Suncook is a

census-designated place A census-designated place (CDP) is a concentration of population defined by the United States Census Bureau for statistical purposes only. CDPs have been used in each decennial census since 1980 as the counterparts of incorporated places, such ...

(CDP) in Merrimack 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 5,501 at the 2020 census. Approximately two-thirds of Suncook is located in the town of Pembroke, with the remainder in Allenstown. The village of Suncook formed along the falls of the

Suncook River The Suncook River is a river located in central New Hampshire in the United States. It is a tributary of the Merrimack River, which flows to the Gulf of Maine. Course The Suncook River begins at the outlet of Crystal Lake in the town of Gilmanto ...

, which drops in one-half mile (1 km) just before joining 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 ...

. Much of the center of the village is occupied by 19th-century factory buildings which once used the river's energy for hydropower. The buildings have now largely been converted to other uses. Much of Suncook's late 19th-century commercial village center has been listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

. Suncook was once home to the Suncook Valley Railroad, a

shortline railroad :''Short Line is also one of the four railroads in the American version of the popular board game Monopoly, named after the Shore Fast Line, an interurban streetcar line.'' A shortline railroad is a small or mid-sized railroad company that opera ...

company that operated northwest to

Concord Concord may refer to: Meaning "agreement" * Pact or treaty, frequently between nations (indicating a condition of harmony) * Harmony, in music * Agreement (linguistics), a change in the form of a word depending on grammatical features of other ...

and northeast to Barnstead. The railroad operated on former

Boston and Maine 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 ...

track that was sold to the company. The Suncook Valley Railroad went bankrupt in 1952 and all its track was torn up.

Geography

Suncook is located in the southern corner of the town of Pembroke and the western end of the town of Allenstown. The

runs through the center of the village and forms the boundary between the two towns. The CDP is bordered to the south by the town of Hooksett and to the west by the

, which forms the Bow town line.

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 ...

runs through the east side of the CDP, leading northwest to

, the capital of New Hampshire, and south to

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 ...

, the state's largest city.

New Hampshire Route 28 New Hampshire Route 28 is an north–south state highway in eastern New Hampshire. It connects the town of Ossipee in east-central New Hampshire with Salem on the Massachusetts border, while passing through Manchester, the largest city in the sta ...

leads south from Suncook with Route 3 but leads northeast up the Suncook River valley to

Pittsfield Pittsfield is the largest city and the county seat of Berkshire County, Massachusetts, United States. It is the principal city of the Pittsfield, Massachusetts Metropolitan Statistical Area which encompasses all of Berkshire County. Pittsfield� ...

. 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 Suncook CDP has a total area of , of which are land and , or 4.75%, are water.

Demographics

As of the census of 2010, the Suncook CDP had a population of 5,379, of whom 3,585 (66.6%) lived in the town of Pembroke and 1,794 (33.4%) lived in the town of Allenstown. There were 2,236 households and 1,375 families residing in the CDP. There were 2,408 housing units, of which 172, or 7.1%, were vacant. The racial makeup of the CDP was 95.9%

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 ...

, 0.9%

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 ...

, 0.4% Native American, 0.9%

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, 0.02% Pacific Islander, 0.4% some other race, and 1.6% from two or more races. 1.8% 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 ...

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 2,236 households in the CDP, 30.9% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 43.8% 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, 12.3% had a female householder with no husband present, and 38.5% were non-families. 29.7% of all households were made up of individuals, and 9.4% were someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.38, and the average family size was 2.95. 22.9% of residents in the CDP were under the age of 18, 7.4% were from age 18 to 24, 28.7% were from 25 to 44, 28.2% were from 45 to 64, and 13.0% were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 39.0 years. For every 100 females, there were 90.7 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 89.0 males. For the period 2011-15, the estimated median annual income for a household was $56,181, and the median income for a family was $78,814. Male full-time workers had a median income of $45,154 versus $43,118 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 CDP was $26,148. 10.7% of the population and 5.9% of families were below the poverty line, along with 10.6% of people under the age of 18 and 7.1% of people 65 or older.

Geography

Demographics

References

Further reading