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B+History
History · Tuftonboro

Tuftonboro dates to 1795, and 18% of its homes were built before 1940

More historic than 68% of U.S. towns · #90 of 126 in New Hampshire. What drives it

Its Register listing is the Tuftonboro United Methodist Church. Below: 5 old photos and papers, maps from 1928 on, and the census since 1790.

1795founded
1on the National Register
18%homes built before 1940
5old photos & papers
1famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Tuftonboro’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Tuftonboro began

When was Tuftonboro founded?

1795

Tuftonboro dates its founding to 1795 (Wikipedia’s history). It appears in the first U.S. census, 1790.

First census: 109 in 17902020 census: 2,467231 years

How historic is Tuftonboro?

B+

More historic than 68% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: Wikipedia. First post office: 1821.The full story ↓
History grade

What drives Tuftonboro’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Tuftonboro is more historic than 68% of U.S. towns, #90 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 Tuftonboro’s overall grade.
Founding era1795, from Wikipedia: founded 1776–1849, an older era than 75% of U.S. townsA−Homes built before 194017.6% of homes (±5.5) · typical NH town 17.5% · U.S. 8.4%BNational Register1 listing, 3.9 per 10,000 residents · typical NH town 9.5 · U.S. 2.4C+
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 68%
NewerOlder
New Hampshire towns of 2,500+ (126)Ahead of 29%

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 Tuftonboro’s 3.9 sits below most of its state (32% of New Hampshire towns have fewer) while its 1 listings outnumber those of 51% of U.S. towns.

NoteThe founding year comes from Wikipedia alone; no second source gives 1795.
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 (±5.5 points).

Founding year: Wikipedia (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 Tuftonboro’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

Shrank, then grewLost two-thirds of its people between 1830 and 1920, then grew 7-fold.Lost villages1 post office opened and closed inside today’s Tuftonboro, and 6 old place names are still on the map.Deep rootsEstablished in 1795: 231 years of Tuftonboro.
★ What stands out · People over time

Tuftonboro, census by census

05001,0001,5002,0002,500180018501900195020001,375 in 1830Low: 311

Lost two-thirds of its people between 1830 and 1920, then grew 7-fold.

24 censuses, 1790–2020.

U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Tuftonboro’s Wikipedia page.

Places that used to be

Lost post offices, old corners, places now gone and burying grounds

Tuftonboro had its own post office from 1821 to 1943. Another post office, Center Tuftonboro, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Tuftonboro
1821–1943
Melvin Village
1837–today
Center Tuftonboro
1877–1966
Mirror Lake
1888–today
18201920today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Center TuftonboroFederal CornerMelvin VillageMirror LakeUnion WharfWawbeek
Gone or out of use
Flying H SkyportairportLoons Nest Seaplane BaseairportMelvin Village Airportairport
4cemeteries and burying grounds inside Tuftonboro
BodgeEdgerlySwettsTown Hall

US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

Timeline

Tuftonboro, 1795 to 2020

Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.

  1. 18th century
  2. 1795
    FoundingTuftonboro is established
  3. 19th century
  4. 1821Post officeThe Tuftonboro post office opens
  5. 1837Post officeThe Melvin Village post office opens
  6. 1839Born hereLydia H. Tilton is born here
  7. 1877Post officeThe Center Tuftonboro post office opens
  8. 20th century
  9. 1906In the archiveMelvin Village [i.e. Tuftonboro], Lake Winnipesaukee, N.H
  10. 1928On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  11. 1943Post officeThe Tuftonboro post office closes
  12. 1966Post officeThe Center Tuftonboro post office closes
  13. 21st century
  14. 2020CensusPopulation peaks at 2,467
The story

How Tuftonboro came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Tuftonboro.

Read it all →

Tuftonboro was the only incorporated place in New Hampshire owned by just one man, John Tufton Mason, for whom the town was named. Following the 1741 separation of New Hampshire from Massachusetts, Mason was heir to the Masonian Claim, the undivided lands of northern New Hampshire. He sold them in 1746 to a group of Portsmouth merchants, thereafter known as the Masonian Proprietors. They disposed of the land via grants to prospective settlers prior to the Revolution.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

By decade

Tuftonboro, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1900s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1900s4 items
Melvin Village [i.e. Tuftonboro], Lake Winnipesaukee, N.H1906Melvin Village [i.e. Tuftonboro], Lake Winnipesaukee,…Along the shore at Melvin (Tuftonboro), Lake Winnipesaukee, N.H1906Along the shore at Melvin (Tuftonboro), Lake Winnipes…The Wharf at Melvin [i.e. Tuftonboro], Lake Winnipesaukee, N.H1906The Wharf at Melvin [i.e. Tuftonboro], Lake Winnipesa…A Bit of Melvin [i.e. Tuftonboro] shore, Lake Winnipesaukee, N.H1906A Bit of Melvin [i.e. Tuftonboro] shore, Lake Winnipe…
1910s–1990snothing yet
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.
Add from your album
Date unknown1 to date
Profile RockDate?Profile Rock
Today3 recent
Abenaki Tower2018Abenaki TowerLower Beech Pond2017Lower Beech PondTuftonboro United Methodist Church2010Tuftonboro United Methodist Church
On the map

Tuftonboro on the map, 1928 to 2000

Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Tuftonboro. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.

Tuftonboro on the 1928 USGS mapTuftonboro on the 1958 USGS mapTuftonboro on the 1987 USGS mapTuftonboro on the 2000 USGS map1928Wolfeboro sheet · 1:62,500

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Tuftonboro.

Then & now

Stand where they stood

No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.

Melvin Village [i.e. Tuftonboro], Lake Winnipesaukee, N.H
Retake this viewMelvin Village [i.e. Tuftonboro], Lake Winnipesaukee, N.H, 1906

Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Tuftonboro’s page.

Retake this view · +15
On the National Register

1 historic place in Tuftonboro

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.

place listed
1
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
1
each building in a district counts
first listed
1997
Tuftonboro United Methodist Church
Tuftonboro United Methodist Church
Buildings

Architectural styles listings

Greek Revival1
Tuftonboro United Methodist ChurchGreek Revival

National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.

Help out

Start Tuftonboro’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Tuftonboro’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
1 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Date a photo1 archive item has no date. Guess the decade.+2Retake an old viewMelvin Village [i.e. Tuftonboro], Lake …: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
Stories next door

History across the town line

Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.

Moultonborough6 historic placesB+Wolfeboro6 historic placesAAlton5 historic placesA−Melvin VillageIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townOssipee3 historic placesB+

Questions about Tuftonboro’s history

What year was Tuftonboro founded?

In 1795, according to Wikipedia’s history of the town. Tuftonboro’s post office opened in 1821, and the first U.S. census counted 109 people here in 1790.

How does Tuftonboro rank for history?

Tuftonboro is more historic than 68% of U.S. towns, #90 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 Tuftonboro?

One place: the Tuftonboro United Methodist Church (listed 1997).

How old are the homes in Tuftonboro?

18% of Tuftonboro’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±5.5 points), against a typical 17% for a New Hampshire town; the median home was built in 1976.

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
Start a conversation
Sources

Where this page comes from

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 (4), the Library of Congress (4), the National Register of Historic Places (1), 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) and the USGS Geographic Names Information System. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.