New Durham 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 2,693 at the 2020 census. It is drained by the Merrymeeting, Cocheco and Ela rivers, and is known for

Merrymeeting Lake Merrymeeting Lake is a water body located in Strafford County in eastern New Hampshire, United States, in the town of New Durham. Its outlet is the Merrymeeting River, flowing south and then northwest to Lake Winnipesaukee. The shores of Merry ...

. New Durham is home to the Powder Mill Fish Hatchery, located on Merrymeeting Road. Also located here is the Lions Club's Camp Pride, a camp for children and adults with special needs.

History

Granted by the Masonian Proprietors in 1749 as "Cochecho Township", New Durham was first settled by Europeans in 1750, almost entirely by colonists from

Durham Durham most commonly refers to: *Durham, England, a cathedral city in north east England **County Durham, a ceremonial county which includes Durham *Durham, North Carolina, a city in North Carolina, United States Durham may also refer to: Places ...

. It would be incorporated as "New Durham" on December 7, 1762. With a somewhat uneven and rocky surface, the town was better suited to

grazing In agriculture, grazing is a method of animal husbandry whereby domestic livestock are allowed outdoors to free range (roam around) and consume wild vegetations in order to feed conversion ratio, convert the otherwise indigestible (by human diges ...

than cultivation.

Lumber Lumber is wood that has been processed into uniform and useful sizes (dimensional lumber), including beams and planks or boards. Lumber is mainly used for construction framing, as well as finishing (floors, wall panels, window frames). ...

became the chief article of trade, and by 1859 New Durham had five

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 ...

s and four shingle mills. It also had two

gristmill A gristmill (also: grist mill, corn mill, flour mill, feed mill or feedmill) grinds cereal grain into flour and Wheat middlings, middlings. The term can refer to either the grinding mechanism or the building that holds it. Grist is grain that h ...

s, and a

gunpowder Gunpowder, also commonly known as black powder to distinguish it from modern smokeless powder, is the earliest known chemical explosive. It consists of a mixture of sulfur, charcoal (which is mostly carbon), and potassium nitrate, potassium ni ...

factory called the Eureka Powder Works. On September 19, 1849, the Cocheco Railroad opened through the town, connecting

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. ...

with

Alton Bay Alton Bay is an unincorporated community in the town of Alton in Belknap County, New Hampshire, United States, and is located on Alton Bay, a cove of Lake Winnipesaukee which forms the southernmost point on the lake. The village is part of the ...

. An early town minister, Reverend

Benjamin Randall Benjamin Randall (February 7, 1749 – October 22, 1808) was an American Baptist minister the main organizer of the Free Will Baptists (Randall Line) in the northeastern United States. Biography Early years Benjamin Randall III was born Februa ...

, founded a new religious denomination in 1780 called the

Free Will Baptist Free Will Baptists or Free Baptists are a group originating from General Baptists that emphasizes the teaching of free salvation and free will. The movement can be traced back to the General Baptists in 17th century England. In 1702, Paul Palm ...

s, later known as Free Baptists. The church has two buildings in the community; the older built in 1819 on New Durham Ridge.

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 5.98% of the town. The southern part of the town is drained by the headwaters of the

Cocheco River The Cochecho River (incorrectly Cocheco River) is a tributary of the Piscataqua River, long, in the U.S. state of New Hampshire. It rises in northern Strafford County and runs southeastward, through the town of Farmington and the cities of Roc ...

and its tributary, the

Ela River The Ela River is a river in eastern New Hampshire in the United States. It is a tributary of the Cochecho River, part of the Piscataqua River watershed leading to the Atlantic Ocean. The river begins at Coldrain Pond in New Durham, New Hampshi ...

, and is part of 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 ...

watershed, flowing to the

Atlantic Ocean The Atlantic Ocean is the second largest of the world's five borders of the oceans, oceanic divisions, with an area of about . It covers approximately 17% of Earth#Surface, Earth's surface and about 24% of its water surface area. During the ...

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port city status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. Most of Portsmouth is located on Portsea Island, off the south coast of England in the Solent, making Portsmouth the only city in En ...

. The northern part of town is home to

and its outlet, the

Merrymeeting River The Merrymeeting River is a river in the Lakes Region of central New Hampshire in the United States. It is a tributary of Lake Winnipesaukee, part of the Merrimack River watershed. The river begins at the outlet of Merrymeeting Lake in the to ...

, which flows west to

Lake Winnipesaukee Lake Winnipesaukee () is the largest lake in the U.S. state of New Hampshire, located in the Lakes Region at the foothills of the White Mountains. It is approximately long (northwest-southeast) and from wide (northeast-southwest), covering & ...

and is part 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 M ...

watershed. The highest point in town (and in Strafford County) 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 ...

, on the western slope of Copple Crown Mountain, along the town's eastern border. The mountain's summit is in the neighboring town of Brookfield, in Carroll County. New Durham is served by

New Hampshire Route 11 New Hampshire Route 11 is a east–west state highway in New Hampshire, running completely across the central part of the state. Its western terminus is at the Vermont state line in Charlestown, where it continues west as Vermont Route 11. Th ...

Adjacent municipalities

* Wolfeboro (north) * Brookfield (northeast) * Middleton (east) * Farmington (southeast) *

Alton Alton may refer to: People *Alton (given name) * Alton (surname) Places Australia * Alton National Park, Queensland * Alton, Queensland, a town in the Shire of Balonne Canada * Alton, Ontario * Alton, Nova Scotia New Zealand * Alton, New Zeala ...

(west)

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 2,220 people, 819 households, and 630 families residing in the town. The population density was . There were 1,309 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the town was 98.15%

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 ...

, 0.23%

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 ...

, 0.18% Native American, 0.54% Asian, 0.27% from other races, and 0.63% 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 0.41% of the population. There were 819 households, out of which 36.1% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 67.2% 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, 4.9% had a female householder with no husband present, and 23.0% were non-families. 17.0% of all households were made up of individuals, and 5.6% 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 3.05. In the town, the population was spread out, with 27.3% under the age of 18, 4.3% from 18 to 24, 32.8% from 25 to 44, 24.9% from 45 to 64, and 10.7% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 38 years. For every 100 females, there were 107.7 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 106.5 males. The median income for a household in the town was $52,270, and the median income for a family was $52,941. Males had a median income of $35,574 versus $28,092 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 $22,139. About 3.7% 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 5.9% of those under age 18 and 6.6% of those age 65 or over.

Notable people

* Alfred M. Jones (1837–1910), Midwest politician and businessman born in New Durham'Wisconsin Blue Book 1901,' Biographical Sketch of Alfred Miles Jones, pg. 739 *

(1749–1808), minister

References

External links

*
New Durham Public Library

* ttp://www.newdurhamchurch.com First Free Will Baptist Church of America – New Durham {{authority control Towns in Strafford County, New Hampshire Populated places established in 1750 Towns in New Hampshire