Waterville Valley, New Hampshire

Waterville Valley attracts many visitors in the winter months with alpine skiing at Waterville Valley Resort and many miles of trails for cross-country skiing. During the summer, attractions include a golf course, tennis courts, and a variety of hiking options. The Mad River flows through the town, providing great views all year round.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 64.9 square miles (168 km2), of which 0.04 sq mi (0.10 km2) is water, comprising 0.05% of the town. The highest point in Waterville Valley is the North Peak of Mount Tripyramid, at 4,180 feet (1,270 m) above sea level.

As of the census[4] of 2000, there were 257 people, 121 households, and 75 families residing in the town. The population density was 4.0 people per square mile (1.5/km²). There were 1,097 housing units at an average density of 16.9 per square mile (6.5/km²). The racial makeup of the town was 97.28% White, 1.95% Asian, 0.78% from other races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 1.56% of the population.

There were 121 households out of which 27.3% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 45.5% were married couples living together, 9.1% had a female householder with no husband present, and 38.0% were non-families. 34.7% of all households were made up of individuals and 6.6% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.12 and the average family size was 2.72.

Woodsville, New Hampshire

Woodsville is a census-designated place (CDP) and the largest village in the town of Haverhill in Grafton County, New Hampshire, U.S., along the Connecticut River at the mouth of the Ammonoosuc River. The population was 1,126 at the 2010 census.[1] Although North Haverhill is now the county seat of Grafton County,[2] the village of Woodsville has traditionally been considered the county seat, as the county courthouse was originally located there. The county buildings are now located halfway between Woodsville and the village of North Haverhill to the south.

Woodsville was named for John L. Woods, a figure in its early development. He arrived from Wells River, Vermont, a village across the Connecticut River narrows in Newbury, and in 1829 purchased a sawmill which had been operating on the Ammonoosuc River since 1811. He manufactured pine lumber, and opened a store in his house.[3] Spring snowmelt carried log drives down the Connecticut and Ammonoosuc rivers. A log boom was built across the Connecticut River to Wells River to hold the logs briefly for sorting. Logs not destined for Woods' mill were released gradually to avoid jams in the Ox Bow meadow downstream. Log drivers detailed to work at the boom enjoyed Woodsville's saloons and red-light district.[4]

The Boston, Concord & Montreal Railroad opened at Woodsville in 1853 and built its division offices and a branch repair shop. It replaced the original 1805 bridge between the states with a two-level span, featuring a toll highway below and railroad tracks on the roof.[5] The village boomed into an important railway town and junction, endowed with fine examples of Victorian architecture. It also became a center for legal affairs. The log drives were stopped after 1915, when pleasure boat owners complained about the hazards to navigation.[6] In 1889, the Grafton County Court moved from Haverhill Corner to Woodsville, where it remained until moving halfway to North Haverhill in 1972.[7]

Woodsville is in the northwest corner of the town of Haverhill, bordered to the north by the town of Bath and to the west by the Connecticut River, which forms the state border with Vermont. According to the United States Census Bureau, the CDP has a total area of 0.90 square miles (2.34 km2), of which 0.88 square miles (2.28 km2) are land and 0.02 square miles (0.05 km2), or 2.23%, are water.[8] The Ammonoosuc River runs just north of the CDP and reaches its confluence with the Connecticut River at the northernmost point in the community.

Weare, New Hampshire

It was granted to veterans of the Canadian wars in 1735 by Governor Jonathan Belcher, who named it Beverly-Canada after their hometown, Beverly, Massachusetts. But the charter was ruled invalid because of a prior claim by the Masonian proprietors, who granted six square miles as Hale's Town to Ichabod Robie in 1749.[2] It was also known as Robie's Town or Weare's Town before being incorporated by Governor Benning Wentworth in 1764 as Weare, after Meshech Weare, who served as the town's first clerk and later went on to become New Hampshire's first governor.[3]

In 1834, Moses Cartland founded Clinton Grove Academy, the first Quaker seminary in the state. A cousin of John Greenleaf Whittier, Cartland named the village where the school was located Clinton Grove, in honor of Dewitt Clinton, chief sponsor of the Erie Canal. The original academy served as a private high school. The complex, which included a classroom building, boarding house, barn and sheds, burned in 1872. Classes were then held in the Quaker meetinghouse across the common until 1874, when a new building was completed.[4] It would serve as the Weare school district from 1877 to 1938.

On September 21, 1938, following several days of heavy rain, the New England Hurricane of 1938 passed through the center of New England. The additional rains from the storm caused the Deering Reservoir dam to breach, releasing a wall of water that rushed down to the Weare Reservoir dam. Although the dam held, the flash flood broke through the land at the side of the dam, releasing millions of gallons of reservoir water. The raging river, completely out of control, washed away everything in its path, leaving parts of Weare devastated. Many active mills were destroyed in the disaster.

