Barnstead, New Hampshire
Encyclopedia
Barnstead is a town
in Belknap County
, New Hampshire
, United States
. The population was 4,593 at the 2010 census. Home to the Suncook Lakes
, Barnstead includes the villages of Center Barnstead
, Barnstead Parade (identified as "Barnstead" on topographic maps) and South Barnstead.
in 1727 to the Reverend Joseph Adams and others. Settlement commenced in 1767, the year Barnstead was incorporated as a town by Governor John Wentworth
. Many of the settlers came from Barnstable
, Massachusetts
and Hempstead, New York
- the name is taken from these two.
Although not mountainous, the terrain
forms large swells, good for grazing
. By 1830, when the population was 2,047, the town contained about 2,500 sheep. Farmer
s found the soil easy to cultivate
and productive. The Suncook River
and its tributaries
provided water power for mills
. By 1859, industries included a woolen
cloth factory, seven sawmill
s, four shingle
mills, four clapboard
mills, one grooving machine, one turning machine, and two tanneries
. Barnstead manufactured large amounts of lumber
, which it supplied to neighboring towns.
, the town has a total area of 44 square miles (114 km²), of which 41.9 sq mi (108.5 km²) is land and 2 sq mi (5.2 km²) is water, comprising 4.66% of the town. The highest point in Barnstead is 1190 feet (362.7 m) above sea level
along the town's northern border, near the community of Locke's Corner. Drained by the Suncook River
, Barnstead lies fully within the Merrimack River
watershed
.
The town is crossed by state routes 28
, 107
and 126
.
of 2000, there were 3,886 people, 1,422 households, and 1,096 families residing in the town. The population density
was 92.7 people per square mile (35.8/km²). There were 1,994 housing units at an average density of 47.6 per square mile (18.4/km²). The racial makeup of the town was 97.74% White, 0.62% African American, 0.31% Native American, 0.59% Asian, 0.05% from other races
, and 0.69% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 0.59% of the population.
There were 1,422 households out of which 34.9% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 66.2% were married couples
living together, 6.3% had a female householder with no husband present, and 22.9% were non-families. 17.0% of all households were made up of individuals and 5.3% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.73 and the average family size was 3.08.
In the town the population was spread out with 26.4% under the age of 18, 6.2% from 18 to 24, 29.4% from 25 to 44, 27.1% from 45 to 64, and 10.9% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 39 years. For every 100 females there were 104.0 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 102.4 males.
The median income for a household in the town was $47,449, and the median income for a family was $49,404. Males had a median income of $34,130 versus $24,904 for females. The per capita income
for the town was $19,773. About 2.8% of families and 3.8% of the population were below the poverty line, including 6.4% of those under age 18 and 4.7% of those age 65 or over.
, a regional high school in the neighboring town of Alton
.
New England town
The 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 Belknap County
Belknap County, New Hampshire
-Demographics:As of the census of 2000, there were 56,325 people, 22,459 households, and 15,496 families residing in the county. The population density was 140 people per square mile . There were 32,121 housing units at an average density of 80 per square mile...
, New Hampshire
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...
, United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. The population was 4,593 at the 2010 census. Home to the Suncook Lakes
Suncook Lakes
The Suncook Lakes are a pair of lakes located in Belknap County in central New Hampshire, in the town of Barnstead. Upper Suncook Lake encompasses , while Lower Suncook Lake covers . The lakes are connected by a 1,000-foot-long channel, spanned by a road bridge. A dam at the outlet of Lower...
, Barnstead includes the villages of Center Barnstead
Center Barnstead, New Hampshire
Center Barnstead is an unincorporated village in the town of Barnstead in Belknap County, New Hampshire. It is the largest of several villages in the town....
, Barnstead Parade (identified as "Barnstead" on topographic maps) and South Barnstead.
History
The town was granted by Governor William DummerWilliam Dummer
William Dummer was Acting Governor of the Province of Massachusetts Bay from 1723 to 1728.-Family:Dummer was born in Boston and died in Newbury, Massachusetts, the son of Jeremiah Dummer, the first American born silversmith, and Anna Atwater...
in 1727 to the Reverend Joseph Adams and others. Settlement commenced in 1767, the year Barnstead was incorporated as a town by Governor John Wentworth
John Wentworth (governor)
Sir John Wentworth, 1st Baronet was the British colonial governor of New Hampshire at the time of the American Revolution. He was later also Lieutenant-Governor of Nova Scotia.-Early life:...
