First known as Gilmantown, the town was home to the Gilman
family, of which there were twenty-four members receiving land
grants. At one time 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, Hurricane, Tioga, Factory Village, and Lakeport.
Original boundaries of the town were Alton, Barnstead, Loudon,
Canterbury, Northfield, Winnipesaukee River and Winnisquam Bay.
A parish first called Averytown, the site of an unprofitable
iron-mining enterprise, is still known as Gilmanton Iron Works.
Gilmanton was incorporated in 1727 and the Charter was signed on
the 20th of May by his Majesty's Colonial Governor, John
Wentworth. The conditions of the new charter were: proprietors
must build seventy dwelling houses and house a family in each
within three years of the charter. They also needed to clear
three acres of land for a planting and a meetinghouse must be
built for religious worship within f