Boscawen, New Hampshire

Town in New Hampshire, United States

Boscawen, New Hampshire

Town

Hannah Duston statue

Flag

Seal

Location in Merrimack County and the state of New Hampshire.

Coordinates: 43°18′54″N 71°37′15″W﻿ / ﻿43.31500°N 71.62083°W﻿ / 43.31500; -71.62083
Country| United States
State| New Hampshire
County| Merrimack
Incorporated| 1760
Government

• Select Board|

* Bill Bevans, Chair
* Matthew T. Burdick
* Lorrie J. Carey

• Town Administrator| Katie Phelps
Area

[1]

• Total

| 25.53 sq mi (66.12 km2)
• Land| 24.89 sq mi (64.46 km2)
• Water| 0.64 sq mi (1.66 km2)  2.50%
Elevation

| 319 ft (97 m)
Population

(2020)[2]

• Total

| 3,998
• Density| 161/sq mi (62.0/km2)
Time zone| UTC-5 (Eastern)
• Summer (DST)| UTC-4 (Eastern)
ZIP code|

03303

Area code| 603
FIPS code| 33-06260
GNIS feature ID| 0873547
Website| www.townofboscawen.org

Boscawen is a town in Merrimack County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 3,998 at the 2020 census.[2]

## History

[edit]

The native Pennacook people called the area Contoocook, meaning "place of the river near pines". In March 1697, Hannah Duston and her nurse, Mary Neff, were captured by Abenaki Indians and taken to a temporary village on an island at the confluence of the Contoocook and Merrimack rivers, at the site of what is now Boscawen. In late April, Duston and two other captives killed ten of the Abenaki family members holding them hostage, including six children, and escaped by canoe to Haverhill, Massachusetts.[3]

On June 6, 1733, Governor Jonathan Belcher granted the land to John Coffin and 90 others, most from Newbury, Massachusetts. Settled in 1734, the community soon had a meetinghouse, sawmill, gristmill and ferry across the Merrimack River. A garrison offered protection, but raiding parties during the French and Indian Wars left some dead or carried into captivity.[4]

On April 22, 1760, Contoocook Plantation was incorporated as a town by Governor Benning Wentworth, who named it for Edward Boscawen, the British admiral who distinguished himself at the 1758 Siege of Louisbourg. With a generally level surface, the town provided good farmland, and became noted for its apple, pear and cherry orchards. Bounded by the Merrimack and Contoocook rivers, it had abundant sources of water power for mills.

Industries soon included a cotton mill, a woolen factory, nine sawmills, a gristmill, a saw manufacturer and machine shop, and a chair and match factory. A mill town village developed at Fisherville (now Penacook), which straddled the river border with Concord.[4] In 1846, the Northern Railroad was built through Boscawen, opening the following winter.[5]

Sometime around 1846, the town's postmaster became one of about a dozen in the country to issue provisional postage stamps before the official issue came out in 1847. The stamps were an adaptation of a postmark, simply reading PAID / 5 / CENTS, typeset in blue on a yellowish paper. These are extremely rare; in 2003, the estimated price at auction was US$225,000.[6]

The 1915 Boscawen Public Library was designed by noted Boston architect Guy Lowell.

The former Penacook Academy on North Main Street, listed on the New Hampshire State Register of Historic Places, now serves as the Boscawen Municipal Facility.

* Street view c. 1905

* B. & M. Station in 1908

* The Penacook House

## Geography

[edit]

According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 25.5 square miles (66.1 km2), of which 24.9 square miles (64.5 km2) are land and 0.66 square miles (1.7 km2) are water, comprising 2.50% of the town.[1] The highest point in Boscawen is an unnamed summit at Raleigh Farm near the town's northern border, where the elevation reaches approximately 930 feet (280 m) above sea level. The town is drained by the Merrimack River, which forms the town's eastern border, and by the Contoocook River, a tributary.

The town is served by U.S. Route 3 and U.S. Route 4.

