Community Profiles

Dover, NH

Origin: For the first fifty years of New Hampshire''s history, Dover was one of only three communities established in the state. Settled in 1623 on the banks of the Piscataqua River, Dover was first called Hilton''s Point, named after Edward Hilton, leader of the company of Englishmen who landed at Dover Point. It was also known by the Indian names of Newichwannock (place of wigwams) and Cocheco. The town was probably named for Dover, England. In 1855, Dover was incorporated as a city. Read more ...

Somersworth, NH

Origin: Somersworth began as a parish of Dover, named Sligo after the Irish county which was home to an early colonial governor. Later, it was called Summersworth, which was contracted to Somersworth when it was incorporated in 1754. It was incorporated as a city in 1893. Situated on the Salmon River, Somersworth has been home to many gristmills, sawmills, and cotton and woolen making establishments. Read more ...

Nottingham, NH

Origin: Nottingham was named in honor of Daniel Finch, second Earl of Nottingham. The Earl was a close friend of Samuel Shute and Joseph Dudley, Governors of Massachusetts when New Hampshire was under that province''s jurisdiction. Among the grantees was Peregrine White, descendant of Peregrine White of the Mayflower, the first child of English parentage born in New England. Read more ...

Madbury, NH

Origin: Once part of Dover and Durham called Barbados because of trade with the island, this town was the farm of Sir Francis Champernowne of Greenland. Sir Francis'' English home was called Modbury, and the name Madbury is in its honor. Madbury Parish was granted for the first time in 1755, and town privileges were granted in 1768. The name Barbados is still used for several natural features of the area. Read more ...

Strafford, NH

Origin: First settled prior to the Revolution, this town takes its name from the county in which it is located. Earl of Strafford was a title of the Wentworth family in England. The name was also adopted by a state militia company in Dover, the Strafford Guards, who later became part of the New Hampshire National Guard. Strafford includes the village of Bow Lake. Read more ...

Stratham, NH

Settled in 1631, this area, called Winnicutt by the Indians, was known as Squamscott Patent or Point of Rocks because of its location between the Great Bay and the Squamscott River. The sixth town to be incorporated in New Hampshire, the town was named for a friend of Governor Samuel Shute of Massachusetts, Wriothesley Russell, Baron Howland of Streatham. Read more ...

Rye, NH

The first settlement in New Hampshire, established by David Thompson in 1623 at Odiorne's Point, and named Pannaway. Originally part of Portsmouth, it was incorporated as a parish of New Castle in 1726. The town is named for the borough of Rye, a flourishing English Channel town. Rye's eight-mile length of coastline is dotted with old names such as Wallis Sands, Jenness Beach, Locke's Neck, Ragged Neck, Rye Harbor, and Odiorne Point. In 1876, four of the Isles of Shoals were annexed to the town, the only New Hampshire town with Atlantic islands. The remaining five islands belong to Maine. Read more ...

Northwood, NH

Origin: First settled in 1763, Northwood separated from Nottingham and was incorporated in 1773. The town was also known as North Woods and Northwood Narrows, a name still used. At one time, there were some 12 sawmills in the town, five of which were replaced by shoe factories. More recently, the town has been a popular vacation spot, being home to ten lakes, including Bow, Pleasant, and Harvey Lakes. Read more ...

Greenland, NH

One of the earliest settlements in the state, Greenland was a parish of Portsmouth originating in 1638. It was probably named for Henry Greenland, a town officer. Residents requested and were granted a separate town in 1704. In that same period, Leonard Weeks constructed a substantial brick house, thought to be the oldest brick house in New Hampshire still standing. Read more ...

Newmarket, NH

One of six towns granted by the Massachusetts government in the last year of the reign of King George I. It started as a parish of Exeter, and was granted full town privileges by legislature in 1737. It was probably named for Newmarket in County Suffolk, England. The Lamprey River, running through the town, was named for John Lamprey, whose name was Saxon for a woodland enclosure where peace is to be found. For a while, the town was called Lampreyville. Newmarket was a center of the New England shipping trade with the West Indies. Read more ...

Portsmouth, NH

First settled in 1630 as Piscataqua, the settlement was soon named Strawberry Banke. The name Portsmouth was adopted in 1653 to honor the colony s founder, John Mason, Captain of the Port in Portsmouth, England. Portsmouth became the New Hampshire province s capitol in 1679. It was home to many famous colonials, such as William Whipple, signer of the Declaration of Independence; Governor John Langdon, first US Senate president; and John Paul Jones, naval hero. Portsmouth was incorporated as a city in 1849. The original Strawberry Banke settlement has been preserved as an example of a colonial American town. Read more ...

Rollinsford, NH

Origin: Long a part of Somersworth, Rollinsford was the site of a 1680 landing on the Salmon River. The town was incorporated in 1849, and given the name of Rollinsford in honor of newlyweds Edward H. and Ellen West Rollins. Rollins went on to be Speaker of the New Hampshire House, chairman of the State Republican Committee, Congressman and Senator from New Hampshire, and founder of the banking firm E.H. Rollins & Sons in Boston. His son, Frank W. Rollins, was New Hampshire''s governor in 1900, and the originator of Old Home Week. Read more ...

Newmarket, NH

Origin: One of six towns granted by the Massachusetts government in the last year of the reign of King George I. It started as a parish of Exeter, and was granted full town privileges by legislature in 1737. It was probably named for Newmarket in County Suffolk, England. The Lamprey River, running through the town, was named for John Lamprey, whose name was Saxon for "a woodland enclosure where peace is to be found." For a while, the town was called Lampreyville. Newmarket was a center of the New England shipping trade with the West Indies. Read more ...

Durham, NH

Origin: A parish of Dover settled in 1669 as Oyster River Plantation, Durham was incorporated in 1732. The name probably honored Richard Barnes, Bishop of Durham, England, the first Puritan bishop. A descendent of an early settler, Benjamin Thompson, bequeathed the family estate, Warner Farm, to be used for establishment of an agricultural college. The state agricultural school, originally set up in Hanover in 1866, was moved to Durham in 1890, becoming the University of New Hampshire in 1923. Read more ...

Exeter, NH

Exeter was one of the four original towns established in New Hampshire. It was first known as Squamscott, and was given the name Exeter by the settlement's managers, the Exeter Combination, a group of English colonizers. The river location of the town made it a shipbuilding center and West Indies trading port. Exeter is home to the Phillips Exeter Academy, endowed by Colonel John Phillips in 1781, and the American Independence Museum. Read more ...

New Castle, NH

The largest of several islands at the mouth of the Piscataqua River, this town was originally known as Great Island. Chartered in 1679 as a parish of Portsmouth, it was incorporated in 1693. New Castle is unique in the state, being the only town made up entirely of islands, connected to the mainland by bridges. New Castle is home to the Wentworth-by-the-Sea Hotel, site of the Russo-Japanese Peace Treaty of 1905, mediated by Theodore Roosevelt. Read more ...