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 province of Quebec to the north. New Hampshire is the 5th smallest and the 9th least populous of the 50 U.S. states.

It became the first of the British North American colony to break away from Great Britain in January 1776, and six months later was one of the original thirteen states that founded the United States of America. In June 1788, it became the ninth state to ratify the United States Constitution, bringing that document into effect. New Hampshire was the first U.S. state to have its own state constitution.

It is known internationally for the New Hampshire primary, the first primary in the U.S. presidential election cycle. Concord is the state capital, while Manchester is the largest city in the state. It has no general sales tax, nor is personal income (other than interest and dividends) taxed at either the state or local level.

Its license plates carry the state motto: "Live Free or Die". The state's nickname, "The Granite State", refers to its extensive granite formations and quarries.

Among prominent individuals from New Hampshire are founding father Nicholas Gilman, Senator Daniel Webster, Revolutionary War hero John Stark, editor Horace Greeley, founder of the Christian Science religion Mary Baker Eddy, poet Robert Frost, astronaut Alan Shepard, and author Dan Brown. New Hampshire has produced one president: Franklin Pierce.

With some of the largest ski mountains on the East Coast, New Hampshire's major recreational attractions include skiing, snowmobiling and other winter sports, hiking and mountaineering, observing the fall foliage, summer cottages along many lakes and the seacoast, motor sports at the New Hampshire Motor Speedway, and Motorcycle Week, a popular motorcycle rally held in Weirs Beach near Laconia in June. The White Mountain National Forest links the Vermont and Maine portions of the Appalachian Trail, and boasts the Mount Washington Auto Road, where visitors may drive to the top of 6288 ft Mount Washington.

Geography

 * See List of counties in New Hampshire, mountains, lakes, and rivers

New Hampshire is part of the New England region. It is bounded by Quebec, Canada, to the north and northwest; Maine and the Atlantic Ocean to the east; Massachusetts to the south; and Vermont to the west. New Hampshire's major regions are the Great North Woods, the White Mountains, the Lakes Region, the Seacoast, the Merrimack Valley, the Monadnock Region, and the Dartmouth-Lake Sunapee area. New Hampshire has the shortest ocean coastline of any U.S. coastal state, with a length of 18 mi. New Hampshire was home to the rock formation called the Old Man of the Mountain, a face-like profile in Franconia Notch, until the formation fell apart in May 2003.

The White Mountains range in New Hampshire spans the north-central portion of the state, with Mount Washington the tallest in the northeastern U.S. – site of the second-highest wind speed ever recorded – and other mountains like Mount Madison and Mount Adams surrounding it. With hurricane-force winds every third day on average, over 100 recorded deaths among visitors, and conspicuous krumholtz (dwarf, matted trees much like a carpet of bonsai trees), the climate on the upper reaches of Mount Washington has inspired the weather observatory on the peak to claim that the area has the "World's Worst Weather". In the flatter southwest corner of New Hampshire, the landmark Mount Monadnock has given its name to a class of earth-forms – a monadnock – signifying, in geomorphology, any isolated resistant peak rising from a less resistant eroded plain.

Major rivers include the 110 mi Merrimack River, which bisects the lower half of the state north-south and ends up in Newburyport, Massachusetts. Its tributaries include the Contoocook River, Pemigewasset River, and Winnipesaukee River. The 410 mi Connecticut River, which starts at New Hampshire's Connecticut Lakes and flows south to Connecticut, defines the western border with Vermont. The state border is not in the center of that river, as usually the case, but at the low-water mark on the Vermont side; meaning that the entire river along the Vermont border (save for areas where the water level has been raised by a dam) lies within New Hampshire. Only one town – Pittsburg – shares a land border with the state of Vermont. The "northwesternmost headwaters" of the Connecticut also define the Canadian border with New Hampshire.

The Piscataqua River and its several tributaries form the state's only significant ocean port where they flow into the Atlantic at Portsmouth. The Salmon Falls River and the Piscataqua define the southern portion of the border with Maine. The Piscataqua River boundary was the subject of a border dispute between New Hampshire and Maine in 2001, with New Hampshire claiming dominion over several islands (primarily Seavey's Island) that include the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard. The U.S. Supreme Court dismissed the case in 2002, leaving ownership of the island with Maine.

