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Merrimack is a
town A town is a human settlement. Towns are generally larger than villages and smaller than cities, though the criteria to distinguish between them vary considerably in different parts of the world. Origin and use The word "town" shares an ori ...
in Hillsborough County,
New Hampshire New Hampshire is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Gulf of Maine to the east, and the Canadian province of Quebec t ...
, United States. The population was 26,632 as of the 2020 census. There are four villages in the town: Merrimack Village (formerly known as Souhegan Village), Thorntons Ferry, Reeds Ferry, and South Merrimack.


History

The first known settlers of the area appeared sometime after the last ice age. ''Merrimack'' is a Native American term meaning
sturgeon Sturgeon is the common name for the 27 species of fish belonging to the family Acipenseridae. The earliest sturgeon fossils date to the Late Cretaceous The Late Cretaceous (100.5–66 Ma) is the younger of two epochs into which the Cretace ...
, a type of fish. The
Pennacook The Pennacook, also known by the names Penacook and Pennacock, were an Algonquian-speaking Indigenous peoples of the Northeastern Woodlands who lived in Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and southern Maine. They were not a united tribe but a netwo ...
people named the
Merrimack River The Merrimack River (or Merrimac River, an occasional earlier spelling) is a river in the northeastern United States. It rises at the confluence of the Pemigewasset and Winnipesaukee rivers in Franklin, New Hampshire, flows southward into Mas ...
after this fish because of the vast population that once existed there. The Pennacooks spelled it ''Monnomoke'' or ''Merramake''. "When the town was incorporated, it took the name of the river and spelled it Merrymac," according to the Merrimack Historical Society. The first mention of the territory containing the current town of Merrimack among written records was the petition of
Passaconaway Passaconaway was a 17th century sachem and later ''bashaba'' (chief of chiefs) of the Pennacook people in what is now southern New Hampshire in the United States, who was famous for his dealings with the Plimouth and Massachusetts Bay Colonies. ...
to the
General Court of Massachusetts The Massachusetts General Court (formally styled the General Court of Massachusetts) is the state legislature of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The name "General Court" is a hold-over from the earliest days of the Massachusetts Bay Colony, ...
for a grant of land to include a part of this region. This was in 1662, and in the autumn of that year the court acceded to the request, and the aged
sachem Sachems and sagamores are paramount chiefs among the Algonquians or other Native American tribes of northeastern North America, including the Iroquois. The two words are anglicizations of cognate terms (c. 1622) from different Eastern Al ...
and his associates were granted a strip of country a mile and a half wide on both banks of the Merrimack at this section of the river. Although the boundaries of this grant are not specifically known today, it is probable that the chieftain held at least a portion of the current town of Merrimack. European settlers first came to the area in the late 17th century when the area was still in dispute between the
Province of New Hampshire The Province of New Hampshire was a colony of England and later a British province in North America. The name was first given in 1629 to the territory between the Merrimack and Piscataqua rivers on the eastern coast of North America, and was nam ...
and
Massachusetts Bay Colony The Massachusetts Bay Colony (1630–1691), more formally the Colony of Massachusetts Bay, was an English settlement on the east coast of North America around the Massachusetts Bay, the northernmost of the several colonies later reorganized as the ...
. The town of Merrimack was originally part of the 1673
Dunstable Dunstable ( ) is a market town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in Bedfordshire, England, east of the Chiltern Hills, north of London. There are several steep chalk escarpments, most noticeable when approaching Dunstable from the ...
grant. On June 25, 1734, Massachusetts granted the town organization as "Naticook", which was made up of Litchfield and part of Merrimack. In 1746 the boundary line between Massachusetts and New Hampshire was revised, and the land which was originally part of Massachusetts became part of New Hampshire. When it went back into New Hampshire, the province disincorporated the towns of Dunstable, Naticook, and Nottingham and formed it into one giant territory again, roughly the size of the old Dunstable Grant from the 1670s. On April 2, 1746, Governor
