Hampton Historical Society

The Hampton Historical Society (HHS) is an all-volunteer, Section 501(c)(3) charitable organization. The Society is completely independent from the Town of Hampton and receives no subsidies from the town.

The mission of the Hampton Historical Society is to increase public knowledge and understanding of the history and cultural heritage of the town of Hampton, New Hampshire, from its earliest inhabitants to the present generation. HHS communicates that history through an active museum, educational programs, and a resource library.

Known since 1994 as the Hampton Historical Society, the society was incorporated in 1925 as the Meeting House Green Memorial Association to honor the original settlers of Hampton. A descendant of one of those families, Edward Tuck, generously donated funds to purchase a house on the site of the original meeting house green. The land surrounding the house was laid out as a park, and the house was turned into a small museum, which was appropriately named the Tuck Museum. The Society and the Tuck Museum celebrate its centennial year in 1925.

The museum has continued to grow over its one hundred years. Other buildings on the Green have joined the main house as exhibition areas. There is a nineteenth-century schoolhouse, an eighteenth-century barn, a fire-fighting museum, a Hampton Beach tourist cottage, and numerous monuments related to town history.

The aims of the Society have broadened in step with the museum's growth. To accomplish its goals of promoting and preserving the history and heritage of Hampton, the Society conducts an active educational program of tours and lectures throughout the year, and it provides research support to the many individuals seeking genealogical or town history information.