The largest of New Hampshire's lakes is Lake Winnipesaukee, which covers 71 sqmi in the east-central part of New Hampshire. Lake Umbagog along the Maine border, approximately 12.3 sqmi, is a distant second.

Hampton Beach is a popular local summer destination. About 7 mi offshore are the Isles of Shoals, nine small islands (four of which are in New Hampshire) known as the site of a 19th century art colony founded by poet Celia Thaxter, as well as the alleged location of one of the buried treasures of the pirate Blackbeard.

It is the state with the second highest percentage of timberland area in the country, after Maine.

New Hampshire has the shortest ocean coastline of any state in the United States, approximately 18 miles long.

New Hampshire is in the temperate broadleaf and mixed forests biome. Much of the state, in particular the White Mountains, is covered by the conifers and northern hardwoods of the New England-Acadian forests. The southeast corner of the state and parts of the Connecticut River along the Vermont border are covered by the mixed oaks of the Northeastern coastal forests.

The northern third of the state is locally referred to as the "north country" or "north of the notches," in reference to White Mountain passes that channel traffic. It contains less than 5% of the state's population, suffers relatively high poverty, and is losing population as the logging and paper industries decline. However, the tourist industry, in particular visitors who go to northern New Hampshire to ski, snowboard, hike and mountain bike has helped offset economic losses from mill closures.

Climate
New Hampshire experiences a humid continental climate (Köppen climate classification Dfa in southern areas and Dfb in the north), with warm, humid summers, cold, wet winters, and uniform precipitation all year. The climate of the southeastern portion is moderated by the Atlantic Ocean and averages relatively milder and wetter weather, while the northern and interior portions experience cooler temperatures and lower humidity. Winters are cold and snowy throughout the state, and especially severe in the northern and mountainous areas. Average annual snowfall ranges from 60 in to over 100 in across the state.

Average daytime highs are in the mid 70s°F to low 80s°F (around 24–28 °C) throughout the state in July, with overnight lows in the mid 50s°F to low 60s°F (13–15 °C). January temperatures range from an average high of 34 F on the coast to overnight lows below 0 F in the far north and at high elevations. Average annual precipitation statewide is roughly 40 in with some variation occurring in the White Mountains due to differences in elevation and annual snowfall. New Hampshire's highest recorded temperature was 106 F in Nashua on July 4, 1911, while the lowest recorded temperature was -47 F atop Mount Washington on January 29, 1934. Mount Washington also saw an unofficial -50 F reading on January 22, 1885 which, if made official, would tie the all-time record low for New England (also -50 F at Big Black River, Maine on January 16, 2009 and Bloomfield, Vermont on December 30, 1933).

Extreme snow is often associated with a nor'easter, such as the Blizzard of '78 and the Blizzard of 1993, when several feet accumulated across portions of the state over 24 to 48 hours. Lighter snowfalls of several inches occur frequently throughout winter, often associated with an Alberta Clipper.

New Hampshire, on occasion, is affected by hurricanes and tropical storms although by the time they reach the state they are often extratropical, with most storms striking the southern New England coastline and moving inland or passing by offshore in the Gulf of Maine. Most of New Hampshire averages fewer than 20 days of thunderstorms per year and an average of two tornadoes occur annually statewide.

The National Arbor Day Foundation plant hardiness zone map depicts zones 3, 4, 5, and 6 occurring throughout the state and indicates the transition from a relatively cooler to warmer climate as one travels southward across New Hampshire. The 1990 USDA plant hardiness zones for New Hampshire range from zone 3b in the north to zone 5b in the south.

History
Various Algonquian (Pennacook) tribes inhabited the area prior to European settlement. English and French explorers visited New Hampshire in 1600–1605, and English fishermen settled at Odiorne's Point in present-day Rye in 1623. The first permanent settlement was at Hilton's Point (present-day Dover). By 1631, the Upper Plantation comprised modern-day Dover, Durham and Stratham; in 1679, it became the "Royal Province." Father Rale's War was fought between the colonists and the Wabanaki Confederacy throughout New Hampshire.

New Hampshire was one of the thirteen colonies that rebelled against British rule during the American Revolution. By the time of the American Revolution, New Hampshire was a divided province. The economic and social life of the Seacoast revolved around sawmills, shipyards, merchant's warehouses, and established village and town centers. Wealthy merchants built substantial homes, furnished them with the finest luxuries, and invested their capital in trade and land speculation. At the other end of the social scale, there developed a permanent class of day laborers, mariners, indentured servants and even slaves.

