Winchester is a
townThe 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-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 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 StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. The population was 4,341 at the 2010 census. The primary settlement in the town, where 1,733 people resided at the 2010 census, is defined by the U.S. Census Bureau as the Winchester
census-designated placeA census-designated place is a concentration of population identified by the United States Census Bureau for statistical purposes. CDPs are delineated for each decennial census as the statistical counterparts of incorporated places such as cities, towns and villages...
(CDP). The town also includes the village of
AshuelotAshuelot is an unincorporated village in the town of Winchester near the southwestern corner of New Hampshire. The village is named after the Ashuelot River, which flows through it....
and part of
Pisgah State ParkPisgah State Park is a woodland located in Cheshire County in New Hampshire. It is the largest state park in New Hampshire and contains a complete watershed north of the Ashuelot River, seven ponds, four highland ridges, numerous wetlands, and a parcel of old-growth forest.-Geography:The park...
.
History
Originally named Arlington in honor of
Charles FitzroyCharles FitzRoy may refer to:*Charles FitzRoy, 2nd Duke of Cleveland , 18th century nobleman*Charles FitzRoy, 2nd Duke of Grafton , nobleman who was Lord Lieutenant of Ireland...
, Earl of Arlington, this town was one of those established in 1733 by
ColonialIn politics and history, a colony is a territory under the immediate political control of a state. For colonies in antiquity, city-states would often found their own colonies. Some colonies were historically countries, while others were territories without definite statehood from their inception....
Governor
Jonathan BelcherJonathan 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...
as protection for the
MassachusettsThe 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...
border at the
Connecticut RiverThe 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...
. After becoming a part of New Hampshire province in 1741, the town was granted to Colonel Josiah Willard, commander of
Fort DummerFort Dummer was a British fort built in 1724 by the colonial militia of the Province of Massachusetts Bay under the command of Lieutenant Timothy Dwight in what is now the Town of Brattleboro in southeastern Vermont. The fort was the first permanent European settlement in Vermont...
. In 1753, it was incorporated by Governor
Benning WentworthBenning 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 Winchester, for Charles Paulet, 3rd Duke of Bolton, 8th
Marquess of WinchesterMarquess of Winchester is a title in the Peerage of England. It was created in 1551 for the prominent statesman William Paulet, 1st Earl of Wiltshire. He had already been created Baron St John in 1539 and Earl of Wiltshire in 1550, also in the Peerage of England...
, and constable of the
Tower of LondonHer Majesty's Royal Palace and Fortress, more commonly known as the Tower of London, is a historic castle on the north bank of the River Thames in central London, England. It lies within the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, separated from the eastern edge of the City of London by the open space...
.
Pioneers who came to the town as early as 1732 were attacked many times by
IndiansThe 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...
. Several settlers were taken captive, and the town was burned in 1747. Its church, founded in 1736, is the oldest religious body in Cheshire County. The town has two
covered bridgeA covered bridge is a bridge with enclosed sides and a roof, often accommodating only a single lane of traffic. Most covered bridges are wooden; some newer ones are concrete or metal with glass sides...
s.
The Winchester Profession, an influential statement of the principles of
UniversalismThe Universalist Church of America was a Christian Universalist religious denomination in the United States . Known from 1866 as the Universalist General Convention, the name was changed to the Universalist Church of America in 1942...
, was adopted at a Universalist congress in Winchester in 1803.
Although it has been an
agriculturalAgriculture is the cultivation of animals, plants, fungi and other life forms for food, fiber, and other products used to sustain life. Agriculture was the key implement in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that nurtured the...
town, many small industries have been established in Winchester. In the 1830s, Graves & Company was among the nation's first manufacturers of musical instruments. The coming of the Ashuelot Railroad in 1850 fostered the growth of
textileA textile or cloth is a flexible woven material consisting of a network of natural or artificial fibres often referred to as thread or yarn. Yarn is produced by spinning raw fibres of wool, flax, cotton, or other material to produce long strands...
mills and wooden-ware factories, especially box manufacture and
leather tanningTanning is the making of leather from the skins of animals which does not easily decompose. Traditionally, tanning used tannin, an acidic chemical compound from which the tanning process draws its name . Coloring may occur during tanning...