In response to the disaster and seasonal flooding, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers built the 2,000-foot (610 m) long Everett Dam, as part of the Hopkinton-Everett Flood Control Project, which had been authorized by Congress to prevent a recurrence of the devastating floods. The overall project was completed in 1963 at a total cost of $21,400,000. The dam required the village of East Weare to be permanently abandoned, and formed Everett Lake.

Chesterfield, New Hampshire

Chesterfield is a town in Cheshire County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 3,604 at the 2010 census.[1] It includes the villages of Spofford and West Chesterfield. Chesterfield is home to Spofford Lake, Chesterfield Gorge Natural Area, and parts of Pisgah State Park and Wantastiquet Mountain State Forest.

Granted in 1735 by Governor Jonathan Belcher of Massachusetts, this town was the site of Fort Number 1, first in the line of forts bordering the Connecticut River. After the border between Massachusetts and New Hampshire was fixed, the town was incorporated on 11 February 1752[2] by Governor Benning Wentworth as Chesterfield, named for Philip Stanhope, 4th Earl of Chesterfield. The first settlers were Moses Smith and William Thomas, who, with their families, came up the Connecticut in canoes, in the fall of 1761. Their chief subsistence through the winter and spring of their first year in the wilderness consisted of salmon and shad, of which there was a great abundance in the river, and deer, which were numerous in the forests.[2] The town contains some of the finest farmland in Cheshire County, yet once was home to small manufacturing, notably spinning wheel parts and handtools.[3]

In 1772, Philip Embury conducted the first Methodist religious services in New Hampshire at the James Robertson farm in Chesterfield, and in 1803, Francis Asbury preached here. Asbury Church is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and is recognized for its historic puritan design. Asbury Church is considered the "Mother Church of Methodism" in New Hampshire, and is the oldest Methodist church in New Hampshire. The town has had continual Methodist Sunday services for over 225 years.[4]

According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 47.6 square miles (123 km2), of which 45.6 sq mi (118 km2) is land and 2.0 sq mi (5.2 km2) (4.21%) is water. Chesterfield is bounded on the west by the Connecticut River. The highest point in the town is near its southern border, atop Davis Hill, at 1,427 feet (435 m) above sea level. Chesterfield lies fully within the Connecticut River watershed.[6]

West Lebanon, New Hampshire

West Lebanon is an unincorporated community (pop. approx 3,200)[2][3] within the city of Lebanon, New Hampshire, on the Connecticut River. The area contains a major shopping plaza strip along New Hampshire Route 12A, serving the Upper Valley communities along Interstates 89 and 91. West Lebanon also hosts the Lebanon Municipal Airport, a number of small software and tech businesses, and a regional daily newspaper, the Valley News. The village serves as a bedroom community for nearby Dartmouth College.

West Lebanon was the site of Lebanon's first settlement in 1761. Later the village became a regionally important rail hub, although at that time it was better known to rail travelers as Westboro. By the 1950s, however, the rail industry had shrunk significantly. The village of White River Junction, Vermont, across the Connecticut River, took most of the remaining services, and the rail service through West Lebanon was terminated.[citation needed]

Today commerce has replaced transportation as the basis of the economy, and West Lebanon serves as the commercial hub for a United States micropolitan area of over 170,000 people.[4]Seminary Hill School is located in the area.

Stewartstown, New Hampshire

Stewartstown is a town in Coos County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 1,004 at the 2010 census.[1] It includes the village of West Stewartstown and is part of the Berlin, NH–VT Micropolitan Statistical Area.

Stewartstown was granted in 1770 and incorporated in 1795. Originally named Stuart after Sir John Stuart, it was incorporated as Stewartstown after the Revolutionary War, following the original Scottish spelling of the name.[2]

According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 46.8 square miles (121 km2), of which 46.2 square miles (120 km2) is land and 0.6 square miles (1.6 km2) is water, comprising 1.23% of the town.[3] The highest point is the summit of Sugar Hill, at 2,985 feet (910 m) above sea level, near the town's southeastern corner.

The primary settlement in the town is the village of West Stewartstown on U.S. Route 3 along the Connecticut River, opposite the town of Canaan, Vermont. Stewartstown village is a mile northeast of West Stewartstown, along Route 3 and opposite the village of Beecher Falls, Vermont. To the east, the village of Stewartstown Hollow is closer to the geographic center of the town, along New Hampshire Route 145.

West Swanzey, New Hampshire

West Swanzey is a census-designated place (CDP) in the town of Swanzey within Cheshire County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 1,308 at the 2010 census.[1] It is the largest village in the town of Swanzey.

West Swanzey is located in the west-central part of the town of Swanzey, on both sides of the Ashuelot River. The West Swanzey Covered Bridge carries Main Street across the river in the center of the village. New Hampshire Route 10 passes through the west side of the village, leading north 6 miles (10 km) to Keene and south 7 miles (11 km) to Winchester.

