Peterborough, New Hampshire Explained

Official Name:Peterborough, New Hampshire
Settlement Type:Town
Subdivision Type:Country
Subdivision Name:United States
Subdivision Type1:State
Subdivision Name1:New Hampshire
Subdivision Type2:County
Subdivision Name2:Hillsborough
Parts Type:Villages
Parts:Peterborough
Happy Valley
Noone
North Village
West Peterborough
Leader Title:Select Board
Leader Name:Tyler Ward, Chair
William Taylor
William Kennedy
Leader Title1:Town Administrator
Leader Name1:Nicole MacStay
Established Title:Incorporated
Established Date:1760
Area Footnotes:[1]
Area Total Km2:99.53
Area Land Km2:98.47
Area Water Km2:1.06
Area Water Percent:1.06
Population As Of:2020
Population Footnotes:[2]
Population Total:6418
Population Density Km2:65.2
Timezone:Eastern
Utc Offset:−5
Timezone Dst:Eastern
Utc Offset Dst:−4
Coordinates:42.8706°N -71.9517°W
Elevation Ft:718
Postal Code Type:ZIP Code
Postal Code:03458
Area Code:603
Blank Name:FIPS code
Blank Info:33-60580
Blank1 Name:GNIS feature ID
Blank1 Info:0873697

Peterborough is a town in Hillsborough County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 6,418 at the 2020 census.[2] The main village, with 3,090 people at the 2020 census, is a census-designated place (CDP) and lies along the Contoocook River at the junction of U.S. Route 202 and New Hampshire Route 101. Peterborough is west of Manchester and northwest of Boston.

History

Granted by Massachusetts in 1737, it was first permanently settled in 1749. The town suffered several attacks during the French and Indian War. Nevertheless, by 1759, there were fifty families settled. Incorporated on January 17, 1760, by Governor Benning Wentworth, it was named after Lieutenant Peter Prescott (1709–1784) of Concord, Massachusetts, a prominent land speculator.[3]

The Contoocook River and Nubanusit Brook offered numerous sites for watermills, and Peterborough became a prosperous mill town. In 1810, the first cotton factory was established. By 1859, when the population was 2,222, there were four more cotton factories and a woolen mill. Other industries included two paper mills, an iron foundry, a machine shop, a carriage factory, a basket-maker, a maker of trusses and supporters, a boot and shoe factory, seven sawmills, and three gristmills.[3]

The Reverend Abiel Abbot, after being charged with heresy by the Connecticut religious establishment, came to Peterborough as minister to the Peterborough Unitarian Church in 1827.[4] He founded the town's first prep school, the Monadnock Summer Lyceum,[5] and the first free library in the US, all in Peterborough.[6]

Peterborough established the first tax-supported free public library in the United States, in 1833.[7] Its success led the New Hampshire State Legislature to pass legislation in 1849 authorizing towns to raise money to establish and maintain their own libraries. The library was in the town's general store and post office, and the postmaster served as librarian. The library moved to the town hall in 1873.[8]

Other early cultural institutions include Mariarden, a summer theatre, where Paul Robeson played in Eugene O'Neill's The Emperor Jones. Bette Davis performed there in her teens.[9]

Performance blossomed again in 1976, when Widdie and Jonathon Hall founded the Peterborough Folkway. "Within a few years, it became a 'must play' on the East Coast for folk musicians"; it remained popular for two decades. Regular performers included Tom Paxton, Mary Chapin Carpenter, Shawn Colvin, and Suzanne Vega.[10]

In the 1980s, thanks to publisher Wayne Green, "Peterborough was clearly the per capita magazine production capital of the world."[11] Over 100 magazines, mostly about computers and technology, were published there; these included Byte and MacComputing.

Peterborough's leadership in environmental protection began in the 1990s, when its Earth Day USA office supported the United States Air Force's annual Earth Day events around the world.[12]

Geography

The town is 99.5km2, of which 98.5km2 are land and 1.1km2 (1.06%) are water.[1] Peterborough is drained by the Contoocook River and its tributaries, Nubanusit Brook and Otter Brook. The entire town is part of the Merrimack River watershed. The highest point in Peterborough as well as in Hillsborough County is the summit of South Pack Monadnock (2290feet above sea level), in Miller State Park in the southeast corner of town. Peterborough is also home to Edward MacDowell Dam and Lake recreation area, where visitors can walk across the dam, hike, cross-country ski, swim, boat, picnic, play Frisbee golf, play horseshoes, and take advantage of other recreational opportunities, many of them accessible to people with disabilities. The town is crossed by U.S. Route 202 and Route 101.

