Rindge, New Hampshire
Encyclopedia
Rindge is a town
New England town
The New England town is the basic unit of local government in each of the six New England states. Without a direct counterpart in most other U.S. states, New England towns are conceptually similar to civil townships in other states, but are incorporated, possessing powers like cities in other...

 in Cheshire County
Cheshire County, New Hampshire
-Demographics:As of the census of 2000, there were 73,825 people, 28,299 households, and 18,790 families residing in the county. The population density was 104 people per square mile . There were 31,876 housing units at an average density of 45 per square mile...

, New Hampshire
New Hampshire
New 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
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

. The population was 6,014 at the 2010 census. Rindge is home to Franklin Pierce University, the Cathedral of the Pines, and part of Annett State Forest.

Native American inhabitants

The land in and around Rindge was originally inhabited by ancestors of the Abenaki tribe of Native American
Indigenous peoples of the Americas
The indigenous peoples of the Americas are the pre-Columbian inhabitants of North and South America, their descendants and other ethnic groups who are identified with those peoples. Indigenous peoples are known in Canada as Aboriginal peoples, and in the United States as Native Americans...

s. Archeological evidence from nearby Swanzey
Swanzey, New Hampshire
Swanzey is a town in Cheshire County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 7,230 at the 2010 census. In addition to the town center, Swanzey includes the villages of East Swanzey, West Swanzey, North Swanzey, and Westport.-History:...

 indicates that the region was inhabited as much as 11,000 years ago (coinciding with the end of the last glacial period). As much as half of the Western Abenakis were victims of a wave of epidemic
Epidemic
In epidemiology, an epidemic , occurs when new cases of a certain disease, in a given human population, and during a given period, substantially exceed what is expected based on recent experience...

s that coincided with the arrival of Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...

ans in the late 16th and early 17th centuries. Later, many of the Western Abenaki present in southwestern New Hampshire chose to relocate to Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

 during Colonial times, primarily due to their allegiance with the French
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

 during the French and Indian Wars
French and Indian Wars
The French and Indian Wars is a name used in the United States for a series of conflicts lasting 74 years in North America that represented colonial events related to the European dynastic wars...

.

Settlement by European colonists

In the eighteenth century, Massachusetts
Province of Massachusetts Bay
The Province of Massachusetts Bay was a crown colony in North America. It was chartered on October 7, 1691 by William and Mary, the joint monarchs of the kingdoms of England and Scotland...

 granted unappropriated land to veterans of Sir William Phipps
William Phipps
William Edward "Bill" Phipps is a retired American actor and producer, perhaps best known for his roles in dozens of classic sci-fi and westerns, both film and television, from the late 1940s through the mid 1960s. From then, until his retirement in 2000, his work was mainly in...

' 1690 expedition against French-held Canada
New France
New France was the area colonized by France in North America during a period beginning with the exploration of the Saint Lawrence River by Jacques Cartier in 1534 and ending with the cession of New France to Spain and Great Britain in 1763...

, called the Battle of Quebec
Battle of Quebec (1690)
The Battle of Quebec was fought in October 1690 between the colonies of New France and Massachusetts Bay, then ruled by the kingdoms of France and England, respectively. It was the first time Quebec's defences were tested....

, as compensation for services. Whole townships were granted to certain military companies and became known as "Canada" townships. Granted in 1736 by Governor Jonathan Belcher
Jonathan Belcher
Jonathan Belcher was colonial governor of the British provinces of Massachusetts Bay, New Hampshire, and New Jersey.-Early life:Jonathan Belcher was born in Cambridge, Province of Massachusetts Bay, in 1682...

 to soldiers from Rowley
Rowley, Massachusetts
Rowley is a town in Essex County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 5,500 at the 2000 census.Part of the town comprises the census-designated place of Rowley.-History:...

, Massachusetts
Massachusetts
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010...

, Rindge was first known as Rowley-Canada. But the Masonian proprietors were making competing claims to the area, and in 1740 commissioners of the Crown
The Crown
The Crown is a corporation sole that in the Commonwealth realms and any provincial or state sub-divisions thereof represents the legal embodiment of governance, whether executive, legislative, or judicial...

 decided that the boundary between Massachusetts and New Hampshire
Province of New Hampshire
The Province of New Hampshire is a name first given in 1629 to the territory between the Merrimack and Piscataqua rivers on the eastern coast of North America. It was formally organized as an English royal colony on October 7, 1691, during the period of English colonization...

 lay south of Rowley-Canada. Consequently, it was re-granted in 1749 by Governor Benning Wentworth
Benning Wentworth
Benning Wentworth was the colonial governor of New Hampshire from 1741 to 1766.-Biography:The eldest child of the John Wentworth who had been Lieutenant Governor, he was born and died in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. Wentworth graduated from Harvard College in 1715...

 as Monadnock No. 1, or South Monadnock. The town would be incorporated in 1768 by Governor John Wentworth
John Wentworth (governor)
Sir John Wentworth, 1st Baronet was the British colonial governor of New Hampshire at the time of the American Revolution. He was later also Lieutenant-Governor of Nova Scotia.-Early life:...

 as Rindge, in honor of Captain Daniel Rindge of Portsmouth
Portsmouth, New Hampshire
Portsmouth 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...

