New Hampshire: Definition from Answers.com
- ️Wed Jun 23 2004
New Hampshire is roughly the shape of a fist, with its index finger pointed north. The tip of the finger forms a rough border with Quebec, Canada. Its eastern border is along the western border of Maine. What would be the bottom knuckle of the finger is New Hampshire's seacoast, only eighteen miles long, where the city of Portsmouth is found. The southern border of the state is along the northern border of Massachusetts. New Hampshire's western border is along the eastern border of Vermont. The state is 180 miles north-to-south and 93 miles at its widest, east-to-west, with an area of 9,283 square miles.
The Coastal Lowlands of the southeast were the first part of New Hampshire to be settled, partly because the fishing off the coast was extraordinarily good, attracting fishermen to settle there, and partly because there was good farmland to be found along the rivers that flowed into the sea. Even though farmers were the first to settle the rest of the state, most of New Hampshire's land is rocky and difficult to farm, The Eastern New England Upland is to the west of the Coastal Lowlands, with the north-to-south dividing line between the areas being the Merrimack River Valley, where the capital city Concord is found. Beginning in the middle of New Hampshire and extending northward are mountains, beginning with the White Mountains. The rough terrain of the north is sparsely populated, mostly by farmers, who work in valleys and along the Androscoggin River.
There are over 40,000 miles of rivers and 1,300 lakes in New Hampshire, making it one of the wettest states in the Union, and earning the state the sobriquet "Mother of Rivers." Its border with Vermont is traced by the Connecticut River; both sides of the river belong to New Hampshire, which therefore bears most of the responsibility for building bridges over it. Much of the early colonial history of the state focuses on the Piscataqua River, which flows into the Atlantic Ocean and offered a trading route into the dense woods of ancient New Hampshire. The Merrimack River begins in the White Mountains and flows south through New Hampshire and into Massachusetts. In the southeastern foothills of the White Mountains is the Lakes Region, which includes New Hampshire's largest lake, Lake Winnipesaukee, which covers seventy-two square miles and contains 274 islands.
An imposing sight in the White Mountains is Mount Washington, which at 6,288 feet is the tallest point in New Hampshire. New Hampshire's average temperature in July is 68 degrees Fahrenheit. The winters in New Hampshire can be bitter, with the average temperature in January being 19 degrees.
Prehistory
At about 9000 B.C., a people known as Paleo-Indians occupied New Hampshire. They are hard to study in New Hampshire because they apparently lived by the sea, and the ocean level in their time was 150 feet lower than it is now, meaning many of their villages, if they had any, are now likely underwater. Around 7000 B.C. people known as Archaic Indians began to replace the Paleo-Indians. By then, New Hampshire had become very heavily forested with hundreds of different species of trees. The Archaic Indians consisted of many different cultural groups. In New Hampshire, they were nomadic, probably migrating from place to place according to the seasons, avoiding New Hampshire's very cold winters.
Around 2000 B.C., Native Americans began settling New Hampshire with small villages. From 2000 B.C. to A.D. 1000, they adopted the bow and arrow for hunting, developed sophisticated fishing techniques, and introduced agriculture. Near the end of the period, maize was introduced from the west. It is possible but unlikely that Vikings visited New Hampshire around A.D. 1004, even though there are tourist attractions in the state that claim otherwise. Before the coming of Europeans in the 1600s, the Native Americans of the New Hampshire area were divided into two cultural groups: to the north were the Abenakis, and to the south were the Pennacooks. These subdivided into seven important subgroups: the Ossipees in the north, near the Androscoggin River; the Coosucs in the west near the Connecticut River; the Winnipesaukees in the White Mountains south of the Coosucs; the Nashuas in the south, living also in what is now northern Massachusetts; the Pennacooks, who lived in the southeast and along the Merrimack River; and the Piscataquas, who lived in the southeast in the region where the city of Dover was established.
Colonial Era
Martin Pring, twenty-three years old from Bristol, England, was the first recorded European to lead an expedition to present-day New Hampshire. In 1603, his ship anchored in a bay, and he traced inland some of the Piscataqua River. In 1614, John Smith passed by along the coast during a mapping expedition and recorded the area as very heavily wooded with great mountains to the west, and he reported very favorably on what he saw. At the time, there were about 5,000 Native Americans in New Hampshire. From then on, their population declined.
In 1622, the king granted Captain John Mason of England ownership of much of the land in present-day New Hampshire. It was he, in honor of his homeland Hampshire, who gave the name "New Hampshire" to his large tracts of land. In 1622, he and Sir Ferdinando Gorges founded the Company of Laconia, which was intended to support colonization and development of Mason's holdings.
Mason and Gorges planned missions to the new lands carefully, using good ships, well provisioned with what people would need to survive in New Hampshire's climate. This planning helped make the New Hampshire colonies among the most successful in the 1600s. On 16 April 1623, David Thomson led one such mission, settling two sites near the sea. These early sites attracted fishermen because of the bountiful fishing waters in the nearby ocean, and they became very prosperous by selling salted cod to Europeans. They got along well with the local Native Americans, mostly Piscataquas and Penna-cooks, who liked trading with the new settlers and who hoped the settlers would be good allies against what seemed like imminent invasions from warlike tribes to the west and south. The Native Americans were soon struck down by the measles and other imported diseases.
In the 1630s, John Wheelwright and his followers fled the Massachusetts colony because of religious persecution by the Congregationalist Church. He founded Exeter, which in 1641 had about 1,000 people living in or near the town. His hopes for freedom of religion were not immediately realized. In 1641, the towns of New Hampshire asked for protection from Massachusetts. Among the results was the introduction of slavery in 1645. Another result was religious persecution: In the 1660s, men were hanged and women stripped bareback and whipped for being Quakers. Religious laws were burdensome and sometimes downright irrational, such as the laws that forbade rest but forbade working on Sunday.
From 1684 to 1688, Kings Charles II and James II tried to force all the New England colonies into one large province, something the colonists resented. In 1679, monarchs William and Mary declared New Hampshire a royal province. By then, Portsmouth was becoming an important site for building ships, and the tall pines of New Hampshire were being shipped to England for use on English warships.
New Hampshire was fortunate in its royal governors. In December 1717, the king appointed John Wentworth the elder to be "lieutenant governor" in charge of New Hampshire, but serving under the governor of Massachusetts. The previous lieutenant governor, George Vaughn, had been ignoring orders from Massachusetts governor Samuel Shute. Wentworth proved to be a good diplomat, easing tensions while slowly separating the administration of New Hampshire from that of Massachusetts. In 1717, a large group of Scots Irish from northern Ireland came to New Hampshire. A careful, intelligent planner, Went-worth had hoped to establish a series of settlements in the interior of his colony, and the Scots Irish proved a welcome beginning of new settlers; in 1722, they dubbed their community Londonderry.
