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History · Hampton

Hampton’s post office opened in 1824, and 20% of its homes were built before 1940

2 places in town are on the National Register, among them two historic districts with 7 buildings between them. Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1972 on, and the census since 1820.

1824first post office
2on the National Register
20%homes built before 1940
1old photo or paper
3famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Hampton’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Hampton began

When was Hampton founded?

1824

The Hampton post office opened in 1824, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Low Hampton (1835), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

First census: 963 in 18202020 census: 857202 years
Founding year: the first Hampton post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Hampton’s past

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

A history waiting to be writtenOnly 1 old photo is in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.Shrank, then grewLost half of its people between 1830 and 1970, then more than doubled.Deep rootsA post office since 1824: 202 years of Hampton.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Hampton’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
1 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewEast Hampton Free Library, 159 Main Str…: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
People over time

Hampton, census by census

02004006008001,00018501900195020001,069 in 1830Low: 464

Lost half of its people between 1830 and 1970, then more than doubled.

20 censuses, 1820–2010.

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

Timeline

Hampton, 1809 to 1972

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1809Born hereNelson R. Norton is born here
  3. 1815Born hereJames Rood Doolittle is born here
  4. 1824Post officeThe Hampton post office opens
  5. 1830CensusPopulation peaks at 1,069
  6. 1835Post officeThe Low Hampton post office opens
  7. 1872Post officeThe Low Hampton post office closes
  8. 1879Born hereEd Donnelly is born here
  9. 20th century
  10. 1915In the archiveEast Hampton Free Library, 159 Main Street, East Hampton, New York. Entrance to garden
  11. 1972On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
The story

How Hampton came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Hampton.

Read it all →

This area of New York was part of a jurisdictional dispute between New York and Vermont. The matter was not settled until after 1790.

The town was formed in 1786 and was once called "Hampton Corners" and "Greenfield." It was founded by former American Revolutionary War officer Gideon G. Warren. The first town meeting was conducted in his home. Many of the first settlers were from Massachusetts and Connecticut. The land contains parts of early land patents, including Skene's Little Patent and those issued to groups of British officers.

In 1783, the Poultney River at the eastern town line suddenly changed course and became unnavigable due to a sudden influx of water.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

From the old history books

What they wrote about Hampton in 1900

Passages that mention Hampton, cut from the printed page as they were published.

The corjDoration had some difficulty and delay in settling with the land owners. A committee from the Turnpike company and one each from the towns of Hampton, Hampton Falls, North Hampton, and Seabrook, were selected to agree upon the terms by which said towns could use the road when completed. The…
History of the town of Hampton Falls, New Hampshire from the time of the first settlement within its borders1900Read the page →
Read the text

The corjDoration had some difficulty and delay in settling with the land owners. A committee from the Turnpike company and one each from the towns of Hampton, Hampton Falls, North Hampton, and Seabrook, were selected to agree upon the terms by which said towns could use the road when completed. The town of Hampton was to gravel the turnpike from the northerly end to the middle bridge, jSTorth Hampton from the river to the middle bridge, Hampton Falls and Seabrook all south of the river to Sanborn's

Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
The corjDoration had some difficiTlty and delay in settling with the land owners. A committee from the Turnpike company and one each from the towns of Hampton, Hampton Falls, North Hampton, and Seabrook, were selected to agree upon the terms by which said towns could use the road when completed. Th…
History of the town of Hampton Falls, New Hampshire from the time of the first settlement within its borders1900 · page 379Read the page →
Read the text

The corjDoration had some difficiTlty and delay in settling with the land owners. A committee from the Turnpike company and one each from the towns of Hampton, Hampton Falls, North Hampton, and Seabrook, were selected to agree upon the terms by which said towns could use the road when completed. The town of Hampton was to gravel the turnpike from the northerly end to the middle bridge, iSTorth Hampton from the river to the middle bridge, Hampton Falls and Seabrook all south of the river to Sanborn's

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

Hampton, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1910s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1910s1 item
East Hampton Free Library, 159 Main Street, East Hampton, New York. Entrance to garden1915East Hampton Free Library, 159 Main Street, East Hamp…
1920s–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
Today11 recent
Hampton Town Hall, Washington County, New York2022Hampton Town Hall, Washington County, New YorkHampton Pond t2022Hampton Pond tHampton Highway Department, Washington County, New York2022Hampton Highway Department, Washington County, New Yo…Hadeka Stone Corp2022Hadeka Stone CorpGreene Mountains seen from2022Greene Mountains seen fromA wetland in2022A wetland inA farm in2022A farm inHamptonNY WilliamMillerChapel2018HamptonNY WilliamMillerChapelHamptonNY WilliamMillerAscensionRock2018HamptonNY WilliamMillerAscensionRock2017-09-11 18 23 50 View south at the south end of Vermont State Route 22A and the north end of New York State Route 22…20172017-09-11 18 23 50 View south at the south end of Ve…2017-09-11 18 23 13 View north at the north end of New York State Route 22A and the south end of Vermont State Route 22…20172017-09-11 18 23 13 View north at the north end of Ne…
On the map

Hampton on the map, 1972 to 1986

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

Hampton on the 1972 USGS mapHampton on the 1986 USGS map1972Thorn Hill sheet · 1:24,000

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

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.

East Hampton Free Library, 159 Main Street, East Hampton, New York. Entrance to garden
Retake this viewEast Hampton Free Library, 159 Main Street, East Hampton, New York. Entrance to garden, 1915

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

Retake this view · +15
On the National Register

2 listings protect 7 historic buildings

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving. Boundary changes and added documentation are counted with their listing.

places listed
2
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
7
each building in a district counts
first listed
1975
Miller, William, Chapel and Ascension Rock
Miller, William, Chapel and Ascension RockWilliam Miller Farm Historic District
Districts

Architectural styles listings

Greek Revival2
Early Republic1
Federal1
Mid-19th Century1
Miller, William, Chapel and Ascension RockGreek Revival
William Miller Farm Historic DistrictEarly Republic

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

Famous people

3 famous people were born in Hampton

Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.

See all →
James Rood DoolittleAmerican lawyer and politician · b. 1815
Ed DonnellyAmerican baseball player · b. 1879
N
Nelson R. NortonAmerican politician · b. 1809
Places that used to be

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

Hampton’s post office has been open since 1824. Another post office, Low Hampton, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Hampton
1824–today
Low Hampton
1835–1872
18201920today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Low Hampton
Gone or out of use
School Number 2schoolSchool Number 4school
4cemeteries and burying grounds inside Hampton
Hampton FlatsHookerMillerWarren

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

Stories next door

History across the town line

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

Whitehall6 historic placesA+Granville6 historic placesA

Questions about Hampton’s history

What year was Hampton founded?

The Hampton post office opened in 1824, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

What is on the National Register in Hampton?

Two places: the Miller, William, Chapel and Ascension Rock (listed 1975) and the William Miller Farm Historic District (1994).

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). How TownRatings grades history →

From Wikimedia Commons (12), the National Register of Historic Places (2), 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 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.