Land was granted by Governor John Wentworth on February 8, 1772, to Sir Thomas Wentworth, Samuel Langdon and 81 others. Sir Thomas Wentworth resided in West Bretton, England on his estate called Bretton Hall, after which the township was named Bretton Woods. On the 1816 Carrigain map of New Hampshire, it appears as "Breton Woods." On 22 June 1832, the town was incorporated by the General Court as Carroll, in honor of Charles Carroll, a signer of the Declaration of Independence.