In 1740, the king of England settled disputes over New Hampshire's borders, awarding it twenty-eight town-ships claimed by Massachusetts and establishing the colony's western border to the west of the Connecticut River. John Wentworth had died in 1730, but in 1741, his son Benning Wentworth was made governor. He was one of the most contradictory and fascinating people in New Hampshire's history. He was self-indulgent, always cut himself in on any moneymaking proposal, lived lavishly in a house that perpetually expanded, and threw many parties for playing games and eating feasts. At the same time, he was a brilliant planner. He created a policy for not only establishing new townships but also for making sure they were all equal politically and in size. He oversaw the creation of sixty-seven new towns. In 1767, he was driven out of office because as a royal governor, he had supported the much loathed stamp tax.
His nephew, John Wentworth, known as "Long John," then became the governor. He loved New Hampshire. All his life, he referred to it as home. Among the wise choices he made was the establishment of three well-trained and supplied regiments of New Hampshire militia, a prudent precaution against the possibility of Native American raids from out of state. When in 1774 the colony's assembly met to consider independence, Wentworth tried to disband it—a right he had as royal governor. The assembly moved to a tavern and held its meeting anyway. Wentworth soon had to flee to Boston. On 17 June 1775, at the Battle of Bunker Hill (actually Breed's Hill), the regiments Wentworth had made sure were ready for war put themselves to use, for they formed the majority of Americans who defended the hill against British regulars, helping prove that Americans could stand up to England's best. Of the 911 New Hampshire volunteers, 107 were killed or wounded.
Live Free or Die
In 1776, the population of New Hampshire was 82,000 and increasing. Its growing industrialization was already causing problems: Its numerous sawmills had so polluted its rivers that the native salmon had gone extinct. The number of slaves was peaking at 626, soon to decline. On 5 January 1776, New Hampshire recorded two American firsts when the Fifth Provincial Congress of New Hampshire met. It was the first state to declare independence from England; it was also the first state to write its own constitution.
Portsmouth became a major naval manufacturer with the building of three warships, including the Ranger, which John Paul Jones commanded. The seaport also outfitted hundreds of privateers, privately owned merchant ships remade into warships with permission to raid, capture, or sink British ships. The privateers were successful enough to make many investors rich. Although New Hampshire was not the site of a single major battle, it was the site of bloody fighting. Native Americans from Canada were encouraged to raid New Hampshire settlements; they would kill anyone, although they sometimes took captives to be sold into slavery. Many of the soldiers of New Hampshire were skilled woodsmen and wise in the ways of guerrilla warfare, and they often drove off the invaders. In 1777, the British planned to drive through Vermont to the sea to divide the northern colonies in two. On 16 August 1777, American forces commanded by General John Stark fought the British force at the border of New York and Vermont, near Bennington, where the Americans won, taking hundreds of British soldiers prisoner. Thirty-two years later, veterans of the battle met, but John Stark was too sick to attend; instead, he sent them a message: "Live Free or Die."
The 1775 constitution was awkward and sometimes unclear. It took until 1 July 1784, after the end of the Revolutionary War, for a more permanent constitution to be adopted. As of 2002, it was still in effect. It was prefaced by thirty-eight articles that formed New Hampshire's bill of rights. When the Articles of Confederation proved to be inadequate for America's needs, in 1787, an American constitutional convention was held, with New Hampshire sending Nicholas Gilman and John Langdon as its representatives. In Concord, in June 1888, a convention on the proposed Constitution of the United States was held. The people of New Hampshire were not about to be rushed into anything and had taken their time considering the proposal. On 21 June 1788, voting fifty-seven to forty-seven, the delegates made New Hampshire the ninth state to ratify the Constitution; the agreement had been that if nine states ratified the Constitution, then it would officially be America's governing document.
Age of the Spindle
In 1800, the population of New Hampshire was 183,858. There were eight slaves in the state then. In 1819, New Hampshire outlawed slavery and abolished debtors' prison. In 1830, the legislature declared that any adult male could vote. There were 800 to 900 African Americans in the state at the time. The Democrats gained almost absolute control over New Hampshire politics in the first couple of decades of the nineteenth century, a grip they would maintain until tripping over the issue of slavery.
In the early 1800s, canals had been built around the Amoskeag waterfalls on the Merrimack River, allowing barges to travel between Concord, and Boston. Beside those falls, four local farmers built a mill. It had eighty-five spindles for the spinning of cloth. In 1822, financier Samuel Slater was brought in to help with expansion. By 1835, there were nineteen investors, and the mill was called the Amoskeag Manufacturing Company. The investors who had made textile mills in Lowell, Massachusetts, the models of enlightened industrial development also invested in the Amoskeag Manufacturing Company, buying land and laying out a model city, Manchester. From 1838 to 1846, the city grew from 500 to 10,000 in population. Amoskeag Manufacturing Company would become one of the world's industrial giants, making miles of cloth each day.
Meanwhile, prominent New Hampshire politician John Parker Hale had undergone a significant transformation. He was a stalwart Democrat; in 1835, when meeting with an abolitionist minister, he had taken the party line that slaves were merely beasts shaped like humans. While representing New Hampshire in the United States House of Representatives, he had held to his party's position. Yet, through contemplation, he changed his mind. In January 1845, he proposed legislation limiting slavery in the proposed new state of Texas. For this, the Democrats ousted him from their party. He managed to be elected to the Senate as an independent, and in 1853, he joined with dissident Democrats and some Whigs to help form the Republican Party, which called for the ending of slavery. This marked a great shift in New Hampshire politics, as over the next decade New Hampshirites joined the Republican Party, giving it a hold on local politics that it still had not lost by the 2000s.
Although New Hampshire contributed troops to the Civil War (1861–1865), major battles were not fought there. The state contributed much of the cloth used for Union uniforms and some of the munitions. The federal shipyard in Portsmouth contributed warships. In 1853, New Hampshire had passed laws restricting child labor, and throughout the nineteenth century the state passed laws further restricting child labor, and limiting hours and days industrial laborers could be required to work. In 1849, Amoskeag Manufacturing Company began manufacturing locomotives, and in 1869, the first railroad that could climb steep grades was built on Washington Mountain. It was a "cog railroad," meaning one that had a center rail that was gripped by a cogwheel attached under the center of a locomotive. In 1859, Amoskeag Manufacturing Company began producing fire engines. In 1870, farming was declining in the state, and in response the legislature created a Board of Agriculture to help farmers.
By 1895, the Boston and Maine Railroad, called the "Great Corporation," dominated the economic life of the state and was well known to use gifts to purchase votes in its favor from the legislature. In 1911, Robert Bass became governor and, helped by reform-minded members, he managed to push through the legislature laws extensively restricting child labor, a workers' compensation law, a "pure food" law, and a factory safety and inspection law. He and the legislature also created a commission to regulate public utilities and the railroads, eliminating such favors as free passes for the railroad, ending the Great Corporation's control over state politics.
