampton Falls obtained the lion's share, in the opinion of some of the present residents of Seabrook.
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
Seabrook, decade by decade
One decade in the archive so far: the 1900s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
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. Seabrook’s post office opened in 1823, and the first U.S. census counted 715 people here in 1790.
How does Seabrook rank for history?
Seabrook is more historic than 46% of U.S. towns, #122 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.
How old are the homes in Seabrook?
5% of Seabrook’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±2.3 points), against a typical 17% for a New Hampshire town; the median home was built in 1986.
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 (6), 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.
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