Monroe 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
Grafton 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 864 at the
2020 census,
up from 788 at the
2010 census. The town is located along the
Connecticut River, across from
Barnet, Vermont. It was originally chartered as part of
Lyman.
History
In 1762, colonial Governor
John Wentworth issued a grant ("Number 11") to 64 persons obligated to clear, farm and settle one tenth of each of their parcels or forfeit the grant. Only two made the attempt, but the charter was extended, in 1769, for another five years. Eleven of the original 64 grantees were named Lyman. In that same year, Wentworth also granted to one Colonel John Hurd of
Portsmouth, New Hampshire
Portsmouth is a city in Rockingham County, New Hampshire, United States. At the 2020 census it had a population of 21,956. A historic seaport and popular summer tourist destination on the Piscataqua River bordering the state of Maine, Portsmou ...
, part of the land which is today within the bounds of Monroe. The grant was named "Hurd's Location" and included five small islands in the
Connecticut River, known as "Deer Islands", and a parcel of land from below the present Village Bridge to the foot of Fifteen Mile Falls.
[ (reprint by Higginson Book Company, Salem, MA)]
In addition to Hurd's Location and the governor's , there were 23 lots of the 64 portions of Lyman located in "West Lyman", or the "Lyman Plain", now Monroe, making up less than of the present area. portion of
Bath, to the south, was annexed in 1897.
[
The first known settlers on the "West Lyman" portion of Lyman were John Hyndman (also, "John Hinman"), with his wife and son, who settled on the largest of the Deer Islands (below the present-day Barnet Bridge) in 1784 and built a log cabin. When Colonel Hurd learned of Hyndman's structure, he sued to have him evicted. A Barnet benefactor settled the controversy by purchasing the title from Hurd.
The first permanent settlers also came in the 1780s. They were the Olmstead families: Joseph, Timothy, and Israel, their wives and children.][ The first native son, Ethan Smith, was born in a cabin on the Canaan Road (over the Gardner Mountain to Lyman) in 1784.
Because of the difficulty traversing the steep "Gardner's Mountain" running north to south through the original Lyman grant of 1761, the settlers of the western portion had different priorities and needs than the rest of Lyman to the east. Monroe was incorporated as a separate town in 1854. After appropriate consideration, it was named after President ]James Monroe
James Monroe ( ; April 28, 1758July 4, 1831) was an American statesman, lawyer, diplomat, and Founding Father who served as the fifth president of the United States from 1817 to 1825. A member of the Democratic-Republican Party, Monroe was ...
. In 1860, Monroe had 619 residents. By 1880, the population had decreased to 504.[Hamilton Child, ''Gazetteer of Grafton County NH, 1709-1886'', Syracuse, NY (June 1886), "History of Monroe", p. 551]
"Captain" Phillip Paddleford, a Revolutionary War soldier, settled in 1790, and built Monroe's first sawmill and gristmill on what is now called Smith Brook. Peter Paddleford (1785–1859) was the inventor of the wooden Paddleford Truss for covered bridge
A covered bridge is a timber-truss bridge with a roof, decking, and siding, which in most covered bridges create an almost complete enclosure. The purpose of the covering is to protect the wooden structural members from the weather. Uncovered woo ...
s. Many of his original bridges still stand. He was the builder of the "third Lyman Bridge" from Monroe to McIndoes, Vermont, in 1833, after the 1826 floods had taken out all bridges on the Connecticut River. It was a covered bridge of pine, over long, and stood for over 96 years, making it one of the oldest on the river.[
]
Geology
Parts of the Ammonoosuc Gold Fields, which have never been successfully mined, are in Monroe. "Within the limits of the town are the narrows, at which place the Connecticut River is only five rods in width, being confined by walls of slate."[ Several copper mines were excavated along the "Back Road" (now named Coppermine Road), and many parcels continue to have separate mining rights.
Test borings and surface samples during the 1928–1930 construction of Frank D. Comerford Dam, in the Connecticut River, provided new geologic information regarding de-glaciation of the White Mountains, and became the namesake of the "Comerford Suite". The dam, located on what was once called "Fifteen Mile Falls", is now used for flood control, irrigation and generation of electrical power for transmission to ]New England
New England is a region comprising six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York to the west and by the Canadian provinces ...
states. At the time of its construction, it was the largest "retaining wall" in the United States, representing more than of concrete.[
Prior to the establishment of a series of dams, the river dropped in , from ]Dalton
Dalton may refer to:
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Entertainment
* Dalton (Buffyverse), minor ch ...
to Bath.