Demographics

As of the 2010 United States census, there were 6,284 people, 2,713 households, and 1,629 families residing in the town. The population density was 167sp=usNaNsp=us. There were 2,956 housing units at an average density of 78.4sp=usNaNsp=us. The racial makeup of the town was 96.1% White, 1.8% Asian, 0.7% Black or African American, 0.2% Native American, 0.02% Pacific Islander, 0.4% some other race, and 0.8% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 1.4% of the population.[13]

There were 2,713 households, out of which 28.1% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 45.8% were headed by married couples living together, 10.6% had a female householder with no husband present, and 40.0% were non-families. Of all households 33.6% were made up of individuals, and 15.2% were someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.24, and the average family size was 2.85.[13]

In the town, the population was spread out, with 21.5% under the age of 18, 6.2% from 18 to 24, 19.9% from 25 to 44, 30.3% from 45 to 64, and 22.0% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 46.6 years. For every 100 females, there were 86.9 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 81.7 males.[13]

For the period 2009–2013, the estimated median annual income for a household in the town was $66,026, and the median income for a family was $89,401. Male full-time workers had a median income of $66,314 versus $34,707 for females. The per capita income for the town was $40,385.[14]

Economy

Peterborough is a global village and entrepreneurial seedbed.[15] Start-ups based in Peterborough include New Hampshire Ball Bearing, Microspec, Pure Flow, Peterboro Basket Company, Borrego Solar, MobileRobots Inc., Toadstool Bookstores, Froling Energy, Brookstone, SoClean and Hyndsight Vision Systems. Approximately a third of Peterborough workers are home-based entrepreneurs or remote workers.[16]

Like the rest of New Hampshire and the Monadnock region, Peterborough's third largest industry is tourism.

Its cultural attractions include the Monadnock Center for History and Culture, the exhibition gallery and craft gallery of the Sharon Arts Center, the Peterborough Players theatre, Peterborough Community Theater cinema, Monadnock Music concerts, the Monadnock Summer Lyceum, MAXT Makerspace and Mariposa Children's Museum. Peterborough's First Saturday contradances are a place for singles and dance enthusiasts to enjoy live music in the spacious Peterborough Town Hall.

Arts and culture

Many artists' introduction to the town comes as fellows to the MacDowell Colony, a wooded creative retreat that provides grants to about 300 artists per year.

The town celebrates First Friday monthly with presentations by MacDowell artists, gallery openings, shopping, live music, and local pubs.

The Peterborough Diner, a Worcester railway lunch car in the center of the village square, attracts many presidential hopefuls every four years.[17] Peterborough hosts the Snow Ball in January, Children and the Arts Day in May, Thing in the Spring music festival in June, and Greenerborough, a summer festival promoting the town's sustainability.[18]

The Moses Cheney house in Peterborough served as a stop on the Underground Railroad in the mid-19th century.

The Peterborough Players have performed since 1933.[19] [20]

New Hampshire's oldest continuously active state militia unit, the Lafayette Artillery Company, was founded in Peterborough in 1804. It is now based in nearby Lyndeborough. Since the early 20th century, Peterborough has been home to the Amoskeag Veterans, founded in Manchester in 1855.[21]

The Mariposa Museum houses a collection of marionettes and puppets.[22]

Parks and recreation

The town's outdoor amenities include hiking trails, wild flowers, cross-country skiing, kayaking, cycling and small lakes for swimming, sailing, fishing and ice-skating. It is a popular bird-watching area, one of two sites of the NH Audubon autumn migratory raptor count.[23]

Education

The public schools are part of Contoocook Valley school district (SAU 1) which has a total of 11 schools and one applied technology center.

Media

The Monadnock Ledger-Transcript is published twice-weekly.

Infrastructure

The town wants to achieve 100 percent reliance on sustainable energy,[27] and built the largest solar facility in New Hampshire,[28] next to its wastewater treatment plant.[29]

Notable people

In popular culture

The town was a model for the play Our Town, written by Thornton Wilder while in residence at the MacDowell Colony. His fictional town of Grover's Corners appears to have been named for Peterborough's Grove Street.[33]

The film The Sensation of Sight was shot entirely in Peterborough.[34]

