Brewster, Massachusetts
Brewster is a town in Barnstable County, United States, Barnstable County being coextensive with Cape Cod. The population of Brewster was 9,820 at the 2010 census. Brewster is twinned with the town of Budleigh Salterton in the United Kingdom. Brewster was first settled in 1656 as a northeastern parish of the town of Harwich; the town separated from Harwich as the northern, more wealthy parish in 1693, was incorporated as its own town in 1803 when the less wealthy citizens of Harwich were upset that the town's institutions were all on Brewster's main street, including the town hall and churches. Brewster was named in honor of Elder William Brewster, the first religious leader of the Pilgrims at Plymouth Colony; the town's history grew around Stony Brook, where the first water-powered grist and woolen mill in the country was founded in the late 17th century. There were many rich sea captains in the town, who built many of the mansions and stately homes which now constitute the town's inns and bed-and-breakfasts.
Most notable of these are the Crosby Mansion on Crosby Lane by Crosby Beach, undergoing renovations to allow for more weddings and other functions, the Captain Freeman Inn on Breakwater Road. According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 25.4 square miles, of which 22.9 square miles is land and 2.5 square miles, or 10.07%, is water. Brewster is bordered on the north by Cape Cod Bay, on the west by Dennis, on the south by Harwich, on the east by Orleans; the town is separated into two villages and East Brewster, both of which comprise the Brewster census-designated place. Brewster is 31 miles south of Provincetown, 14 miles east of Barnstable, 31 miles east of the Sagamore Bridge, 85 miles southeast of Boston; the town is bordered by the Brewster Flats, an extensive stretch of tidal sand flats to the north, along the shores of Cape Cod Bay. The town is home to the Roland C. Nickerson State Forest Park, the largest state forest on Cape Cod; the town has several large ponds along the Harwich town line.
There are several brooks throughout the town. The bay is home to several boat beaches in the town. Brewster is home to the largest pond on Cape Cod, Long Pond; the Brewster-Harwich town line goes directly through the middle of the pond. Brewster's second largest pond is Cliff Pond, located in Nickerson State Park. Both are popular destinations. U. S. Route 6 passes through the southeast corner of Brewster from southwest to northeast, as a two-lane expressway with no exits in the town, although exits 9 through 12 provide access to Brewster via other roads; the five other numbered highways in Brewster are all surface roads. Massachusetts Route 6A passes through the town from east to west as Main Street through the town center. Routes 124 and 137 both have a northern terminus along Route 6A in town. Brewster has one stop light at the intersection of Long Pond Road. There is no air service in the town; the Cape Cod Rail Trail, as well as several other bicycle trails, pass through the town. The nearest public airfield is in Chatham.
As of the census of 2000, there were 10,094 people, 4,124 households, 2,853 families residing in the town. The population density was 439.2 people per square mile. There were 7,339 housing units at an average density of 319.3 per square mile. The racial makeup of the town was 97.24% White, 0.76% Black or African American, 0.23% Native American, 0.76% Asian, 0.03% Pacific Islander, 0.35% from other races, 0.63% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 1.06% of the population. There were 4,124 households out of which 25.7% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 57.9% were married couples living together, 8.9% had a female householder with no husband present, 30.8% were non-families. 24.8% of all households were made up of individuals and 12.6% had someone living alone, 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.34 and the average family size was 2.79. In the town, the population was spread out with 20.9% under the age of 18, 4.3% from 18 to 24, 21.5% from 25 to 44, 27.0% from 45 to 64, 26.2% who were 65 years of age or older.
The median age was 47 years. For every 100 females, there were 86.6 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 82.2 males. The median income for a household in the town was $49,276, the median income for a family was $57,174. Males had a median income of $41,407 versus $33,388 for females; the per capita income for the town was $24,638. About 1.6% of families and 3.7% of the population were below the poverty line, including 1.4% of those under age 18 and 3.1% of those age 65 or over. Brewster is represented in the Massachusetts House of Representatives as a part of the First Barnstable District, along with Dennis and a portion of Yarmouth; the town is represented in the Massachusetts Senate as a part of the Cape and Islands District, which includes all of Cape Cod, Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket except the towns of Bourne, Sandwich and a portion of Barnstable. The town is patrolled by the Second Barracks of Troop D of the Massachusetts State Police. On the national level, Brewster is a part of Massac
Yarmouth Port, Massachusetts
Yarmouth Port is a census-designated place in the town of Yarmouth in Barnstable County, United States. The population was 5,320 at the 2010 census. Yarmouth Port was home to the original Christmas Tree Shops until its closing in 2007; the town is home to the international headquarters of IFAW. Yarmouth Port is located in the northern part of the town of Yarmouth at 41°42′17″N 70°13′15″W, it is bordered to the north by Cape Cod Bay, to the east by the town of Dennis, to the west by the town of Barnstable. U. S. Route 6, the Mid-Cape Highway, is to the south, beyond which are the CDPs of South Yarmouth and West Yarmouth. According to the United States Census Bureau, the Yarmouth Port CDP has a total area of 6.47 square miles. 6.04 square miles of it is land, 0.43 square miles of it is water. As of the census of 2000, there were 5,395 people, 2,546 households, 1,642 families residing in the CDP; the population density was 344.9/km². There were 3,104 housing units at an average density of 198.4/km². The racial makeup of the CDP was 98.46% White, 0.26% African American, 0.17% Native American, 0.32% Asian, 0.02% Pacific Islander, 0.19% from other races, 0.59% from two or more races.