. Many of the settlers came from Barnstable
Barnstable, Massachusetts
Barnstable is a city, referred to as the Town of Barnstable, in the U.S. state of Massachusetts and the county seat of Barnstable County. Barnstable is the largest community, both in land area and population, on Cape Cod. The town contains seven villages within its boundaries...
, Massachusetts
Massachusetts
The 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...
and Hempstead, New York
Hempstead (village), New York
Hempstead is a village located in the town of Hempstead, Nassau County, New York, United States. The population was 53,891 at the 2010 census.Hofstra University is located on the border between Hempstead and Uniondale.-Foundation:...
- the name is taken from these two.
Although not mountainous, the terrain
Terrain
Terrain, or land relief, is the vertical and horizontal dimension of land surface. When relief is described underwater, the term bathymetry is used...
forms large swells, good for grazing
Grazing
Grazing generally describes a type of feeding, in which a herbivore feeds on plants , and also on other multicellular autotrophs...
. By 1830, when the population was 2,047, the town contained about 2,500 sheep. Farmer
Farmer
A farmer is a person engaged in agriculture, who raises living organisms for food or raw materials, generally including livestock husbandry and growing crops, such as produce and grain...
s found the soil easy to cultivate
Tillage
Tillage is the agricultural preparation of the soil by mechanical agitation of various types, such as digging, stirring, and overturning. Examples of human-powered tilling methods using hand tools include shovelling, picking, mattock work, hoeing, and raking...
and productive. The Suncook River
Suncook River
The Suncook River is a river located in central New Hampshire in the United States. It is a tributary of the Merrimack River, which flows to the Gulf of Maine....
and its tributaries
Tributary
A tributary or affluent is a stream or river that flows into a main stem river or a lake. A tributary does not flow directly into a sea or ocean...
provided water power for mills
Watermill
A watermill is a structure that uses a water wheel or turbine to drive a mechanical process such as flour, lumber or textile production, or metal shaping .- History :...
. By 1859, industries included a woolen
Woolen
Woolen or woollen is a type of yarn made from carded wool. Woolen yarn is soft, light, stretchy, and full of air. It is thus a good insulator, and makes a good knitting yarn...
cloth factory, seven sawmill
Sawmill
A sawmill is a facility where logs are cut into boards.-Sawmill process:A sawmill's basic operation is much like those of hundreds of years ago; a log enters on one end and dimensional lumber exits on the other end....
s, four shingle
Roof shingle
Roof shingles are a roof covering consisting of individual overlapping elements. These elements are typically flat rectangular shapes laid in rows from the bottom edge of the roof up, with each successive higher row overlapping the joints in the row below...
mills, four clapboard
Clapboard (architecture)
Clapboard, also known as bevel siding or lap siding or weather-board , is a board used typically for exterior horizontal siding that has one edge thicker than the other and where the board above laps over the one below...
mills, one grooving machine, one turning machine, and two tanneries
Tanning
Tanning 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...
. Barnstead manufactured large amounts of lumber
Lumber
Lumber or timber is wood in any of its stages from felling through readiness for use as structural material for construction, or wood pulp for paper production....
, which it supplied to neighboring towns.
Geography
According to the United States Census BureauUnited States Census Bureau
The 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 44 square miles (114 km²), of which 41.9 sq mi (108.5 km²) is land and 2 sq mi (5.2 km²) is water, comprising 4.66% of the town. The highest point in Barnstead is 1190 feet (362.7 m) above sea level
Sea level
Mean sea level is a measure of the average height of the ocean's surface ; used as a standard in reckoning land elevation...
along the town's northern border, near the community of Locke's Corner. Drained by the Suncook River
Suncook River
The Suncook River is a river located in central New Hampshire in the United States. It is a tributary of the Merrimack River, which flows to the Gulf of Maine....
