South Hampton is a

town A town is a type of a human settlement, generally larger than a village but smaller than a city. The criteria for distinguishing a town vary globally, often depending on factors such as population size, economic character, administrative stat ...

in Rockingham County,

New Hampshire New Hampshire ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders 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 894 at the 2020 census. South Hampton is home to Cowden State Forest and Powwow River State Forest.

History

South Hampton was one of the first towns granted by colonial governor

Benning Wentworth Benning Wentworth (July 24, 1696 – October 14, 1770) was an American merchant, landowner and colonial administrator who served as the List of colonial governors of New Hampshire, governor of New Hampshire from 1741 to 1766. He is best known ...

after the separation of the governorships of

and

Massachusetts Massachusetts ( ; ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Maine to its east, Connecticut and Rhode ...

in 1741. The border between the two colonies was fixed, and consequently South Hampton would be chartered in 1742 from former parts of

Amesbury Amesbury () is a town and civil parish in Wiltshire, England. It is known for the prehistoric monument of Stonehenge which is within the parish. The town is claimed to be the oldest occupied settlement in Great Britain, having been first settl ...

and Salisbury, Massachusetts. Over the years, the town lost territory to Hampton Falls, Seabrook and Newton, but gained territory from East Kingston in 1824. Though it was once part of the larger town of Hampton (as were the also separate towns of Hampton Falls and North Hampton), it no longer borders its namesake town due to these border changes. The town's Justices of the Peace in 1831 were Parker Merrill, George W. Pillsbury, Benning Leavitt, John Palmer and A. Brown.The New-Hampshire Annual Register, and United States Calendar, John Farmer, Hoag and Atwood, Concord, N.H., 1832
/ref> At one time, the town was home to over twelve different religious

sect A sect is a subgroup of a religion, religious, politics, political, or philosophy, philosophical belief system, typically emerging as an offshoot of a larger organization. Originally, the term referred specifically to religious groups that had s ...

s. One of South Hampton's only members of the New Hampshire State Senate was Benjamin Barnard, who served from 1806 to 1808.

Geography

According to the

United States Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau, officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the Federal statistical system, U.S. federal statistical system, responsible for producing data about the American people and American economy, econ ...

, the town has a total area of , of which are water, comprising 0.31% of the town. South Hampton is drained by the Powwow River, part of 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 M ...

watershed. The highest point in town is the summit of Chair Hill, at above

sea level Mean sea level (MSL, often shortened to sea level) is an mean, average surface level of one or more among Earth's coastal Body of water, bodies of water from which heights such as elevation may be measured. The global MSL is a type of vertical ...

, near the eastern end of town. Routes 107A and 150 go through South Hampton. The nearest Interstate is Interstate 495 in Amesbury, Massachusetts, one town to the south. Attractions in South Hampton include Heron Pond Farm and Jewell Towne Vineyards.

Adjacent municipalities

Kensington Kensington is an area of London in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, around west of Central London. The district's commercial heart is Kensington High Street, running on an east–west axis. The north-east is taken up by Kensingt ...

(north) * Seabrook (east) * Salisbury, Massachusetts (southeast at one point) *

Amesbury, Massachusetts Amesbury is a city in Essex County, Massachusetts, United States, located on the left bank of the Merrimack River near its mouth, upstream from Salisbury and across the river from Newburyport and West Newbury. The population was 17,366 at the ...

(south) * Newton (west) * East Kingston (northwest)

Demographics

As of the

census A census (from Latin ''censere'', 'to assess') is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording, and calculating population information about the members of a given Statistical population, population, usually displayed in the form of stati ...

of 2000, there were 844 people, 301 households, and 244 families residing in the town. The population density was . There were 308 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the town was 97.99%

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no chroma). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully (or almost fully) reflect and scatter all the visible wa ...

, 0.59%

African American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...

, 0.12% Asian, 0.47%

Pacific Islander Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, Pacificans, 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 th ...

, and 0.83% from two or more races.

Hispanic The term Hispanic () are people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or broadly. In some contexts, Hispanic and Latino Americans, especially within the United States, "Hispanic" is used as an Ethnici ...

or Latino of any race were 0.36% of the population. There were 301 households, out of which 34.9% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 69.1% were

married couples Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognised union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children (if any), and b ...

living together, 7.6% had a female householder with no husband present, and 18.9% were non-families. 13.0% of all households were made up of individuals, and 6.3% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.80 and the average family size was 3.07. In the town, the population was spread out, with 24.9% under the age of 18, 4.3% from 18 to 24, 28.7% from 25 to 44, 28.7% from 45 to 64, and 13.5% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 40 years. For every 100 females, there were 88.8 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 89.3 males. The median income for a household in the town was $63,750, and the median income for a family was $75,778. Males had a median income of $45,156 versus $30,625 for females. The

per capita income Per capita income (PCI) or average income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. In many countries, per capita income is determined using regular population surveys, such ...

for the town was $28,287. About 0.8% of families and 2.7% of the population 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 ...

, including 3.4% of those under age 18 and none of those age 65 or over.

Education

South Hampton has only one school, the K–8 Barnard School. High school students from South Hampton can either attend Winnacunnet High School in Hampton or Amesbury High School in Massachusetts.

References

External links

*
New Hampshire Economic and Labor Market Information Bureau Profile
{{authority control Towns in Rockingham County, New Hampshire Towns in New Hampshire