Boscawen, New Hampshire
Encyclopedia
Boscawen is a town in Merrimack County
, New Hampshire
, United States
. The population was 3,965 at the 2010 census.
tribe called the area Contoocook, meaning "place of the river near pines." On June 6, 1733, Governor Jonathan Belcher
granted it to John Coffin and 90 others, most from Newbury
, Massachusetts
. Settled in 1734, it soon had a meetinghouse, sawmill
, gristmill
and ferry
across the Merrimack River
. A garrison
offered protection, but guerrilla attacks during the French and Indian Wars
left some dead or carried into captivity.
On April 22, 1760, Contoocook Plantation was incorporated as a town by Governor Benning Wentworth
, who named it for Edward Boscawen
, the British admiral
who distinguished himself at the 1758 Siege of Louisbourg
. With a generally level surface, the town provided good farmland
, and became noted for its apple
, pear
and cherry
orchard
s. Bounded by the Merrimack and Contoocook
rivers, it had abundant sources of water power for mills
.
Industries soon included a cotton
mill, a woolen
factory, nine sawmills, a gristmill, a saw
manufacturer and machine shop, and a chair
and match
factory. A mill town
village developed at Fisherville (now Penacook), which straddled the river border with Concord
. In 1846, the Northern Railroad was built through Boscawen, opening the following winter.
Sometime around 1846, the town's postmaster became one of about a dozen in the country to issue provisional postage stamp
s before the official issue came out in 1847. The stamps were an adaptation of a postmark
, simply reading PAID / 5 / CENTS, typeset in blue on a yellowish paper. These are extremely rare; in 2003, the estimated price at auction was US$225,000.
The 1915 Boscawen Public Library was designed by noted Boston
architect Guy Lowell
.
On September 26, 2010 a 3.1-magnitude earthquake struck at 11:28 p.m. in Boscawen, in a region where few earthquakes have occurred. The earthquake sent tremors felt in parts of New Hampshire, Maine, Vermont and Massachusetts.
, the town has a total area of 25.4 square miles (65.8 km²), of which 24.7 sq mi (64 km²) is land and 0.7 sq mi (1.8 km²) is water, comprising 2.68% of the town. The highest point in Boscawen is an unnamed summit near the town's northern border, where the elevation reaches approximately 930 feet (283.5 m) above sea level
. Boscawen lies fully within the Merrimack River
watershed
. It is drained by the Merrimack River and Contoocook River
.
The town is served by U.S. Route 3 and U.S. Route 4
.
of 2000, there were 3,672 people, 1,260 households, and 913 families residing in the town. The population density
was 148.5 people per square mile (57.3/km²). There were 1,295 housing units at an average density of 52.4 per square mile (20.2/km²). The racial makeup of the town was 97.74% White, 0.57% African American, 0.30% Native American, 0.46% Asian, 0.16% from other races
, and 0.76% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 0.82% of the population.
There were 1,260 households out of which 35.1% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 55.0% were married couples
living together, 12.7% had a female householder with no husband present, and 27.5% were non-families. 21.3% of all households were made up of individuals and 7.9% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.57 and the average family size was 2.97.
In the town the population was spread out with 22.9% under the age of 18, 7.7% from 18 to 24, 29.2% from 25 to 44, 21.7% from 45 to 64, and 18.5% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 39 years. For every 100 females there were 92.2 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 89.4 males.
The median income for a household in the town was $42,524, and the median income for a family was $45,850. Males had a median income of $31,350 versus $23,375 for females. The per capita income
for the town was $18,732. About 5.4% of families and 7.5% of the population were below the poverty line, including 9.8% of those under age 18 and 10.7% of those age 65 or over.
Merrimack County, New Hampshire
-Demographics:As of the census of 2000, there were 136,225 people, 51,843 households, and 35,460 families residing in the county. The population density was 146 people per square mile . There were 56,244 housing units at an average density of 60 per square mile...
, New Hampshire
New Hampshire
New Hampshire is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. The state was named after the southern English county of Hampshire. It is bordered by Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Atlantic Ocean to the east, and the Canadian...
, United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. The population was 3,965 at the 2010 census.
History
The native PennacookPennacook
The Pennacook, also known by the names Merrimack and Pawtucket, were a North American people that primarily inhabited the Merrimack River valley of present-day New Hampshire and Massachusetts, as well as portions of southern Maine...
tribe called the area Contoocook, meaning "place of the river near pines." On June 6, 1733, Governor Jonathan Belcher
Jonathan Belcher
Jonathan Belcher was colonial governor of the British provinces of Massachusetts Bay, New Hampshire, and New Jersey.-Early life:Jonathan Belcher was born in Cambridge, Province of Massachusetts Bay, in 1682...
granted it to John Coffin and 90 others, most from Newbury
Newbury, Massachusetts
Newbury is a town in Essex County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 6,666 at the 2010 census. Newbury includes the villages of Old Town , Plum Island and Byfield, home of The Governor's Academy , a private preparatory school.- History :Newbury Plantation was settled and incorporated...