, one of the original grant holders, and the one who represented New Hampshire's claim to the land before the king.

Captain Abel Platts is credited as being Rindge's first temporary settler, arriving in 1738 to take possession of his family's land grant.
But disputes about the grants, combined with the outbreak in 1744 of the French and Indian War
French and Indian War
The French and Indian War is the common American name for the war between Great Britain and France in North America from 1754 to 1763. In 1756, the war erupted into the world-wide conflict known as the Seven Years' War and thus came to be regarded as the North American theater of that war...

, made it untenable to remain in Rindge, so early settlers abandoned it. Platts and others returned in 1752, and starting in 1758, settlement increased steadily. There were 1,274 residents by 1859, when water powered industries included three gristmill
Gristmill
The terms gristmill or grist mill can refer either to a building in which grain is ground into flour, or to the grinding mechanism itself.- Early history :...

s, thirteen sawmill
Sawmill
A sawmill is a facility where logs are cut into boards.-Sawmill process:A sawmill's basic operation is much like those of hundreds of years ago; a log enters on one end and dimensional lumber exits on the other end....

s, thirteen shingle
Roof shingle
Roof shingles are a roof covering consisting of individual overlapping elements. These elements are typically flat rectangular shapes laid in rows from the bottom edge of the roof up, with each successive higher row overlapping the joints in the row below...

 mills, six stave
Stave
Stave can refer to:*Staff , a set of five horizontal lines and four spaces used in musical notation*Stave church, a Medieval wooden church with post and beam construction prevalent in Norway*The individual wood strips that form the sides of a barrel...

 mills, two planing mill
Planing mill
A planing mill is a facility that takes cut and seasoned boards from a sawmill and turns them into finished dimensional lumber. Machines used in the mill include the planer and matcher, the molding machines, and varieties of saws...

s, and several clapboard
Clapboard (architecture)
Clapboard, also known as bevel siding or lap siding or weather-board , is a board used typically for exterior horizontal siding that has one edge thicker than the other and where the board above laps over the one below...

 mills.

Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau
United States Census Bureau
The 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 40 square miles (103.6 km²), of which 37.2 sq mi (96.3 km²) is land and 2.8 sq mi (7.3 km²) is water, comprising 6.93% of the town. Rindge is located in a hilly lake region. Hubbard Pond is in the northeast, Contoocook Lake
Contoocook Lake
Contoocook Lake is a water body located in Cheshire County in southwestern New Hampshire, United States, in the towns of Jaffrey and Rindge. The lake, along with Pool Pond, forms the headwaters of the Contoocook River, which flows north to the Merrimack River in Penacook, New Hampshire.Contoocook...

 on the northern boundary, and Lake Monomonac
Lake Monomonac
Lake Monomonac is an artificial lake that straddles the border between Rindge, New Hampshire and Winchendon, Massachusetts. It was created from a small pond in New Hampshire by the construction of dams on the North Branch of the Millers River, a part of the Connecticut River watershed.Lake...

 on the southern boundary. The town is located on a regional watershed divide and is the headwaters for two river systems. The Contoocook River
Contoocook River
The Contoocook River is a river in New Hampshire. It flows from Pool Pond and Contoocook Lake on the Jaffrey/Rindge border to Penacook , where it empties into the Merrimack River. It is one of only a few rivers in New Hampshire that flow in a predominantly northward direction...

 flows north to the Merrimack River
Merrimack River
The Merrimack River is a river in the northeastern United States. It rises at the confluence of the Pemigewasset and Winnipesaukee rivers in Franklin, New Hampshire, flows southward into Massachusetts, and then flows northeast until it empties into the Atlantic Ocean at Newburyport...

, thence to the Gulf of Maine
Gulf of Maine
The Gulf of Maine is a large gulf of the Atlantic Ocean on the east coast of North America.It is delineated by Cape Cod at the eastern tip of Massachusetts in the southwest and Cape Sable at the southern tip of Nova Scotia in the northeast. It includes the entire coastlines of the U.S...

