New Hampshire history

1803 The first cotton spinning factory in New Hampshire, and among the earliest in the country, was established in New Ipswich.

1805 Men laying out a road through Franconia Notch are believed to have been the first Europeans to notice the rock formation called the Old Man of the Mountain

1809 For an upcoming anniversary of the Battle of Bennington, John Stark penned the famous words: “Live free or die, death is not the greatest of evils.”

1810 The construction of the first state prison from local granite gave the granite industries of both Concord and New Hampshire their start

1813 Portsmouth suffered the largest of three fires within a decade, inspiring regulations against rebuilding with wood and a major transformation of the urban landscape

1815 The completion of the last in a series of locks and canals on the Merrimack opened an uninterrupted water route between Concord and Boston via the Middlesex Canal

1816 The first official state map, the product of more than a decade of work by Secretary of State Philip Carrigain, was printed in Philadelphia

Loyal to the English crown, he embarked for Nova Scotia at the beginning of the Revolution, there to become its lieutenant governor until his death in 1820.

1823 New Hampshire’s bicentennial and a growing concern about the loss of its documentary and material heritage led to the New Hampshire Historical Society’s founding

1826 The tragic deaths of fleeing Willey family members, while their home in Crawford Notch escaped damage from a landslide, made the site a tourist attraction

1827 Sarah Josepha Hale of Newport wrote an acclaimed novel Northwood and became the first woman to edit a national magazine, later Godey’s Lady’s Book

1828 About 400 women employed at Dover’s Cocheco mills, disturbed by reduced wages and new regulations, organized the nation’s first entirely female strike

1829 John Farmer published the first American genealogical reference work and, as a result of his work in this area, is called the “Father of American Genealogy”

1833 When the town of Peterborough voted to allocate education funding from the state to buy books for a library, it became the first free public town library on record

1835 Incited by an anti-abolitionist rally in Concord, a mob developed, preventing noted abolitionists George Thompson and John Greenleaf Whittier from speaking there

1838 The first 5.25 miles of railroad in New Hampshire, part of the Nashua and Lowell Railroad, began operation, in effect linking Nashua with Boston by rail

1840 During visits to the White Mountains, Boston dentist Samuel A. Bemis began producing some of the earliest known American landscape photographs

1842 The New Hampshire Asylum for the Insane (now the New Hampshire State Hospital) opened its first building for the reception of patients

1843 The Hutchinson Family Singers of Milford published their signature tune, “The Old Granite State,” becoming famous for stirring music promoting reform

1845 The Governor Benning Wentworth Mansion at Little Harbor in Portsmouth became one of the first historic houses opened for public viewing in the state and nation

In 1846 Manchester became the first incorporated city in the state.

1850 A trip by artists John Frederick Kensett and Benjamin Champney to North Conway resulted in engravings of their work that helped popularize the White Mountain region

1853 Franklin Pierce, a native of Hillsborough, became New Hampshire’s first, and so far only, United States President

1854 President Franklin Pierce signed the controversial Kansas-Nebraska Act, repealing the Missouri Compromise and leading to “Bleeding Kansas”; and the Civil War

1858 Sylvester Marsh (with partners) received a charter from the state legislature for a railway up Mount Washington and applied for his first related patent

1861 Soldiers of the First New Hampshire Regiment, just back in Concord from the South, attacked and destroyed the office of the anti-war Democratic Standard

1863 Walter Kittredge of Merrimack, who performed with the Hutchinson Family, wrote “Tenting on the Old Campground,” popular both North and South

In 1865 New Hampshire joined the vanguard of American science by establishing a fish and game department, the first one of its kind in New England.

1866 The University of New Hampshire was founded in Hanover as the New Hampshire College of Agriculture and the Mechanic Arts, a land-grant college

The world-recognized "Concord Coach" was made here, as was America’s first cog-railroad to Mount Washington dating 1869.

1873 The Oceanic Hotel opened at the Isles of Shoals on New Hampshire’s Star Island, in competition with the Appledore House on Maine’s Appledore Island

1874 Publication of Thomas Bailey Aldrich's “An Old Town by the Sea” in Harper’s New Monthly Magazine reflected a growing interest in New Hampshire’s colonial past.

1877 Henry H. Furbish established the Forest Fibre Company, the first mill in Berlin producing wood pulp for paper using chemical as opposed to mechanical means

1881 Dartmouth student Ernest Balch opened Camp Chocorua on Squam Lake, the state’s first children’s summer camp and one of the earliest and most influential in the nation

1886 Work began in Washington, D.C. on the Library of Congress, the most monumental structure of Concord granite, considered the largest building in the world at the time

1888 Noted American statesman John Milton Hay began buying farms along the shore of Lake Sunapee for a rural retreat, which eventually became his estate, “The Fells”

1897 Helen Albee, a summer resident of Tamworth, established a cottage rug-hooking industry that employed local farm women and was influential in the crafts movement

1901 Under the leadership of Frank West Rollins, the Society for the Protection of New Hampshire Forests was organized, and its first forester, Philip W. Ayers, was hired

New Hampshire gained a measure of international attention in 1905 when Portsmouth Naval Base played host to the signing of the treaty ending the Russo-Japanese War, known as the Treaty of Portsmouth.