, Massachusetts
Massachusetts
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010...
. Settled in 1734, it soon had a meetinghouse, sawmill
Sawmill
A sawmill is a facility where logs are cut into boards.-Sawmill process:A sawmill's basic operation is much like those of hundreds of years ago; a log enters on one end and dimensional lumber exits on the other end....
, gristmill
Gristmill
The terms gristmill or grist mill can refer either to a building in which grain is ground into flour, or to the grinding mechanism itself.- Early history :...
and ferry
Ferry
A ferry is a form of transportation, usually a boat, but sometimes a ship, used to carry primarily passengers, and sometimes vehicles and cargo as well, across a body of water. Most ferries operate on regular, frequent, return services...
across the Merrimack River
Merrimack River
The Merrimack River 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 Massachusetts, and then flows northeast until it empties into the Atlantic Ocean at Newburyport...
. A garrison
Garrison
Garrison is the collective term for a body of troops stationed in a particular location, originally to guard it, but now often simply using it as a home base....
offered protection, but guerrilla attacks during the French and Indian Wars
French and Indian Wars
The French and Indian Wars is a name used in the United States for a series of conflicts lasting 74 years in North America that represented colonial events related to the European dynastic wars...
left some dead or carried into captivity.
On April 22, 1760, Contoocook Plantation was incorporated as a town by Governor Benning Wentworth
Benning Wentworth
Benning Wentworth was the colonial governor of New Hampshire from 1741 to 1766.-Biography:The eldest child of the John Wentworth who had been Lieutenant Governor, he was born and died in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. Wentworth graduated from Harvard College in 1715...
, who named it for Edward Boscawen
Edward Boscawen
Admiral Edward Boscawen, PC was an Admiral in the Royal Navy and Member of Parliament for the borough of Truro, Cornwall. He is known principally for his various naval commands throughout the 18th Century and the engagements that he won, including the Siege of Louisburg in 1758 and Battle of Lagos...
, the British admiral
Admiral
Admiral is the rank, or part of the name of the ranks, of the highest naval officers. It is usually considered a full admiral and above vice admiral and below admiral of the fleet . It is usually abbreviated to "Adm" or "ADM"...
who distinguished himself at the 1758 Siege of Louisbourg
Siege of Louisbourg (1758)
The Siege of Louisbourg was a pivotal battle of the Seven Years' War in 1758 which ended the French colonial era in Atlantic Canada and led directly to the loss of Quebec in 1759 and the remainder of French North America the following year.-Background:The British government realized that with the...
. With a generally level surface, the town provided good farmland
Arable land
In geography and agriculture, arable land is land that can be used for growing crops. It includes all land under temporary crops , temporary meadows for mowing or pasture, land under market and kitchen gardens and land temporarily fallow...
, and became noted for its apple
Apple
The apple is the pomaceous fruit of the apple tree, species Malus domestica in the rose family . It is one of the most widely cultivated tree fruits, and the most widely known of the many members of genus Malus that are used by humans. Apple grow on small, deciduous trees that blossom in the spring...
, pear
Pear
The pear is any of several tree species of genus Pyrus and also the name of the pomaceous fruit of these trees. Several species of pear are valued by humans for their edible fruit, but the fruit of other species is small, hard, and astringent....
and cherry
Cherry
The cherry is the fruit of many plants of the genus Prunus, and is a fleshy stone fruit. The cherry fruits of commerce are usually obtained from a limited number of species, including especially cultivars of the wild cherry, Prunus avium....
orchard
Orchard
An orchard is an intentional planting of trees or shrubs that is maintained for food production. Orchards comprise fruit or nut-producing trees which are grown for commercial production. Orchards are also sometimes a feature of large gardens, where they serve an aesthetic as well as a productive...
s. Bounded by the Merrimack and Contoocook
Contoocook River
The Contoocook River is a river in New Hampshire. It flows from Pool Pond and Contoocook Lake on the Jaffrey/Rindge border to Penacook , where it empties into the Merrimack River. It is one of only a few rivers in New Hampshire that flow in a predominantly northward direction...
rivers, it had abundant sources of water power for mills
Watermill
A watermill is a structure that uses a water wheel or turbine to drive a mechanical process such as flour, lumber or textile production, or metal shaping .- History :...
.