Benning Wentworth Benning Wentworth (July 24, 1696 – October 14, 1770) was an American merchant and colonial administrator who served as the governor of New Hampshire from 1741 to 1766. While serving as governor, Wentworth is best known for issuing several la ...
signed a charter establishing that the land from
Pennichuck Brook Pennichuck Brook is one of the tributaries of the Merrimack River in New Hampshire in the United States. Its watershed is and is one of the 14 subwatersheds of the Merrimack River. It passes through Nashua and Merrimack, New Hampshire and serves a ...
to the
Souhegan River The Souhegan River is a tributary of the Merrimack River in the northeastern United States. It is long, with a drainage area of , and flows north and east through southern New Hampshire to the Merrimack River. The river begins in New Ipswich, Ne ...
became the Town of Merrymac. At that time fewer than 50 families lived here. Pawtucket,
Nashaway The Nashaway (or Nashua or Weshacum) were a tribe of Algonquian Indians inhabiting the upstream portions of the Nashua River valley in what is now the northern half of Worcester County, Massachusetts, mainly in the vicinity of Sterling, Lancaster ...
and Pennacook people camped along the banks of the Merrimack and Souhegan rivers. The Pennacooks were greatest in numbers, and their chief, Passaconaway, was the ruler of all the tribes in the Merrimack Valley. On June 5, 1750, the town's charter was ratified, giving the town an additional to the north. The new portion called "Souhegan East" was made up of the land north of the Souhegan River.
Matthew Thornton Matthew Thornton (March 3, 1714 – June 24, 1803) was an Irish-born Founding Father of the United States who signed the United States Declaration of Independence as a representative of New Hampshire. Background and early life Thornton was ...
, a signer of the
Declaration of Independence A declaration of independence or declaration of statehood or proclamation of independence is an assertion by a polity in a defined territory that it is independent and constitutes a state. Such places are usually declared from part or all of the ...
, lived and was buried in Merrimack. The Signer's House and Matthew Thornton Cemetery are still located in the town. The original meetinghouse was built at the exact center of town. There were two cemeteries. Turkey Hill on Meetinghouse Road is the first mentioned in the town records, but Thornton Cemetery on Route 3 has the oldest gravestone. The nineteenth century saw much growth in Merrimack. The meetinghouse was too small and too far from what had become the center of town. The church and government became separate and two new churches were built in more convenient locations, one in South Merrimack and one on Baboosic Lake Road. A new town hall was built to replace the meetinghouse. The
Boston and Maine Railroad The Boston and Maine Railroad was a U.S. Class I railroad in northern New England. Originally chartered in 1835, it became part of what was the Pan Am Railways network in 1983 (most of which was purchased by CSX in 2022). At the end of 1970, B ...
laid tracks through the town in the 19th century, with several stations operating until the mid-20th century, when the advent of the automobile transformed Merrimack from a largely agricultural community to a
bedroom community A commuter town is a populated area that is primarily residential rather than commercial or industrial. Routine travel from home to work and back is called commuting, which is where the term comes from. A commuter town may be called by many o ...
of
Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...
and nearby cities in New Hampshire. Since 1970 the town has been the home of an
Anheuser-Busch Anheuser-Busch Companies, LLC is an American brewing company headquartered in St. Louis, Missouri. Since 2008, it has been wholly owned by Anheuser-Busch InBev SA/NV (AB InBev), now the world's largest brewing company, which owns multiple glo ...
brewery A brewery or brewing company is a business that makes and sells beer. The place at which beer is commercially made is either called a brewery or a beerhouse, where distinct sets of brewing equipment are called plant. The commercial brewing of be ...
, their easternmost, and one of their smallest plants in the United States. It is home to a brewery tour and one of the five stables for the
Budweiser Clydesdales The Budweiser Clydesdales are a group of Clydesdale horses used for promotions and commercials by the Anheuser-Busch Brewing Company. There are several "hitches" or teams of horses, that travel around the United States and other countries that rem ...
. The Merrimack School Board attracted national attention in 1995 when it passed a "prohibition of alternative lifestyle instruction" act, which resulted in the removal of a work by
William Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...
from the school curriculum. The board members who supported the act were voted out in the subsequent board election.