The only battle fought in New Hampshire was the raid on Fort William and Mary, December 14, 1774, in Portsmouth Harbor, which netted the rebellion sizable quantities of gunpowder, small arms and cannon. (General Sullivan, leader of the raid, described it as, "remainder of the powder, the small arms, bayonets, and cartouche-boxes, together with the cannon and ordnance stores") over the course of two nights. This raid was preceded by a warning to local patriots the previous day, by Paul Revere on December 13, 1774, that the fort was to be reinforced by troops sailing from Boston. According to unverified accounts, the gunpowder was later used at the Battle of Bunker Hill, transported there by Major Demerit, who was one of several New Hampshire patriots who stored the powder in their homes until it was transported elsewhere for use in revolutionary activities.

New Hampshire was a Jacksonian stronghold; the state sent Franklin Pierce to the White House in the election of 1852. Industrialization took the form of numerous textile mills, which in turn attracted large flows of immigrants from Quebec (the "French Canadians") and Ireland. The northern parts of the state produced lumber and the mountains provided tourist attractions. After 1960, the textile industry collapsed, but the economy rebounded as a center of high technology and a service provider.

Since 1952, New Hampshire gained national and international attention for its presidential primary held early in every presidential election year. It immediately became the most important testing grounds for candidates for the Republican and Democratic nominations. The media gave New Hampshire (and Iowa) about half of all the attention paid to all states in the primary process, magnifying the state's decision powers (and spurring repeated efforts by out-of-state politicians to change the rules.)

Demographics
The United States Census Bureau estimates that the population of New Hampshire was 1,318,194 on July 1, 2011, a 0.13% increase since the 2010 United States Census. The center of population of New Hampshire is located in Merrimack County, in the town of Pembroke. The center of population has moved south 12 mi since 1950, a reflection of the fact that the fastest growth in the state has been along its southern border, which is within commuting range of Boston and other Massachusetts cities.

Race and ancestry
According to the 2010 U.S. Census Bureau, the racial makeup of New Hampshire was as follows:
 * 93.9% White (92.3% Non-Hispanic White)
 * 2.2% Asian
 * 1.1% Black or African American
 * 0.2% Native American/American Indian
 * 1.6% Two or more races

The largest ancestry groups in New Hampshire are, per 2010 Census Bureau estimates:


 * 24.5% French and French Canadian
 * 21.5% Irish
 * 17.6% English
 * 10.3% Italian
 * 8.4% German
 * 5.4% American
 * 4.4% Scottish
 * 4.2% Polish
 * 2.0% Swedish
 * 1.6% Greek
 * 1.4% Portuguese
 * 1.1% Scots-Irish

The large Irish American and French-Canadian populations are descended largely from mill workers, and many still live in the former mill towns, like Manchester. New Hampshire has the highest percentage (24.5% of the population) of residents of French/French-Canadian/Acadian ancestry of any U.S. state.

According to the 2000 U.S. Census, 3.41% of the population aged 5 and older speak French at home, while 1.60% speak Spanish.

In Coös County, 16% of the population speaks French at home.

Religion
Percentage of New Hampshire residents by religion (from USA Today):


 * Christian – 72%
 * Catholic – 35%
 * Protestant – 32%
 * Baptist – 6%
 * Congregationalist/United Church of Christ – 6%
 * Episcopalian/Anglican – 4%
 * Methodist – 3%
 * Lutheran – 1%
 * Pentecostal/Charismatic – 1%
 * Presbyterian – 1%
 * Protestant, no supplied denomination – 10%
 * Unspecified Christian – 5%
 * Jewish – 1%
 * Other – 2%
 * No religion – 17%
 * Less than 0.5% each –
 * Mormon/Latter Day Saints, Churches of Christ, non-denominational, Jehovah's Witnesses, Assemblies of God, Muslim, Buddhist, Evangelical, Church of God, and Seventh-Day Adventist

A survey suggests that people in New Hampshire and Vermont are less likely than other Americans to attend weekly services and only 54% say that they are "absolutely certain there is a God" compared to 71% in the rest of the nation. New Hampshire and Vermont are also at the lowest levels among states in religious commitment. In 2012, 23% of New Hampshire residents in a Gallup poll considered themselves "very religious", while 52% considered themselves "non-religious". According to the ARDA the largest single Protestant denominations are the United Church of Christ with 34,299; and the United Methodist Church with 18,927 members. The Catholic Church had 431,259 members.