1907 Marian MacDowell welcomed the first artists to “MacDowell,” in Peterborough, one of the country’s oldest artists retreats, named in honor of her husband, composer Edward MacDowell

In 1910, resident Marilla Ricker ran for the office of governor despite being unable to vote (she didn't succeed). She had been one of the first women to practice law before the Supreme Court.

In 1913, a group of manufacturers concerned about current legislation and government intervention and regulation of business, formed the New Hampshire Manufacturers' Association.

In the early fall of 1915 a disastrous fire at Hampton Beach destroyed many of the hotels and places of business there, but the resort has since been rebuilt from the ruins until it is larger and more attractive than ever.

1917 The Federation of American Motorcyclists sponsored the first official “gypsy tour,” centering at Weirs Beach and later evolving into Motorcycle Week

1923 Robert Frost published his fourth book of poetry, New Hampshire: A Poem with Notes and Grace Notes, featuring his many Granite State associations

1928 Donations from 15,000 individuals and organizations, including women and children, helped save Franconia Notch from being sold for the timber rights

1929 Chinook, the founding sire of the official state dog breed, together with his owner, Arthur Walden, helped transport supplies during Admiral Byrd’s first Antarctic expedition

1931 In establishing the League of New Hampshire Arts and Crafts, the state was the first to use public funding for promoting and teaching traditional handcrafts

1933 At the height of the Depression, Governor John Winant allowed a bill to become law without his signature that legalized racetrack gambling as a source of state funding

1934 During the Depression Berlin became the only city in the East to organize a Farmer-Labor Party, a development generally associated with the Midwest

1935 The Amoskeag Manufacturing Company’s decision to file for bankruptcy, after several years of financial difficulties, had a significant impact on Manchester

1937 The first chair lift in the eastern United States at Belknap Recreational Area in Gilford was followed quickly by the Cannon Tramway and Cranmore Skimobile

1941 Former Governor John Winant, whom Franklin Roosevelt named ambassador to Great Britain, became a symbol of cooperation between the two nations

In 1944, near the war’s end, New Hampshire hosted the Bretton Woods Conference, which founded two of the most important postwar institutions: the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund.

1951 The decision by the United States Department of Defense to call for the construction of an air force base in the Portsmouth-Newington area caused considerable opposition

Since 1952, when the early primary first included the names of the actual candidates rather than those of the state’s prospective delegates to the national party convention, the New Hampshire presidential primary has been a celebrated political event.

1953 Artist Alice Cosgrove of the N.H. State Planning and Development Commission created the cartoon character “Chippa Granite” to promote the state and its products

1957 The Frederick E. Everett Highway and Spaulding Turnpike opened as the state’s first limited-access toll roads, anticipating the coming of the Interstate Highway System to New Hampshire

1960 The first American to win an Olympic downhill skiing medal was 21-year-old Penny Pitou of Gilford, who earned silver medals in both downhill and giant slalom

1961 According to the nation’s “first widely reported UFO abduction” case, Betty and Barney Hill of Portsmouth were abducted by aliens while traveling through Franconia Notch

1968 A state constitutional amendment authorized “current use taxation” to protect open land and lessen the tax burden on those maintaining traditional land use

In 1970, the organization changed its name to the Business and Industry Association to reflect its diverse membership.

1976 The first of almost 15 years of environmental and anti-nuclear demonstrations at or near the construction site of the Seabrook Nuclear Power Plant took place

1986 Concord’s Christa McAuliffe, the winner of a nationwide competition to become the first “teacher in space”; died tragically in the explosion of the space shuttle Challenger

1990 When the New Hampshire International Speedway opened in Loudon, it was the largest sports facility in New England, drawing 500,000 spectators annually

1994 Clamshell Alliance leader Guy Chichester, charged with “criminal mischief” for an act of protest against Seabrook, was acquitted on grounds of “The Right of Revolution”

1997 New Hampshire Stories, Inc., was established as the non-profit membership organization that would “tell the story” of New Hampshire’s people, products and services.

1998 New Hampshire Stories published the New Hampshire Products & Services Directory and held its first annual conference for approximately 250 members.

2000 A new public-private partnership, the Land and Community Heritage Investment Program, was established to help preserve both natural and manmade resources

2003 Despite repeated attempts to stabilize the rock formation known as the Old Man of the Mountain, its renowned features disappeared one night without warning

2006 nhmade.com was completely redesigned to enhance the consumer’s ability to locate and purchase New Hampshire Made products and services.

E of AshlandNumber of counties: 10Largest county by population and area: Hillsborough, 400,721 (2010); Coos, 1,801 sq mi.State parks/recreation areas: 72Area codes Tourism office

2012 In celebration of its past, present and future, NH MADE held its 15th Anniversary Celebration Dinner for partners, supporters, friends and members of the organization!

2014 NH Made entered into an agreement with Granite State Hospitality to distribute NH Made member products for the company’s new Common Man Roadside convenience stores at the newly-reopened Hooksett Northbound and Southbound Welcome & Information Centers on I-93.

GDP: 81 billion dollars (41st in United States, 2017)Unemployment: 2.8% (2017)Overview: New Hampshire, like many other Northeastern states, has seen recent growth in the insurance industry and in services.