Geography

According to the
United States Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau (USCB), officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the U.S. Federal Statistical System, responsible for producing data about the American people and economy. The Census Bureau is part of the ...
, the town has a total area of , of which are land and are water, comprising 2.55% of the town. The highest point in Merrimack is an unnamed hill in the northwestern part of town that reaches above
sea level Mean sea level (MSL, often shortened to sea level) is an average surface level of one or more among Earth's coastal bodies of water from which heights such as elevation may be measured. The global MSL is a type of vertical datuma standardised g ...
.


Adjacent municipalities

*
Bedford, New Hampshire Bedford is a town in Hillsborough County, New Hampshire, United States. At the 2020 census, the population was 23,322, reflecting a growth of 10% from 2010. Bedford is a suburb of Manchester, New Hampshire's largest city. History In 1733, the P ...
(north) *
Manchester, New Hampshire Manchester is a city in Hillsborough County, New Hampshire, United States. It is the most populous city in New Hampshire. At the 2020 census, the city had a population of 115,644. Manchester is, along with Nashua, one of two seats of New Hamp ...
(northeast) *
Litchfield, New Hampshire Litchfield is a town in Hillsborough County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 8,478 at the 2020 census. History Prior to European settlement, the area was populated by the Abenaki people. They were skilled with fishing and we ...
(east) *
Nashua, New Hampshire Nashua is a city in southern New Hampshire, United States. At the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it had a population of 91,322, the second-largest in northern New England after nearby Manchester, New Hampshire, Manchester. Along with Manc ...
(south) *
Hollis, New Hampshire Hollis is a town in Hillsborough County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 8,342 at the 2020 census, growing 9% from the 2010 population of 7,684. The town center village is listed on the National Register of Historic Places as Ho ...
(southwest) *
Amherst, New Hampshire Amherst is a town in Hillsborough County in the state of New Hampshire, United States. The population was 11,753 at the 2020 census. Amherst is home to Ponemah Bog Wildlife Sanctuary, Hodgman State Forest, the Joe English Reservation and Baboosi ...
(west)


Areas of Merrimack

Shadows of the former villages that now make Merrimack still exist. However, the boundaries and exact definitions are unclear due to the expansion of suburban development in the town during the latter half of the 20th century.


Thorntons Ferry

The area of town near Naticook Lake and Continental Boulevard, its name comes from
Matthew Thornton Matthew Thornton (March 3, 1714 – June 24, 1803) was an Irish-born Founding Father of the United States who signed the United States Declaration of Independence as a representative of New Hampshire. Background and early life Thornton was ...
, one of the signers of the
Declaration of Independence A declaration of independence or declaration of statehood or proclamation of independence is an assertion by a polity in a defined territory that it is independent and constitutes a state. Such places are usually declared from part or all of the ...
who lived in Merrimack and is now buried in a cemetery near the intersection of
Daniel Webster Highway Daniel Webster Highway (also known as D.W. Highway or Webster Highway) is the name for several sections of U.S. Route 3 (or former alignments) in New Hampshire. The highway is named after 19th century statesman Daniel Webster, a New Hampshire na ...
(
U.S. Route 3 U.S. Route 3 (US 3) is a United States highway running from Cambridge, Massachusetts, through New Hampshire, to the Canada–US border near Third Connecticut Lake, where it connects to Quebec Route 257. Massachusetts Route 3 connects to ...
) and Greeley Street. Thorntons Ferry Elementary School is located on Camp Sargent Road.


