New Hampshire is located in New England and was one of the original 13 colonies to break away from the British in 1775. The state motto is “live free or die”, hearkening back to those revolutionary days.
Geography of New Hampshire
The southern, more populated part of the state is low lying coastal plains. New Hampshire has only 18 miles of coastline on the Atlantic, which is the center of the maritime fishing and trade industry. The northern part of the state is mountainous with the highest peaks in the northeast. These are the white mountains, part of the greater Appalachian Range. The bulk of the bedrock of the state is granite and New Hampshire is known as the “granite state”. New Hampshire is covered with deciduous forests, dotted with lakes, and crossed by many rivers.
- Rumor has it that Blackbeard the pirate buried one of his treasure caches on one of New Hampshire’s Isle of Shoals. Get your shovel.
- The northern part of New Hampshire is known by the locals as “north of the notches” referring to the mountain passes that must be passed through to get there.
- Earthquakes in New Hampshire are rare, but they do occur and they can be big. New Hampshire borders the St. Lawrence Valley seismic zone in Canada.
- New Hampshire’s major industries are eggs, apples, nursery products, dairy, cattle, tourism, machinery, plastics, rubber, and electric equipment.
- New Hampshire’s many lakes freeze over in the winter and attract ice fishermen.
- Famous authors from New Hampshire include Dan Brown, Tomie dePaola, Robert Frost, and Willa Cather.
- In 1961 Alan Shepherd of Derry, New Hampshire became the first American in space when he rode the Mercury spacecraft. Several years later he hit a few golf balls on the surface of the Moon.
- The mountains of New Hampshire have some of the worst weather in the planet. The wind is especially nasty, with hurricane force gales one out of every three days. the highest land wind speed ever recorded was a Mount Washington, New Hampshire’s highest peak.
Map of New Hampshire
This New Hampshire Map includes the outline, some major rivers, the largest cities, and a compass rose. Use a student atlas to label and color cities, neighboring states, and landmarks.
See if your library has one of these books about New Hampshire.
- The northern part of New Hampshire is very sparsely populated and much poorer than the rest of the state. The closures of lumber mills and paper plants has caused a great deal of economic hardship to the area. The timber industry has suffered greatly all across the United States because of environmentalist activism.
- New Hampshire was Algonquin territory before it was sold, traded, or conquered away to the New England settlers. Learn more about the Algonquin.
- Daniel Webster, one of America’s greatest, was born and lived in New Hampshire. Learn about his life and accomplishments.