.
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 55.5 square miles (143.7 km²), of which 54.9 square miles (142.2 km²) is land and 0.6 square miles (1.6 km²) is water, comprising 1.06% of the town. Winchester is drained by the
Ashuelot RiverThe Ashuelot River is a tributary of the Connecticut River, approximately long, in southwestern New Hampshire in the United States. It drains a mountainous area of , including much of the area known as the Monadnock Region...
and Roaring Brook. Pisgah Reservoir and Kilburn Pond are in the northwest. The highest point in Winchester is 1424 feet (434 m) Franklin Mountain, near the town's northeast corner.
The town center, defined as a
census-designated placeA census-designated place is a concentration of population identified by the United States Census Bureau for statistical purposes. CDPs are delineated for each decennial census as the statistical counterparts of incorporated places such as cities, towns and villages...
(CDP), covers an area of 3 square miles (7.8 km²), about 5.4% of the area of the town.
Winchester is served by state routes
10New Hampshire Route 10 is a north–south state highway in the U.S. state of New Hampshire. Its southern terminus is at the Massachusetts state line in the town of Winchester. In Massachusetts the highway becomes Massachusetts Route 10. Total length of the highway is .-Route description:NH 10...
,
78New Hampshire Route 78 is a long secondary north–south state highway in Cheshire County in the southern part of the U.S. state of New Hampshire. It runs from the Massachusetts border to Winchester....
and
119New 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
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 4,144 people, 1,557 households, and 1,094 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 75.4 people per square mile (29.1/km²). There were 1,741 housing units at an average density of 12.2 persons/km² (31.7 persons/sq mi). The racial makeup of the town was 97.37% White, 0.31%
African AmericanAfrican Americans are citizens or residents of the United States who have at least partial ancestry from any of the native populations of Sub-Saharan Africa and are the direct descendants of enslaved Africans within the boundaries of the present United States...
, 0.56% Native American, 0.31%
AsiaAsia is the world's largest and most populous continent, located primarily in the eastern and northern hemispheres. It covers 8.7% of the Earth's total surface area and with approximately 3.879 billion people, it hosts 60% of the world's current human population...
n, 0.00%
Pacific IslanderPacific Islander , is a geographic term to describe the indigenous inhabitants of any of the three major sub-regions of Oceania: Polynesia, Melanesia and Micronesia.According to the Encyclopædia Britannica, these three regions, together with their islands consist of:Polynesia:...
, 0.22% from other races, and 1.23% from two or more races. 0.82% of the population were
HispanicHispanic is a term that originally denoted a relationship to Hispania, which is to say the Iberian Peninsula: Andorra, Gibraltar, Portugal and Spain. During the Modern Era, Hispanic sometimes takes on a more limited meaning, particularly in the United States, where the term means a person of ...
or
LatinoThe demonyms Latino and Latina , are defined in English language dictionaries as:* "a person of Latin-American descent."* "A Latin American."* "A person of Hispanic, especially Latin-American, descent, often one living in the United States."...
of any race.
There were 1,557 households out of which 33.5% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 52.9% 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, 11.9% have a woman whose husband does not live with her, and 29.7% were non-families. 23.3% of all households were made up of individuals and 10.3% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.61 and the average family size was 3.03.
In the town the population was spread out with 25.5% under the age of 18, 7.6% from 18 to 24, 29.2% from 25 to 44, 23.5% from 45 to 64, and 14.2% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 37 years. For every 100 females there were 96.8 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 95.4 males.
The median income for a household in the town was $37,364, and the median income for a family was $43,393. Males had a median income of $30,399 versus $20,682 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 $16,012. 12.0% of the population and 10.0% of families were below the poverty line. Out of the total people living in poverty, 17.6% are under the age of 18 and 5.8% are 65 or older.
Town center
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 1,832 people, 690 households, and 467 families residing in the CDP (
census-designated placeA census-designated place is a concentration of population identified by the United States Census Bureau for statistical purposes. CDPs are delineated for each decennial census as the statistical counterparts of incorporated places such as cities, towns and villages...