Reeds Ferry

The northern portion of the town, Reeds Ferry is centered on the current intersection of Bedford Road and Daniel Webster Highway. The boundaries of the area are unclear, as the northwestern part of town near Baboosic Lake is not traditionally considered a portion of Reeds Ferry. While as a defined village it was located mostly near the
Merrimack River The Merrimack River (or Merrimac River, an occasional earlier spelling) is a river in the northeastern United States. It rises at the confluence of the Pemigewasset and Winnipesaukee rivers in Franklin, New Hampshire, flows southward into Mas ...
, the area near Baboosic Lake may now possibly be seen as part of Reeds Ferry. Reeds Ferry Elementary School is located on Lyons Road.


South Merrimack

Centered on Pennichuck Square on Rte. 101A and Continental Boulevard, South Merrimack is usually considered to be the southwestern part of town near Rte. 101A and Boston Post Road. However, the southeastern portion of town near Harris Pond might also be considered part of South Merrimack or Thornton's Ferry.


Merrimack Village

The center of town is not known as "Merrimack Village" per se, but constitutes the area between the more defined Reeds Ferry and Thorntons Ferry areas. Largely considered to be located at the Public Library on the corner of Baboosic Lake Road and
Daniel Webster Highway Daniel Webster Highway (also known as D.W. Highway or Webster Highway) is the name for several sections of U.S. Route 3 (or former alignments) in New Hampshire. The highway is named after 19th century statesman Daniel Webster, a New Hampshire na ...
, Merrimack Village was built along the
Souhegan River The Souhegan River is a tributary of the Merrimack River in the northeastern United States. It is long, with a drainage area of , and flows north and east through southern New Hampshire to the Merrimack River. The river begins in New Ipswich, Ne ...
that roughly cuts the current town in half. The elementary school in this part of town is named after James Mastricola, who deeded the land to the town upon his death. One of the three elementary schools, the upper elementary school, Merrimack High School, the library, and the current town hall, among other buildings, are all located on the land formerly owned by Mastricola. The "village" is considered to extend westward to the
Amherst Amherst may refer to: People * Amherst (surname), including a list of people with the name * Earl Amherst of Arracan in the East Indies, a title in the British Peerage; formerly ''Baron Amherst'' * Baron Amherst of Hackney of the City of London, ...
border. This is due in large part to the former Town Meetinghouse, which was located on the corner of Turkey Hill Road and Meetinghouse Road.


Demographics

As of the
census A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording and calculating information about the members of a given population. This term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common censuses incl ...
of 2010, there were 25,494 people, 9,503 households, and 7,150 families residing in the town. There were 9,818 housing units, of which 315, or 3.2%, were vacant. The racial makeup of the town was 95.0%
white White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no hue). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully reflect and scatter all the visible wavelengths of light. White on ...
, 0.8%
African American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...
, 0.2% Native American, 2.0%
Asia Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an area ...
n, <0.1%
Native Hawaiian Native Hawaiians (also known as Indigenous Hawaiians, Kānaka Maoli, Aboriginal Hawaiians, First Hawaiians, or simply Hawaiians) ( haw, kānaka, , , and ), are the indigenous ethnic group of Polynesian people of the Hawaiian Islands. Hawaii ...
or Pacific Islander, 0.5% some other race, and 1.6% from two or more races. 2.1% of the population were
Hispanic The term ''Hispanic'' ( es, hispano) refers to people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or Hispanidad. The term commonly applies to countries with a cultural and historical link to Spain and to Vic ...
or
Latino Latino or Latinos most often refers to: * Latino (demonym), a term used in the United States for people with cultural ties to Latin America * Hispanic and Latino Americans in the United States * The people or cultures of Latin America; ** Latin A ...
of any race. Of the 9,503 households, 36.7% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 62.6% were headed by
married couples Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognized union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children, and between t ...
living together, 8.5% had a female householder with no husband present, and 24.8% were non-families. 18.8% of all households were made up of individuals, and 5.7% were someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.67, and the average family size was 3.06. In the town, 24.5% of the population were under the age of 18, 6.7% were from 18 to 24, 25.7% from 25 to 44, 32.7% from 45 to 64, and 10.3% were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 40.7 years. For every 100 females, there were 99.0 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 96.4 males. For the period 2011–2015, the estimated median annual income for a household was $90,708, and the median income for a family was $101,786. Male full-time workers had a median income of $69,937 versus $50,184 for females. The
per capita income Per capita income (PCI) or total income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. It is calculated by dividing the area's total income by its total population. Per capita i ...
for the town was $39,695. 4.0% of the population and 2.3% of families were below the poverty line. 4.7% of the population under the age of 18 and 4.4% of those 65 or older were living in poverty.