, and the Millers River
Millers River
The Millers River is a river in northern Massachusetts, originating in Ashburnham and joining the Connecticut River just downstream from Millers Falls, Massachusetts...

 flows southwest to the Connecticut River
Connecticut River
The Connecticut River is the largest and longest river in New England, and also an American Heritage River. It flows roughly south, starting from the Fourth Connecticut Lake in New Hampshire. After flowing through the remaining Connecticut Lakes and Lake Francis, it defines the border between the...

, thence to Long Island Sound
Long Island Sound
Long Island Sound is an estuary of the Atlantic Ocean, located in the United States between Connecticut to the north and Long Island, New York to the south. The mouth of the Connecticut River at Old Saybrook, Connecticut, empties into the sound. On its western end the sound is bounded by the Bronx...

. Rindge's highest point is on its eastern border, on the lower slopes of Pratt Mountain
Pratt Mountain
Pratt Mountain is a monadnock located in south-central New Hampshire within the Wapack Range of mountains. It lies within the town of New Ipswich and is traversed by the Wapack Trail. The subordinate peak, Stony Top, , forms the north shoulder of the mountain...

, where the elevation reaches 1505 feet (458.7 m) above sea level
Sea level
Mean sea level is a measure of the average height of the ocean's surface ; used as a standard in reckoning land elevation...

.

Rindge is home to the villages
Village (United States)
In the United States, the meaning of "village" varies by geographic area and legal jurisdiction. In many areas, "village" is a term, sometimes informal, for a type of administrative division at the local government level...

 of Rindge Center, East Rindge, Converseville, and West Rindge. The town is crossed by U.S. Route 202 and New Hampshire Route 119
New Hampshire Route 119
New Hampshire Route 119 is a long east–west state highway in Cheshire County in southwestern New Hampshire. The highway runs from the Massachusetts border in New Ipswich to Hinsdale on the Vermont border....

.

Demographics

As of the census
Census
A 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 5,451 people, 1,502 households, and 1,138 families residing in the town. The population density
Population density
Population density is a measurement of population per unit area or unit volume. It is frequently applied to living organisms, and particularly to humans...

 was 146.6 people per square mile (56.6/km2). There were 1,863 housing units at an average density of 50.1 per square mile (19.3/km2). The racial makeup of the town was 97.21% White, 1.16% African American, 0.15% Native American, 0.33% Asian, 0.02% Pacific Islander, 0.40% from other races
Race (United States Census)
Race 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 0.73% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 0.88% of the population. 15.1% were of English
English people
The English are a nation and ethnic group native to England, who speak English. The English identity is of early mediaeval origin, when they were known in Old English as the Anglecynn. England is now a country of the United Kingdom, and the majority of English people in England are British Citizens...

, 11.2% Finnish, 11.0% Irish
Irish people
The Irish people are an ethnic group who originate in Ireland, an island in northwestern Europe. Ireland has been populated for around 9,000 years , with the Irish people's earliest ancestors recorded having legends of being descended from groups such as the Nemedians, Fomorians, Fir Bolg, Tuatha...

, 9.5% French
French people
The French are a nation that share a common French culture and speak the French language as a mother tongue. Historically, the French population are descended from peoples of Celtic, Latin and Germanic origin, and are today a mixture of several ethnic groups...

, 9.3% French Canadian
French Canadian
French Canadian or Francophone Canadian, , generally refers to the descendents of French colonists who arrived in New France in the 17th and 18th centuries...

, 8.9% American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 and 7.5% Italian
Italian people
The Italian people are an ethnic group that share a common Italian culture, ancestry and speak the Italian language as a mother tongue. Within Italy, Italians are defined by citizenship, regardless of ancestry or country of residence , and are distinguished from people...

 ancestry according to Census 2000.

There were 1,502 households out of which 38.3% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 65.4% were married couples
Marriage
Marriage 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, 6.6% had a female householder with no husband present, and 24.2% were non-families. 18.6% of all households were made up of individuals and 5.3% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.87 and the average family size was 3.30.

In the town the population was spread out with 24.1% under the age of 18, 26.3% from 18 to 24, 22.0% from 25 to 44, 19.8% from 45 to 64, and 7.7% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 24 years. For every 100 females there were 103.5 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 102.4 males.

The median income for a household in the town was $50,494, and the median income for a family was $52,500. Males had a median income of $36,268 versus $27,204 for females. The per capita income
Per capita income
Per 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 $18,495. About 4.3% of families and 7.6% of the population were below the poverty line, including 11.5% of those under age 18 and 3.3% of those age 65 or over.

Education

Rindge belongs to the Jaffrey-Rindge Cooperative School District, which has a total of four schools. Rindge is also the home of Franklin Pierce University.

