The West Side is a large area defining many neighborhoods in the city of
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 Ha ...
, in the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...
. It consists of all parts of the city that lie west 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 ...
and includes the neighborhoods of Northwest Manchester
Rimmon Heights Notre Dame, Piscataquog, Wolfe Park, and Mast Road. It lies just to the east of the community of
Pinardville in the neighboring town of
Goffstown.
While much of the West Side was historically dominated by
French Canadian neighborhoods like Notre Dame and Rimmon Heights, the area was also home to other ethnic groups, including the city's largest
German
German(s) may refer to:
* Germany (of or related to)
** Germania (historical use)
* Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language
** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law
**Ge ...
neighborhood in Piscataquog. It has become increasingly diverse, but is still largely associated with the city's French Canadian heritage.
Most of the developed areas of the West Side are high density urban neighborhoods, but the outer neighborhoods of Northwest Manchester, Wolfe Park, and Mast Road are medium to
suburban.
History
The lower area of Notre Dame, immediately west of present-day downtown Manchester, was originally known as McGregorville, after the McGregor family that built the first bridge in the city in 1792. The area later grew into a dense neighborhood called the Flat Iron District beneath Rimmon Heights and adjacent to the western side of the
Amoskeag millyard.
Pisctaquog was originally part of the neighboring town of
Bedford
Bedford is a market town in Bedfordshire, England. At the 2011 Census, the population of the Bedford built-up area (including Biddenham and Kempston) was 106,940, making it the second-largest settlement in Bedfordshire, behind Luton, whilst ...
, and developed as an industrial area around the confluence of the
Piscataquog and Merrimack rivers in the early nineteenth century. The contrast between the urban area, then known as 'Sqoug Village, and the otherwise rural town of Bedford led local residents to request annexation by the city of Manchester, which the
General Court granted in 1853.
Rimmon Heights developed later in the nineteenth century when a
streetcar
A tram (called a streetcar or trolley in North America) is a rail vehicle that travels on tramway tracks on public urban streets; some include segments on segregated right-of-way. The tramlines or networks operated as public transport a ...
line extended up the hill and along Kelley Street, which remains the center of economic activity in the neighborhood today. Mast Road and Wolfe Park also developed as more typical
streetcar suburbs along the lines extending to Goffstown Village and the Bedford town line.
The two major economic centers on the West Side, Granite Square and the Flat Iron District, were entirely demolished between the 1960s and early 1980s as part of
urban renewal
Urban renewal (also called urban regeneration in the United Kingdom and urban redevelopment in the United States) is a program of land redevelopment often used to address urban decay in cities. Urban renewal involves the clearing out of blighte ...
projects. The much larger Flat Iron District was replaced with a suburban-style shopping center, which is now mostly vacant, an elderly housing high-rise and an expansion of
Catholic Medical Center
Catholic Medical Center (CMC) is a 330-licensed bed (with 258 beds staffed) not-for-profit full-service acute care hospital located in the West Side area of Manchester, New Hampshire, United States. CMC offers medical-surgical care with more than ...
. A second elderly housing high-rise and semi-urban shopping center followed a fire, road widening and the construction of a highway interchange in the Granite Square area.
The West Side has begun to rebound from the effects of urban renewal in recent years. Rimmon Heights became the pilot neighborhood for the city'
Neighborhood Initiativesin 2006. Around the same time, neighborhood centers in Wolfe Park and Rimmon Heights were
rezoned to encourage
traditional neighborhood development, and new landscaping and pedestrian amenities were provided along the Granite Street gateway to downtown and the West Side. Th
Piscataquog Trail a recreational
rail trail that opened in 2006, crosses much of the West Side and connects to downtown Manchester via a pedestrian bridge over the Merrimack River. Recent private development has included the expansion of Catholic Medical Center along both sides of McGregor Street, the planned new headquarters of
St. Mary's Bank
St. Mary's Bank, the first credit union in the United States, was founded in 1908.
Membership
Credit unions are not-for-profit, cooperative financial institutions owned by each member. While the St. Mary's service area is primarily Manchester, N ...
and conversion of a former Amoskeag mill into high-end housing in the Notre Dame area, as well as several smaller projects in Rimmon Heights.
Areas of interest
*
America's Credit Union Museum
America's Credit Union Museum is located in Manchester, New Hampshire, on the site of the first credit union founded in the United States. The museum is housed at the original location for St. Mary's Cooperative Credit Association, renamed in 192 ...
- museum housed in the original location of St. Mary's Bank, the first credit union in the United States
*
Catholic Medical Center
Catholic Medical Center (CMC) is a 330-licensed bed (with 258 beds staffed) not-for-profit full-service acute care hospital located in the West Side area of Manchester, New Hampshire, United States. CMC offers medical-surgical care with more than ...
- hospital
Majestic Theatre- community theater
Lafayettean
SimpsonParks - neighboring parks at the heart of the West Side overlooking downtown Manchester
*
Manchester High School West - one of Manchester's high schools
Piscataquog Trail- recreational
rail trail through West Side from Pinardville to downtown Manchester
*
Rock Rimmon - a large cliff with a view of most of Manchester
*
Ste. Marie Church - a large Gothic Revival church that dominates the West Side
West Side Arena- ice rink
Parks
*Black Brook Park
*Cullerot Park
*Gossler Park
*Lafayette Park
*Martineau Park
*Piscataquog Park
*Raco-Theodore Park
*Rock Rimmon Park
*Simpson Park
*Sweeney Park
*Wolfe Park
References
External links
Rimmon Heights neighborhood
{{coord, 42, 59, 42, N, 71, 28, 54, W, type:city, display=title
Manchester, New Hampshire
Neighborhoods in New Hampshire
German communities in the United States
French-Canadian culture in New Hampshire
French communities