Economy

PC Connection PC Connection, doing business as Connection, is headquartered in Merrimack, New Hampshire. It has more than 2,500 employees and sells more than 300,000 products. The Connection brand includes Connection Business Solutions, Connection MoreDirect ...
and
Brookstone Brookstone is a chain of retail stores in the United States and China. It was founded as a mail-order business in 1965, when it started selling items, such as dental clamps and other specialty tools. Its first physical location opened in 1973 ...
are based in Merrimack.
Merrimack Canoe Company Merrimack may refer to: * Merrimack, New Hampshire, a town * Merrimack County, New Hampshire * Merrimack River, in Massachusetts and New Hampshire * Merrimack Valley, the region surrounding the river * Merrimac, California, also spelled Merrimack ...
was started in Merrimack before being relocated to
Tennessee Tennessee ( , ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked state in the Southeastern region of the United States. Tennessee is the 36th-largest by area and the 15th-most populous of the 50 states. It is bordered by Kentucky to th ...
. Other notable employers include
Fidelity Investments Fidelity Investments, commonly referred to as Fidelity, earlier as Fidelity Management & Research or FMR, is an American multinational financial services corporation based in Boston, Massachusetts. The company was established in 1946 and is on ...
,
Anheuser-Busch Anheuser-Busch Companies, LLC is an American brewing company headquartered in St. Louis, Missouri. Since 2008, it has been wholly owned by Anheuser-Busch InBev SA/NV (AB InBev), now the world's largest brewing company, which owns multiple glo ...
, Campers Inn, and
BAE Systems BAE Systems plc (BAE) is a British multinational arms, security, and aerospace company based in London, England. It is the largest defence contractor in Europe, and ranked the seventh-largest in the world based on applicable 2021 revenues. ...
. Opened in 2012, the
Merrimack Premium Outlets The Merrimack Premium Outlets is an outlet mall located in Merrimack, New Hampshire, United States. It opened on June 14, 2012, and contains 103 stores and restaurants. The mall includes several upscale outlets, such as J. Barbour and Sons, Bar ...
are a retail mall area with 12 buildings, parking lots, and other site improvements located off exit 10 of the
Everett Turnpike The Frederick E. Everett Turnpike, also called the Central New Hampshire Turnpike, is a toll road in the U.S. state of New Hampshire, running from the Massachusetts border at Nashua north to Concord. The Everett Turnpike is named for Frederick ...
.


Education

The six public schools in Merrimack are managed by the Merrimack School District and include Thorntons Ferry Elementary School, Reeds Ferry Elementary School, James Mastricola Elementary School, James Mastricola Upper Elementary School, Merrimack Middle School and
Merrimack High School Merrimack High School (MHS) is the public secondary school of the town of Merrimack, New Hampshire. It is located in a central area of town on 38 McElwain Street. About 1,200 students from grades 9 through 12 are enrolled in the school. The schoo ...
. Merrimack High School has won one state championship in baseball (2007), three in softball (1980, 1988, 2001), one in football (1987), two in soccer (1998 girls, 2007 boys), three in indoor track (1999, 2007, 2008), four in outdoor track (2003, 2004, 2006, 2007), one in cross-country (2006), one in girls lacrosse (2012), one in skiing (1979), two in volleyball (2001, 2014), and four in basketball (1967, 2003, 2004, 2012). The Academy for Science and Design was a charter school established for the 2007–2008 academic year; it was New Hampshire's first charter school to concentrate on science, math, engineering, and design and is free of tuition fees. The school has since moved to Nashua. In 2014, the Gate City Charter School for the Arts opened its doors to students. Also within the town lies the
Thomas More College of Liberal Arts The Thomas More College of Liberal Arts is a private Roman Catholic liberal arts college in Merrimack, New Hampshire. It emphasizes classical education in the Catholic intellectual tradition and is named after Saint Thomas More. It is accredite ...
.


