New Hampshire History Guide

Before 1600, when the European exploration started, the land known today as New Hampshire was home to Native Americans, including the Abenaki and Pennacook tribes. The first to visit and explore these regions were the English. The colony that became the state of New Hampshire was founded on a land grant given in 1629 by the Council for New England to Captain John Mason and Sir Ferdinando Gorges (who founded Maine). The colony was named New Hampshire after the English county of Hampshire. Capt. John Mason, who participated in the founding of Portsmouth in 1630, gave New Hampshire its name.

Scattered communities here united in 1639, and later agreed to become a part of the Massachusetts colony. That contentious and controversial agreement (or union) never really worked, and in 1691 it was permanently separated from Massachusetts, becoming the Royal Province (colony) of New Hampshire.

Great Britain gained control of Northeastern America during the French and Indian Wars. New laws increasing taxes and restricting colonial trade led to the Revolutionary War. New Hampshire was the first colony to declare independence of Britain by establishing a separate government on January 5, 1776. Although none of the Revolutionary battles took place on New Hampshire land, hundreds of "minutemen" went to Boston to fight the British. On June 21, 1788, New Hampshire became the 9th state to ratify the U.S. Constitution, making it the law of the land. The capitol of New Hampshire is Concord.

New Hampshire was against slavery and sent about 34,000 soldiers to fight for the Union during the Civil War. Portsmouth Naval Shipyard built ships that blockaded Southern ports.

After the war, the once agricultural state began a period of industrial growth with new businesses and factories. Thousands of immigrants from Canada and Europe came to work in textile, woodworking, and leather industries. Many farmers left to claim free land in the West, creating more of an urban New Hampshire.

During World War I, Portsmouth again supplied warships. Leather and shoe manufacturing became the state's leading industry. The Great Depression of the 1930's reared its ugly head, proving financially disastrous across New Hampshire, and all of America. In the end it was World War II that helped to revive (and motivate) the state's economy. Its shipyards built destroyers and submarines for the Navy and its factories supplied boots and uniforms for the war effort.

The post-World War II decades have seen New Hampshire increase its economic and cultural links with the greater Boston, Massachusetts region. This reflects a national trend, in which improved highway networks have helped metropolitan areas expand into formerly rural areas or small nearby cities.

The replacement of the Nashua textile mill with defense electronics contractor Sanders Associates in 1952 and the arrival of minicomputer giant Digital Equipment Corporation in the early 1970s helped lead the way toward southern New Hampshire's role as a high-tech adjunct of the Route 128 corridor.

Abundant water power turned New Hampshire into an industrial state early on, and manufacturing is the principal source of income. The most important industrial products are electrical and other machinery, textiles, pulp and paper products, and stone and clay products. Dairy and poultry, and growing fruit, truck vegetables, corn, potatoes, and hay are the major agricultural pursuits.

Because of New Hampshire's scenic and recreational resources, tourism now brings over $3.5 billion into the state annually.

New Hampshire Famous People

• Robert Frost (1874 - 1963) Poet that won four Pulitzer Prizes in poetry; lived in Derry and Franconia.
• Sarah Josepha Hale(1788 - 1879) Author and journalist who wrote "Mary Had a Little Lamb"; born on a New Hampshire farm.
• John Irving (1942 - ) Famous author; born in Exeter.
• Christa McAuliffe (1948 - 1986) Teacher that died in the space shuttle Challenger explosion on January 28, 1986; taught in Concord.
• Bob Montana (1920 - 1975) Creator of the comic strip Archie in 1942; lived in Manchester.
• Franklin Pierce (1804 - 1869) The 14th President of the United States (1853-1857); born in Hillsborough.
• Eleanor Porter (1868 - 1920) Children's author that wrote Pollyanna; born in Littleton.
• Alan B. Shepard Jr. (1923 - 1998) Became the first American in space when he orbited the earth in the rocket Freedom 7 in May 1961; born in East Derry.
• Earl Silas Tupper (1907 - 1983) Founder of Tupperware; born in Berlin.
• Eleazar Wheelock (1711 - 1779) Founded Dartmouth College in 1769 in the city of Hanover, he also served as the first president.
• Henry Wilson (born Jeremiah Jones Colbath) (1812 - 1875) Vice President of the United States under President Ulysses Grant, was born in Farmington.