Chichester is a

town A town is a human settlement. Towns are generally larger than villages and smaller than city, cities, though the criteria to distinguish between them vary considerably in different parts of the world. Origin and use The word "town" shares ...

Merrimack County Merrimack County is a county in the U.S. state of New Hampshire. As of the 2020 Census, the population was 153,808, making it the third-most populous county in New Hampshire. Its county seat is Concord, the state capital. The county was organi ...

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 ...

, United States. The population was 2,665 at the 2020 census.

History

Chichester was granted in 1727 to Nathaniel Gookin and others,Article i
''Statistics and Gazetteer of New-Hampshire'' (1875)
/ref> and was named for

Thomas Pelham-Holles, 1st Duke of Newcastle-upon-Tyne Thomas Pelham-Holles, 1st Duke of Newcastle upon Tyne and 1st Duke of Newcastle-under-Lyne, (21 July 169317 November 1768) was a British Whig statesman who served as the 4th and 6th Prime Minister of Great Britain, his official life extended ...

Earl of Chichester Earl of Chichester is a title that has been created three times, twice in the Peerage of England and once in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. The current title was created in the Peerage of the United Kingdom in 1801 for Thomas Pelham, 2nd ...

and England's

Secretary of State for the Southern Department The Secretary of State for the Southern Department was a position in the cabinet of the government of the Kingdom of Great Britain up to 1782, when the Southern Department became the Home Office. History Before 1782, the responsibilities of ...

. The first settlement was commenced by Paul Morrill in 1758.

Geography

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 An economy is an area of th ...

, the town has a total area of , of which are land and are water, comprising 0.50% of the town. The highest point in Chichester is an unnamed summit at above

sea level Mean sea level (MSL, often shortened to sea level) is an average surface level of one or more among Earth's coastal bodies of water from which heights such as elevation may be measured. The global MSL is a type of vertical datuma standardise ...

, midway between Garvin Hill () to the east and Plausawa Hill () to the west in neighboring Pembroke. All three summits are less than one mile apart. The west side of Chichester drains to the

Soucook River The Soucook 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. The Soucook River begins at the outlet of Rocky Pond on the border between the towns ...

in Loudon, while the east side drains to 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 Gilmant ...

, which forms the town's northeast border with Pittsfield. Both rivers are tributaries 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 Mass ...

. The town is sparsely populated, with most of the commercial development concentrated along US 202 (Dover Road) and NH 28 (Suncook Valley Road). The civic center of town, with the town hall, Methodist church, and town historical society, lies near the intersection of Main Street and Center Street, about 1 mile north of US 202.

Adjacent municipalities

* Loudon (northwest) *

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� ...

(northeast) *

Epsom Epsom is the principal town of the Borough of Epsom and Ewell in Surrey, England, about south of central London. The town is first recorded as ''Ebesham'' in the 10th century and its name probably derives from that of a Saxon landowner. ...

(east) * Pembroke (south)

Demographics

As of the

census A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording and calculating information about the members of a given population. This term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common censuses in ...

of 2000, there were 2,236 people, 823 households, and 637 families residing in the town. The

population density Population density (in agriculture: Stock (disambiguation), standing stock or plant density) is a measurement of population per unit land area. It is mostly applied to humans, but sometimes to other living organisms too. It is a key geographical ...

was 106.1 people per square mile (41.0/km²). There were 849 housing units at an average density of 40.3 per square mile (15.6/km²). The racial makeup of the town was 98.17%

White White is the lightness, 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 diffuse reflection, reflect and scattering, scatter all the ...

, 0.18%

African American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American ...

, 0.36%

Native American Native Americans or Native American may refer to: Ethnic groups * Indigenous peoples of the Americas, the pre-Columbian peoples of North and South America and their descendants * Native Americans in the United States * Indigenous peoples in Cana ...

, 0.13%

Asian Asian may refer to: * Items from or related to the continent of Asia: ** Asian people, people in or descending from Asia ** Asian culture, the culture of the people from Asia ** Asian cuisine, food based on the style of food of the people from Asi ...

, 0.18% from

other races Other often refers to: * Other (philosophy), a concept in psychology and philosophy Other or The Other may also refer to: Film and television * ''The Other'' (1913 film), a German silent film directed by Max Mack * ''The Other'' (1930 film), a ...

, and 0.98% from two or more races.

Hispanic The term ''Hispanic'' ( es, hispano) refers to people, 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 viceroyalties for ...

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 were 0.67% of the population. There were 823 households, out of which 37.2% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 67.6% were

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, 6.6% had a female householder with no husband present, and 22.5% were non-families. 17.1% of all households were made up of individuals, and 6.3% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.71 and the average family size was 3.04. In the town, the population was spread out, with 25.5% under the age of 18, 5.7% from 18 to 24, 33.1% from 25 to 44, 25.7% from 45 to 64, and 10.0% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 38 years. For every 100 females, there were 101.8 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 101.2 males. The median income for a household in the town was $56,741, and the median income for a family was $60,333. Males had a median income of $38,403 versus $28,051 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 town was $24,115. About 2.3% of families and 3.0% 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 3.2% of those under age 18 and 5.3% of those age 65 or over.

Transportation

Two New Hampshire state routes and two

U.S. route The United States Numbered Highway System (often called U.S. Routes or U.S. Highways) is an integrated network of roads and highways numbered within a nationwide grid in the contiguous United States. As the designation and numbering of these hi ...

s cross Chichester. * NH 9,

U.S. Route 4 U.S. Route 4 (US 4) is a long United States highway that runs from East Greenbush, New York, in the west to Portsmouth, New Hampshire, in the east, traversing Vermont. In New York, US 4 is signed North-South to reflect its alignment in the s ...

, and

U.S. Route 202 U.S. Route 202 (US 202) is a spur route of U.S. Route 2, US 2. It follows a northeasterly and southwesterly direction stretching from Delaware to Maine, also traveling through the states of Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York (state ...

run concurrently through town, connecting the northern part of Pembroke in the west to Epsom in the east. It is known locally as Dover Road. * NH 28 crosses the eastern edge of town, roughly paralleling the

, connecting Epsom to Pittsfield along Suncook Valley Road.

Notable people

Gordon J. Humphrey Gordon John Humphrey (born October 9, 1940) is an American politician from New Hampshire who served two terms in the U.S. Senate as a Republican from 1979 to 1990, and twice ran for Governor of New Hampshire, though both bids were unsuccessful. E ...

(born 1940),

U.S. senator The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and powe ...

from 1978 to 1990 *

Sally Kelly Sara "Sally" Kelly is a Democratic former member of the New Hampshire House of Representatives The New Hampshire House of Representatives is the lower house in the New Hampshire General Court, the bicameral legislature of the state of New H ...

, member of the

New Hampshire House of Representatives The New Hampshire House of Representatives is the lower house in the New Hampshire General Court, the bicameral legislature of the state of New Hampshire. The House of Representatives consists of 400 members coming from 204 legislative district ...

from 2006 to 2014

References

External links

*
New Hampshire Economic and Labor Market Information Bureau Profile
{{authority control Towns in Merrimack County, New Hampshire Populated places established in 1727 Towns in New Hampshire