Annual events

The Rock'N Ribfest, hosted by the Nashua West Rotary Club, was an annual event held from 2003 through 2018, the proceeds of which benefited many local charities. In 2019 the event was hosted by the Merrimack Rotary Club and renamed the Great American Ribfest and Food Truck Festival. The ribfest is held on the
Anheuser-Busch Anheuser-Busch Companies, LLC is an American brewing company headquartered in St. Louis, Missouri. Since 2008, it has been wholly owned by Anheuser-Busch InBev SA/NV (AB InBev), now the world's largest brewing company, which owns multiple glo ...
grounds in Merrimack and features BBQ, children's games and activities, music, and other entertainment.


Government

The town government consists of a seven-member
town council A town council, city council or municipal council is a form of local government for small municipalities. Usage of the term varies under different jurisdictions. Republic of Ireland Town Councils in the Republic of Ireland were the second ti ...
. This form of government was adopted by a ballot measure on May 25, 2006. More information on Merrimack's local government can be found a
Charter commission website
Each March, the town conducts two deliberative sessions (school and general) to decide what warrant articles will be on the Town General Election ballot in April, one of which is always election of town officers, and another is the budget. If the budget is not approved by the voters, the town's governing council either holds an emergency hearing regarding a new budget or goes forward with the priors years' budget, amended with any time-sensitive information pending upon the current year. The Merrimack Village District administers the water system that serves the central area of the town. As a large,
suburban A suburb (more broadly suburban area) is an area within a metropolitan area, which may include commercial and mixed-use, that is primarily a residential area. A suburb can exist either as part of a larger city/urban area or as a separate ...
community located directly between the state's two largest cities (
Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...
and
Nashua Nashua may refer to: * Nashaway people, Native American tribe living in 17th-century New England Places In Australia: * Nashua, New South Wales In the United States: * Nashua, California * Nashua, Iowa * Nashua, Minnesota * Nashua, Kansas City ...
), Merrimack plays a disproportionate role to its size every four years in the
New Hampshire primary The New Hampshire presidential primary is the first in a series of nationwide party primary elections and the second party contest (the first being the Iowa caucuses) held in the United States every four years as part of the process of choosi ...
; in almost every
Fourth of July Independence Day (colloquially the Fourth of July) is a federal holiday in the United States commemorating the Declaration of Independence, which was ratified by the Second Continental Congress on July 4, 1776, establishing the United States ...
preceding a presidential election, every presidential candidate will march or have a float in the town's Fourth of July parade. In the
New Hampshire Senate The New Hampshire Senate has been meeting since 1784. It is the upper house of the New Hampshire General Court, alongside the lower New Hampshire House of Representatives. It consists of 24 members representing Senate districts based on population ...
, Merrimack is in the 11th District and is currently represented by Democrat Shannon Chandley. On the
New Hampshire Executive Council The Executive Council of the State of New Hampshire (commonly known as the Governor's Council) is the executive body of the U.S. state of New Hampshire. The Executive Council advises the Governor on all matters and provides a check on the governor ...
, Merrimack is in District 5 and is currently represented by Republican Dave Wheeler. In the
U.S. House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they ...
, Merrimack is included in
New Hampshire's 1st congressional district New Hampshire's 1st congressional district covers parts of Southern New Hampshire and the eastern portion of the state. The district contains parts of Hillsborough, Rockingham, Merrimack, Grafton, and Belknap counties; and the entirety of ...
and is currently represented by Democrat Chris C. Pappas. Merrimack leans Republican in presidential elections, but in recent years has shifted to become a battleground town. In
2020 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of events, COVID- ...
, Joe Biden was the first Democrat to carry the town with a majority of votes since Lyndon B. Johnson's landslide victory in
1964 Events January * January 1 – The Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland is dissolved. * January 5 - In the first meeting between leaders of the Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches since the fifteenth century, Pope Paul VI and Patriarch ...
. Republicans currently hold five of the town's eight seats in the General Court. The current General Court district of Merrimack is Hillsborough 12.


