Wilmot Basics

Incorporated: 1807

Origin: Most of this territory was originally part of a 1775 grant to Jonas Minot, Matthew Thornton, and others that became New London. In 1807 the town was incorporated by joining together part of New London and the north half of Kearsarge Gore. 

Name: The name of the town is in honor of Dr. James Wilmot, a scholar and clergyman, and rector at Barton-on-the-Heath, Warwickshire in the West Midlands of England. (Warwickshire is most famous as the birthplace of William Shakespeare.) Though he never traveled to North America, Dr. Wilmot had joined with William Pitt, the Marquis of Rockingham, and others in protesting the treatment of the American colonies by the British crown.

Villages: Wilmot Center, Wilmot Flat

Population, Year of the First Census Taken: 423 residents in 1810.

Population Trends: Population change for Wilmot totaled 990 over 57 years, from 391 in 1960 to 1,381 in 2017. The largest decennial percent change was a 41 percent increase between 1970 and 1980; the population increased by at least 20 percent for three of the five decades. The 2017 Census estimate for Wilmot was 1,381 residents, which ranked 168th among New Hampshire’s incorporated cities and towns. As of the 2020 census, the population had reached 1,407.

Population Density and Land Area (2020 US Census): 48.0 persons per square mile of land area. Wilmot contains 29.4 square miles of land area and 0.2 square miles of inland water area.