Colleges and universities
  • Franklin Pierce University


Public high schools
  • Conant High School (located in Jaffrey
    Jaffrey, New Hampshire
    Jaffrey is a town in Cheshire County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 5,457 at the 2010 census.The primary settlement in town, where 2,757 people resided at the 2010 census, is defined as the Jaffrey census-designated place and is located along the Contoocook River at the...

    )


Public middle and grade schools
  • Rindge Memorial School
  • Jaffrey Grade School (located in Jaffrey)
  • Jaffrey-Rindge Middle School (located in Jaffrey)


Private schools
  • Hampshire Country School
    Hampshire Country School
    Hampshire Country School is a private boarding school for gifted children in Rindge, New Hampshire, started by Henry Curtis Patey and Adelaide Walker Patey in 1948. Formerly a co-educational school, it is designed now as a residential middle school for boys with high ability who have difficulty in...

  • Heritage Christian School
  • The Meeting School
    The meeting school
    The Meeting School is a co-ed boarding school for grades 9-12 based on the practices and principals of the Religious Society of Friends . It is located in Rindge, New Hampshire, USA on a working organic farm with of field and forest....

    , a small Quaker farm alternative high school

Sites of interest

  • Annett Wayside Park, part of Annett State Forest, includes picnic tables, toilets, and a hiking trail to Black Reservoir.
  • Cathedral of the Pines, a national memorial for all American
    United States
    The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

     war dead. The location had been selected by Lieutenant Sanderson Sloane and his wife as the place to build their home when he returned from World War II
    World War II
    World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

    . A cathedral was created by his parents, Dr. and Mrs. Douglas Sloane, after learning that their son was lost when the bomber
    Bomber
    A bomber is a military aircraft designed to attack ground and sea targets, by dropping bombs on them, or – in recent years – by launching cruise missiles at them.-Classifications of bombers:...

     he flew was shot down over Germany
    Germany
    Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

     on February 22, 1944.
  • Rindge Historical Society.
  • The Rindge Meeting House
    Second Rindge Meetinghouse, Horsesheds and Cemetery
    Second Rindge Meetinghouse, Horsesheds and Cemetery is a historic meeting house and cemetery on Old US 202 and Rindge Common in Rindge, New Hampshire.It was built in 1794 and added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1979....

    , built in 1796, is one of the largest town meeting houses in northern New England and one of the few civic buildings in the region that still straddles the separation of church and state
    Establishment Clause of the First Amendment
    The Establishment Clause is the first of several pronouncements in the First Amendment to the United States Constitution, stating, Together with the Free Exercise Clause The Establishment Clause is the first of several pronouncements in the First Amendment to the United States Constitution,...

    . The building is owned by the town, and the second floor is leased to the First Congregational Church which uses it for services and other church functions. The first floor is still used for town functions such as Zoning Board meetings as well as community functions such as fairs, Scout meetings, exercise classes, and the like.

Notable inhabitants

  • George P. Barker
    George P. Barker
    George Payson Barker was an American lawyer and politician.-Life:...

    , lawyer and politician
  • Addison Gardiner
    Addison Gardiner
    Addison Gardiner was an American lawyer and politician who was the Chief Judge of the New York Court of Appeals from 1854 to 1855.-Early life and career:...

    , politician and judge
  • Enoch Hale
    Enoch Hale
    Enoch Hale was born in Rowley, Massachusetts on November 28, 1733. He and his brother Nathan Hale would move to Rindge, New Hampshire as young men. During the French and Indian War Enoch Hale served in the New Hampshire Provincial Regiment in 1755 and 1757-1758...

    , militia officer
  • Nathan Hale
    Nathan Hale (colonel)
    Nathan Hale was an American soldier. Born in Hampstead, New Hampshire, he soon moved with his father to Rindge, New Hampshire. Hale participated in the American Revolutionary War and fought in the Battle of Lexington and Concord, Battle of Bunker Hill, Siege of Fort Ticonderoga, and Battle of...

    , military officer
  • Amasa Norcross
    Amasa Norcross
    Amasa Norcross was a U.S. Representative from Massachusetts.Born in Rindge, New Hampshire, Norcross attended the common schools and Appleton Academy, New Ipswich, New Hampshire. He studied law, was admitted to the bar in 1847 and commenced practice in Worcester, Massachusetts...

    , congressman
  • Edward Payson
    Edward Payson
    Edward Payson , American Congregational preacher, was born on 25 July 1783 at Rindge, New Hampshire, where his father, Seth Payson , was pastor of the Congregational Church. His uncle, Phillips Payson , pastor of a church in Chelsea, Massachusetts, was a physicist and astronomer...

    , preacher

External links

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