### Adjacent municipalities

[edit]

* Franklin (north)
* Northfield (northeast)
* Canterbury (east)
* Concord (south)
* Webster (west)
* Salisbury (northwest)

## Demographics

[edit]

Historical population Census| Pop.| Note| %±

|
|
|

1790| 1,108| | —
1800| 1,414| | 27.6%
1810| 1,829| | 29.3%
1820| 2,113| | 15.5%
1830| 2,093| | −0.9%
1840| 1,965| | −6.1%
1850| 2,063| | 5.0%
1860| 2,274| | 10.2%
1870| 1,637| | −28.0%
1880| 1,381| | −15.6%
1890| 1,487| | 7.7%
1900| 1,455| | −2.2%
1910| 1,240| | −14.8%
1920| 1,260| | 1.6%
1930| 1,359| | 7.9%
1940| 1,663| | 22.4%
1950| 1,857| | 11.7%
1960| 2,181| | 17.4%
1970| 3,162| | 45.0%
1980| 3,435| | 8.6%
1990| 3,586| | 4.4%
2000| 3,672| | 2.4%
2010| 3,965| | 8.0%
2020| 3,998| | 0.8%
U.S. Decennial Census[2][7]

According to the 2019–2023 American Community Survey five-year estimates, Boscawen had 4,002 residents, 1,356 households, and approximately 854 families.[8] The population density was 160.8/sq mi (62.1/km2). There were 1,389 housing units at an average density of 55.8/sq mi (21.5/km2).

The racial makeup of the town was approximately 96.75% White, 0.55% African American, 1.05% Asian, 0.00% Native American, and 1.65% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were about 1.10% of the population.[9]

Of the 1,356 households, roughly 26.0% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 63.0% were married couples living together, 11.0% had a female householder with no husband present, and 36.0% were non-families. About 24.0% of all households consisted of individuals, and 9.0% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.60, and the average family size was about 3.00.

In terms of age distribution, 18.0% of residents were under the age of 18, 7.0% were from 18 to 24, 23.0% from 25 to 44, 29.0% from 45 to 64, and 23.0% were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 45.4 years. For every 100 females, there were about 96 males, and for every 100 females age 18 and over, there were about 94 males.

The median income for a household in the town was $80,724, and the median income for a family was $99,408.[10]

Elektrisola Incorporated is the largest source of employment for Boscawen-area residents.

## Sites of interest

[edit]

* Hannah Duston Memorial State Historic Site
* NH State Veterans Cemetery

## Notable people

[edit]

* Claire D. Clarke (died 2022), New Hampshire state representative[11]
* Moody Currier (1806–1898), 40th governor of New Hampshire[12]
* John Adams Dix (1798–1879), New York City Postmaster, 24th governor of New York, Major General in the US Civil War[13]
* Marion Dix Sullivan (1802–1860), songwriter, composer[14]
* Moses G. Farmer (1820–1893), electrical engineer, inventor[15]
* William P. Fessenden (1806–1869), US senator, Secretary of the Treasury[16]
* Charles Gordon Greene (1804–1886), journalist[17]
* Nathaniel Greene (1797–1877), journalist[17]
* Lucia Ames Mead (1856–1936), author[18]
* Lyndon A. Smith (1854–1918), politician, Minnesota attorney general[19]
* Bradford N. Stevens (1813–1885), US congressman[20]
* Daniel Webster (1782–1852), US congressman, senator, Secretary of State; unsuccessful presidential candidate[21]

## References

[edit]

* New Hampshire portal

1. ^ a b "2021 U.S. Gazetteer Files – New Hampshire". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved December 13, 2021.
2. ^ a b c "Boscawen town, Merrimack County, New Hampshire: 2020 DEC Redistricting Data (PL 94-171)". U.S. Census Bureau. Retrieved December 13, 2021.
3. ^ Dain Trafton, "Hannah Duston - Heroine and Witness: William Andrews' Monumental Statue of Hannah Duston." Address delivered at the Deerfield-Wellesley Symposium, 14 March, 2015. Boscawen Historical Society website, accessed March 5, 2019.
4. ^ a b Coolidge, Austin J.; John B. Mansfield (1859). A History and Description of New England. Boston, Massachusetts: A.J. Coolidge. pp. 424–426. "coolidge mansfield history description new england 1859."
5. ^ Charles Carleton Coffin, The History of Boscawen and Webster from 1733 to 1878; Concord, New Hampshire 1878
6. ^ Boscawen provisional postage stamps Archived March 3, 2009, at the Wayback Machine
7. ^ "Census of Population and Housing". Census.gov. Retrieved June 4, 2016.
8. ^ "Boscawen town, Merrimack County, New Hampshire – Profile data (ACS 2023 5-year)". Census Reporter. Retrieved April 30, 2025.
9. ^ "Boscawen, New Hampshire – Population & Demographics (2025)". World Population Review. Retrieved April 30, 2025.
10. ^ "Explore Census Data: Boscawen town, Merrimack County, NH (ACS 5-Year, 2019–2023)". U.S. Census Bureau. Retrieved May 1, 2025.
11. ^ Our Campaigns.com-Claire Clarke
12. ^ "Gov. Moody Currier". National Governors Association. Retrieved April 18, 2019.
13. ^ McAdam, David; et al. (1897). History of the Bench and Bar of New York. Vol. 1\. New York History Company. pp. 307–309. Retrieved April 18, 2019.
14. ^ McCaskey, John Piersol (1888), Franklin Square Song Collection: Two Hundred Favorite Songs, Volume 5, retrieved April 18, 2019
15. ^ Vetter, Edward H. "Moses G. Farmer, Eliot's Inventor". Town of Eliot, Maine. Archived from the original on June 19, 2006. Retrieved April 18, 2019.
16. ^ United States Congress. "FESSENDEN, William Pitt (1806 - 1869) (id: F000099)". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress.
17. ^ a b Wilson, J. G.; Fiske, J., eds. (1900). "Greene, Nathaniel" . Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography. New York: D. Appleton.
18. ^ Sandra Opdycke, "Lucia True Ames Mead" in American National Biography Online (2000).
19. ^ Twentieth Biennial Report for the Years 1917 and 1918. Saint Paul, Minn.: Minnesota Historical Society. 1919. p. 39.
20. ^ United States Congress. "STEVENS, Bradford Newcomb (1813 - 1885) (id: S000876)". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress.
21. ^ Remini, Robert V. (1997). Daniel Webster: The Man and His Time. W.W. Norton & Company. pp. 78-79. ISBN 0-393-04552-8.

