Alton Town Hall is located at 1 Monument Square, Alton, NH 03809; phone: 603‑875‑2101.
Beginnings [1]
Alton was originally called New Durham Gore. It was first settled about 1770 by Jacob Chamberlain and others. In the petition of 1794 for incorporation, the citizens asked that it might be called Roxbury, but it was instead named Alton, after a town in Southamptonshire, England. Barndoor Island was annexed to the town in 1799. A portion of the town was annexed to Barnstead in 1840, and a portion to Wolfborough in 1849.
At the first town meeting it was voted to build an "Orthodox Congregational Meeting House." The frame of this church was raised in the fall of 1797 but it was never entirely finished. Meetings were held in it however, more or less, until about 1840 when the building was sold for a town house.
In 1798 the town voted to raise $166 for the support of the gospel ministry, and about this time the Reverend Mr. Whippe was employed to preach, and remained here 2 years.