Lee 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 Strafford 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 4,520 at the 2020 census. The town is a rural farm and

bedroom community A commuter town is a populated area that is primarily residential rather than commercial or industrial. Routine travel from home to work and back is called commuting, which is where the term comes from. A commuter town may be called by many o ...

, being close to the

University of New Hampshire The University of New Hampshire (UNH) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university with its main campus in Durham, New Hampshire, United States. It was founded and incorporated in 1866 as a land grant coll ...

History

Lee was first settled by Europeans in 1657 as part of the extensive early

Dover Dover ( ) is a town and major ferry port in Kent, southeast England. It faces France across the Strait of Dover, the narrowest part of the English Channel at from Cap Gris Nez in France. It lies southeast of Canterbury and east of Maidstone. ...

township. It includes Wheelwright Pond, named for the Reverend John Wheelwright, the founder of

Exeter Exeter ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and the county town of Devon in South West England. It is situated on the River Exe, approximately northeast of Plymouth and southwest of Bristol. In Roman Britain, Exeter w ...

. Wheelwright Pond was the site of a noted early battle during King William's War. Indians, incited by the government of

New France New France (, ) was the territory colonized by Kingdom of France, France in North America, beginning with the exploration of the Gulf of Saint Lawrence by Jacques Cartier in 1534 and ending with the cession of New France to Kingdom of Great Br ...

, attacked Exeter on July 4, 1690. They were pursued by two infantry companies raised for the purpose, who overtook them at Wheelwright Pond on July 6, 1690. Fierce fighting on that day would leave 3 officers and 15 soldiers dead, together with a large number of Indians. Among the dead were Captain Noah Wiswall, Lieutenant Gershom Flagg, and Ensign Edward Walker of the

Massachusetts Bay Colony The Massachusetts Bay Colony (1628–1691), more formally the Colony of Massachusetts Bay, was an English settlement on the east coast of North America around Massachusetts Bay, one of the several colonies later reorganized as the Province of M ...

. In 1735, Durham, which included Lee, separated from Dover. Then Lee, in turn, would separate from Durham on January 16, 1766, when it was established by Colonial Governor

Benning Wentworth Benning Wentworth (July 24, 1696 – October 14, 1770) was an American merchant, landowner and colonial administrator who served as the List of colonial governors of New Hampshire, governor of New Hampshire from 1741 to 1766. He is best known ...

. It was among the last of 129 towns to receive a charter during his administration, and named for

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

General Charles Lee, who later joined the American Revolution. Lee is hometown for numerous faculty of the

in Durham. In 2007 the

U.S. Postal Service The United States Postal Service (USPS), also known as the Post Office, U.S. Mail, or simply the Postal Service, is an independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the executive branch of the federal governmen ...

assigned the town its own ZIP code—03861.

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 1.03% of the town. The town is drained by the Lamprey River, North River and Oyster River. Lee lies fully within the

Piscataqua River The Piscataqua River (Abenaki language, Abenaki: ''Pskehtekwis'') is a tidal river forming the boundary of the U.S. states of New Hampshire and Maine from its origin at the confluence of the Salmon Falls River and Cochecho River to the Atlant ...

(Coastal) watershed. The highest point in Lee is 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 ...

, atop an unnamed hill southwest of the town center.

Adjacent municipalities

* Madbury (north) * Durham (east) * Newmarket (southeast) * Epping (southwest) *

Nottingham Nottingham ( , East Midlands English, locally ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area in Nottinghamshire, East Midlands, England. It is located south-east of Sheffield and nor ...

(west) * Barrington (northwest)

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 4,145 people, 1,466 households, and 1,092 families residing in the town. The population density was . There were 1,534 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the town was 96.02%

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 ...

, 0.55%

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 ...

, 0.22% Native American, 1.57% Asian, 0.19%

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 ...

, 0.39% from other races, and 1.06% 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 1.18% of the population. There were 1,466 households, out of which 45.2% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 61.4% 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, 8.6% had a female householder with no husband present, and 25.5% were non-families. 17.7% of all households were made up of individuals, and 4.4% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.81 and the average family size was 3.20. In the town, the population was spread out, with 30.9% under the age of 18, 7.3% from 18 to 24, 31.7% from 25 to 44, 23.0% from 45 to 64, and 7.1% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 35 years. For every 100 females, there were 100.4 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 98.5 males. The median income for a household in the town was $57,993, and the median income for a family was $62,330. Males had a median income of $41,354 versus $29,651 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 $23,905. About 4.3% of families and 5.1% 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 5.8% of those under age 18 and 5.8% of those age 65 or over.

Notable people

Born in Lee

* Daniel Meserve Durell (1769–1841), US congressman * Abbie Huston Evans (1881–1983), poet and teacher * Robert Parker Parrott (1804–1877), American soldier, inventor of military ordnance * Charles L. Sawyer (1860–1918), lawyer and Minnesota state legislator

Residents

* Julian Barry (1930–2023), Academy Award-nominated screenwriter for the film '' Lenny'', based on his Broadway hit play of the same name * Charles W. Bartlett (1845–1916), lawyer and politician * Tom Bergeron (born 1955), television personality *

Robert Eggers Robert Houston Eggers (born July 7, 1983) is an American filmmaker who has written and directed '' The Witch'' (2015), '' The Lighthouse'' (2019), '' The Northman'' (2022), and ''Nosferatu'' (2024). His films blend elements of horror, folklore, ...

(born 1983), writer and director of '' The Witch'' (2015), '' The Lighthouse'' (2019), and ''

Nosferatu ''Nosferatu: A Symphony of Horror'' () is a 1922 silent film, silent German Expressionism (cinema), German Expressionist vampire film directed by F. W. Murnau from a screenplay by Henrik Galeen. It stars Max Schreck as Count Orlok, a vampire who ...

'' (2024); resident during the 1990s * Ralph Fletcher (born 1953), author; resident * Ethan Gilsdorf (born 1966), writer, poet, performer, editor, critic, teacher, journalist; raised in Lee * Amanda Gourgue, member of the New Hampshire House of Representatives * Hoy Menear (died 2023), member of the New Hampshire House of Representatives * Henry Tufts (1748–1831), infamous 18th-century thief

Sites of interest

* Bedrock Gardens
DeMeritt Hill Farm
home o
Haunted Overload
the winner of ABC's 2014 ''Great Halloween Fright Fight''
Lee Historical Society & Museum
* Lee USA Speedway, a short-track oval race track that has hosted NASCAR events * Little River Park, recreational park with a basketball court, soccer field, and baseball diamond

Gallery

File:Church Lee NH.jpg, First Congregational Church Lee Library, Lee NH.jpg, Library File:Jeremiah Smith Grange (Lee, NH).jpg, Jeremiah Smith Grange

References

External links

*
Lee Public Library

* ttp://history.rays-place.com/nh/lee-nh.htm History of Lee, New Hampshire (1882) {{authority control Towns in Strafford County, New Hampshire Populated places established in 1766 Towns in New Hampshire