New Hampshire
State in NE USA; nicknamed Granite State
Area:
24,000 sq km/9,264 sq mi
Capital:
Concord
Towns and Cities:
Manchester, Nashua
Physical:
The Connecticut River, forming the boundary with Vermont; the White
Mountains, the highest mountains in New England, including Mount Washington
(1,917 m/6,288 ft), and the Old Man of the Mountains, a rocky formation
resembling the pro of a man, above Pro Lake, Franconia Notch
; Mount Monadnock; 29 km/18 mi of sea coast, and Great Bay estuary;
Lake Winnipesaukee, with over 200 inhabited islands; over 80% forested
Features:
Mount Washington's cog railway (1869), the world's first mountain-climbing
railway; Hampton Beach, with a 5-km/3-mi boardwalk; whale watching;
Isle of Shoals, with a religious conference centre on Star Island, and
the home of 19th-century poet Celia Thaxter on Appledore Island; ski
and tourist resorts; Odiorne Point state park, Rye, site of the first
settlement; Fort Constitution at Newcastle, a British fort raided by
rebels 1774 who used the stolen gunpowder against the British at the
Battle of Bunker Hill; Strawbery Banke, Portsmouth, an outdoor museum
of over 40 historic buildings; Exeter, settled 1638, the colonial capital
during the American Revolution, with 18th- and 19th- century houses,
Gilman Garrison House (about 1690), and Phillips Exeter Academy (founded
1781); Dartmouth College (1769), at Hannover, with murals by the Mexican
artist José Clemente Orozco in the Baker Memorial Library; farm at Derry,
home of the poet Robert Frost; home of Mary Baker Eddy, founder of Christian
Science, at Concord; Cathedral of the Pines, Rindge, an outdoor cathedral
dedicated to the war dead; Currier Gallery of Art, Manchester; Saint
Gaudens national historic site, Cornish; MacDowell Colony at Peterborough,
founded 1907 for writers and composers; the earliest presidential primaries;
the only state with no state income tax or sales tax
Industries:
Dairy, poultry, fruits, and vegetables; electrical and other machinery;
pulp and paper
Population:
(1995) 1,148,300
Famous People:
Mary Baker Eddy, Robert Frost
History:
Settled as a fishing colony near Rye and Dover 1623; separated from
Massachusetts colony 1679. As leaders in the Revolutionary cause,
its leaders received the honour of being the first to declare
independence from Britain 4 July 1776. It became a state 1788,
one of the original 13 states. In the 19th century, abundant water
power allowed textile mills to flourish, but the industry later
declined. The state experienced rapid growth after 1970, as people
and industry - especially high-technology businesses - moved north
from the Boston area into S New Hampshire.
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