In the 1920s, New Hampshire began a long shift in its economy. On 13 February 1922, the United Textile Workers struck against the Amoskeag Manufacturing Company over wages and working hours. Amoskeag already paid some of the highest wages in the textile industry and wanted to lower pay to its workers so that its products could compete with those manufactured in southern states where wages were much lower than those paid in New Hampshire. After a very unhappy nine months, the United Textile Workers accepted the terms of the Amoskeag Manufacturing Company, but the end of Amoskeag was in sight. By World War II (1939–1945), only a few manufacturers of specialty fabrics remained in the state.
During the middle of the twentieth century, New Hampshire's population declined. Once over 1,000,000 people, the population was 606,921 in 1960. The loss of manufacturing companies accounted for much of the exodus, but farms were failing, too. By the mid-1930s, many farms were abandoned, left to decay and yield to grasses, bushes, and trees. The land was not worth enough to sell, and there were too few buyers, anyway. World War II improved the economy; the shipyards at Portsmouth were very busy building submarines. During the 1920s and 1930s, one aspect of the economy picked up markedly: tourism.
Beautiful Land
New Hampshire is a beautiful state. In the 1920s, people from out of state would rent or purchase bungalows near beaches to spend a weekend or a whole summer relaxing. Some farmers rented rooms in their homes to vacationers, a practice that was still continuing at the turn of the twenty-first century. Writers and artists came to the state to enjoy quiet in small towns while pursuing their callings. One such writer, the American author Winston Churchill, even ran for governor in 1912.
After World War II, tourism became ever more important to the state, although it did not entirely stop the diminishing of New Hampshire's population. One effort to keep New Hampshire on people's minds was the beginning of the first-in-the-nation presidential primary in 1952. The primary brought politicians and money to the state. During the 1960s, skiers discovered the slopes of the White Mountains, some of which can support skiing into July. Traditional New Hampshire manufacturing businesses continued to decline in the 1960s, but a new group of employers discovered the state. The state's lack of income tax, its beautiful countryside, and its low crime rate were attractive to professionals. Finance and life insurance companies set up shop in the Granite State (a reference to its rocky terrain). High-technology companies also settled in New Hampshire in the hope that the skilled workers the industry needed would be attracted to a state with wonderful natural beauty. The high-technology companies established themselves in what became known as the "Golden Triangle" formed by Nashua, Manchester, and Portsmouth. By 1970, the state's population had grown to 737,681.
In 1976, the Seabrook nuclear power plant was built in New Hampshire amid protests from people who thought the plant would be dangerous. The plant went into operation in 1990. From 1989 to 1992, New Hampshire experienced a very tough recession, with 50,000 jobs leaving the state, and in 1990, Pease Air Force Base closed. The state's recovery was slow and focused on tourism, fishing, shipbuilding, and high-technology industries. In 1990, the state population was 1,113,915, and grew to almost 1,200,000 by 2000, so the state seemed to be recovering. In 1996, New Hampshire elected its first woman governor, Jeanne Shaheen. By 2000, only 7.7 percent of the people in New Hampshire lived below the federal poverty level, and the state had the third lowest crime rate among America's states.
Bibliography
Belknap, Jeremy. The History of New Hampshire. Boston: Belknap and Young, 1792.
Fradin, Dennis B. The New Hampshire Colony. Chicago: Children's Press (Regensteiner), 1988.
Morison, Elizabeth Forbes, and Elting E. Morison. New Hampshire: A Bicentennial History. New York: W. W. Norton, 1976.
Robinson, J. Dennis. "Seacoast NH History." http://www.SeacoastNH.com.
Squires, J. Duane. The Granite State of the United States: A History of New Hampshire from 1623 to the Present. New York: American Historical Company, 1956.
Stein, R. Conrad. New Hampshire. New York: Children's Press, 2000.
one of the New England states of the NE United States. It is bordered by Massachusetts (S), Vermont, with the Connecticut R. forming the boundary (W), the Canadian province of Quebec (NW), and Maine and a short strip of the Atlantic Ocean (E).
Facts and Figures
Area, 9,304 sq mi (24,097 sq km). Pop. (2000) 1,235,786, an 11.4% increase since the 1990 census. Capital, Concord. Largest city, Manchester. Statehood, June 21, 1788 (9th of the original 13 states to ratify the Constitution). Highest pt., Mt. Washington, 6,288 ft (1,918 m); lowest pt., sea level. Nickname, Granite State. Motto, Live Free or Die. State bird, purple finch. State flower, purple lilac. State tree, white birch. Abbr., N.H.; NH
Geography
The continental ice sheet once covered the entire state, scraping the mountains, eroding intervening upland areas, and rerouting water courses into precipitous streams and beautiful lakes. Across the north central part of the state the residual White Mountains of the Appalachian chain form ranges abruptly broken by passes (called notches). Between the Carter-Moriah Range and the Presidential Range in the east, the Ellis River drops 80 ft (24 m) through Pinkham Notch. West of the Presidential Range (which includes Mt. Washington, highest peak in New England at 6,288 ft/1,917 m), the cascading courses of the Ammonoosuc and Saco rivers divide it from the Franconia Mountains at Crawford Notch. To the southwest, in Franconia Notch, are Profile Lake (formerly watched over by the Old Man of the Mountain), the Basin, and the Flume, the waters of which flow into the Pemigewasset as it tumbles on its way to join the Merrimack. The northernmost gap, Dixville Notch, is surrounded by rocky pinnacles that look down upon a wild, fir-covered country abounding in lakes and streams.
South of the mountains the lake and upland area is frequently interrupted by isolated peaks called “monadnocks” from the original Great Monadnock near Jaffrey. The land surface declines westward to the broad valley of the Connecticut River, and the upper Connecticut valley (known as Coos country) is pleasantly pastoral. Practically every part of the state is within sight of, and identifies itself with, some peak. The climate varies greatly, and occasional high winds and violent storms roar through the narrow valleys. Annual precipitation is about 40 in. (102 cm), with snowfall mounting to 8 ft (2.4 m) in the mountain regions.
Concord is the capital and third largest city; the largest city is Manchester, followed by Nashua. The state's only port, Portsmouth, on the estuary of the Piscataqua River, also serves as a commercial center.
New Hampshire has 142 state parks and forests, and the White Mountains National Forest, which extends into Maine, has c.724,000 acres (293,000 hectares) in New Hampshire. The state's scenic beauty and serenity have long inspired writers and artists. Hawthorne, Whittier, and Longfellow summered in New Hampshire. Augustus Saint-Gaudens sculpted many of his finest works at the artist's colony at Cornish, and the MacDowell Colony at Peterborough is a summer haven for musicians, artists, and writers. The state is most intimately connected with the works of Robert Frost; Frost himself once said that there was not one of his poems “but has something in it of New Hampshire.”
Economy
Agriculture in New Hampshire is hampered by the mountainous topography and by extensive areas of unfertile and stony soil, but farmers are helped by the cooperative marketing that has expanded since World War II. Their main sources of income are dairy products, greenhouse products, apples, cattle, and eggs.
