Tilton’s post office opened in 1869, and 25% of its homes were built before 1940
More historic than 74% of U.S. towns · #77 of 126 in New Hampshire. What drives it
3 places in town are on the National Register, among them a historic district with 17 buildings. Below: 9 old photos and papers, maps from 1889 on, and the census since 1870.
The Tilton post office opened in 1869, the earliest record of the town by name. Two smaller post offices, Sanbornton Bridge (1805) and East Tilton (1869), opened inside today’s town and later closed.
First census: 1,147 in 18702020 census: 3,962157 years
How historic is Tilton?
B+
More historic than 74% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
Founding year: the first Tilton post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Tilton’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Tilton is more historic than 74% of U.S. towns, #77 of 126 in New Hampshire. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its age pulls it down.
B+
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Tilton’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 Tilton’s 46.8 sits above most of its state (75% of New Hampshire towns have fewer) while its 19 historic buildings outnumber those of 79% of U.S. towns.
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 (±6.8 points). The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date.
Founding year: the first post office (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 Tilton’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Fire insurance maps drew every building, what it was made of and what it was used for, so insurers could price the risk of fire. Pick a year, then a sheet.
Originally the southern part of Sanbornton, the present area of Tilton was known as "Sanbornton Bridge" and "Bridge Village". These two names refer to the bridge, built in 1763, that crossed the Winnipesaukee River from Canterbury to Sanbornton and onto what is now Main Street in Tilton. In 1869, Sanbornton Bridge was set off and incorporated as Tilton, named in honor of Nathaniel Tilton (1726–1814), whose great-grandson Charles E. Tilton (1827–1901) was the owner of textile mills and the community's wealthiest citizen. Nathaniel Tilton established an iron foundry and the area's first hotel, the Dexter House. Charles E. Tilton donated many statues to the town, a unique feature, and his estate is now part of the Tilton School. Tilton Hall, his former mansion built in 1861, houses the Lucian Hunt Library. The attached carriage house was renovated in 1980 to become the Helene Grant Daly Ar…
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.
The Tilton post office opened in 1869, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Tilton rank for history?
Tilton is more historic than 74% of U.S. towns, #77 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.
What is on the National Register in Tilton?
Three places: the House by the Side of the Road (listed 1980), the Charles E. Tilton Mansion (1982) and the Tilton Downtown Historic District (1983).
How old are the homes in Tilton?
25% of Tilton’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 1972.
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 (17), the Library of Congress (1), the National Register of Historic Places (3), 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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