The town was granted to the Rev. Andrew Gardner and 61 others on September 10, 1761 by Governor Benning Wentworth, who named it for William Pulteney, 1st Earl of Bath.
Situated at the head of navigation on the Connecticut River, and shielded from strong winds by the Green Mountains to the west and White Mountains to the east, Bath soon developed into "..one of the busiest and most prosperous villages in northern New Hampshire."