Since the late 1800s manufacturing has been important in the state. The textile mills and factories producing leather goods (such as shoes and boots) that once lined the state's fast-moving rivers have given way to high-technology firms, many of them migrating from the Boston area and its higher tax rates. Electrical and other machinery, as well as fabricated metals and plastics, are also manufactured.
Lumbering has been important since the first sawmill was built on the Salmon Falls River in 1631. Most of the timber cut now is used in paper production. Although New Hampshire has long been known as the Granite State, its large deposits of the stone—used for building as early as 1623—are no longer extensively quarried, the use of steel and concrete in modern construction having greatly decreased the granite market. Mineral production, chiefly of sand, gravel, and stone, is today a minor factor in New Hampshire's economy.
Year-round tourism is now the state's leading industry. Many visitors come to enjoy the state's beaches, mountains, and lakes. The largest lake, Winnipesaukee, is dotted with 274 inhabitable islands, while along the Atlantic shore 18 mi (29 km) of curving beaches (many state-owned) attract vacationers. Of the rugged Isles of Shoals off the coast, three belong to New Hampshire. Originally fishing colonies, they are now used largely as summer residences.
In the winter skiers flock northward, and the state has responded to the increasing popularity of winter sports by greatly expanding its facilities. When the snows melt, skiers are replaced by hikers, rafters, and climbers. Folk crafts such as wood carving, weaving, and pottery making have been revived to meet the tourist market.
Government, Politics, and Higher Education
New Hampshire's constitution, adopted in 1784, is the second oldest in the country. New Hampshire is the only state in which amendments to the constitution must be proposed by convention; once every seven years a popular vote determines the necessity for constitutional revision. The state's executive branch is headed by a governor and five powerful administrative officers called councillors. The governor is elected for a two-year term and is traditionally limited to two successive terms. Perhaps the most unusual feature of New Hampshire politics is the size of its bicameral legislature (General Court), one of the largest representative bodies in the English-speaking world, with 24 senators and 400 representatives, all elected for two years. The state elects two senators and two representatives to the U.S. Congress and has four electoral votes.
The New Hampshire presidential primary is among the first to be held in election years and has often forecast national trends or influenced election outcomes. The primary is itself a major New Hampshire “industry.” Republicans have played the dominant role in New Hampshire politics since the Civil War, but Jeanne Shaheen, a Democrat, was elected governor in 1996 and reelected in 1998 and 2000. In 2002, Republican Craig Benson was elected to the office, but he was defeated by Democrat John Lynch in 2004. Lynch was reelected in 2006.
Among the state's institutions of higher learning are the Univ. of New Hampshire, at Durham; Keene State Univ.; Dartmouth College, at Hanover; and Franklin Pierce College, at Rindge.
History
Early Settlement
The region was first explored by Martin Pring (1603) and Samuel de Champlain (1605). In 1620 the Council for New England, formerly the Plymouth Company, received a royal grant of land between lat. 40°N and 48°N. One of the Council's leaders, Sir Ferdinando Gorges, formed a partnership with Capt. John Mason and in 1622 obtained rights between the Merrimack and Kennebec rivers, then called the province of Maine. By a division Mason took (1629) the area between the Piscataqua and the Merrimack, naming it New Hampshire. Portsmouth was founded by farmers and fishermen in 1630.
Through claims based on a misinterpretation of its charter, Massachusetts annexed S New Hampshire between 1641 and 1643. Although New Hampshire was proclaimed a royal colony in 1679, Massachusetts continued to press land claims until the two colonies finally agreed on the eastern and southern boundaries (1739–41). Although they were technically independent of each other, the crown habitually appointed a single man to govern both colonies until 1741, when Benning Wentworth was made the first governor of New Hampshire alone.
Wentworth and his friends purchased the Mason rights in 1746 (see Masonian Proprietors under Mason, John, 1586–1635), laying claim to lands east of the Hudson and thereby provoking a protracted controversy with New York (see New Hampshire Grants). Although a royal order in 1764 established the Connecticut River as the western boundary of New Hampshire, the dispute flared up again during the American Revolution and was not settled until Vermont became a state.
Growth and Independence
The French and Indian Wars had prevented colonization of the inland areas, but after the wars a land rush began. Lumber camps were set up and sawmills were built along the streams. The Scotch-Irish settlers had already initiated the textile industry by growing flax and weaving linen. By the time of the Revolution many of the inhabitants had tired of British rule and were eager for independence. In Dec., 1774, a band of patriots overpowered Fort William and Mary (later Fort Constitution) and secured the arms and ammunition for their cause.
New Hampshire was the first colony to declare its independence from Great Britain and to establish its own government (Jan., 1776). New Hampshire became the ninth and last necessary state to ratify the new Constitution of the United States in 1788. New Hampshire's northern boundary was fixed in 1842 when the Webster-Ashburton Treaty set the international line between Canada and the United States.
The Slavery Question
The Democrats remained in political control until their inability to take a united antislavery stand brought about their decline. When Franklin Pierce, New Hampshire's only President of the United States (1853–57), tried to smooth over the slavery quarrel and unite his party, antislavery sentiment was strong enough to alienate many of his followers. During the Civil War, New Hampshire was a strong supporter of the Northern cause and contributed many troops to the Union forces.
Industrialization
After the war New Hampshire's economy began to emerge as primarily industrial, and population growth was steady although never spectacular. The production of woolen and cotton goods and the manufacturing of shoes led all other enterprises. The forests were rapidly and ruthlessly exploited, but in 1911 a bill was passed to protect big rivers by creating forest reserves at their headwaters, and since that time numerous conservation measures have been enacted and large tracts of woodland have been placed under state and national ownership.
Depression and Diversification
The Great Depression of the 1930s severely dislocated the state's economy, especially in the one-industry towns. The effort made then to broaden economic activities has been continually intensified. The recent establishment of important new industries such as electronics has successfully counterbalanced the departure to other states of older industries such as textiles.
In the 1980s, New Hampshire produced many new jobs and had one of the fastest growing economies in the United States. The state benefits from its close proximity to the Boston metropolitan area with its many high-technology firms, but when Massachusetts experiences a recession like that of the late 1980s and early 90s, New Hampshire is similarly affected.
Bibliography
See D. Delorme, ed., New Hampshire Atlas and Gazetteer (1983); L. W. Turner, The Ninth State: New Hampshire's Formative Years (1983); R. N. Hill, Yankee Kingdom (1984); W. G. Scheller, New Hampshire: Portrait of the Land and Its People (1988).
New Hampshire (IPA: /nuːˈhæmpʃər/) is a
state in the New England region of
the northeastern United States of
America named after the southern English county of Hampshire. The state ranks 44th in land area, 46th in
total area of the 50 states, and 41st in population. It was one of the original
Thirteen Colonies and became the ninth state to ratify the United States Constitution. New Hampshire was the first U.S. state to have its own state
constitution, and is the only state with neither a general sales tax nor a personal income tax.[2]
It is internationally famous for the New Hampshire primary, the first primary in the quadrennial U.S. presidential election cycle.
