Greenland is a town in
Rockingham County-Demographics:As of the census of 2000, there were 277,359 people, 104,529 households, and 74,320 families residing in the county. The population density was 399 people per square mile . There were 113,023 housing units at an average density of 163 per square mile...
,
New HampshireNew Hampshire is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. The state was named after the southern English county of Hampshire. It is bordered by Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Atlantic Ocean to the east, and the Canadian...
, United States. The population was 3,549 at the 2010 census. It is drained by the
Winnicut RiverThe Winnicut River is a 9.1 mile long river in the Seacoast region of New Hampshire in the United States. It is the major southeastern tributary of Great Bay, an estuary connected by way of the tidal Piscataqua River to the Atlantic Ocean....
and bounded on the northwest by
Great BayGreat Bay is a tidal estuary located in Strafford and Rockingham counties in eastern New Hampshire, United States. The bay occupies over , not including its several tidal river tributaries. Its outlet is at Hilton Point in Dover, New Hampshire, where waters from the bay flow into the Piscataqua...
.
History
One of the earliest settlements in the state, Greenland was a
parishA parish is a territorial unit historically under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of one parish priest, who might be assisted in his pastoral duties by a curate or curates - also priests but not the parish priest - from a more or less central parish church with its associated organization...
of
PortsmouthPortsmouth is a city in Rockingham County, New Hampshire in the United States. It is the largest city but only the fourth-largest community in the county, with a population of 21,233 at the 2010 census...
(then called
Strawbery BankeStrawbery Banke is an outdoor history museum located in the South End historic district of Portsmouth, New Hampshire. It is the oldest neighborhood in New Hampshire to be settled by Europeans, and the earliest neighborhood remaining in the present-day city of Portsmouth...
) operating in 1638. Captain Francis Champernowne moved from Strawbery Banke in 1640 and settled in the area of the present Portsmouth Country Club. He would call his farm "Greenland". His extensive landholdings included a farm which is now the town of
MadburyMadbury is a town in Strafford County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 1,771 at the 2010 census.-History:Madbury was originally a part of Dover called Barbadoes, after the West Indies island of Barbados with which settlers conducted trade, sending wood and lumber in exchange for...
, named for his ancestral home in Devon, England.
Residents requested and were granted a separate parish in 1706. In c. 1710, Captain Samuel Weeks constructed a substantial brick house, thought to be the oldest brick house in
New HampshireNew Hampshire is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. The state was named after the southern English county of Hampshire. It is bordered by Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Atlantic Ocean to the east, and the Canadian...
still standing. It survived the
earthquakeAn earthquake is the result of a sudden release of energy in the Earth's crust that creates seismic waves. The seismicity, seismism or seismic activity of an area refers to the frequency, type and size of earthquakes experienced over a period of time...
of 1755. Only the 18" thick beams that supported the structure were cracked during the quake. Greenland would incorporate in 1721.
Greenland annexed parts of
StrathamStratham is a town in Rockingham County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 7,255 at the 2010 census. It is bounded on the west by the Squamscott River. The town is the home of the only U.S. Lindt & Sprüngli factory and the headquarters of the Timberland Corporation.-History:Stratham...
in 1805 and 1847.
Geography
According to the
United States Census BureauThe United States Census Bureau is the government agency that is responsible for the United States Census. It also gathers other national demographic and economic data...
, the town has a total area of 13.3 square miles (34.4 km²), of which 10.5 sq mi (27.2 km²) is land and 2.8 sq mi (7.3 km²) is water, comprising 21.07% of the town. The highest point in Greenland is Breakfast Hill, at 151 feet (46 m) above
sea levelMean sea level is a measure of the average height of the ocean's surface ; used as a standard in reckoning land elevation...
), on the town's border with
RyeRye is a town in Rockingham County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 5,298 at the 2010 census.-History:The first settlement in New Hampshire, originally named Pannaway, was established in 1623 at Odiorne's Point. The first settler in Rye was William Berry...
. Greenland abuts
Great BayGreat Bay is a tidal estuary located in Strafford and Rockingham counties in eastern New Hampshire, United States. The bay occupies over , not including its several tidal river tributaries. Its outlet is at Hilton Point in Dover, New Hampshire, where waters from the bay flow into the Piscataqua...
to the north and is primarily drained by the
Winnicut RiverThe Winnicut River is a 9.1 mile long river in the Seacoast region of New Hampshire in the United States. It is the major southeastern tributary of Great Bay, an estuary connected by way of the tidal Piscataqua River to the Atlantic Ocean....
. Greenland lies fully within the
Piscataqua RiverThe Piscataqua River, in the northeastern United States, is a long tidal estuary formed by the confluence of the Salmon Falls and Cocheco rivers...
(Coastal)
watershedA drainage basin is an extent or an area of land where surface water from rain and melting snow or ice converges to a single point, usually the exit of the basin, where the waters join another waterbody, such as a river, lake, reservoir, estuary, wetland, sea, or ocean...
.
Demographics
As of the
censusA census is the procedure of systematically acquiring and recording information about the members of a given population. It is a regularly occurring and official count of a particular population. The term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common...
of 2000, there were 3,208 people, 1,204 households, and 892 families residing in the town. The
population densityPopulation density is a measurement of population per unit area or unit volume. It is frequently applied to living organisms, and particularly to humans...
was 305.9 people per square mile (118.1/km²). There were 1,244 housing units at an average density of 118.6 per square mile (45.8/km²). The racial makeup of the town was 97.79% White, 0.28% African American, 0.03% Native American, 1.22% Asian, 0.03% Pacific Islander, 0.12% from
other racesRace and ethnicity in the United States Census, as defined by the Federal Office of Management and Budget and the United States Census Bureau, are self-identification data items in which residents choose the race or races with which they most closely identify, and indicate whether or not they are...
, and 0.53% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 0.72% of the population.
There were 1,204 households out of which 36.2% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 62.5% were
married couplesMarriage is a social union or legal contract between people that creates kinship. It is an institution in which interpersonal relationships, usually intimate and sexual, are acknowledged in a variety of ways, depending on the culture or subculture in which it is found...
living together, 8.1% had a female householder with no husband present, and 25.9% were non-families. 19.2% of all households were made up of individuals and 6.4% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.65 and the average family size was 3.07.
In the town the population was spread out with 26.5% under the age of 18, 4.4% from 18 to 24, 32.9% from 25 to 44, 26.2% from 45 to 64, and 10.1% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 38 years. For every 100 females there were 92.1 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 89.5 males.
The median income for a household in the town was $62,172, and the median income for a family was $67,188. Males had a median income of $44,592 versus $31,815 for females. The
per capita incomePer capita income or income per person is a measure of mean income within an economic aggregate, such as a country or city. It is calculated by taking a measure of all sources of income in the aggregate and dividing it by the total population...
for the town was $31,270. About 3.6% of families and 5.9% of the population were below the poverty line, including 10.1% of those under age 18 and 5.7% of those age 65 or over.
Notable residents
- Oney Judge
Oney "Ona" Judge, later Oney Judge Staines , was a slave at George Washington's plantation, Mount Vernon in Virginia. A servant in Washington's presidential households beginning in 1789, she escaped to freedom in 1796 and made her way to New Hampshire, where she lived the rest of her life...
(1773–1848), fugitive slave from the household of George WashingtonGeorge Washington was the dominant military and political leader of the new United States of America from 1775 to 1799. He led the American victory over Great Britain in the American Revolutionary War as commander-in-chief of the Continental Army from 1775 to 1783, and presided over the writing of...
External links