Economy
The Bureau of Economic Analysis estimates that New Hampshire's total state product in 2008 was $60 billion, ranking 40th in the United States. Median household income in 2008 was $49,467, seventh highest in the country. Its agricultural outputs are dairy products, nursery stock, cattle, apples and eggs. Its industrial outputs are machinery, electric equipment, rubber and plastic products and tourism.

New Hampshire experienced a significant shift in its economic base during the last century. Historically, the base was composed of the traditional New England manufactures of textiles, shoe making, and small machining shops drawing upon low-wage labor from nearby small farms and from parts of Quebec. Today, these sectors contribute only 2% for textiles, 2% for leather goods, and 9% for machining of the state's total manufacturing dollar value (Source: U.S. Economic Census for 1997, Manufacturing, New Hampshire). They experienced a sharp decline due to obsolete plants and the lure of cheaper wages in the South.

The state's budget in FY2008 was $5.11 billion, including $1.48 billion in federal funds. The issue of taxation is controversial in New Hampshire, which has a property tax (subject to municipal control) but no broad sales tax or income tax. The state does have narrower taxes on meals, lodging, vehicles, business and investment income, and tolls on state roads.

According to the Energy Information Administration, New Hampshire's energy consumption and per capita energy consumption are among the lowest in the country. The Seabrook Station Nuclear Power Plant, located near Portsmouth, is the largest nuclear reactor in New England and provides about 30 percent of New Hampshire’s electricity. Two natural gas-fired plants and some fossil-fuel powered plants, including the coal-fired Merrimack Station plant in Bow, provide most of the rest.

New Hampshire’s residential electricity use is low compared with the national average, in part because demand for air conditioning is low during the generally mild summer months and because few households use electricity as their primary energy source for home heating. Over half of New Hampshire households use fuel oil for winter heating. New Hampshire has potential for renewable energies like wind power, hydroelectricity, and wood fuel.

The state has no general sales tax and no personal state income tax (the state does tax, at a 5 percent rate, income from dividends and interest) and the legislature has exercised fiscal restraint. Efforts to diversify the state's general economy have been ongoing.

Additionally, New Hampshire's lack of a broad-based tax system (aside from the controversial statewide property tax) has resulted in the state's local communities having some of the nation's highest property taxes. Overall, New Hampshire remains ranked 49th among states in combined average state and local tax burden.

As of February 2010, the state's unemployment rate was 7.1%. By October 2010, the unemployment rate dropped to 5.4%.

Law and government


The Governor of New Hampshire is John Lynch (Democrat). New Hampshire's two U.S. senators are Jeanne Shaheen (Democrat) and Kelly Ayotte (Republican). New Hampshire's two U.S. representatives are Frank Guinta (Republican) and Charlie Bass (Republican).

New Hampshire is an alcoholic beverage control state, and through the State Liquor Commission it takes in $100 million from the sale and distribution of liquor.

The state has offered civil unions since January 1, 2008, and, on January 1, 2010, same-sex marriage became legal.

Governing documents
The New Hampshire State Constitution of 1783 is the supreme law of the state, followed by the New Hampshire Revised Statutes Annotated and the New Hampshire Code of Administrative Rules. These are roughly analogous to the federal United States Constitution, United States Code and Code of Federal Regulations respectively.

Branches of government
New Hampshire has a bifurcated executive branch, consisting of the governor and a five-member executive council which votes on state contracts worth more than $5,000 and "advises and consents" to the governor's nominations to major state positions such as department heads and all judgeships and pardon requests. New Hampshire does not have a lieutenant governor; the Senate president serves as "acting governor" whenever the governor is unable to perform the duties.

The legislature is called the General Court. It consists of the House of Representatives and the Senate. There are 400 representatives, making it one of the largest elected bodies in the English-speaking world, and 24 senators. Most are effectively volunteers, nearly half of which are retirees. (For details, see the article on Government of New Hampshire.)