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 6.26% of the town. The town is bounded by the Connecticut River (which is also the state boundary with Vermont
Vermont () is a state in the northeast New England region of the United States. Vermont is bordered by the states of Massachusetts to the south, New Hampshire to the east, and New York to the west, and the Canadian province of Quebec to ...
) to its west and the long ridge of Gardner Mountain to the east. Signal Mountain, a knob on Gardner Mountain, is the highest point in Monroe, measuring 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 ...
. It has long been a major surveying reference point for maps and plats of the area between Mount Mansfield
Mount Mansfield is the highest mountain in Vermont with a summit that peaks at above sea level. The summit is located within the town of Underhill in Chittenden County; the ridgeline, including some secondary peaks, extends into the town of S ...
and Mount Washington
Mount Washington is the highest peak in the Northeastern United States at and the most topographically prominent mountain east of the Mississippi River.
The mountain is notorious for its erratic weather. On the afternoon of April 12, 1934 ...
.[
NH 135 runs through the town, substantially parallel to the river, linking Monroe to Littleton to the north and Bath to the south. A northwestern segment of Bath was annexed to Monroe in 1895, stimulated by its shared geography with Monroe.
]
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 2000, there were 759 people, 310 households, and 231 families residing in the town. The population density
Population density (in agriculture: standing stock or plant density) is a measurement of population per unit land area. It is mostly applied to humans, but sometimes to other living organisms too. It is a key geographical term.Matt RosenberPopul ...
was 33.9 people per square mile (13.1/km2). There were 333 housing units at an average density of 14.9 per square mile (5.7/km2). The racial makeup of the town was 97.63% 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 ...
, 0.00% 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 ...
, 0.00% Native American, 0.13% Asian
Asian may refer to:
* Items from or related to the continent of Asia:
** Asian people, people in or descending from Asia
** Asian culture, the culture of the people from Asia
** Asian cuisine, food based on the style of food of the people from Asi ...
, 0.00% Pacific Islander
Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the list of islands in the Pacific Ocean, Pacific Islands. As an ethnic group, ethnic/race (human categorization), racial term, it is used to describe the original p ...
, 0.00% from other races
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* ''The Other'' (1913 film), a German silent film directed by Max Mack
* ''The Other'' (1930 film), a ...
, and 2.24% from two or more races. 0.00% 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.
There were 310 households, out of which 27.7% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 65.8% were married couples living together, 5.5% had a female householder with no husband present, and 25.2% were non-families. 21.0% of all households were made up of individuals, and 11.6% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.45 and the average family size was 2.82.
In the town, the population was spread out, with 22.5% under the age of 18, 5.9% from 18 to 24, 24.1% from 25 to 44, 28.2% from 45 to 64, and 19.2% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 44 years. For every 100 females, there were 100.3 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 101.4 males.
Median resident age: 43.9 years. Median house value: $98,700. 22% of Monroe residents age 25 and older have a bachelor's or advanced college degree.
The median income for a household in the town was $42,411, and the median income for a family was $46,346. Males had a median income of $35,125 versus $26,458 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 $19,730. 1.6% of the population and 0.9% of families were below the poverty line
The poverty threshold, poverty limit, poverty line or breadline is the minimum level of income deemed adequate in a particular country. The poverty line is usually calculated by estimating the total cost of one year's worth of necessities for t ...
. 0.0% of those under the age of 18 and 2.1% of those 65 and older were living below the poverty line.
Notable people
* Jean Harris
Jean Struven Harris (April 27, 1923 – December 23, 2012) was the headmistress of The Madeira School for girls in McLean, Virginia, who made national news in the early 1980s when she was tried and convicted of the murder of her ex-lover, Her ...
(1923–2012), defendant in a high-profile murder case of her ex-lover Dr. Herman Tarnower
Herman Tarnower (March 18, 1910 – March 10, 1980) was an American cardiologist and co-author (with Samm Sinclair Baker) of the bestselling diet book ''The Complete Scarsdale Medical Diet'' (1978), which promoted a high-protein low-carbohy ...
; lived in Monroe
References
External links
*
Monroe community website
{{authority control
Towns in Grafton County, New Hampshire
Populated places established in 1762
1854 establishments in New Hampshire
New Hampshire populated places on the Connecticut River
Towns in New Hampshire