Its license plates carry the state motto: "Live Free or Die." The state nickname is "The Granite State", in reference both to its geology and to its tradition of self-sufficiency. Several other official nicknames exist but are rarely used.[3]
A number of famous individuals come from New Hampshire, such as Senator Daniel Webster, editor Horace Greeley, founder of the Christian Science religion Mary Baker Eddy, author Dan Brown, and comedians Adam Sandler, Sarah Silverman, and Seth Meyers. New Hampshire has produced one president, Franklin Pierce.
New Hampshire's recreational attractions include skiing and other winter sports, observing the fall foliage, summer cottages along many lakes, motor sports at the New Hampshire International Speedway, and Bike Week, a popular motorcycle rally held in Laconia in June.
Geography
- See List of counties in New Hampshire, mountains, lakes, and rivers
New Hampshire is part of the New England region. It is bounded by Quebec, Canada to the north and northwest; Maine and the Atlantic Ocean to the east; Massachusetts to the south; and Vermont to the west. New Hampshire's major regions are the Great North Woods, the White Mountains, the Lakes Region, the Seacoast, the Merrimack Valley, the Monadnock Region, and the Dartmouth-Lake Sunapee area. New Hampshire has the shortest ocean coastline of any U.S. state, with a length of 18 miles (29 km).
The New Hampshire State House in Concord was designed by Albe Cady. It is the oldest U.S. state capitol where legislators still meet in their original chambers.
New Hampshire, showing roads, rivers and major cities
New Hampshire was home to the rock formation called the Old Man of the Mountain, a face-like profile in Franconia Notch, until the formation fell apart in May 2003.
The White Mountains range in New Hampshire spans the north-central portion of the state, with Mount Washington being the tallest in the northeastern U.S., and other mountains like Mount Madison and Mount Adams surrounding it. With hurricane-force winds every third day on the average, over 100 recorded deaths among visitors, and conspicuous krumholtz (dwarf, matted trees much like a carpet of bonsai trees), the upper reaches of Mount Washington claim the title of having the "worst weather on earth." A non-profit weather observatory is located on the peak.
In the flatter southwest corner of New Hampshire, the prominent landmark Mount Monadnock, has given its name to a general class of earth-forms—a monadnock signifying, in geomorphology, any isolated resistant peak rising from a less resistant eroded plain.
Major rivers include the 110 mile (177 km) Merrimack River, which bisects the lower half of the state north-south and ends up in Newburyport, Massachusetts. Its major tributaries include the Contoocook River, Pemigewasset River, and Winnipesaukee River. The 410 mile (670 km) Connecticut River, which starts at New Hampshire's Connecticut Lakes and flows south to Connecticut, defines the western border with Vermont. Oddly, the state border is not in the center of that river, as is usually the case, but lies at the low-water mark on the Vermont side; so New Hampshire actually owns the entire river where it runs adjacent to Vermont. The "northwesternmost headwaters" of the Connecticut also define the Canadian border with New Hampshire.
The Piscataqua River and its several tributaries form the state's only significant ocean port where they flow into the Atlantic at Portsmouth. The Salmon Falls River and the Piscataqua define the southern portion of the border with Maine. The state has an ongoing boundary dispute with Maine in the area of Portsmouth Harbor, with New Hampshire claiming dominion over several islands (now known as Seavey Island) that include the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard as well as to the Maine towns of Kittery and Berwick.
The largest lake is Lake Winnipesaukee, which covers 72 square miles (186 km²) in the east-central part of New Hampshire.
Hampton Beach is a popular local summer destination. About 10 miles (16 km) offshore are the Isles of Shoals, nine small islands (4 belonging to the state) best known as the site of a 19th century art colony founded by poet Celia Thaxter, as well as the alleged location of one of the buried treasures of the pirate Blackbeard.
It is the second-most-forested state in the country, after Maine, in terms of percentage of land covered by woods. This change was caused by the abandonment of farms during the 20th century as many farmers took wage jobs in urban areas or moved to more productive areas. The return of woodlands from open fields forms the subject of many poems by Robert Frost.
The northern third of the state is locally referred to as the "north country" or "north of the notches," in reference to White Mountain passes that channel traffic. It contains less than 5% of the state's population, suffers from relatively high poverty rates, and is losing population as the logging and paper industries decline. However, the tourist industry, in particular visitors who go to northern New Hampshire to take advantage of the winter skiing season, has helped to offset economic losses from mill closures.
Climate
New Hampshire experiences a humid continental climate (Koppen climate classification Dfa in southern areas and Dfb in the north), with warm, humid summers, cold, wet winters, and uniform precipitation all year. The climate of the southeastern portion of the state is moderated somewhat by the Atlantic Ocean and averages relatively milder and wetter weather, while the northern and interior portions experience relatively cooler temperatures and lower humidity. Winters are cold and snowy throughout the state, and are especially severe in the northern and mountainous areas. Average annual snowfall ranges from 60" to over 100" across the state.[4]
Average daytime highs are generally in the mid 70s°F to low 80s°F (around 24-28 °C) throughout the state in July, with overnight lows in the mid 50s°F to low 60s°F (13-15 °C). January temperatures range from an average high of 34 °F (1 °C) on the coast to overnight lows below 0 °F (-18 °C) in the far north and at high elevations. Average annual precipitation statewide is roughly 40" with some variation occurring in the White Mountains due to differences in elevation and annual snowfall.
Extreme snow events are often associated with a nor'easter, such as the Blizzard of '78 and the Blizzard of 1993, when several feet of snow accumulated across portions of the state over a period of 24 to 48 hours. Lighter snowfall accumulations of several inches occur frequently throughout the winter months, often associated with an Alberta Clipper.
New Hampshire, on occasion, is affected by hurricanes and tropical storms although by the time they reach the state they are often extratropical, with most storms striking the southern New England coastline and moving inland or passing by offshore in the Gulf of Maine. Most of New Hampshire averages fewer than 20 days of thunderstorms per year and an average of about 2 tornadoes occur annually statewide.[5]
The National Arbor Day Foundation plant hardiness zone map depicts zones 3, 4, 5, and 6 occurring throughout the state[6] and indicates the transition from a relatively cooler to warmer climate as one travels southward across New Hampshire.
Metropolitan areas
Metropolitan areas in the New England region are defined by the U.S. Census Bureau as New England City and Town Areas (NECTAs). The following is a list of NECTAs in New Hampshire:
- Berlin, NH
- Claremont, NH
- Concord, NH
- Franklin, NH
- Keene, NH
- Laconia, NH
- Lebanon, NH-Hartland, VT
- Manchester, NH
- Nashua, NH Metropolitan Division (part of Boston metropolitan area)
- Portsmouth, NH-ME
- Rochester-Dover, NH-ME
From The New Hampshire
Economic and Labor Market Information Bureau
History
Various Algonquian tribes inhabited the area prior to European settlement. Europeans explored New Hampshire in 1600–1605 and settled in 1623. By 1631, the Upper Plantation comprised modern-day Dover, Durham and Stratham; in 1679, it became the "Royal Province."