See also

The MacDowell Graves

Settler's Rock

Revolutionary War Drummer William Diamond

Miller State Park, New Hampshire's First State Park

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: 2021 U.S. Gazetteer Files – New Hampshire . United States Census Bureau . December 9, 2021.
  2. Web site: Peterborough town, Hillsborough County, New Hampshire: 2020 DEC Redistricting Data (PL 94-171). U.S. Census Bureau. December 9, 2021.
  3. Book: Coolidge . Austin J.. John B. . Mansfield . A History and Description of New England. 1859. Boston, Massachusetts . 613–615. A.J. Coolidge . 1-4369-8768-7.
  4. Web site: Abiel Abbot . Monadnock Center for History and Culture . Explore Our Town.
  5. Web site: History. Monadnock Summer Lyceum. November 14, 2017. November 15, 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20171115015608/https://www.monadnocklyceum.org/content/history. dead.
  6. Web site: Peterborough Town Library . Peterborough Town Library.
  7. Murray, Stuart A.P. The Library: An Illustrated History. Skyhorse Publishing, 2012. 9781616084530, pp. 171
  8. Web site: Peterborough Town Library. Peterborough Town Library.
  9. Mansfield, Howard. 2004. Bones of the Earth, Shoemaker & Hoard, Washington, DC, p. 148.
  10. News: The Folkway: It was 'a community'. Former Peterborough venue remembered. Lauren . Bergeron. The Keene Sentinel. February 23, 2010.
  11. Jay Ranade and Alan Nash, "The best of BYTE", Byte magazine, December 1993, page 6
  12. Web site: ACC Earth Day Organizer's Guide. ACC CES/ESC. 1996. December 14, 2015. https://web.archive.org/web/20151222085628/http://infohouse.p2ric.org/ref/20/19926/p2_documents/afdoc/hq_air_p2_library/d5.htm. December 22, 2015. dead. mdy-all.
  13. Web site: Profile of General Population and Housing Characteristics: 2010 Census Summary File 1 (DP-1): Peterborough town, Hillsborough County, New Hampshire. U.S. Census Bureau, American Factfinder. November 6, 2015. https://archive.today/20200213162731/http://factfinder.census.gov/bkmk/table/1.0/en/DEC/10_SF1/SF1DP1/0600000US3301160580. February 13, 2020. dead.
  14. Web site: Selected Economic Characteristics: 2009-2013 American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates (DP03): Peterborough town, Hillsborough County, New Hampshire. U.S. Census Bureau, American Factfinder. November 6, 2015. https://archive.today/20200213121956/http://factfinder.census.gov/bkmk/table/1.0/en/ACS/13_5YR/DP03/0600000US3301160580. February 13, 2020. dead.
  15. Web site: Peterborough, New Hampshire. Peterborough Economic Development Authority. December 14, 2015.
  16. Web site: Peterborough Invests in its Future . Kathie . Ragsdale . Business NH Magazine . January 14, 2021.
  17. Web site: Peterborough Diner . peterboroughdiner.com.
  18. Web site: Greenerborough Sustainability Fair . Greenerborough Fair.
  19. News: Players bring theatrical excellence to a rustic setting . Jane Roy . Brown . . September 13, 2006.
  20. News: Behind the Curtain: Peterborough Players . Emily . Heidt . . June 4, 2021.
  21. Web site: AMOSKEAG VETERANS . New Hampshire Company Registry.
  22. Web site: Mariposa Museum . Mariposa Museum.
  23. Web site: Raptor Observatories. NH Audubon. December 14, 2015.
  24. News: About ConVal High School . November 4, 2007 . ConVal School District . https://web.archive.org/web/20080110031323/http://www.conval.edu/Schools/CVHS/general/about.html . January 10, 2008 . dead . mdy-all .
  25. News: Puma Press . January 13, 2019.
  26. News: History of The Well School . The Well School . https://web.archive.org/web/20081016043917/http://www.wellschool.org/podium/default.aspx?t=45518 . October 16, 2008 . live . mdy-all .
  27. News: Peterborough Renewable Energy Planning team holding first public meeting Thursday . JULIA . STINNEFORD . . November 12, 2021 . limited.
  28. News: Climate scientists visit town: International energy experts hope to learn from solar project. Benji . Rosen. Monadnock Ledger-Transcript. June 17, 2015 . limited.
  29. News: Peterborough to turn on state's largest solar-power facility at the time.. David . Brooks. Concord Monitor. November 6, 2015.
  30. Web site: Local artist who collaborated with Prince reflects on icon's death . Shelley . Walcott . . April 22, 2016.
  31. Web site: Professor Elting E. Morison dies at 85. mit.edu. April 3, 2018.
  32. Web site: 'Clue House' in Peterborough inspired Parker Brothers. Goodwin. Tim. Monadnock Ledger–Transcript. February 18, 2019. February 28, 2019.
  33. Web site: Dramatic and Theatrical Aspects in Thornton Wilder's Our Town; Background . The National Endowment for the Humanities.
  34. Web site: Peterborough NH - The Sensation of Sight . The Sensation of Sight.