The state's sole appellate court is the New Hampshire Supreme Court. The Superior Court is the court of general jurisdiction and the only court which provides for jury trials in civil or criminal cases. The other state courts are the Probate Court, District Court, and the Family Division.

Local government
New Hampshire has 10 counties and 234 cities and towns.

New Hampshire is a "Dillon Rule" state, meaning that the state retains all powers not specifically granted to municipalities. Even so, the legislature strongly favors local control, particularly with regard to land use regulations. New Hampshire municipalities are classified as towns or cities, which differ primarily by the form of government. Most towns generally operate on the town meeting form of government, where the registered voters in the town act as the town legislature, and a board of selectmen acts as the executive of the town. Larger towns and the state's thirteen cities operate either on a council-manager or council-mayor form of government. There is no difference, from the point of view of the state government, between towns and cities besides the form of government. All state-level statutes treat all municipalities identically.

New Hampshire has a small number of unincorporated areas that are titled as gores, grants, locations, purchases, or townships. These locations have limited to no self-government, and services are generally provided for them by neighboring towns or the county or state where needed. As of the 2000 census, there were 25 of these left in New Hampshire, accounting for a total population of 175 people (as of 2000); several were entirely depopulated. All but two of these unincorporated areas are located in Coos County.

Politics
The Republican Party and the Democratic Party are the only official parties. A plurality of voters are registered as undeclared, and can choose either ballot in the primary and then regain their undeclared status after voting. The Libertarian Party had official party status from 1990 to 1994.

New Hampshire primary
New Hampshire is internationally famous for the New Hampshire primary, the first primary in the quadrennial American presidential election cycle. State law requires that the Secretary of State schedule this election at least one week before any "similar event." However, the Iowa caucus has preceded the New Hampshire primary. This primary, as the nation's first contest that uses the same procedure as the general election, draws more attention than those in other states, and has often been decisive in shaping the national contest.

State law permits a town with fewer than 100 residents to open its polls at midnight, and close when all registered citizens have cast their ballots. As such, the communities of Dixville Notch in Coos County and Hart's Location in Carroll County, among others, have chosen to implement these provisions. Dixville Notch and Hart's Location are traditionally the first places in both New Hampshire and the U.S. to vote in presidential primaries and elections.

Nominations for all other partisan offices are decided in a separate primary election. In Presidential election cycles, this is the second primary election held in New Hampshire.

Saint Anselm College in Goffstown has become a popular campaign spot for politicians as well as several national presidential debates because of its proximity to Manchester-Boston Regional Airport.

Election results
In the past, New Hampshire has often voted Republican. Between 1856 and 1988, New Hampshire cast its electoral votes for the Democratic presidential ticket six times: Woodrow Wilson (twice), Franklin D. Roosevelt (three times), and Lyndon B. Johnson (once).

Beginning in 1992, New Hampshire became a swing state in both national and local elections. The state supported Democrats Bill Clinton in 1992 and 1996, John Kerry in 2004, and Barack Obama in 2008. It was the only state in the country to switch from supporting Republican George W. Bush in the 2000 election to supporting his Democratic challenger in the 2004 election, when John Kerry, a senator from neighboring Massachusetts, won the state.

The Democrats dominated elections in New Hampshire as they did nationally in 2006 and 2008. In 2006, Democrats won both Congressional seats (electing Carol Shea-Porter in the 1st district and Paul Hodes in the 2nd district), re-elected Governor John Lynch, and gained a majority on the Executive Council and in both houses of the legislature for the first time since 1911. Democrats had not held both the legislature and the governorship since 1874. Neither U.S. Senate seat was up for a vote in 2006. In 2008, Democrats retained their majorities, governorship, and Congressional seats; and former governor Jeanne Shaheen defeated incumbent Republican John E. Sununu for the U.S. Senate in a rematch of the 2002 contest.

The 2008 elections resulted in women holding a majority, 13 of the 24 seats, in the New Hampshire Senate, a first for any legislative body in the United States.

In the 2010 midterm elections, Republicans made historic gains in New Hampshire, capturing veto-proof majorities in the state legislature, taking all 5 seats in the Executive Council, electing a new U.S. Senator, Kelly Ayotte, winning both U.S. House seats, and reducing the margin of victory of incumbent Governor John Lynch compared to his 2006 and 2008 landslide wins.

