[1] It was enlarged in 1986 to include the mill complex of the Exeter Manufacturing Company on Chestnut Street.

John Wheelwright and his followers, who had been banished from the Massachusetts Bay Colony to the south over religious differences.

After a series of fires in the mid-19th century the brick-built section of Water Street was developed, giving the downtown area much of its present character.

The "upper" portion of Water and High streets, south of the fire district, has retained more of its early 19th-century character, with wood-frame residential and commercial buildings.

One early surviving industrial building is the Gilman grist mill, located on Kimball Island in the river.