Grantham 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 Sullivan 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 3,404 at the 2020 census, an increase over the figure of 2,985 tabulated in 2010. The

planned community A planned community, planned city, planned town, or planned settlement is any community that was carefully planned from its inception and is typically constructed on previously undeveloped land. This contrasts with settlements that evolve ...

of Eastman is in the eastern part of the town.

History

Incorporated in 1761, Grantham takes its name from

Thomas Robinson, 1st Baron Grantham Thomas Robinson, 1st Baron Grantham, (c. 169530 September 1770), of Newby, Yorkshire, was a British diplomat and politician who sat in the House of Commons between 1727 and 1761. Early life Robinson was a younger son of Sir William Robin ...

Secretary of State for the Southern Department The secretary of state for the Southern Department was a position in the Cabinet (government), cabinet of the government of the Kingdom of Great Britain up to 1782, when the Southern Department (Great Britain), Southern Department became the H ...

from March 1754 to October 1755. Prior to county division in 1827, Grantham was in Cheshire County. The families of Howe, Dunbar and Leavitt were all early Grantham settlers. All three families secured lands in Grantham as part of the charter granted to Baron Grantham in 1761, and all three families "have Grantham hills named after them," according to Elmer M. Hunt in ''New Hampshire Town Names And Whence They Came''. "The Leavitts are said to have had at one time fifty children in attendance at the town's school, and over the years no fewer than seventeen teachers."

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 2,167 people, 924 households, and 707 families residing in the town. The population density was . There were 1,513 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the town was 98.29%

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 ...

, 0.28%

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 ...

, 0.09% Native American, 0.42% Asian, 0.09% from other races, and 0.83% 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 0.55% of the population. There were 924 households, out of which 24.1% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 70.2% were

married couples Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognised union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children (if any), and b ...

living together, 4.7% had a female householder with no husband present, and 23.4% were non-families. 19.2% of all households were made up of individuals, and 7.1% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.35 and the average family size was 2.67. In the town, the population was spread out, with 19.9% under the age of 18, 2.9% from 18 to 24, 25.7% from 25 to 44, 29.7% from 45 to 64, and 21.7% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 46 years. For every 100 females, there were 96.1 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 95.6 males. The median income for a household in the town was $63,239, and the median income for a family was $69,271. Males had a median income of $43,250 versus $34,773 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 $32,174. About 1.4% of families and 2.5% 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 1.8% of those under age 18 and 3.8% of those age 65 or over.

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 2.97% of the town. Grantham is drained by the North Branch Sugar River and its tributaries Sawyer Brook, Stocker Brook, and Eastman Brook.

Eastman Pond Eastman Pond (also known as Eastman Lake) is a water body located in Sullivan and Grafton counties in western New Hampshire, United States, in the towns of Grantham and Enfield. Water from Eastman Pond flows via Eastman Brook and Stocker Broo ...

lies at the head of Eastman Brook and serves as the focal point of the Eastman planned community.Eastman Community Association
/ref> Other water bodies in the town include Anderson and Butternut Ponds. Grantham lies fully within 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 into Long Isl ...

watershed Watershed may refer to: Hydrology * Drainage divide, the line that separates neighbouring drainage basins * Drainage basin, an area of land where surface water converges (North American usage) Music * Watershed Music Festival, an annual country ...

. The highest point in town is Grantham Mountain, 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 ...

, a peak along the ridge of Croydon Mountain, which follows the western edge of the town.

Interstate 89 Interstate 89 (I-89) is an Interstate Highway in the New England region of the United States traveling from Bow, New Hampshire, to the Canada–United States border between Highgate Springs, Vermont, and Saint-Armand, Quebec. As with all ...

crosses the town, leading northwest to

Lebanon Lebanon, officially the Republic of Lebanon, is a country in the Levant region of West Asia. Situated at the crossroads of the Mediterranean Basin and the Arabian Peninsula, it is bordered by Syria to the north and east, Israel to the south ...

and southeast to Concord. Access is from Exit 13 (

New Hampshire Route 10 New Hampshire Route 10 is a north–south state highway in western New Hampshire, United States. Its southern terminus is in Winchester at the Massachusetts state line, where it continues south as Massachusetts Route 10. Administratively, the ...

) near the center of town and from Exit 14 at the northern border of town. Route 10 leads south to Newport, the

county seat A county seat is an administrative center, seat of government, or capital city of a county or parish (administrative division), civil parish. The term is in use in five countries: Canada, China, Hungary, Romania, and the United States. An equiva ...

, and north with I-89 to Lebanon. The town is home to the Grantham Village School (opened 1981) and Dunbar Free Library (opened 1903).

Adjacent municipalities

* Enfield (north) * Springfield (east) *

Croydon Croydon is a large town in South London, England, south of Charing Cross. Part of the London Borough of Croydon, a Districts of England, local government district of Greater London; it is one of the largest commercial districts in Greater Lond ...

(south) * Plainfield (west)

References

External links