It was one of the thirteen colonies that revolted against British rule in the American Revolution. By the time of the American Revolution, New Hampshire was a divided province. The economic and social life of the Seacoast revolved around sawmills, shipyards, merchant's warehouses, and established village and town centers. Wealthy merchants built substantial homes, furnished them with the finest luxuries, and invested their capital in trade and land speculation. At the other end of the social scale, there developed a permanent class of day laborers, mariners, indentured servants, and even slaves. It was the first state to declare its independence, but the only battle fought there was the raid on Fort William and Mary, December 14, 1774 in Portsmouth Harbor, which netted the rebellion sizable quantities of gunpowder, small arms, and cannon (General Sullivan, leader of the raid, described it as, "remainder of the powder, the small arms, bayonets, and cartouch-boxes, together with the cannon and ordnance stores") over the course of two nights. This raid was preceded by a warning to local patriots the previous day, by Paul Revere on December 13, 1774 that the fort was to be reinforced by troops sailing from Boston. According to unverified accounts, the gunpowder was later used at the Battle of Bunker Hill, transported there by Major Demerit, who was one of several New Hampshire patriots who stored the powder in their homes until it was transported elsewhere for use in revolutionary activities.
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Lake Winnepesaukee.
New Hampshire was a Jacksonian stronghold; the state sent Franklin Pierce to the White House in the election of 1852. Industrialization took the form of numerous textile mills, which in turn attracted large flows of immigrants from Quebec (the "French Canadians") and Ireland. The northern parts of the state produced lumber and the mountains provided tourist attractions. After 1960, the textile industry collapsed, but the economy rebounded as a center of high technology and a service provider.
Since 1952, New Hampshire gained national and international attention for its presidential primary held early in every presidential election year. It immediately became the most important testing grounds for candidates for the Republican and Democratic nominations. The media give New Hampshire (and Iowa) about half of all the attention paid to all states in the primary process, magnifying the state's decision power (and spurring repeated efforts by out-of-state politicians to change the rules.)
Demographics
| Historical populations | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Census | Pop. | %± | |
| 1790 |
— |
||
| 1800 | 29.6% | ||
| 1810 | 16.6% | ||
| 1820 | 13.8% | ||
| 1830 | 10.3% | ||
| 1840 | 5.7% | ||
| 1850 | 11.7% | ||
| 1860 | 2.5% | ||
| 1870 | -2.4% | ||
| 1880 | 9.0% | ||
| 1890 | 8.5% | ||
| 1900 | 9.3% | ||
| 1910 | 4.6% | ||
| 1920 | 2.9% | ||
| 1930 | 5.0% | ||
| 1940 | 5.6% | ||
| 1950 | 8.5% | ||
| 1960 | 13.8% | ||
| 1970 | 21.5% | ||
| 1980 | 24.8% | ||
| 1990 | 20.5% | ||
| 2000 | 11.4% |
As of 2005, New Hampshire has an estimated population of 1,309,940, which is an increase of 10,771, or 0.8%, from the prior year and an increase of 74,154, or 6.0%, since the year 2000. This includes a natural increase since the last census of 23,872 people (that is 75,060 births minus 51,188 deaths) and an increase due to net migration of 51,968 people into the state. Immigration from outside the United States resulted in a net increase of 11,107 people, and migration within the country produced a net increase of 40,861 people.
The center of population of New Hampshire is located in Merrimack County, in the town of Pembroke [1].
| Demographics of New Hampshire (csv) | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| By race | White | Black | AIAN | Asian | NHPI |
| AIAN is American Indian or Alaskan Native - NHPI is Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander | |||||
| 2000 (total population) | 97.56% | 1.05% | 0.64% | 1.56% | 0.06% |
| 2000 (Hispanic only) | 1.50% | 0.13% | 0.04% | 0.02% | 0.01% |
| 2005 (total population) | 96.97% | 1.29% | 0.63% | 2.04% | 0.07% |
| 2005 (Hispanic only) | 2.04% | 0.18% | 0.04% | 0.03% | 0.01% |
| Growth 2000-2005 (total population) | 5.36% | 30.39% | 3.96% | 38.30% | 13.91% |
| Growth 2000-2005 (non-Hispanic only) | 4.76% | 29.02% | 3.69% | 38.47% | 20.29% |
| Growth 2000-2005 (Hispanic only) | 43.91% | 39.72% | 7.81% | 26.49% | -25.23% |
New Hampshire Population Density Map
As of 2004, the population includes 64,000 foreign-born (4.9%).
Ancestry groups
The largest ancestry groups in New Hampshire are: [2]
- 26.6% French or French Canadian
- 21.1% Irish
- 20.1% English
- 10.3% German
- 10.4% Italian
- 7.8% Scottish or Scots-Irish
People of old colonial ("Yankee") ancestry live throughout most of New Hampshire.
The large Irish American, French-Canadian and Italian-American populations are descended largely from mill workers, and many still live in the former mill towns, like Manchester. New Hampshire has the highest percentage of residents of French/French-Canadian ancestry of any U.S. state. The fastest growth is along the southern border, which is within commuting range of Boston and other Massachusetts cities.
According to the 2000 U.S. Census, 3.41% of the population aged 5 and over speak French at home, while 1.60% speak Spanish [3].
Religion
The religious affiliations of the people of New Hampshire are (due to rounding the total percent is greater than 100):
- Christian – 80%
- Protestant – 43%
- Congregational/United Church of Christ – 7%
- Baptist – 7%
- Episcopal – 4%
- Methodist – 3%
- Other Protestant – 22%
- Catholic – 35%
- Other Christian – 2%
- Protestant – 43%
- Jewish – <1%
- Muslim – <1%
- Other Religions – 1%
- Non-Religious – 19%
Economy
The Bureau of Economic Analysis estimates that New Hampshire's total state product in 2003 was $49 billion. Per capita personal income in 2005 was $37,835, 6th in the nation and 110 percent of the national average ($34,495). Its agricultural outputs are dairy products, nursery stock, cattle, apples, and eggs. Its industrial outputs are machinery, electric equipment, rubber and plastic products, and tourism.[7] New Hampshire experienced a significant shift in its economic base during the last century. Historically, the base was composed of the traditional New England manufactures of textiles, shoe-making, and small machining shops drawing upon low-wage labor from nearby small farms and from parts of Quebec. Today, these sectors contribute only 2% for textiles, 2% for leather goods, and 9% for machining of the state's total manufacturing dollar value (Source: U.S. Economic Census for 1997, Manufacturing, New Hampshire). They experienced a sharp decline due to obsolete plants and the lure of cheaper wages in the South.
The state has no general sales tax, no personal income tax (the state does tax, at a 5 percent rate, income from dividends and interest) and the legislature has exercised fiscal restraint. Efforts to diversify the state's general economy have been ongoing.
