Founding year: Wikidata. First post office: 1849.The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Sunapee’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Sunapee is more historic than 59% of U.S. towns, #104 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 Sunapee’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 Sunapee’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 1781.
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 (±6.8 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 Sunapee’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Like many other towns, Sunapee went through name changes before its incorporation in 1781, including "Saville" in 1768, "Corey's Town", and then "Wendell", after John Wendell, a Masonian Proprietor. A village at the western edge of town and a marsh near Sunapee Middle-High School still bear Wendell's name. The name "Sunapee" was substituted for "Wendell" by the legislature in 1850. The town, Lake Sunapee and Mount Sunapee share the name which comes from the Algonquian words suna meaning "goose", and apee, meaning "water". The Natives called the area "Lake of the Wild Goose" because it is shaped like a goose, with the beak being in Sunapee Harbor.
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 1781, according to Wikidata. Sunapee’s post office opened in 1849, and the first U.S. census counted 267 people here in 1790.
How does Sunapee rank for history?
Sunapee is more historic than 59% of U.S. towns, #104 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 Sunapee?
23% of Sunapee’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±6.8 points), against a typical 17% for a New Hampshire town; the median home was built in 1975.
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), the Library of Congress (7), 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 Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
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c. 1905
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