Campton, New Hampshire
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Campton 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 Grafton 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 3,343 at the 2020 census. Campton, which includes the villages of Blair, Campton Hollow, Lower Campton and West Campton, is home to Blair State Forest and Livermore Falls State Forest. It is located in the
foothills Foothills or piedmont are geography, geographically defined as gradual increases in elevation at the base of a mountain range, higher hill range or an highland, upland area. They are a transition zone between plains and low terrain, relief hill ...
of the White Mountains, and parts of the White Mountain National Forest are in the northeast and northwest.


History

Both Campton and adjacent Rumney were granted by Governor Benning Wentworth in 1761 to Jabez Spencer of East Haddam, Connecticut, then settled about 1765. But Captain Spencer died before terms of the charter, which required settlement by 50 families, each farming for every 50 received, were fulfilled. Two families, named Fox and Taylor, first settled here in 1765. In 1767, Governor John Wentworth issued the heirs and others a new grant. Campton got its name when the first proprietors built a camp here to survey the two towns.Austin J. Coolidge & John B. Mansfield, ''A History and Description of New England;'' Boston, Massachusetts 1859
/ref> Although the surface is mountainous and ledgy, farmers found good soil for cultivation in the intervales along the rivers. By 1859, when the population was 1,439, industries included one
sawmill A sawmill (saw mill, saw-mill) or lumber mill is a facility where logging, logs are cut into lumber. Modern sawmills use a motorized saw to cut logs lengthwise to make long pieces, and crosswise to length depending on standard or custom sizes ...
, one gristmill, one tannery and a
carriage A carriage is a two- or four-wheeled horse-drawn vehicle for passengers. In Europe they were a common mode of transport for the wealthy during the Roman Empire, and then again from around 1600 until they were replaced by the motor car around 1 ...
shop. The town has three covered bridges, including Blair Bridge, which is , 10 inches long, making it the second longest of those entirely within the state. Image:View of Campton Village, NH.jpg, Campton village File:Main Street, Campton, New Hampshire.jpg, Main Street in 1908 Image:Scene in Campton, NH.jpg, Watering trough in 1916 Image:Village, Campton, NH.jpg, The village


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 land and are water, comprising 1.33% of the town. The highest point in Campton is Mount Weetamoo, 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 ...
. The town is drained by the Pemigewasset River and its tributaries the Mad River, Beebe River, West Branch Brook, and Bog Brook. Campton lies fully within the Merrimack River watershed. The town is crossed by Interstate 93, U.S. Route 3, New Hampshire Route 49 and New Hampshire Route 175. Starting with the 2012 election, Campton was redistricted from NH's 2nd Congressional District to New Hampshire's 1st Congressional District; it was the only town in Grafton County to be redistricted.


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 2,719 people, 1,128 households, and 759 families residing in the town. The population density was . There were 1,759 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the town was 98.01%
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 ...
, 0.04%
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 ...
, 0.04% Native American, 0.70% Asian, 0.15%
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 1.07% 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 0.40% of the population. There were 1,128 households, out of which 30.2% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 54.8% were married couples living together, 8.2% had a female householder with no husband present, and 32.7% were non-families. 25.0% of all households were made up of individuals, and 8.2% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.41 and the average family size was 2.89. In the town, the population was spread out, with 23.8% under the age of 18, 7.2% from 18 to 24, 30.0% from 25 to 44, 27.0% from 45 to 64, and 11.9% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 39 years. For every 100 females, there were 99.9 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 100.1 males. The median income for a household in the town was $39,213, and the median income for a family was $46,492. Males had a median income of $30,640 versus $24,688 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 $20,189. About 5.8% of families and 8.8% 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 9.1% of those under age 18 and 8.5% of those age 65 or over.


Notable people

* Henry W. Blair (1834–1920), US congressman, senator * Chris Devlin-Young (born 1961), ski racer * Arthur Livermore (1766–1853), US congressman * Sylvester Marsh (1803–1884), builder of the Mount Washington Cog Railway


Sites of interest

* Blair Bridge (1829, rebuilt 1870)
Town House (1855), Campton Historical Society


See also

* White Mountain art


References


External links

*
Campton Historical Society

Campton Police Department

Campton Public Library


{{authority control Towns in Grafton County, New Hampshire Towns in New Hampshire