Additionally, New Hampshire's lack of a broad-based tax system (aside from the controversial state-wide property tax) has resulted in the state's local communities having some of the nation's highest property taxes. Overall, New Hampshire remains ranked 49th among states in combined average state and local tax burden.[8] Nevertheless, ongoing efforts from unhappy homeowners for property tax relief continues. They have argued that residents of Massachusetts and other neighboring states are shopping in New Hampshire tax-free, and New Hampshire homeowners are paying them for the privilege. See tax-free shopping.
- See also State income tax.
Law and government
State line on NH Rt. 111 in Hollis
The Governor of New Hampshire is John Lynch (Democrat). New Hampshire's two U.S. senators are Judd Gregg (Republican) and John E. Sununu (Republican). New Hampshire's two U.S. representatives are Carol Shea-Porter (Democrat) and Paul Hodes (Democrat).
New Hampshire has a bifurcated executive branch, consisting of the Governor and a five-member Executive Council which votes on state contracts over $5,000 and "advises and consents" to the governor's nominations to major state positions such as department heads and all judgeships and pardon requests. New Hampshire does not have a Lieutenant Governor; the Senate President serves as "Acting Governor" whenever the Governor is unable to perform the duties.
The New Hampshire General Court is a bicameral legislative body, consisting of the House of Representatives and the Senate. The House of Representatives is the third-largest legislative body in the English speaking world with 400 members. Only the United States House of Representatives and the British House of Commons are larger.[9] Presumably because the position pays just $100 per year plus mileage, members are more likely to be retired. A survey published by the Associated Press in 2005 found that nearly half the members of the House are retired, with an average age close to 60. [4] The General Court meets in the New Hampshire State House.
The state's sole appellate court is the New Hampshire Supreme Court. The Superior Court is the court of general jurisdiction and the only court which provides for jury trials in civil or criminal cases. The other state courts are the Probate Court, District Court, and the Family Division.
The New Hampshire State Constitution is the supreme law of the state, followed by the New Hampshire Revised Statutes Annotated. The State Constitution is the nation's only state constitution which acknowledges the right of revolution, and one of the few that does not expressly mandate the provision of a public school system.
New Hampshire is also the only state with no mandatory seatbelt law for adults, and also has no motorcycle helmet law for adults nor mandatory vehicle insurance for automobiles. Although the state retains the death penalty for limited crimes, the last execution was conducted in 1939. New Hampshire is the only state that does not mandate public kindergarten, partly out of frugality and lack of funding, and partly out of belief in local control, a philosophy under which towns and cities, not the state, make as many decisions as possible. As of 2005, all but two dozen communities in the state provided public kindergarten.
New Hampshire is a "Dillon Rule" state, meaning that powers not specifically granted to municipalities are retained by the state government. Even so, there is within the state's legislature a strong sentiment favoring local control, particularly with regard to land use regulations. Traditionally, local government in New Hampshire is conducted by town meetings, but in 1995, municipalities were given the option of using an official ballot to decide local electoral and budgetary questions, as opposed to the more open and public town meeting.
New Hampshire is an Alcoholic Beverage Control state, and through the State Liquor Commission it takes in $100 million from the sale and distribution of liquor.[10] The state also leads the country in per capita sales of all forms of alcohol.[11]
On May 31, 2007, Governor Lynch signed HB 437, a civil union bill, into law, which will grant all the rights associated with marriage in the state to same-sex couples effective January 1, 2008.[12]
Politics
New Hampshire is internationally famous for the New Hampshire primary, the first primary in the quadrennial American presidential election cycle. The primary draws more attention by far than all other primaries, and has often been decisive in shaping the national contest. Critics from other states have tried repeatedly but failed to reduce the state's primary clout. In Dixville Notch in Coos County and Hart's Location in Carroll County, the few dozen residents of these small towns vote at midnight the Tuesday the primary is being held. State law grants that a town where all registered citizens have voted may close early and announce their results. These are traditionally the first towns in both New Hampshire and the U.S. to vote in presidential primaries and elections.
In the past, New Hampshire has often voted Republican. Some sources trace the founding of the Republican party to the town of Exeter in 1853. The state is considered to be the most conservative state in the Northeast. However, the state supported Bill Clinton in 1992 and 1996, but prior to that had only strayed from the Republican Party for three candidates—Woodrow Wilson, Franklin D. Roosevelt and Lyndon B. Johnson.
In recent years, however, in both national and local elections it became a swing state. It was the only U.S. state to give its electoral votes to George W. Bush in the 2000 election but then go Democratic in the 2004 election. New Hampshire gave its four electoral votes to John Kerry in 2004 with 50.2% of the vote. The change from voting Republican was solidified by the 2006 midterm elections, in which both Congressional seats were won by Democrats (Charlie Bass was defeated by Paul Hodes, and Jeb Bradley was defeated by Carol Shea-Porter); Democratic Governor John Lynch was re-elected in an historic landslide with 74% of the vote; Democrats gained a majority on the Executive Council; and Democrats took both houses of the State Legislature for the first time since 1911. Democrats now hold both the legislature and the governorship for the first time since 1874. [5] Republicans hold both U.S. Senate seats, which were not up for a vote in 2006. Prior to the 2006 elections, New Hampshire was the only New England state in which Republicans held majorities in both legislative chambers.[13] The New Hampshire General Assembly is the largest among state legislatures in the U.S., with 400 members, and has the most representatives per capita (approximately one for every 3,200 citizens). New Hampshire has been known for a Libertarian-like political tradition that values individual freedom and limited exercise of state governmental powers. The Free State Project selected New Hampshire as its destination due to its "Live Free or Die" libertarian-esque heritage.[14]
Education
High schools
New Hampshire has more than 150 public high schools, many of which serve more than one town. The largest is Pinkerton Academy in Derry, which is owned by a private non-profit organization but serves as the public high school of a number of neighboring towns. In March 2007 Gov. John Lynch and lawmakers proposed a constitutional amendment that would require the state to provide at least 50% of the statewide cost of an adequate education.[15]
There are also at least 20 private high schools in the state.
