Marlborough 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 Cheshire 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 2,096 at the 2020 census. The town is home to the Kensan-Devan Wildlife Sanctuary at Meetinghouse Pond. The primary settlement in town, where 1,066 people resided at the 2020 census, is defined as the Marlborough census-designated place (CDP) and is located at the junction of New Hampshire routes 101 and 124.

History

First granted as "Monadnock No. 5" in 1752 by 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 ...

, this was one of the fort towns originally known only by a number. Lots were drawn in 1762 and first settled two years later. The town was at one time called "Oxford", then "New Marlborough", but was incorporated in 1776 as Marlborough. Many of the settlers were from

Marlborough, Massachusetts Marlborough is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 41,793 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Marlborough became a prosperous industrial town in the 19th century and made the transition to high ...

, which had been named for

John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough General (United Kingdom), General John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough, 1st Prince of Mindelheim, 1st Count of Nellenburg, Prince of the Holy Roman Empire, (26 May 1650 – 16 June 1722 Old Style and New Style dates, O.S.) was a Briti ...

, in the late 17th century. Land was set off in 1815 to create the town of

Troy Troy (/; ; ) or Ilion (; ) was an ancient city located in present-day Hisarlik, Turkey. It is best known as the setting for the Greek mythology, Greek myth of the Trojan War. The archaeological site is open to the public as a tourist destina ...

. There was once an important

granite Granite ( ) is a coarse-grained (phanerite, phaneritic) intrusive rock, intrusive igneous rock composed mostly of quartz, alkali feldspar, and plagioclase. It forms from magma with a high content of silica and alkali metal oxides that slowly coo ...

industry here. Stone from Marlborough

quarries A quarry is a type of open-pit mine in which dimension stone, rock, construction aggregate, riprap, sand, gravel, or slate is excavated from the ground. The operation of quarries is regulated in some jurisdictions to manage their safet ...

was used in buildings in

Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

, at the

College of the Holy Cross The College of the Holy Cross is a private Jesuit liberal arts college in Worcester, Massachusetts, United States. It was founded by educators Benedict Joseph Fenwick and Thomas F. Mulledy in 1843 under the auspices of the Society of Jesus. ...

Worcester, Massachusetts Worcester ( , ) is the List of municipalities in Massachusetts, second-most populous city in the U.S. state of Massachusetts and the list of United States cities by population, 113th most populous city in the United States. Named after Worcester ...

, and locally in the Frost Free Library. Blankets and wooden-ware, including toys, have been manufactured in Marlborough as well. Image:Main Street in Marlborough, NH.jpg, Main Street Image:Down Minnewawa Glen, Marlborough, NH.jpg, Minnewawa Glen in 1912 Image:Birch Avenue, Marlborough, NH.jpg, "Birch Avenue" in 1907

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 1.13% of the town. Marlborough is drained by Minnewawa Brook, a westward-flowing tributary of the

Ashuelot River The Ashuelot River is a tributary of the Connecticut River, approximately long, in southwestern New Hampshire in the United States. It drains a mountainous area of , including much of the area known as the Monadnock Region. It is the longest tr ...

and part of 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. The town's highest point is near its southeastern corner, on the side of Bigelow Hill, where the elevation reaches 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 ...

. Marlborough is served by state routes 101 and 124.

Adjacent municipalities

* Roxbury (north) * Harrisville (northeast) *

Dublin Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...

(east) * Jaffrey (southeast) *

(south) * Swanzey (west) * Keene (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 2010, there were 2,063 people, 866 households, and 565 families residing in the town. There were 946 housing units, of which 80, or 8.5%, were vacant. The racial makeup of the town was 97.0%

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 ...

, 0.4%

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 ...

, 0.05% Native American, 0.9%

Asia Asia ( , ) is the largest continent in the world by both land area and population. It covers an area of more than 44 million square kilometres, about 30% of Earth's total land area and 8% of Earth's total surface area. The continent, which ...

n, 0.0%

Native Hawaiian Native Hawaiians (also known as Indigenous Hawaiians, Kānaka Maoli, Aboriginal Hawaiians, or simply Hawaiians; , , , and ) are the Indigenous peoples of Oceania, Indigenous Polynesians, Polynesian people of the Hawaiian Islands. Hawaiʻi was set ...

or Pacific Islander, 0.2% some other race, and 1.4% from two or more races. 1.4% of the population were

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. Of the 866 households, 26.8% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 50.3% were headed by

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, 10.2% had a female householder with no husband present, and 34.8% were non-families. 24.4% of all households were made up of individuals, and 9.6% were someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.38, and the average family size was 2.79. In the town, 19.8% of the population were under the age of 18, 6.9% were from 18 to 24, 25.0% from 25 to 44, 31.6% from 45 to 64, and 16.6% were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 43.9 years. For every 100 females, there were 95.4 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 94.2 males. For the period 2011–2015, the estimated median annual income for a household was $54,491, and the median income for a family was $64,844. Male full-time workers had a median income of $50,069 versus $37,667 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 $30,219. 8.5% of the population and 7.3% of families were below the poverty line. 24.2% of the population under the age of 18 and 2.1% of those 65 or older were living in poverty.

Site of interest

Maynard-Gates House (1767)
listed on the

New Hampshire State Register of Historic Places The New Hampshire State Register of Historic Places (NHSRHP) is a register of historic places administered by the Government of New Hampshire, state of New Hampshire and the New Hampshire Division of Historical Resources. Buildings, districts, si ...

Notable people

* Paul Leicester Ford (1865–1902), novelist, biographer; Ford was the great-grandson of

Noah Webster Noah Webster (October 16, 1758 – May 28, 1843) was an American lexicographer, textbook pioneer, English-language spelling reformer, political writer, editor, and author. He has been called the "Father of American Scholarship and Education" ...

* Rufus S. Frost (1826–1894), U.S. congressman * Fred Tenney (1859–1919), pro baseball player

References

External links

*
Frost Free Library

{{authority control Towns in Cheshire County, New Hampshire Populated places established in 1776 Towns in New Hampshire