Originally granted as Bretton Woods in 1772, for Bretton Hall, an estate of Governor John Wentworth. The town was renamed Carroll in 1832, for Charles Carroll of Maryland, a signer of the Declaration of Independence. The town includes the villages of Fabyan's, Bretton Woods, Quebec Junction, Crawford House and Twin Mountain.
The town of Carroll uses three zip codes; Twin Mountain 03595; Bretton Woods 03575; and Carroll 03598. Fifty percent of the land in the town of Carroll is within the boundaries of the White Mountain National Forest. Carroll is home to more than 35 hotels, motels, inns, and campgrounds including the Mount Washington Hotel, site of the July 1944 International Monetary Conference that resulted in the creation of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank.
Nearby is Mount Washington's Cog Railway, the world's first mountain-climbing cog railway, in operation since 1869.