First established as Hampton's Third Parish, this town received its grant as an independent town in 1726. Located on the Taylor River, Hampton Falls provided water power for Weare's mills. Meschech Weare, a descendant of the mill owners, was New Hampshire's first president, later called governor, in 1776. Hampton Falls was the birthplace of Ralph Adams Cram, a well-known architect, who designed the Cathedral of St. John the Divine in New York and chapels at West Point and Exeter Academy.