Industries soon included a cotton
Cotton
Cotton is a soft, fluffy staple fiber that grows in a boll, or protective capsule, around the seeds of cotton plants of the genus Gossypium. The fiber is almost pure cellulose. The botanical purpose of cotton fiber is to aid in seed dispersal....
mill, a woolen
Woolen
Woolen or woollen is a type of yarn made from carded wool. Woolen yarn is soft, light, stretchy, and full of air. It is thus a good insulator, and makes a good knitting yarn...
factory, nine sawmills, a gristmill, a saw
Saw
A saw is a tool that uses a hard blade or wire with an abrasive edge to cut through softer materials. The cutting edge of a saw is either a serrated blade or an abrasive...
manufacturer and machine shop, and a chair
Chair
A chair is a stable, raised surface used to sit on, commonly for use by one person. Chairs are most often supported by four legs and have a back; however, a chair can have three legs or could have a different shape depending on the criteria of the chair specifications. A chair without a back or...
and match
Match
A match is a tool for starting a fire under controlled conditions. A typical modern match is made of a small wooden stick or stiff paper. One end is coated with a material that can be ignited by frictional heat generated by striking the match against a suitable surface...
factory. A mill town
Mill town
A mill town, also known as factory town or mill village, is typically a settlement that developed around one or more mills or factories .- United Kingdom:...
village developed at Fisherville (now Penacook), which straddled the river border with Concord
Concord, New Hampshire
The city of Concord is the capital of the state of New Hampshire in the United States. It is also the county seat of Merrimack County. As of the 2010 census, its population was 42,695....
. In 1846, the Northern Railroad was built through Boscawen, opening the following winter.
Sometime around 1846, the town's postmaster became one of about a dozen in the country to issue provisional postage stamp
Postage stamp
A postage stamp is a small piece of paper that is purchased and displayed on an item of mail as evidence of payment of postage. Typically, stamps are made from special paper, with a national designation and denomination on the face, and a gum adhesive on the reverse side...
s before the official issue came out in 1847. The stamps were an adaptation of a postmark
Postmark
thumb|USS TexasA postmark is a postal marking made on a letter, package, postcard or the like indicating the date and time that the item was delivered into the care of the postal service...
, simply reading PAID / 5 / CENTS, typeset in blue on a yellowish paper. These are extremely rare; in 2003, the estimated price at auction was US$225,000.
The 1915 Boscawen Public Library was designed by noted Boston
Boston
Boston is the capital of and largest city in Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England" for its economic and cultural impact on the entire New England region. The city proper had...
architect Guy Lowell
Guy Lowell
Guy Lowell , American architect, was the son of Mary Walcott and Edward Jackson Lowell, and a member of Boston's well-known Lowell family....
.
On September 26, 2010 a 3.1-magnitude earthquake struck at 11:28 p.m. in Boscawen, in a region where few earthquakes have occurred. The earthquake sent tremors felt in parts of New Hampshire, Maine, Vermont and Massachusetts.
Geography
According to the United States Census BureauUnited States Census Bureau
The United States Census Bureau is the government agency that is responsible for the United States Census. It also gathers other national demographic and economic data...
, the town has a total area of 25.4 square miles (65.8 km²), of which 24.7 sq mi (64 km²) is land and 0.7 sq mi (1.8 km²) is water, comprising 2.68% of the town. The highest point in Boscawen is an unnamed summit near the town's northern border, where the elevation reaches approximately 930 feet (283.5 m) above sea level
Sea level
Mean sea level is a measure of the average height of the ocean's surface ; used as a standard in reckoning land elevation...
. Boscawen lies fully within the Merrimack River
Merrimack River
The Merrimack River 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 Massachusetts, and then flows northeast until it empties into the Atlantic Ocean at Newburyport...
watershed
Drainage basin
A drainage basin is an extent or an area of land where surface water from rain and melting snow or ice converges to a single point, usually the exit of the basin, where the waters join another waterbody, such as a river, lake, reservoir, estuary, wetland, sea, or ocean...
. It is drained by the Merrimack River and Contoocook River
Contoocook River
The Contoocook River is a river in New Hampshire. It flows from Pool Pond and Contoocook Lake on the Jaffrey/Rindge border to Penacook , where it empties into the Merrimack River. It is one of only a few rivers in New Hampshire that flow in a predominantly northward direction...
.
The town is served by U.S. Route 3 and U.S. Route 4
U.S. Route 4 in New Hampshire
In the state of New Hampshire, U.S. Route 4 runs for across the central and southern part of the state, stretching from Lebanon on the Connecticut River border with Vermont southeast to Portsmouth on the eastern coast.-Route description:U.S...
.
