The New Hampshire Turnpike System is a system of of

limited-access highway A limited-access road, known by various terms worldwide, including limited-access highway, dual-carriageway, expressway, limited access freeway, and partial controlled access highway, is a highway or arterial road for high-speed traffic which ...

, of which are part of the National Highway System, within the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its sove ...

New Hampshire New Hampshire is a 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 to the nor ...

. The Turnpike System is managed by the

New Hampshire Department of Transportation The New Hampshire Department of Transportation (NHDOT) is a government agency of the U.S. state of New Hampshire. The Commissioner of NHDOT is Victoria Sheehan. The main office of the NHDOT is located in the J. O. Morton Building in Concord. F ...

(NHDOT) Bureau of Turnpikes.

Historical

There were a number of turnpikes built in New Hampshire during the period of 1796 to 1830, totaling in length. These were

toll road A toll road, also known as a turnpike or tollway, is a public or private road (almost always a controlled-access highway in the present day) for which a fee (or ''Toll (fee), toll'') is assessed for passage. It is a form of road pricing typically ...

s for horse traffic, which were built by private companies. Such early turnpikes included: * First New Hampshire Turnpike – from

Durham Durham most commonly refers to: *Durham, England, a cathedral city and the county town of County Durham *County Durham, an English county * Durham County, North Carolina, a county in North Carolina, United States *Durham, North Carolina, a city in N ...

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 ...

, now part of U.S. Route 4. * Second New Hampshire Turnpike – Claremont to Amherst. Parts of the route are incorporated in the current NH 31 and NH 47. * Third New Hampshire Turnpike – from Walpole through Keene to

Townsend, Massachusetts Townsend is a town in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 9,127 at the 2020 census. History Townsend was first settled by Europeans in 1676 in an area known by indigenous people of the area as Wistequassuck, an ...

. The road followed much of what is now NH 124. * Chester Turnpike Road – from Pembroke through Allenstown and Candia to Chester. * Coos Turnpike Road – from Haverhill through Piermont to

Warren A warren is a network of wild rodent or lagomorph, typically rabbit burrows. Domestic warrens are artificial, enclosed establishment of animal husbandry dedicated to the raising of rabbits for meat and fur. The term evolved from the medieval A ...

. * Grafton Turnpike Road – from Orford to

Andover Andover may refer to: Places Australia *Andover, Tasmania Canada * Andover Parish, New Brunswick * Perth-Andover, New Brunswick United Kingdom * Andover, Hampshire, England ** RAF Andover, a former Royal Air Force station United States * Andove ...

. * Londonderry Turnpike Road – from

to Windham and Salem, via Londonderry. NH 28 Bypass is officially named Londonderry Turnpike.

Current

There are three

s that make up the New Hampshire Turnpike System: The Blue Star and Spaulding Turnpikes are also known collectively as the Eastern Turnpike.

* New Hampshire Historical Marker No. 8: Site of Piscataqua Bridge (start of First New Hampshire Turnpike) * New Hampshire Historical Marker No. 68: Toll House and Toll Gate (part of Third New Hampshire Turnpike) * New Hampshire Historical Marker No. 160: Haverhill Corner Historic District (northern terminus of Coos Turnpike) * New Hampshire Historical Marker No. 181: First New Hampshire Turnpike * New Hampshire Historical Marker No. 228: Cork Plain Bridge – Second NH Turnpike * New Hampshire Historical Marker No. 250: Pembroke Street (extension of Chester Turnpike) * New Hampshire Historical Marker No. 252: Bungtown (along Grafton Turnpike) * New Hampshire Historical Marker No. 253: Londonderry Turnpike

References

{{Reflist

External links

NHDOT Bureau of Turnpikes
New Hampshire highways Toll roads in New Hampshire Freeways in the United States Lists of roads in New Hampshire

Historical

Current

See also

References

External links