Penacook, originally called "Fisherville", is a village within the city of 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 Merrimack County

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...

, USA. It lies along Concord's northern border with Boscawen

Boscawen, New Hampshire

Boscawen is a town in Merrimack County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 3,965 at the 2010 census.-History:The native Pennacook 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...

. The name comes from the Pennacook

Pennacook

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 that lived in the area. Penacook (Pennycook) was the original name of the plantation incorporated by present-day Concord.

Penacook is located along a stretch of the 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...

 that falls 100 feet in slightly over one mile, just before joining 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...

. Early hydro-powered industry was attracted to the site, and Penacook grew as 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:...

. While dams on the river still generate electricity

Electricity

Electricity is a general term encompassing a variety of phenomena resulting from the presence and flow of electric charge. These include many easily recognizable phenomena, such as lightning, static electricity, and the flow of electrical current in an electrical wire...

, most of the 19th- and 20th-century factories, such as Allied Leather, have long since closed.

Penacook has its own phone exchange (753), which includes a portion of Boscawen, and its own ZIP code (03303), shared with Boscawen and Webster

Webster, New Hampshire

Webster is a town in Merrimack County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 1,872 at the 2010 census.- History :A part of Boscawen until 1860, the town takes its name from American statesman Daniel Webster.- Geography :...

. Most of Penacook is located in the Merrimack Valley

Merrimack Valley High School

Merrimack Valley is a four-year high school located in Penacook, a village in the northern part of Concord, New Hampshire. The school has approximately 900 students and serves the communities of Andover, Boscawen, Loudon, Penacook, Salisbury, and Webster...

 School District, though part is in the Concord School District.