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the West Swanzey CDP has a total area of 2.55 square miles (6.61 km2), of which 2.53 square miles (6.56 km2) are land and 0.02 square miles (0.05 km2), or 0.72%, are water.[1]

As of the census of 2010, there were 1,308 people, 581 households, and 340 families residing in the CDP. There were 617 housing units, of which 36, or 5.8%, were vacant. The racial makeup of the CDP was 93.2% white, 0.8% African American, 0.2% Native American, 4.4% Asian, 0.0% Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander, 0.2% some other race, and 1.2% two or more races. 1.2% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race.[2]

Westmoreland, New Hampshire

Once known as Great Meadow, this town was first granted in 1735 by Governor Jonathan Belcher of Massachusetts as Number 2, second in a line of Connecticut River fort towns designed to protect the colonies from Indian attack. This part of the river was a favorite Indian campsite, and the settlers who came beginning in 1741 were several times victims of attack. When the border between Massachusetts and the Province of New Hampshire was fixed (with Number 2 on the New Hampshire side), the town was regranted in 1752 by Governor Benning Wentworth as Westmoreland, named for John Fane, 7th Earl of Westmorland.[2]

The Park Hill Meetinghouse, built in 1762, has a Paul Revere bell. Considered one of the most beautiful churches in New England, it was moved to its present site by oxen in 1779, and renovated in 1826.[3]

According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 36.9 square miles (95.6 km2), of which 35.9 sq mi (93.0 km2) is land and 1.0 sq mi (2.6 km2), or 2.71%, is water. Westmoreland is bounded on the west by the Connecticut River. Hyland Hill, elevation 1,510 feet (460 m) above sea level and the highest point in town, is on the eastern border and although it is now private land, it is a local hiking and hunting destination.

As of the census[6] of 2000, there were 1,747 people, 576 households, and 445 families residing in the town. The population density was 48.7 people per square mile (18.8/km²). There were 618 housing units at an average density of 17.2 per square mile (6.7/km²). The racial makeup of the town was 97.82% White, 0.34% African American, 0.29% Native American, 0.80% Asian, 0.34% from other races, and 0.40% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 0.92% of the population.

Whitefield, New Hampshire

Whitefield is a town in Coos County, New Hampshire, United States, in the White Mountains Region. The population was 2,306 at the 2010 census.[1] Situated on the northern edge of the White Mountains, Whitefield is home to the Mount Washington Regional Airport and the White Mountains Regional High School.

Whitefield is part of the Berlin, NH–VT Micropolitan Statistical Area. The central village in the town, where 1,142 people resided at the 2010 census,[1] is defined as the Whitefield census-designated place (CDP) and is located at the junction of U.S. Route 3, New Hampshire Route 116 and NH Route 142.

The last town to be granted under the English provincial government, Whitefield was chartered on July 4, 1774, exactly two years before adoption of the Declaration of Independence. Some believe it was named for George Whitefield, a famous English evangelist, and a friend of William Legge, 2nd Earl of Dartmouth, the patron of Dartmouth College. Others believe the name originated from earlier references to the snowy white fields one would see upon approach through any of the surrounding mountain passages. The chartered name was "Whitefields", but the "s" was dropped on December 1, 1804—the date of incorporation. Early grantees included Jeremy Belknap, historian, and John Langdon, who succeeded John Wentworth as governor.

With the entrance of the railroad in the 19th century, tourists discovered the town and its cool, clean mountain air. They sought relief from the heat, humidity and pollution of coal-era summers in Boston, Hartford, New York and Philadelphia. Several inns and hotels were built to accommodate their increasing numbers. On a hilltop facing the Presidential Range is the grandest, The Mountain View House (now called the Mountain View Grand Resort & Spa), established in 1866. The historic hotel underwent an extensive renovation in the 2000s, and is now one of the most luxurious in New Hampshire.

Wilmot, New Hampshire

Wilmot is a town in Merrimack County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 1,358 at the 2010 census.[1] Wilmot is home to Winslow State Park and a small part of Gile State Forest. The town includes the villages of Wilmot, Wilmot Flat, and North Wilmot.

Incorporated in 1807 from part of New London, the town took its name from Dr. James Wilmot, an English clergyman who had spoken out against England's treatment of the American colonies. Dr. Wilmot was rector at Barton-on-Heath in Warwickshire, England.[2]

Wilmot is in northwestern Merrimack County, in the Dartmouth–Lake Sunapee Region of New Hampshire. According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 29.8 square miles (77.2 km2), of which 29.5 sq mi (76.4 km2) is land and 0.2 sq mi (0.5 km2), or 0.74%, is water. Wilmot is drained by the Blackwater River and Kimpton Brook.

The village of Wilmot is near the center of the town and is along New Hampshire Route 4A. Wilmot Flat is a village in the southern part of the town, served by New Hampshire Route 11. North Wilmot is a rural community centered on the junction of North Wilmot Road and Hobbs Hill Road, north of White Pond.