- See also: List of high schools in New Hampshire
Colleges and universities
Media
Daily newspapers
- Berlin Daily Sun
- Concord Monitor
- Conway Daily Sun
- Eagle Times of Claremont
- Eagle Tribune (Lawrence, Massachusetts, area, including southern NH)
- Foster's Daily Democrat of Dover
- Keene Sentinel
- Laconia Citizen
- Manchester Daily Express
- New Hampshire Union Leader of Manchester
- The Portsmouth Herald
- Telegraph of Nashua
- Valley News of West Lebanon
Other publications
- The Exeter News-Letter
- The Granite State News
- Hippo Press (Manchester, Nashua and Concord editions)
- Keene Free Press
- Milford Cabinet, part of The Cabinet Press (also Hollis, Brookline, Bedford, Merrimack)
- The New Hampshire - University of New Hampshire student newspaper
- New Hampshire Business Review
- The New Hampshire Gazette Portsmouth alternative biweekly
Radio stations
Television stations
- ABC affiliate: WMUR, Channel 9, Manchester
- PBS affiliates in Durham, Keene and Littleton (New Hampshire Public Television)
- MyNetworkTV affiliate: WZMY, Channel 50, Derry (also serves the Boston area)
Culture
In the spring, New Hampshire's many sap houses hold sugaring off open houses. In summer, New Hampshire is home to many county fairs, the largest being the Hopkinton State Fair, in Contoocook. New Hampshire's lake region is home to many summer camps, especially around Lake Winnipesaukee, and is a popular tourist destination. In the fall New Hampshire is host to the New Hampshire Highland Games. New Hampshire has also registered an official tartan with the proper authorities in Scotland, used to make kilts worn by the State Police while they serve during the games. The fall foliage peaks in mid October. In the winter, New Hampshire's ski areas attract visitors from a wide area, and New Hampshire has more miles of snowmobile trails than roads.[16] After the lakes freeze over they become dotted with ice fishing ice houses, known locally as bobhouses.
Professional sports teams
In fiction
- Peterborough is the inspiration for the town of Grover's Corners, in Thornton Wilder's play Our Town.
- The novel Peyton Place was inspired by Gilmanton, New Hampshire.
- Bob Montana, the original artist for Archie, attended Manchester Central High School for a year, and may have based Riverdale High School in part on Central.
- Dartmouth College is said to be the inspiration for the film Animal House, as one of the scriptwriters, Chris Miller, studied there.
- Al Capp, creator of the comic strip Li'l Abner, used to joke that Dogpatch, the setting for the strip, was based on Seabrook, where he would vacation with his wife.[17]
- John Knowles based the Devon School in A Separate Peace on the Phillips Exeter Academy in Exeter. The prep school in John Irving's The World According to Garp was also based on the Academy. Irving's stepfather was a faculty member at the school, and Irving is an alumnus; New Hampshire references are common in his works.
Notable residents or natives
Granite State firsts
See List of New Hampshire-related topics
- On January 5, 1776 at Exeter, the Provincial Congress of New Hampshire ratified the first independent state constitution, free of British rule.
- On June 12, 1800, Fernald's Island in the Piscataqua River became the first government-sanctioned US Navy shipyard.
- Started in 1822, Dublin's Juvenile Library was the first free public library.
- In 1828, the first women's strike in the nation took place at Dover's Cocheco Mills.
- In 1845, the machine shop of Nashuan John H. Gage was considered the first shop devoted to the manufacture of machinists' tools.
- On August 29, 1866, Sylvester Marsh demonstrated the first mountain-climbing "cog" railway.
- Finished on June 27, 1874, the first trans-Atlantic telecommunications cable between Europe and America stretched from Balinskelligs Bay, Ireland, to Rye Beach, New Hampshire.
- On February 6, 1901, a group of nine conservationists founded the Society for the Protection of New Hampshire Forests, the first forest conservation advocacy group in the US.
- In 1908, Monsignor Pierre Hevey organized the nation's first credit union, in Manchester, to help mill workers save and borrow money.
- In 1934, the current record for the highest recorded surface wind gust (231 mph) was set on Mount Washington.[18]
- In 1937 The Belknap Recreation Area installed the first chairlift for skiing in the East.
- In July 1944, the Bretton Woods Agreement, the first fully-negotiated system intended to govern monetary relations among independent nation-states, was signed at the Mount Washington Hotel.
- On May 5, 1961, Alan Shepard of Derry rode a Mercury spacecraft and became the first American in space.
- In 1963, New Hampshire's legislature approved the nation's first modern state lottery, which began play in 1964.
- In 1966, Ralph Baer of Sanders Associates, Inc., Nashua, recruited engineers to develop the first home video game.
- Christa McAuliffe of Concord became the first private citizen selected to venture into space. She perished with her six space shuttle Challenger crewmates in January 28, 1986.
- On May 17, 1996 New Hampshire became the first state in the country to install a green LED traffic light. NH was selected because they were the first to start installing the red and yellow ones statewide.[19]
- On May 31, 2007 New Hampshire became "...the first state to embrace same-sex unions without a court order or the threat of one."[20][21]
See also
- Free State Project
- LGBT rights in New Hampshire
- New Hampshire census statistical areas
- New Hampshire State Police
- Scouting in New Hampshire
References
- ^ a b Elevations and Distances in the United States. U.S Geological Survey (29 April 2005). Retrieved on November 6, 2006.
- ^ NH has a room and meals sales tax and a business profits income tax. Alaska does not have a statewide sales or income tax, but many Alaska towns have a sales tax. No New Hampshire towns have a sales tax.
- ^ New Hampshire Division of Travel & Tourism Development - State Facts
- ^ Dellinger, Dan (2004-06-23). Snowfall - Average Total In Inches. NOAA. Retrieved on 2007-05-25.
- ^ Annual average number of tornadoes 1953-2004. NOAA. Retrieved on 2007-05-25.
- ^ 2006 arborday.org Hardiness Zone Map. National Arbor Day Foundation. Retrieved on 2007-05-25.
- ^ State at a Glance - New Hampshire. U.S. Department of Labor (2007-10-12). Retrieved on 2007-10-14.
- ^ The Tax Foundation - New Hampshire's State and Local Tax Burden, 1970–2006
- ^ http://www.gencourt.state.nh.us/house/members/memberlookup.aspx
- ^ State of New Hampshire Department of Administrative Services - Monthly Revenue Focus (FY 2005)
- ^ National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism - SURVEILLANCE REPORT #73: APPARENT PER CAPITA ALCOHOL CONSUMPTION: NATIONAL, STATE, AND REGIONAL TRENDS, 1977–2003
- ^ Office of the Governor of the State of New Hampshire (2007-05-31). Governor Signs Law Establishing Civil Unions in New Hampshire. Press release. Retrieved on 2007-07-14.
- ^ "State Vote 2006: Partisan Composition of State Legislatures: New Hampshire" National Conference of State Legislatures, retrieved November 17, 2006.
- ^ "Free State Project: State Vote Results"
- ^ New Hampshire May Pay Half of Education Costs. March 23, 2007.
- ^ It's Time for Winter Fun
- ^ Susan Morse, "Last of the Yankees", Portsmouth Herald, July 4, 2004.
- ^ The Story of the World Record Wind
- ^ Sending a bright signal, Concord Monitor pg B-6, May 18, 1996
- ^ Wang, Beverley. (26 April 2007) State Senate approves civil unions for same-sex couples Concord Monitor. Accessed 26 April 2007.
- ^ http://www.nh.gov/folklife/learning/first.htm
Further reading
- Michael Sletcher. New England. Westport, CT, 2004.
External links
- Official State Website
- New Hampshire Historical Society
- The New Hampshire Almanac
- USGS real-time, geographic, and other scientific resources of New Hamphsire
- New Hampshire State Facts
- Directory of movie filming locations in the state
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