In 1722, the heirs of Governor Samuel Allen received a grant of a tract of land four miles square. The Masonian proprietors finally planned the settlement of this land.  In 1750 they obtained control of the land from the heirs of Governor Allen. In 1759 this tract of land was named Allenstown in honor of Governor Allen.
     There were originally thirty lots of 350 acres each laid out. There were fifteen proprietors and they each received two lots. The proprietors in town could subdivide the lots and sell them to settlers. 
     By 1773 there were 143 people living in Allenstown. The best farming land was in the northern part of the town along what is now Deerfield Road. The first sawmill was built in the Bear Brook area near the Deerfield town line on Little Mill Brook in 1769.
     By 1790 there were 254 people living in Allenstown. By this time a gristmill had been built on Bear Brook near the highway and a tavern was built near what is now the parking lot behind the bathhouse in Bear Brook State Park.
     By 1817 the population was 346. There were four sawmills and two gristmills. A new Meeting House had just been built and was located on Deerfield Road, in the center of town. Town meetings were held in the Meeting House until 1876. There were two school districts. District 1 had a school on the main road. District 2 along Podunk Road had no schoolhouse until 1840. Every year the residents had to find a place to hold school until the schoolhouse was built. By 1823 there were five sawmills in town. Four were on or near Bear Brook and the 5th one was on Podunk Road near the Candia town line.
     Spruce and Beaver Ponds were once called “Shingle Ponds” in reference to the shingles made there. John Richards owned and operated a bark mill and tannery on the Mount Delight Road. Waldon Evans ran a cooperage near the Burgin Tavern. All the lumber in the Bear Brook area had been exhausted by 1874.
     By 1831 Allenstown had a population of 481 which was enough to become a town. It was incorporated on July 2, 1831.
     Because of the coming of the railroad and the growth of the mills in the Suncook area of the town, the population of Allenstown shifted from the eastern to the western part of the town. After the Civil War most of the farms in eastern Allenstown gradually dwindled away. In 1876 town meetings were moved to the Hayes Opera House. The old Meeting House was closed and rarely used. In 1901 the old meeting house was transferred to the D.A.R.
     IN 1935 Bear Brook was selected for development as a recreational demonstration area. At that time nearly 25% of the States population lived within a 15-mile radius. Bear Brook State Park started with 6849 acres and has grown into the States largest State Park with about 10,000 acres.