Notable people

*
Christy Karacas Christy C. Karacas (born March 8, 1975) is an American musician, animator, voice actor, director and writer, known for creating ''Superjail!'' and '' Ballmastrz: 9009'' for Adult Swim and directing the Cartoon Network series ''Robotomy''. Life a ...
(1975-), creator of ''
Superjail! ''Superjail!'' is an American adult animated television series produced by Williams Street. It follows the events that take place in an unusual prison. The pilot episode aired on television on May 13, 2007, and its first season began on September ...
'' and director of ''
Robotomy ''Robotomy'' is an American animated television series created by Michael Buckley and Joe Deasy. The series ran from October 25, 2010 to January 24, 2011 on Cartoon Network. The series revolves around Thrasher (Patton Oswalt) and Blastus ( Joh ...
''; born in Merrimack *
Walter Kittredge Walter Kittredge (October 6, 1834 – July 8, 1905), was a famous musician during the American Civil War. Born in Merrimack, New Hampshire, the tenth of eleven children, Kittredge was a talented self-taught musician who played the seraphine, t ...
(1834–1905), Civil War-era musician * David Lozeau, artist, children's book writer *
Tim Schaller Timothy Robert Schaller (born November 16, 1990) is an American professional ice hockey forward who is currently an unrestricted free agent. He most recently played for the Milwaukee Admirals of the American Hockey League (AHL). He has previously ...
(born 1990),
NHL The National Hockey League (NHL; french: Ligue nationale de hockey—LNH, ) is a professional ice hockey league in North America comprising 32 teams—25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. It is considered to be the top ranked professional ...
player for the
Los Angeles Kings The Los Angeles Kings are a professional ice hockey team based in Los Angeles. The team competes in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division in the Western Conference and was founded on June 5, 1967, after Jack Kent ...
*
Forrest Sherman Forrest Percival Sherman (October 30, 1896 – July 22, 1951) was an Admiral (United States), admiral in the United States Navy and the youngest person to serve as Chief of Naval Operations until Admiral Elmo Zumwalt in 1970. The was named ...
(1896–1951), admiral in the
United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...
who served as
Chief of Naval Operations The chief of naval operations (CNO) is the professional head of the United States Navy. The position is a statutory office () held by an admiral who is a military adviser and deputy to the secretary of the Navy. In a separate capacity as a memb ...
*
Matthew Thornton Matthew Thornton (March 3, 1714 – June 24, 1803) was an Irish-born Founding Father of the United States who signed the United States Declaration of Independence as a representative of New Hampshire. Background and early life Thornton was ...
(1714–1803),
Founding Father The following list of national founding figures is a record, by country, of people who were credited with establishing a state. National founders are typically those who played an influential role in setting up the systems of governance, (i.e. ...
, signer of the
United States Declaration of Independence The United States Declaration of Independence, formally The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen States of America, is the pronouncement and founding document adopted by the Second Continental Congress meeting at Pennsylvania State House ...
Reynolds, Alistair
"Matthew Thornton"
Maine Ulsterscots Project, retrieved Oct. 8, 2014


References


External links

*

{{authority control Towns in Hillsborough County, New Hampshire Populated places established in 1746 Towns in New Hampshire New Hampshire populated places on the Merrimack River New Hampshire placenames of Native American origin