Free State Project
The Free State Project seeks to entice 20,000 individuals to move to New Hampshire with the intent of reducing the size and scope of government at the local, state and federal levels. The Free State Project holds the annual New Hampshire Liberty Forum and the annual Porcupine Freedom Festival, also known as PorcFest.

Highways
New Hampshire has a well-maintained, well-signed network of Interstate highways, U.S. highways, and state highways. State highway markers still depict the Old Man of the Mountain despite that rock formation's demise in 2003. Several route numbers align with the same route numbers in neighboring states. State highway numbering does not indicate the highway's direction. Major routes include:


 * I-89.svg Interstate 89 runs northwest from near Concord to Lebanon on the Vermont border.
 * I-93.svg Interstate 93 is the main Interstate highway in New Hampshire and runs north from Salem (on the Massachusetts border) to Littleton (on the Vermont border). I-93 connects the more densely populated southern part of the state to the Lakes Region and the White Mountains further to the north.
 * I-95.svg Interstate 95 runs north-south briefly along New Hampshire's seacoast to serve the city of Portsmouth, before entering Maine
 * US 1.svg U.S. Route 1 runs north-south briefly along New Hampshire's seacoast to the east of and paralleling I-95.
 * US 2.svg U.S. Route 2 runs east-west through Coos County from Maine, intersecting Route 16, skirting the White Mountain National Forest passing through Jefferson and into Vermont.
 * US 3.svg U.S. Route 3 is the longest numbered route in the state, and the only one to run completely through the state from the Massachusetts border to the Canadian border. It generally parallels Interstate 93. South of Manchester, it takes a more westerly route through Nashua.  North of Franconia Notch, U.S. 3 takes a more easterly route, before terminating at the Canadian border.
 * US 4.svg U.S. Route 4 terminates at the Portsmouth Traffic Circle and runs east-west across the southern part of the state connecting Durham, Concord, Boscawen and Lebanon.
 * NH Route 16.svg New Hampshire Route 16 is a major north-south highway in the eastern part of the state that generally parallels the border with Maine, eventually entering Maine as Maine Route 16. The southernmost portion of NH 16 is a four-lane freeway, co-signed with U.S. Route 4.
 * NH Route 101.svg New Hampshire Route 101 is a major east-west highway in the southern part of the state that connects Keene with Manchester and the Seacoast region. East of Manchester, NH 101 is a four-lane, limited access highway that runs to Hampton Beach and I-95.

Air
New Hampshire has 25 public-use airports, four of which have scheduled commercial passenger service. The busiest airport by number of passengers handled is Manchester-Boston Regional Airport in Manchester and Londonderry, which serves the Greater Boston metropolitan area.

Public transportation
Long-distance intercity passenger rail service is provided by Amtrak's Vermonter and Downeaster lines.

As of 2009, Boston-centered MBTA Commuter Rail services reach only as far as northern Massachusetts. The New Hampshire Rail Transit Authority is working to extend "Capital Corridor" service from Lowell, Massachusetts to Nashua, Concord, and Manchester, including Manchester-Boston Regional Airport; and "Coastal Corridor" service from Haverhill, Massachusetts, to Plaistow, New Hampshire. Legislation in 2007 created the New Hampshire Rail Transit Authority (NHRTA) with the goal of overseeing the development of commuter rail in the state of New Hampshire. In 2011, Governor John Lynch vetoed HB 218, a bill passed by Republican lawmakers, which would have drastically curtailed the powers and responsibilities of NHRTA.

Eleven public transit authorities operate local and regional bus services around the state, and eight private carriers operate express bus services which link with the national intercity bus network. The New Hampshire Department of Transportation operates a statewide ride-sharing match service, in addition to independent ride matching and guaranteed ride home programs.

Tourist railroads include the Conway Scenic Railroad, Hobo-Winnipesaukee Railroad, and the Mount Washington Cog Railway.

Freight railways
Freight railways in New Hampshire include Pan Am Railways, the New England Central Railroad, the St. Lawrence and Atlantic Railroad, and New Hampshire Northcoast Corporation.

High schools
The first public high schools in the state were the Boys' High School and the Girls' High School of Portsmouth, established either in 1827 or 1830 depending on the source.

