First granted in 1769 by Governor John Wentworth, the town was named for William Petty Fitzmaurice, Earl of Shelburne. He was a supporter of independence for the American colonies, and at his insistence, King George III recognized the independence of the United States. The town was first settled in 1771, and incorporated on December 13, 1820, when Shelburne voters chose to keep the name. It included "Shelburne Addition", that was set off and incorporated in 1836 as Gorham.
was enabled to purchase a tract of wild land, which he developed, clearingit in two years, making a large quantity of " black salts," potash and pearlash. He was the first man to engage in merchandising in the town of Shelburne, and did a large business furnishing supplies to lumbermen and contractors in quite an area in Maine and New Hampshire. In 1826 he came to the unorganized town of Maynesborough (Berlin), and located at the head of the Falls where the Berlin Mills Co.'s mills are now situated.
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History of Coos County, New Hampshire .1888 · page 914Read the page →
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In connection with Mr. Evans, Valentine L. Stiles was prominently connected with the business activity of the early days of the village; and to him is the development of the place most owing. Exchanging his farm in Shelburne, in 1854 or 1855, for the Abraham Wilson farm, then owned by his son, Orren, Mr. Stiles moved to Gorham and the same year laid out Exchange street and constructed two buildings. This was quite an important private enterprise for the embryo village, and the gift by him of the street to the town assured a steady and solid growth. Mr. Stiles
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Timeline
Shelburne, 1816 to 1966
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
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). How TownRatings grades history →
From Wikimedia Commons (6), the National Register of Historic Places (2), Wikipedia, 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.
c. 1858
2013
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2013