## External links

[edit]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Boscawen, New Hampshire.

* Official website
* Boscawen Public Library
* New Hampshire Economic and Labor Market Information Bureau Profile

Places adjacent to Boscawen, New Hampshire

| Salisbury | Franklin | Northfield

|
|

|  |
Webster |

Boscawen

| Canterbury
|  |
Webster | Concord | Concord

* v
* t
* e

Municipalities and communities of Merrimack County, New Hampshire, United States

County seat: Concord

Cities|

* Concord
* Franklin

Map of New Hampshire highlighting Merrimack County

Towns|

* Allenstown
* Andover
* Boscawen
* Bow
* Bradford
* Canterbury
* Chichester
* Danbury
* Dunbarton
* Epsom
* Henniker
* Hill
* Hooksett
* Hopkinton
* Loudon
* New London
* Newbury
* Northfield
* Pembroke
* Pittsfield
* Salisbury
* Sutton
* Warner
* Webster
* Wilmot

CDPs|

* Blodgett Landing
* Bradford
* Contoocook
* Henniker
* Hooksett
* Loudon
* New London
* Pittsfield
* South Hooksett
* Suncook
* Tilton Northfield‡
* Warner

Other
communities|

* East Andover
* Elkins
* North Sutton
* Penacook
* South Newbury
* South Sutton
* West Hopkinton

Footnotes|

‡This populated place also has portions in an adjacent county or counties

* New Hampshire portal
* United States portal

* v
* t
* e

Merrimack River watershed

Tributaries|

| Massachusetts|

* Artichoke River
* Assabet River
* Back River
* Beaver Brook
* Cochichewick River
* Concord River
* Little River
* Merrimack River
* Nashua River
* Nissitissit River
* North Nashua River
* Phillips Brook
* Powwow River
* Quinapoxet River
* Salmon Brook
* Shawsheen River
* South Branch Souhegan River
* South Nashua River
* Spicket River
* Squannacook River
* Stillwater River
* Stony Brook
* Sudbury River
* Trout Brook
* Vine Brook
* Whitman River

|

New Hampshire|

* Baboosic Brook
* Back River
* Baker River
* Bear Brook
* Beards Brook
* Beaver Brook
* Beebe River
* Big River
* Black Brook
* Blackwater River
* Cockermouth River
* Cohas Brook
* Contoocook River
* East Branch Baker River
* East Branch Pemigewasset River
* Fowler River
* Frazier Brook
* Gridley River
* Gunstock River
* Lane River
* Little River (Big River)
* Little River (Merrimack River)
* Little Massabesic Brook-Sucker Brook
* Little Suncook River
* Lost River
* Mad River
* Melvin River
* Merrimack River
* Merrymeeting River
* Middle Branch Piscataquog River
* Moosilauke Brook
* Nashua River
* Newfound River
* Nissitissit River
* North Branch Contoocook River
* North Fork East Branch Pemigewasset River
* Nubanusit Brook
* Pemigewasset River
* Pennichuck Brook
* Piscataquog River
* Powwow River
* Purgatory Brook
* Red Hill River
* Salmon Brook
* Shedd Brook
* Smith River
* Soucook River
* Souhegan River
* South Branch Baker River
* South Branch Piscataquog River
* South Branch Souhegan River
* Spicket River
* Squam River
* Stony Brook
* Suncook River
* Tioga River
* Turkey River
* Warner River
* West Branch Mad River
* West Branch Souhegan River
* West Branch Warner River
* Winnipesaukee River