New Hampshire has more than 80 public high schools, many of which serve more than one town. The largest is Pinkerton Academy in Derry, which is owned by a private non-profit organization and serves as the public high school of a number of neighboring towns. There are at least 30 private high schools in the state.
 * New Hampshire High Schools and The Towns They Serve
 * New Hampshire public schools with a Web presence

In 2008 the state tied with Massachusetts as having the highest scores on the SAT and ACT standardized tests given to high school students.

Colleges and universities

 * Antioch University New England
 * Chester College of New England
 * The College of Saint Mary Magdalen
 * Colby-Sawyer College
 * Daniel Webster College
 * Dartmouth College
 * Franklin Pierce University
 * Hesser College
 * Lebanon College
 * New England College
 * Community College System of New Hampshire:
 * White Mountains Community College
 * River Valley Community College
 * Lakes Region Community College
 * New Hampshire Technical Institute
 * Nashua Community College
 * Great Bay Community College
 * Manchester Community College
 * New Hampshire Institute of Art
 * Rivier University
 * Saint Anselm College
 * Southern New Hampshire University
 * Thomas More College of Liberal Arts
 * University System of New Hampshire:
 * University of New Hampshire
 * University of New Hampshire School of Law
 * University of New Hampshire at Manchester
 * Granite State College
 * Keene State College
 * Plymouth State University

Daily newspapers

 * Berlin Daily Sun
 * Concord Monitor
 * Conway Daily Sun
 * The Dartmouth of Dartmouth College/Hanover
 * Eagle Times of Claremont
 * Eagle Tribune (Lawrence, Massachusetts, area, including southern New Hampshire)
 * Foster's Daily Democrat of Dover
 * Keene Sentinel
 * Laconia Citizen
 * Laconia Daily Sun
 * New Hampshire Union Leader of Manchester fka The Manchester Union Leader
 * The Portsmouth Herald
 * The Telegraph of Nashua
 * Valley News of Lebanon

Other publications

 * Area News Group
 * Carriage Towne News (covering Kingston and surrounding towns)
 * The Exeter News-Letter
 * The Hampton Union
 * Hippo Press (covering Manchester, Nashua and Concord)
 * Manchester Express
 * Salmon Press Newspapers (family of weekly newspapers covering Lakes Region & North Country)
 * The Cabinet Press
 * Milford Cabinet
 * Bedford Journal
 * Hollis/Brookline Journal
 * Merrimack Journal
 * The New Hampshire (University of New Hampshire student newspaper)
 * Business New Hampshire Magazine
 * New Hampshire Business Review
 * New Hampshire Free Press
 * The New Hampshire Gazette (Portsmouth alternative biweekly)

Radio stations

 * See List of radio stations in New Hampshire.

Television stations

 * ABC affiliate WMUR, Channel 9, Manchester
 * PBS affiliate WENH, Channel 11, Durham (New Hampshire Public Television); repeater stations in Keene and Littleton
 * MNTV affiliate WBIN, Channel 50, Derry/Manchester

Sports
The following professional sports teams are located in New Hampshire:

The New Hampshire Motor Speedway in Loudon is an oval track which has been visited by national motorsport championships such as the NASCAR Cup Series, the NASCAR Nationwide Series, the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series, the Champ Car and the IndyCar Series.

Annually since 2002, high-school statewide all-stars compete against Vermont in ten sports during "Twin State" playoffs. New Hampshire also has two amateur roller derby leagues with the ManchVegas Roller Girls (USARS) and New Hampshire Roller Derby (WFTDA ).

Culture
In the spring, New Hampshire's many sap houses hold sugaring-off open houses. In summer and early autumn, New Hampshire is home to many county fairs, the largest being the Hopkinton State Fair, in Contoocook. New Hampshire's Lakes Region is home to many summer camps, especially around Lake Winnipesaukee, and is a popular tourist destination. The Peterborough Players have performed every summer in Peterborough, New Hampshire since 1933. In the fall New Hampshire is host to the New Hampshire Highland Games. New Hampshire has also registered an official tartan with the proper authorities in Scotland, used to make kilts worn by the Lincoln Police Department while its officers serve during the games. The fall foliage peaks in mid-October. In the winter, New Hampshire's ski areas and snowmobile trails attract visitors from a wide area. After the lakes freeze over they become dotted with ice fishing ice houses, known locally as bobhouses.

