Unity Historical Society - Unity, NH

A Short History of Unity New Hampshire

Unity, New Hampshire was first chartered in 1753 and originally it was named Buckingham, New Hampshire. The town was renamed Unity in 1764. Unity, NH is currently composed of East Unity, West Unity and Quaker City.

Early Unity History

In 1764, Governor Benning Wentworth, the Governor and Commander-in-Chief of the province of New Hampshire for King George III, was petitioned by numerous families from Kingston, Hampstead and Amesbury for land that they could settle on and call their own. Through Governor Wentworth, King George III granted to these people 29,000 acres of land six miles square in the province formerly called Buckingham, but to now be incorporated under the name Unity, since this new land was unifying these people who had no land of their own. There were 39 original grantees.

The conditions of the Charter were very much the same as in Charters granted to other townships in the 1700s. Each grantee was to plant and cultivate 5 acres of land within term of 5 years for every 50 acres contained in his share of the land in the Township. All white and other pine trees fit for masting the Royal Navy were to be carefully preserved for that use, upon penalty of forfeiture of the right of the grantee.

The very first Town Meetings for the Town of Unity were held in Kingston at the inn of Nathaniel Huntoon. The first Town Meeting in Unity was held at the home of Capt. Nathaniel Huntoon on Dec. 31, 1773. At that time, the population of Unity was 106

Unity's Town Hall and Paul Revere Bell

The present Unity Town Hall building was originally built as a Baptist meeting house in 1831. At the town meeting in June 1877, the town voted to purchase the church and fix it up as a town hall meeting house. The building was purchased that year at auction for the sum of $25.

The bell tower, which once again houses its Revere Bell, was fully restored on November 12, 2001