Sandwich is a town in Carroll County, New Hampshire, United States. Its population was 1,466 at the 2020 census. Sandwich includes the villages of Center Sandwich and North Sandwich. Part of the White Mountain National Forest is in the north, and part of Squam Lake is in the southwestern corner of the town. As such, Sandwich lies on the boundary between New Hampshire's Lakes Region and White Mountains Region. The Sandwich Range of the White Mountains lies partially within the town, as does the namesake

Sandwich Mountain Sandwich Mountain (or Sandwich Dome) is a mountain located on the border between Carroll and Grafton counties, New Hampshire spanning parts of the towns of Sandwich and Waterville Valley, respectively. The mountain is part of the Sandwich Ra ...

. The town is home to the

Sandwich Fair The Sandwich Fair is an annual event held on Columbus Day weekend in Sandwich, New Hampshire. The midway is open the three days of the fair and the Friday night prior to the fair's start. Two parades are part of the fair: an antique auto parade ...

, a popular

agricultural fair An agricultural show is a public event exhibiting the equipment, animals, sports and recreation associated with agriculture and animal husbandry. The largest comprise a livestock show (a judged event or display in which breeding stock is exhib ...

that occurs every October.

History

Chartered in 1763 by

colonial Colonial or The Colonial may refer to: * Colonial, of, relating to, or characteristic of a colony or colony (biology) Architecture * American colonial architecture * French Colonial * Spanish Colonial architecture Automobiles * Colonial (1920 a ...

Governor Benning Wentworth, the land was considered so inaccessible that the grant was enlarged, making Sandwich one of the largest towns in the state. It was named in honor of John Montagu, 4th Earl of Sandwich, said to be the inventor of the sandwich. The earliest European settlers arrived in 1767. By 1830 Sandwich had grown to a population of 2,700, nearly double the current (2020) population. At that time the town contained farms, stores, mills, churches, schools,

carpenter Carpentry is a skilled trade and a craft in which the primary work performed is the cutting, shaping and installation of building materials during the construction of buildings, Shipbuilding, ships, timber bridges, concrete formwork, etc. ...

s, blacksmiths, and wheelwrights. By the end of the 1800s much of the population had left Sandwich to live in cities to the west. Sandwich began to be an attraction for visitors, summer residents and artists, which continues to this day. The League of New Hampshire Craftsmen began in Sandwich as "Sandwich Home Industries" in 1920, and continues statewide today. Each fall the town hosts the

. The Durgin Bridge, built in 1864, is a covered bridge in the eastern section of town.

Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of , of which are land and are water, comprising 3.47% of the town. Sandwich is drained to the east by the Bearcamp and Cold rivers, to the northwest by the

Beebe River The Beebe River is a river located in the White Mountains of New Hampshire in the United States. It is a tributary of the Pemigewasset River, part of the Merrimack River watershed. The Beebe River begins at Black Mountain Pond on the southern ...

, to the southwest by Squam Lake, and to the south by the

Red Hill River The Red Hill River is a river in the Lakes Region of central New Hampshire in the United States. It is a tributary of Lake Winnipesaukee, part of the Merrimack River watershed. The Red Hill River begins in the town of Sandwich, New Hampshire, at ...

. The Bearcamp and Cold rivers are part of the Saco River watershed, draining east into Maine, while the remainder of the town is part of the Merrimack River watershed, draining south to Massachusetts. Mount Israel, elevation above sea level, is at the center. Part of the Squam Mountains is in the west. Part of the Sandwich Range is in the north, including the

(also known as Sandwich Dome), the highest point in town as well as in Carroll County. The primary settlement in the town is Center Sandwich. Other villages include Sandwich, North Sandwich, and Whiteface.

Demographics

As of the census of 2010, there were 1,326 people, 617 households, and 405 families residing in the town. There were 1,057 housing units, of which 440, or 41.6%, were vacant. 373 of the vacant units were for seasonal or recreational use. The racial makeup of the town was 98.0% white, 0.2% African American, 0.2% Native American, 0.5% Asian, 0.1% Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander, 0.0% some other race, and 1.1% from two or more races. 0.5% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race. Of the 617 households, 19.3% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 55.1% 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, 7.9% had a female householder with no husband present, and 34.4% were non-families. 27.4% of all households were made up of individuals, and 13.9% were someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.15, and the average family size was 2.59. In the town, 16.3% of the population were under the age of 18, 3.8% were from 18 to 24, 15.9% from 25 to 44, 40.9% from 45 to 64, and 23.2% were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 53.2 years. For every 100 females, there were 96.4 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 93.7 males. For the period 2011–2015, the estimated median annual income for a household was $57,000, and the median income for a family was $63,824. Male full-time workers had a median income of $57,917 versus $40,804 for females. The per capita income for the town was $31,599. 10.0% of the population and 7.3% of families were below the poverty line. 22.3% of the population under the age of 18 and 5.3% of those 65 or older were living in poverty.

Transportation

Four New Hampshire state highways cross the town: * NH 25 crosses the town's southeastern corner, from Moultonborough in the south to Tamworth in the east. It is locally known as Whittier Highway. * NH109 enters from Moultonborough in the south and terminates in the Center Sandwich, near the fairgrounds, at NH 113. It is known locally as Wentworth Hill Road. *NH 113 is the main east-west route across town, entering from Holderness in the west, where it is known as Holderness Road. In Center Sandwich, it becomes Main Street, and at the northern terminus of NH 109, it turns north along Maple Street. The name changes to North Sandwich Road until the village of North Sandwich, where it turns onto Beede Flats Road before entering Tamworth to the east. * NH 113A has its western terminus in North Sandwich at NH 113, then goes north along Whiteface Road before turning hard to the east along Chase Road and entering Tamworth at the northeastern corner of town.

Sites of interest

* John Davidson's Club Sandwich * Sandwich Historical Society Museum *

* Squam Lake, site of some location filming for the 1981 feature film '' On Golden Pond''

Notable people

* Isaac Adams (1802–1883), inventor, Massachusetts politician *

Dixi Crosby Dixi Crosby (February 8, 1800 – September 26, 1873) was an American surgeon and educator at Dartmouth College. He created a new technique for reducing metacarpophalangeal dislocation and was the first surgeon to open an abscess at the hip joi ...

(1800–1873), surgeon, educator, born in the town *

Claude Rains William Claude Rains (10 November 188930 May 1967) was a British actor whose career spanned almost seven decades. After his American film debut as Dr. Jack Griffin in ''The Invisible Man'' (1933), he appeared in such highly regarded films as '' ...

(1889–1967), earned four Oscar nominations for supporting actor, portrayed Captain Renault in the film ''Casablanca''; lived in Sandwich from 1956 until his death in March 1967 * "Long John" Wentworth (1815–1888), Illinois politician, former mayor of Chicago *

Norbert Wiener Norbert Wiener (November 26, 1894 – March 18, 1964) was an American mathematician and philosopher. He was a professor of mathematics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). A child prodigy, Wiener later became an early researcher i ...

(1894–1964), the founder of

cybernetics Cybernetics is a wide-ranging field concerned with circular causality, such as feedback, in regulatory and purposive systems. Cybernetics is named after an example of circular causal feedback, that of steering a ship, where the helmsperson m ...

, summered at his cottage in Sandwich until his death in 1964. Wiener and his wife Margaret are buried in Sandwich

References

External links

*
Sandwich Historical Society

* ttp://www.squamlakes.org/ Squam Lakes Association {{authority control Towns in Carroll County, New Hampshire Towns in New Hampshire