Demographics
As of the censusCensus
A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring and recording information about the members of a given population. It is a regularly occurring and official count of a particular population. The term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common...
of 2000, there were 3,672 people, 1,260 households, and 913 families residing in the town. The population density
Population density
Population density is a measurement of population per unit area or unit volume. It is frequently applied to living organisms, and particularly to humans...
was 148.5 people per square mile (57.3/km²). There were 1,295 housing units at an average density of 52.4 per square mile (20.2/km²). The racial makeup of the town was 97.74% White, 0.57% African American, 0.30% Native American, 0.46% Asian, 0.16% from other races
Race (United States Census)
Race and ethnicity in the United States Census, as defined by the Federal Office of Management and Budget and the United States Census Bureau, are self-identification data items in which residents choose the race or races with which they most closely identify, and indicate whether or not they are...
, and 0.76% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 0.82% of the population.
There were 1,260 households out of which 35.1% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 55.0% were married couples
Marriage
Marriage is a social union or legal contract between people that creates kinship. It is an institution in which interpersonal relationships, usually intimate and sexual, are acknowledged in a variety of ways, depending on the culture or subculture in which it is found...
living together, 12.7% had a female householder with no husband present, and 27.5% were non-families. 21.3% of all households were made up of individuals and 7.9% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.57 and the average family size was 2.97.
In the town the population was spread out with 22.9% under the age of 18, 7.7% from 18 to 24, 29.2% from 25 to 44, 21.7% from 45 to 64, and 18.5% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 39 years. For every 100 females there were 92.2 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 89.4 males.
The median income for a household in the town was $42,524, and the median income for a family was $45,850. Males had a median income of $31,350 versus $23,375 for females. The per capita income
Per capita income
Per capita income or income per person is a measure of mean income within an economic aggregate, such as a country or city. It is calculated by taking a measure of all sources of income in the aggregate and dividing it by the total population...
for the town was $18,732. About 5.4% of families and 7.5% of the population were below the poverty line, including 9.8% of those under age 18 and 10.7% of those age 65 or over.
Notable inhabitants
- Daniel WebsterDaniel WebsterDaniel Webster was a leading American statesman and senator from Massachusetts during the period leading up to the Civil War. He first rose to regional prominence through his defense of New England shipping interests...
, attorney, United States Representative, Senator, Secretary of State, and presidential candidate - Moody CurrierMoody CurrierMoody Currier was a lawyer, banker, generous patron of the arts, and Republican politician from Manchester, New Hampshire. Born in Boscawen, New Hampshire, USA, he served New Hampshire in the state’s Senate and on the Governor’s Council. Currier served as a fellow at Bates College from 1882 to 1889...
, governor of New Hampshire - John Adams DixJohn Adams DixJohn Adams Dix was an American politician from New York. He served as Secretary of the Treasury, U.S. Senator, and the 24th Governor of New York. He was also a Union major general during the Civil War.-Early life and career:...
, New York City Postmaster, Governor of New York, Major General in the US Civil War - Moses G. FarmerMoses G. FarmerMoses Gerrish Farmer was an electrical engineer and inventor. Farmer was a member to the AIEE, later known as the IEEE.-Biography:...
, electrical engineer and inventor - William P. FessendenWilliam P. FessendenWilliam Pitt Fessenden was an American politician from the U.S. state of Maine.Fessenden was a Whig and member of the Fessenden political family...
, senator and secretary of the treasury - Charles Gordon GreeneCharles Gordon GreeneCharles Gordon Greene was an American journalist.-Biography:Greene was born at Boscawen, New Hampshire.He was the brother of Nathaniel Greene, in whose care he was placed on the death of his father in 1812, and who sent him to the Bradford Academy...
, journalist - Nathaniel GreeneNathaniel Greene (journalist)-Biography:He was born in Boscawen, New Hampshire, became an apprentice in the office of the New Hampshire Patriot in 1809 and in 1812 edited the Concord Gazette. In 1814 moved to Portsmouth, where he had charge of the New Hampshire Gazette. After this he settled in Haverhill, Massachusetts, and...
, journalist - Lyndon A. SmithLyndon A. SmithLyndon Ambrose Smith was an attorney general and the 15th Lieutenant Governor of Minnesota. Born in Boscawen, New Hampshire, moved to Minnesota, and became Lieutenant Governor under Governors John Lind and Samuel Van Sant from January 3, 1899 to January 5, 1903. Married Dora Rogers. He died in...
, politician and Minnesota attorney general - Bradford N. StevensBradford N. StevensBradford Newcomb Stevens was a U.S. Representative from Illinois.Born in Boscawen, New Hampshire, Stevens attended schools in New Hampshire and at Montreal, Quebec, Canada, and graduated from Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire, in 1835. He taught school six years in Hopkinsville, Kentucky,...
, congressman