West Lebanon is a section (pop. approx 4,100) of the city of

Lebanon Lebanon ( , ar, لُبْنَان, translit=lubnān, ), officially the Republic of Lebanon () or the Lebanese Republic, is a country in Western Asia. It is located between Syria to the north and east and Israel to the south, while Cyprus li ...

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 ...

, on the

Connecticut River The Connecticut River is the longest river in the New England region of the United States, flowing roughly southward for through four states. It rises 300 yards (270 m) south of the U.S. border with Quebec, Canada, and discharges at Long Island ...

. The area contains a major shopping plaza strip along

New Hampshire Route 12A New Hampshire Route 12 is a long north-south state highway in southwestern New Hampshire. Its southern terminus is at the Massachusetts state line in Fitzwilliam, New Hampshire, Fitzwilliam, where it continues south as Massachusetts Route 12. Its ...

, serving the

Upper Valley The Connecticut River is the longest river in the New England region of the United States, flowing roughly southward for through four states. It rises 300 yards (270 m) south of the U.S. border with Quebec, Canada, and discharges at Long Islan ...

communities along Interstates 89 and 91. West Lebanon also hosts the Lebanon Municipal Airport, a number of small software and tech businesses, and a regional daily newspaper, the ''

Valley News The ''Valley News'' (and ''Sunday Valley News'') is a seven-day morning daily newspaper based in Lebanon, New Hampshire, covering the Upper Valley region of New Hampshire and Vermont, in the United States. Although the newspaper's offices are i ...

''. The village serves as a bedroom community for nearby

Dartmouth College Dartmouth College (; ) is a private research university in Hanover, New Hampshire. Established in 1769 by Eleazar Wheelock, it is one of the nine colonial colleges chartered before the American Revolution. Although founded to educate Native A ...

. West Lebanon was the site of Lebanon's first settlement in 1761. The village later developed into a regional hub for

rail transport Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a p ...

, although at that time it was better known to travelers as Westboro. By the 1950s, however, the rail industry had shrunk significantly. The rail service through West Lebanon was eventually terminated, and the village of

White River Junction, Vermont White River Junction is an unincorporated village and census-designated place (CDP) in the New England town, town of Hartford, Vermont, Hartford in Windsor County, Vermont, Windsor County, Vermont, United States. The population was 2,528 at the 2 ...

, across the Connecticut River, took over most of the remaining services. Today commerce has replaced transportation as the basis of the economy, and West Lebanon serves as the commercial hub for a United States micropolitan area of over 170,000 people.U.S. Bureau of the Census: Official List of Micropolitan Statistical Areas and Components, December 2003
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References

{{authority control Unincorporated communities in Grafton County, New Hampshire Unincorporated communities in New Hampshire New Hampshire populated places on the Connecticut River Lebanon, New Hampshire