) at the town center. 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 615.7 people per square mile (237.4/km²). There were 727 housing units at an average density of 94.2 persons/km² (244.3 persons/sq mi). The racial makeup of the town was 96.94% White, 0.49%
African AmericanAfrican Americans are citizens or residents of the United States who have at least partial ancestry from any of the native populations of Sub-Saharan Africa and are the direct descendants of enslaved Africans within the boundaries of the present United States...
, 0.66% Native American, 0.38%
AsiaAsia is the world's largest and most populous continent, located primarily in the eastern and northern hemispheres. It covers 8.7% of the Earth's total surface area and with approximately 3.879 billion people, it hosts 60% of the world's current human population...
n, 0.22% from other races, and 1.31% from two or more races. 1.20% of the population were
HispanicHispanic is a term that originally denoted a relationship to Hispania, which is to say the Iberian Peninsula: Andorra, Gibraltar, Portugal and Spain. During the Modern Era, Hispanic sometimes takes on a more limited meaning, particularly in the United States, where the term means a person of ...
or
LatinoThe demonyms Latino and Latina , are defined in English language dictionaries as:* "a person of Latin-American descent."* "A Latin American."* "A person of Hispanic, especially Latin-American, descent, often one living in the United States."...
of any race.
There were 690 households out of which 36.2% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 47.4% 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, 15.1% have a woman whose husband does not live with her, and 32.3% were non-families. 26.1% of all households were made up of individuals and 13.0% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.63 and the average family size was 3.12.
In the CDP the population was spread out with 28.8% under the age of 18, 9.0% from 18 to 24, 29.9% from 25 to 44, 20.2% from 45 to 64, and 12.2% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 34 years. For every 100 females there were 94.9 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 93.3 males.
The median income for a household is $31,281, and the median income for a family was $39,828. Males had a median income of $29,909 versus $19,976 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 $13,646. 17.8% of the population and 17.3% of families were below the poverty line. Out of the total people living in poverty, 25.1% are under the age of 18 and 9.5% are 65 or older.
Culture
Since 1998, Winchester has held its annual
PickleA pickled cucumber is a cucumber that has been pickled in a brine, vinegar, or other solution and left to ferment for a period of time, by either immersing the cucumbers in an acidic solution or through souring by lacto-fermentation.-Gherkin:A gherkin is not only...
Festival each September on its Main Street.
Sites of interest
Notable inhabitants
- Henry Ashley
Henry Ashley was an American politician from New York.-Life:...
, congressman
- Michael Dubruiel
Michael Dubruiel was a Roman Catholic author and speaker. Born in Keene, New Hampshire, Dubruiel served for four years in the U.S. Army before studying for a BA in philosophy from the now-closed St. Meinrad College and an MA in Christian Spirituality from Creighton University...
, religious author
- Louis B. Goodall
Louis Bertrand Goodall was a United States Representative from Maine. He was born in Winchester, New Hampshire on September 23, 1851. He moved to Troy, New Hampshire with his parents in 1852...
, industrialist, banker and congressman
- Marshall Jewell
Marshall Jewell was a U.S. political figure. He served as the 44th and 46th Governor of Connecticut between 1869 and 1870, and again from 1871 until 1873. Born in 1825 in Winchester, New Hampshire, he was first appointed by President Ulysses S. Grant as Minister to Russia from 1873 to 1874, but...
, governor of Connecticut
- Addison Pratt
Addison Pratt was an early Latter-day Saint convert and missionary. Pratt preached in French Polynesia from 1844 to 1848 and from 1850 to 1852, and is recognized by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints as the first Mormon missionary to preach in a language other than English.-Life:Pratt...
, missionary
- Leonard Wood
Leonard Wood was a physician who served as the Chief of Staff of the United States Army, Military Governor of Cuba and Governor General of the Philippines. Early in his military career, he received the Medal of Honor. Wood also holds officer service #2 in the Regular Army...
, army chief of staffThe Chief of Staff of the Army is a statutory office held by a four-star general in the United States Army, and is the most senior uniformed officer assigned to serve in the Department of the Army, and as such is the principal military advisor and a deputy to the Secretary of the Army; and is in...
External links