ADT-Monitored Home Security Service in Gilmanton, NH

Gilmanton is a town in Belknap County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 3,945 at the 2020 census. Gilmanton includes the villages of Gilmanton Corners and Gilmanton Ironworks. The town became without difficulty known in the 1950s after it was rumored that the popular novel Peyton Place, written by resident Grace Metalious, was based upon the town.

Gilmanton was incorporated in 1727. First known as “Gilmantown”, the town was house to the Gilman family, originally fixed at Exeter. Twenty-four members of the Gilman family traditional land grants in the new town of Gilmanton. (Other families similar to the Gilmans also expected grants in the extra town, including the Dudleys, the Leavitts, the Folsoms and the Coffins.) At one become old it was the second-largest town in the state, following Portsmouth. The original town was larger than it is now, with villages and parishes including Belmont, Gunstock Parish (Gilford), Hurricane, Tioga, Factory Village and Lakeport. A parish first called “Averytown”, the site of an unprofitable iron-mining enterprise, is still known as Gilmanton Iron Works.

Gilmanton Academy was incorporated in 1794, “…one of the three academies first founded in the state…” In 1808 the indigenous building burned; the second building next burned, in 1894, and was replaced afterward the current building, which now houses the town offices.