, Barnstead lies fully within the Merrimack River
Merrimack River
The Merrimack River is a river in the northeastern United States. It rises at the confluence of the Pemigewasset and Winnipesaukee rivers in Franklin, New Hampshire, flows southward into Massachusetts, and then flows northeast until it empties into the Atlantic Ocean at Newburyport...
watershed
Drainage basin
A drainage basin is an extent or an area of land where surface water from rain and melting snow or ice converges to a single point, usually the exit of the basin, where the waters join another waterbody, such as a river, lake, reservoir, estuary, wetland, sea, or ocean...
.
The town is crossed by state routes 28
New Hampshire Route 28
New Hampshire Route 28 is an north–south state highway in southeastern New Hampshire. It connects the town of Ossipee in east-central New Hampshire with Salem on the Massachusetts border....
, 107
New Hampshire Route 107
New Hampshire Route 107 is a long north–south state highway in New Hampshire. It connects Laconia in the Lakes Region with Seabrook on the Atlantic coast....
and 126
New Hampshire Route 126
New Hampshire Route 126 is a long north–south state highway in eastern New Hampshire. It runs between the towns of Barrington and Barnstead....
.
Demographics
As of the censusCensus
A 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 3,886 people, 1,422 households, and 1,096 families residing in the town. The population density
Population density
Population density is a measurement of population per unit area or unit volume. It is frequently applied to living organisms, and particularly to humans...
was 92.7 people per square mile (35.8/km²). There were 1,994 housing units at an average density of 47.6 per square mile (18.4/km²). The racial makeup of the town was 97.74% White, 0.62% African American, 0.31% Native American, 0.59% Asian, 0.05% from other races
Race (United States Census)
Race and ethnicity in the United States Census, as defined by the Federal Office of Management and Budget and the United States Census Bureau, are self-identification data items in which residents choose the race or races with which they most closely identify, and indicate whether or not they are...
, and 0.69% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 0.59% of the population.
There were 1,422 households out of which 34.9% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 66.2% were married couples
Marriage
Marriage 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, 6.3% had a female householder with no husband present, and 22.9% were non-families. 17.0% of all households were made up of individuals and 5.3% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.73 and the average family size was 3.08.
In the town the population was spread out with 26.4% under the age of 18, 6.2% from 18 to 24, 29.4% from 25 to 44, 27.1% from 45 to 64, and 10.9% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 39 years. For every 100 females there were 104.0 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 102.4 males.
The median income for a household in the town was $47,449, and the median income for a family was $49,404. Males had a median income of $34,130 versus $24,904 for females. The per capita income
Per capita income
Per 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 $19,773. About 2.8% of families and 3.8% of the population were below the poverty line, including 6.4% of those under age 18 and 4.7% of those age 65 or over.
Education
Barnstead has one elementary school (Barnstead Elementary School), serving pre-kindergarten through 8th grade. High school students go to Prospect Mountain High SchoolProspect Mountain High School
Prospect Mountain High School is in Alton, New Hampshire, USA, and is attended by students from Alton and Barnstead. It has been in operation since 2004....
, a regional high school in the neighboring town of Alton
Alton, New Hampshire
Alton is a town in Belknap County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 5,250 at the 2010 census. It is home to Alton Bay State Forest and Mount Major State Forest. Alton includes the village of Alton Bay, a long-time resort located beside Lake Winnipesaukee.The primary settlement in...
.
Notable inhabitants
- S. Millett ThompsonS. Millett ThompsonS. Millett Thompson was a soldier in the Union Army during the American Civil War. Thompson was born in Barnstead, New Hampshire, and lived in Durham, New Hampshire. He enlisted on 13 August 1862 and joined Company E of the 13th New Hampshire Infantry Regiment on 19 September 1862 as a first...
, soldier - Harrison ThyngHarrison ThyngBrigadier General Harrison Reed Thyng was a fighter pilot and an officer in the United States Air Force with the rank of general. He is notable as one of only six USAF fighter pilots to be recognized as an ace in two wars...
, brigadier general - Hiram A. TuttleHiram A. TuttleHiram Americus Turtle was an American merchant and Republican politician from Pittsfield, New Hampshire. Born in 1837 in Barnstead, New Hampshire, he served New Hampshire in the state's House of Representatives, as a member of the Governor's Council, and as governor. He died in 1911 in Pittsfield,...
, merchant and governor of New Hampshire