In fiction
Many novels, plays and screenplays have taken place in New Hampshire. The state has played other roles in fiction, including:
 * Literature
 * New Hampshire born Daniel Webster is a prominent figure in Stephen Vincent Benét's short story entitled The Devil and Daniel Webster (1937), about a New Hampshire farmer who sells his soul to the devil and is defended by Daniel Webster.
 * Peterborough is the inspiration for the town of Grover's Corners, in Thornton Wilder's play Our Town (1938).
 * The novel Peyton Place (1956) was inspired by the town of Gilmanton.
 * John Knowles based the Devon School in A Separate Peace (1959) on Phillips Exeter Academy in Exeter.
 * The prep school in John Irving's The World According to Garp (1978) was also based on Phillips Exeter Academy. Irving's stepfather was a faculty member at the school, and Irving is an alumnus; New Hampshire settings are common in his works.
 * The Hotel New Hampshire (1981) by John Irving is a coming of age novel.
 * New Hampshire resident and author Jodi Picoult writes many of her novels taking place in small towns in New Hampshire


 * Comics
 * Bob Montana, the original artist for Archie Comics, attended Manchester Central High School for a year, and may have based Riverdale High School in part on Central.
 * Al Capp, creator of the comic strip Li'l Abner, used to joke that Dogpatch, the setting for the strip, was based on Seabrook, where he would vacation with his wife.


 * Film and television
 * Dartmouth College is said to be the inspiration for the film Animal House (1978), as one of the scriptwriters, Chris Miller, studied there.
 * The character of Josiah Bartlet, President of the United States on the television series The West Wing, was depicted as a two-term New Hampshire governor.
 * The film On Golden Pond (1981) was filmed and takes place in New Hampshire.
 * The film What About Bob? (1991) takes place primarily in New Hampshire but was actually filmed in Virginia.
 * The film Jumanji (1995) with Robin Williams, was filmed in Keene.
 * The film Live Free or Die (2006) was filmed in Claremont.

Notable residents or natives
See article List of people from New Hampshire.

New Hampshire firsts

 * On January 5, 1776 at Exeter, the Provincial Congress of New Hampshire ratified the first independent constitution in the Americas, free of British rule.
 * On June 12, 1800, Fernald's Island in the Piscataqua River became the first government-sanctioned US Navy shipyard.
 * Started in 1822, Dublin's Juvenile Library was the first free public library.
 * In 1828, the first women's strike in the nation took place at Dover's Cocheco Mills.
 * Founded in 1833, the Peterborough Town Library was the first public library, supported with public funds, in the world.
 * On August 3, 1852, New Hampshire was the site of the first intercollegiate athletic event. Harvard defeated Yale in a 2 mi rowing race on Lake Winnipesaukee, the first meeting in a rivalry that continues to this day.
 * Finished on June 27, 1874, the first trans-Atlantic telecommunications cable between Europe and America stretched from Balinskelligs Bay, Ireland, to Rye Beach.
 * On February 6, 1901, a group of nine conservationists founded the Society for the Protection of New Hampshire Forests, the first forest-conservation advocacy group in the US.
 * In 1908, Monsignor Pierre Hevey organized the nation's first credit union, in Manchester, to help mill workers save and borrow money.
 * In 1933 the League of New Hampshire Craftsmen held the first crafts fair in the nation.
 * In July 1944, the Bretton Woods Agreement, the first fully negotiated system intended to govern monetary relations among independent nation-states, was signed at the Mount Washington Hotel.
 * On May 5, 1961, Alan Shepard of Derry rode a Mercury spacecraft and became the first American in space.
 * In 1963, New Hampshire's legislature approved the nation's first modern state lottery, which began play in 1964.
 * In 1966, Ralph Baer of Sanders Associates, Inc., Nashua, recruited engineers to develop the first home video game.
 * Christa McAuliffe of Concord became the first private citizen selected to venture into space. She perished with her six space shuttle Challenger crewmates on January 28, 1986.
 * On May 17, 1996 New Hampshire became the first state in the country to install a green LED traffic light. New Hampshire was selected because it was the first state to install the red and yellow variety statewide.
 * On May 31, 2007, New Hampshire became "...the first state to recognize same-sex unions without a court order or the threat of one."