New Hampshire (/ˈhæmpʃər/) is a state in the New England region of the United States. It is bordered by Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Atlantic Ocean to the east, and the Canadian province of Quebec to the north. Of the 50 U.S. states, New Hampshire is the fifth smallest by area and the tenth least populous, with a little over 1.3 million residents. Concord is the state capital, while Manchester is the largest city. New Hampshire's motto, "Live Free or Die", reflects its role in the American Revolutionary War; its nickname, "The Granite State", refers to its extensive granite formations and quarries. It is best known nationwide for holding the first primary in the U.S. presidential election cycle, giving rise to the phrase "As New Hampshire goes, so goes the nation".
New Hampshire was inhabited for thousands of years by Algonquian-speaking peoples such as the Abenaki. Europeans arrived in the early 17th century, with the English establishing some of the earliest nonindigenous settlements. The Province of New Hampshire was established in 1629, named after the English county of Hampshire. Following mounting tensions between the British colonies and the crown during the 1760s, New Hampshire saw one of the earliest overt acts of rebellion, with the seizing of Fort William and Mary from the British in 1774. In January 1776, it became the first of the British North American colonies to establish an independent government and its own state constitution; six months later, it signed the United States Declaration of Independence and contributed troops, ships, and supplies in the war against Britain. In June 1788 it was the ninth state to ratify the U.S. Constitution, bringing that document into effect.
Through the mid-19th century, New Hampshire was an active center of abolitionism, and fielded close to 32,000 men for the Union during the U.S. Civil War. After the war, the state saw rapid industrialization and population growth, becoming a center of textile manufacturing, shoemaking, and papermaking; the Amoskeag Manufacturing Company in Manchester was at one time the largest cotton textile plant in the world. The Merrimack and Connecticut rivers were lined with industrial mills, most of which employed workers from Canada and Europe; French Canadians formed the most significant influx of immigrants, and today roughly a quarter of all New Hampshire residents claim French American ancestry, second only to Maine.
Reflecting a nationwide trend, New Hampshire's industrial sector declined after the Second World War; since 1950, its economy has heavily diversified to include financial and professional services, real estate, education, and transportation, with manufacturing still higher than the national average. Beginning in the 1980s, its population surged as major highways connected it to the Greater Boston and led to more bedroom communities. In the 21st century, New Hampshire is among the wealthiest states in the U.S., with the seventh highest median household income and some of the lowest rates of poverty, unemployment, and crime. It is one of only nine states without an income tax, and has no taxes on sales, capital gains, or inheritance; consequently, its overall tax burden is the lowest in the U.S. after Florida. New Hampshire ranks among the top ten states in metrics such as governance, healthcare, socioeconomic opportunity, and fiscal stability.
With its mountainous and heavily forested terrain, New Hampshire has a growing tourism sector centered on outdoor recreation. It has some of the highest ski mountains on the East Coast and is a major destination for winter sports; Mount Monadnock is among the most climbed mountains in the U.S. Other activities include observing the fall foliage, summer cottages along many lakes and the seacoast, motor sports at the New Hampshire Motor Speedway, and Motorcycle Week, a popular motorcycle rally held in Weirs Beach in Laconia. The White Mountain National Forest links the Vermont and Maine portions of the Appalachian Trail, and has the Mount Washington Auto Road, where visitors may drive to the top of 6,288-foot (1,917 m) Mount Washington.
State of New Hampshire Articles
Concord () is the capital city of the U.S. state of New Hampshire and the county seat of Merrimack County. As of the 2020 census the population was 43,976, making it the third largest city in New Hampshire behind Manchester and Nashua. The village of Penacook, where Concord was initially settled, lies at the northern boundary of the city limits. The city is home to the University of New Hampshire School of Law, New Hampshire's only law school; St. Paul's School, a private preparatory school; NHTI, a two-year community college; the New Hampshire Police Academy; and the New Hampshire Fire Academy. Concord's Old North Cemetery is the final resting place of Franklin Pierce, 14th President of the United States.
The Lakes Region of New Hampshire is located in the east-central part of the state, south of the White Mountains Region and extending to the Maine border. It is named for the numerous lakes in the region, the largest of which are Lake Winnipesaukee, Lake Winnisquam, Squam Lake, and Newfound Lake. The area comprises all of Belknap County, the southern portion of Carroll County, the eastern portion of Grafton County, and the northern portions of Strafford County and Merrimack County. The largest municipality is the city of Laconia. Besides the lakes, there are also two small mountain ranges, the Belknap Mountains which lie to the southwest, and the Ossipee Mountains to the northeast. The area is a popular tourist destination in the summer time, with the activity peaking during the annual Motorcycle Week and races at Loudon's New Hampshire Motor Speedway. Other tourist destinations include Funspot in Weirs Beach, the Squam Lakes Natural Science Center in Holderness, the children's museum of Center Harbor, Gunstock ski resort and Bank of New Hampshire Pavilion at Meadowbrook, both in Gilford, Castle in the Clouds in Moultonborough, and the town of Wolfeboro, which claims to be the nation's oldest resort town. Lake Winnipesaukee is the largest lake in the state, and is home to numerous vacation homes. Several motion pictures have either been filmed or set in the region, including the 1981 classic, On Golden Pond (filmed on Squam Lake in the town of Holderness) and the 1991 comedy What About Bob?, which was filmed in Virginia but (fictitiously) took place in Wolfeboro.
Elizabeth Sparhawk-Jones (1885–1968) was an American painter who lived in New York City, Philadelphia, and Paris, France. She had a successful career as a painter at the turn of the century, exhibiting her works internationally and winning awards. She had a mental breakdown that caused a break in her career, and she returned to have a successful second career, creating modern watercolor paintings. She was a resident at three artist colonies, with notable artists, writers, and musicians. Sparhawk-Jones' works are in American art museums, including the Art Institute of Chicago, Metropolitan Museum of Art, and Museum of Modern Art.
Nashua is a city in southern New Hampshire, United States. As of the 2010 census, it had a population of 86,494, the second-largest in northern New England after nearby Manchester. As of 2019 the population had risen to an estimated 89,355. Along with Manchester, it is a seat of New Hampshire's most populous county, Hillsborough. Built around the now-departed textile industry, in recent decades Nashua's economy has shifted to the financial services, high tech, and defense industries as part of the economic recovery that started in the 1980s in the Greater Boston region. Major private employers in the city include Nashua Corporation, BAE Systems, and Teradyne. The city also hosts two major regional medical centers, Southern New Hampshire Medical Center and St. Joseph Hospital. The South Nashua commercial district is a major regional shopping destination, lying directly on the Massachusetts border and taking advantage of New Hampshire's lack of sales tax. It is anchored by the Pheasant Lane Mall and numerous smaller shopping centers. It was twice named "Best Place to Live in America" in annual surveys by Money magazine. It is the only city to get the No. 1 ranking on two occasions—in 1987 and 1998.