Lakes|

| Massachusetts|

* Lake Attitash
* Lake Boon
* Lake Cochichewick
* Lake Cochituate
* Fairhaven Bay
* Haggetts Pond
* Lost Lake
* Lake Saltonstall
* Tuxbury Pond
* Wachusett Reservoir
* Walden Pond

|

New Hampshire|

* Arlington Mill Reservoir
* Ayers Island Reservoir
* Baboosic Lake
* Canobie Lake
* Cobbetts Pond
* Contoocook Lake
* Country Pond
* Crystal Lake (Gilmanton)
* Crystal Lake (Manchester)
* Deering Reservoir
* Franklin Pierce Lake
* Great Pond
* Halfmoon Lake
* Harrisville Pond
* Highland Lake
* Hopkins Pond (Adder Pond)
* Island Pond (Derry)
* Island Pond (Stoddard)
* Jenness Pond
* Lake Kanasatka
* Little Squam Lake
* Locke Lake
* Lonesome Lake
* Massabesic Lake
* Lake Massasecum
* Merrymeeting Lake
* Mirror Lake
* Newfound Lake
* Northwood Lake
* Nubanusit Lake
* Opechee Bay
* Paugus Bay
* Pemigewasset Lake
* Penacook Lake
* Pleasant Lake (Deerfield)
* Pleasant Lake (New London)
* Potanipo Pond
* Powder Mill Pond
* Powwow Pond
* Profile Lake
* Sebbins Pond
* Silver Lake (Hollis)
* Skatutakee Lake
* Lake Solitude
* Squam Lake
* Stinson Lake
* Suncook Lakes
* Sunset Lake
* Thorndike Pond
* Turkey Ponds
* Tuxbury Pond
* Lake Waukewan
* Weare Reservoir
* Webster Lake
* Lake Wentworth
* White Oak Pond
* Lake Wicwas
* Willard Pond
* Lake Winnipesaukee
* Lake Winnisquam

Towns|

| Massachusetts|

* Acton
* Amesbury
* Andover
* Ashland
* Bedford
* Billerica
* Burlington
* Chelmsford
* Clinton
* Concord
* Dracut
* Fitchburg
* Framingham
* Groton
* Groveland
* Haverhill
* Hopkinton
* Hudson
* Lawrence
* Leominster
* Lexington
* Lowell
* Lunenburg
* Marlborough
* Maynard
* Merrimac
* Methuen
* Newburyport
* North Andover
* Northborough
* Pepperell
* Salisbury
* Sudbury
* Tewksbury
* Tyngsborough
* West Newbury
* Westborough
* Westford

|

New Hampshire|

* Allenstown
* Amherst
* Ashland
* Atkinson
* Bedford
* Belmont
* Boscawen
* Bow
* Bridgewater
* Bristol
* Campton
* Canterbury
* Concord
* Derry
* Franklin
* Gilford
* Goffstown
* Hampstead
* Hill
* Hillsborough
* Holderness
* Hollis
* Hooksett
* Hopkinton
* Hudson
* Kingston
* Laconia
* Lincoln
* Litchfield
* Londonderry
* Manchester
* Meredith
* Merrimack
* Milford
* Nashua
* New Hampton
* Northfield
* Pelham
* Pembroke
* Penacook
* Peterborough
* Plaistow
* Plymouth
* Salem
* Sanbornton
* Suncook
* Thornton
* Tilton
* Weare
* Windham
* Wolfeboro
* Woodstock

Landmarks|

* Amoskeag Falls
* Bear Brook State Park
* Belknap Mountains
* Blackwater Dam
* Egg Rock
* Franconia Notch State Park
* Franklin Falls Dam
* Gunstock Mountain
* Hannah Duston Memorial
* Hobo Railroad
* Lakes Region
* Lost River Reservation
* Middlesex Canal
* Minute Man National Historical Park
* Mount Major
* Mount Monadnock
* Mount Pemigewasset
* Mount Rowe
* Pawtucket Falls
* Pemigewasset Wilderness
* Sculptured Rocks Natural Area
* Wellington State Park
* White Mountains

Authority control databases

International|

* VIAF
* WorldCat

National|

* United States
* Israel

Geographic|

* MusicBrainz area

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*[Pop.]: Population
*[%±]: Percent change
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