page_title: Bath, New Hampshire
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: Bath, New Hampshire / History
context_page_description: Bath is a town in Grafton County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 1,077 at the 2010 census. Now a tourist destination and bedroom community for Littleton, the town is noted for its historic architecture, including the Brick Store and three covered bridges. Bath includes the village of Swiftwater and part of the district known as Mountain Lakes.
context_section_description: The town was granted to the Rev. Andrew Gardner and 61 others on September 10, 1761 by Governor Benning Wentworth, who named it for William Pulteney, 1st Earl of Bath. It was first settled in 1765 by John Herriman from Haverhill, Massachusetts. But the terms of the original grant were unfulfilled, so Bath was regranted on March 29, 1769 by Governor John Wentworth. The first census, taken in 1790, recorded 493 residents.
  Situated at the head of navigation on the Connecticut River, and shielded from strong winds by the Green Mountains to the west and White Mountains to the east, Bath soon developed into "...one of the busiest and most prosperous villages in northern New Hampshire."   Intervales provided excellent alluvial soil for agriculture, and the Ammonoosuc and Wild Ammonoosuc rivers supplied water power for mills. The population reached 1,627 in 1830, when 550 sheep grazed the hillsides. A vein of copper was mined. The White Mountains Railroad up the Ammonoosuc River Valley opened August 1, 1853, shipping Bath's lumber, potatoes, livestock and wood pulp. By 1859, the town had two gristmills and two sawmills. Other industries would include a woolen mill, creamery, distillery and two starch factories.
  A disastrous fire swept through Bath village on 1 February 1872, destroying the Congregational church, Bath Hotel and several dwelling houses. The church was rebuilt in 1873. By 1874, Bath was served by the Boston, Concord and Montreal and White Mountains (N.H.) Railroad.
  But nearby Woodsville developed into a major railroad junction, and the region's commercial center shifted there. By 1886, once thriving Bath was described as in decay. But this economic dormancy of the Victorian era preserved much early architecture in the village, particularly in the Federal and Greek Revival styles. The Brick Store, built in 1824, is today the oldest continuously operating general store in the United States. The Moses P. Payson Mansion (1810), designed by Alexander Parris, once dominated the town center. But fire and neglect took a heavy toll; it is being dismantled for architectural salvage. More fortunate is Bath's Upper Village, a cluster of Federal style houses based on the handbook designs of architect Asher Benjamin.
caption: Bath before the 1872 fire
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