New London, New Hampshire

History

In 1753, the Masonian Proprietors of Portsmouth, New Hampshire, granted the area now called New London as "Heidelberg". Although it appears on some New Hampshire maps, the township was never settled, and the 1753 grant lapsed into default.

In 1773, roughly the same area was awarded as the "Alexandria Addition" to a new group of speculators, who had previously been granted the adjacent township of Alexandria. These proprietors were led by Jonas Minot of Concord, Massachusetts, but the others were Scotch-Irish immigrants living in Londonderry, New Hampshire. None built dwellings in the Alexandria Addition. Instead they recruited settlers to build roads, mills, schools, and a church—all increasing the value of their land holdings. Nearly all of the original settlers came from Massachusetts, either from the Amesbury area of the north shore or from the Attleboro area in the southeast. The township proprietors soon began a long, systematic process of subdividing and selling their properties at great profit.

By 1779, there were sixteen families recorded within the bounds of the Alexandria Addition, and they petitioned the General Court to incorporate as the town of "New London"—officially named after London, England, but perhaps also an acknowledgement of the Londonderry-based proprietors. The first town meeting was held on August 3, 1779.

In 1807, the northern half of New London was annexed, merged with an area called "Kearsarge Gore", and then incorporated as the town of Wilmot, New Hampshire. In the early 19th century, there were three small additions to New London, including the village of Otterville in 1817.

Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 25.6 square miles (66 km²), of which 22.5 sq mi (58 km²) is land and 3.1 sq mi (8.0 km²) is water, comprising 12.04% of the town. The highest point in town is Morgan Hill, approximately 1,770 feet (540 m) above sea level.

The town is crossed by Interstate 89, which serves New London with two exits, and by New Hampshire Routes 11, 103A, and 114.

Demographics

As of the census of 2000, there were 4,116 people, 1,574 households, and 1,051 families residing in the town. The population density was 182.9 people per square mile (70.6/km²). There were 2,085 housing units at an average density of 92.6 per square mile (35.8/km²). The racial makeup of the town was 98.35% White, 0.22% African American, 0.05% Native American, 0.73% Asian, 0.02% Pacific Islander, 0.19% from other races, and 0.44% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 0.63% of the population.

There were 1,574 households out of which 19.3% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 60.6% were married couples living together, 5.0% had a female householder with no husband present, and 33.2% were non-families. 29.4% of all households were made up of individuals and 18.7% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.16 and the average family size was 2.63.

In the town, the population was spread out with 14.3% under the age of 18, 18.4% from 18 to 24, 14.5% from 25 to 44, 23.0% from 45 to 64, and 29.8% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 47 years. For every 100 females there were 78.3 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 73.7 males.

The median income for a household in the town was $61,520, and the median income for a family was $82,201. Males had a median income of $51,506 versus $33,984 for females. The per capita income for the town was $37,556. About 1.5% of families and 2.4% of the population were below the poverty line, including 2.4% of those under age 18 and 1.5% of those age 65 or over.

Sites of interest