New Hampshire State History

New Hampshire State history is truly fascinating. New Hampshire’s earliest inhabitants were the Native Americans. Mostly hunters and gatherers migrated throughout New England seasonally depending upon where the most food would be. The two most predominant tribes that resided in New Hampshire were the Abenaki and the Pennacook. To feature your NH business in NHLiving.com, contact us.

History of the State of New Hampshire

In the 1500s Europeans started exploring along the coast of North America. In 1623 the first permanent European settlement was started in New Hampshire. During this period the majority of European settlements in New Hampshire were along the seacoast. The four main ports were Dover, Portsmouth, Exeter, and Hampton. These towns were originally part of Massachusetts but in 1680 become New Hampshire became its own province.

The seacoast prospered greatly due to the ports that existed there. New Hampshire’s first capital was Portsmouth. The inland areas of New Hampshire were settled largely by farmers who cleared small plots of land and built one or two-story farmhouses. As time went on this divide grew larger. New Hampshire was kept from breaking apart due to the legislative sessions that were held, mostly in Concord New Hampshire.

New Hampshire’s geography did not help the divide between the seacoast area and the rest of the state. Most of the rivers ran from north to south which in turn meant that roads and later railroads lead into Boston rather than Portsmouth. This meant that the majority of New Hampshire was affected far more by the activities in Boston than what was going on in Portsmouth. So, when Bostonians needed help during the Revolutionary War New Hampshire was there to offer aid.

New Hampshire’s economy changed during the industrial revolution with the textile mills that sprung up along the Granite State’s many beautiful rivers. Eventually the mills moved to the southern states and New Hampshire worked hard on attracting other businesses to the area such as shoe and technology manufacturing. While mills were on the rise the small family farms were on the decline because they could no longer compete with the farms in the midwest.

In the 1800’s the railroads that were used to bring food from New Hampshire south to cities such as Boston and Portsmouth began bringing artists, scientists, and sightseers north to experience New Hampshire’s beauty firsthand. By the early 1900s New Hampshire was drawing visitors from all over the world to its picturesque lakes and mountains in the summer. The winter attracts many to ski the majestic white mountains to this day.

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More about New Hampshire’s Fascinating Past

• Read our article about Natural Disaster in Nashua NH During the 1930s
• Take a Walking Tour of Historic Concord New Hampshire
• Learn about New Hampshire’s Grand Hotels: The History of Hospitality in the North Country
• Read about the Kangamangus Highway
• Who was the Old Man of the Mountain?
• New England Icon: Yankee Magazine

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