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New Boston, New Hampshire

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This is an old revision of this page, as edited by Hugh Manatee (talk | contribs) at 13:39, 4 December 2005 (History). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

New Boston is a town located in Hillsborough County, New Hampshire. As of the 2000 census, the town had a total population of 4,138. New Boston is home to the annual Hillsborough County Agricultural Fair.

History

File:River Road, New Boston, NH.jpg
River Road in c. 1912

The town was first granted in 1736 by Colonial Governor Jonathan Belcher of Massachusetts, which then held authority over New Hampshire. It was granted to several Boston families, and was to have been called "Lanestown" or "Piscataquog Township." Instead, by 1751 they called it "New Boston" after their hometown. Not all the grantees took up their claims, and the land was regranted ten years later to settlers from Londonderry. When the town was incorporated in 1763, Governor Benning Wentworth formally recognized the long-used name of "New Boston."

In 1820, the town had 25 sawmills, 6 grain mills, 2 clothing mills, 2 carding mills, 2 tanneries and a bark mill. It also had 14 schoolhouses and a tavern. "The Great Village Fire" of 1887, which started when a spark from a cooper's shop set a barn on fire, destroyed nearly 40 buildings in the lower village. In 1893, the railroad came to New Boston, and farm produce was sent by rail to city markets. The train line was abandoned in the mid-1970s, and the former rail bed is today a walking path.

The town is home to the 2,800-acre New Boston Air Force Station, which started as an Army Air Corps bombing range in 1942. By 1960, it had become a U.S. Air Force base for tracking military satellites. New Boston was also home to the Gravity Research Foundation from the late 1940s through the mid-1960s.

Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 111.9 km² (43.2 mi²). 111.0 km² (42.8 mi²) of it is land and 1.0 km² (0.4 mi²) of it is water. The total area is 0.88% water. New Boston is drained by the South Branch Piscataquog River. Joe English Hill, elevation 1,240 feet (378 meters), is in the south.

Demographics

As of the census2 of 2000, there are 4,138 people, 1,434 households, and 1,162 families residing in the town. The population density is 37.3/km² (96.6/mi²). There are 1,462 housing units at an average density of 13.2/km² (34.1/mi²). The racial makeup of the town is 98.02% White, 0.36% African American, 0.10% Native American, 0.36% Asian, 0.00% Pacific Islander, 0.31% from other races, and 0.85% from two or more races. 0.63% of the population are Hispanic or Latino of any race.

There are 1,434 households out of which 44.4% have children under the age of 18 living with them, 70.3% are married couples living together, 7.5% have a female householder with no husband present, and 18.9% are non-families. 12.4% of all households are made up of individuals and 2.6% have someone living alone who is 65 years of age or older. The average household size is 2.88 and the average family size is 3.15.

In the town the population is spread out with 30.4% under the age of 18, 4.7% from 18 to 24, 33.5% from 25 to 44, 26.4% from 45 to 64, and 5.0% who are 65 years of age or older. The median age is 36 years. For every 100 females there are 100.2 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there are 99.6 males.

The median income for a household in the town is $66,020, and the median income for a family is $69,458. Males have a median income of $47,173 versus $32,417 for females. The per capita income for the town is $26,488. 4.3% of the population and 3.1% of families are below the poverty line. Out of the total population, 5.7% of those under the age of 18 and 0.0% of those 65 and older are living below the poverty line.