Hispanic or Latino people of any race were 0.70% of the population. There were 2,546 households out of which 17.0% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 56.2% were married couples living together, 6.8% had a female householder with no husband present, 35.5% were non-families. 30.8% of all households were made up of individuals and 19.8% had someone living alone, 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.11 and the average family size was 2.61. In the CDP, the population was spread out with 15.8% under the age of 18, 3.0% from 18 to 24, 18.7% from 25 to 44, 27.9% from 45 to 64, 34.7% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 53 years. For every 100 females, there were 85.9 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 80.7 males. The median income for a household in the CDP was $47,576, the median income for a family was $57,841. Males had a median income of $41,029 versus $30,171 for females; the per capita income for the CDP was $30,418. About 2.2% of families and 4.3% of the population were below the poverty line, including 6.2% of those under age 18 and 1.3% of those age 65 or over.
Edward Gorey and writer
Reading, Massachusetts
Reading is a town in Middlesex County, United States, 16 miles north of central Boston. The population was 24,747 at the 2010 census. Many of the Massachusetts Bay Colony's original settlers arrived from England in the 1630s through the ports of Lynn and Salem. In 1639 some citizens of Lynn petitioned the government of the colony for a "place for an inland plantation", they were granted six square miles, followed by an additional four. The first settlement in this grant was at first called "Lynn Village" and was located on the south shore of the "Great Pond", now known as Lake Quannapowitt. On June 10, 1644 the settlement was incorporated as the town of Reading, taking its name from the town of Reading in England; the first church was organized soon after the settlement, the first parish separated and became the town of "South Reading" in 1812, renaming itself as Wakefield in 1868. Thomas Parker was one of the founders of Reading, he was a founder of the 12th Congregational Church, served as deacon there.
He was appointed a judicial commissioner. There is evidence that Parker was "conspicuous in naming the town" and that he was related to the Parker family of Little Norton, who owned land by the name of Ryddinge. A special grant in 1651 added land north of the Ipswich River to the town of Reading. In 1853 this area became the separate town of North Reading; the area which comprises the town of Reading was known as "Wood End", or "Third Parish". The town of Reading was governed by an open town meeting and a board of selectmen, a situation that persisted until the 1940s. In 1693, the town meeting voted to fund public education in Reading, with grants of four pounds for three months school in the town, two pounds for the west end of the town, one pound for those north of the Ipswich River. In 1769, the meeting house was constructed, in the area, now the Common in Reading. A stone marker commemorates the site. Reading played an active role in the American Revolutionary War, it was prominently involved in the engagements pursuing the retreating British Army after the battles of Lexington and Concord.
John Brooks to become Governor of Massachusetts, was captain of the "Fourth Company of Minute" and subsequently served at the Battle of White Plains and at Valley Forge. Only one Reading soldier was killed in action during the Revolution. In 1791, sixty members started the Federal Library; this was a subscription Library with each member paying $1.00 to join, annual dues of $.25. The town's public library was created in 1868; the Andover-Medford Turnpike was built by a private corporation in 1806-7. This road, now known as Massachusetts Route 28, provided the citizens of Reading with a better means of travel to the Boston area. In 1845, the Boston and Maine Railroad came to Reading and improved the access to Boston, the southern markets. During the first half of the 19th century, Reading became a manufacturing town. Sylvester Harnden's furniture factory, Daniel Pratt's clock factory, Samuel Pierce's organ pipe factory were major businesses. By the mid-19th century, Reading had thirteen establishments that manufactured cabinets.
The making of shoes expanded to large factories. Neckties were manufactured here for about ninety years. During and after Civil War the southern markets for Reading's products declined and several of its factories closed. For many years, Reading was an important casket manufacturing center. During the Civil War, members of the Richardson Light Guard of South Reading fought at the First Battle of Bull Run. A second company was formed as part of the Army of the Potomac, a third company joined General Bank's expedition in Louisiana. A total of 411 men from Reading fought in the Civil War, of whom 15 died in action and 33 died of wounds and sickness. A memorial exists in the Laurel Hill Cemetery commemorating those. In the 20th century, Reading became a residential community with commuter service to Boston on the Boston and Maine Railroad and the Eastern Massachusetts Street Railway. Both commuter services were taken over by the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority, for many years, there was discussion of extending the MBTA Orange Line to Reading.
Industrial expansion during that time included the Goodall-Sanford Co. off Ash Street sold to General Tire & Rubber Company known as GenCorp. Additional businesses created after World War I included the Boston Stove Foundry, Roger Reed Waxes, Ace Art, Addison-Wesley Publishing and several other companies. For many years, Wes Parker's Fried Clams was a landmark off state Route 128. Military installations came to the town, with two Nike missile sites, one on Bear Hill and the other off Haverhill Street, the opening of Camp Curtis Guild, a National Guard training facility; the business community consists of a number of retail and service businesses in the downtown area, a series of commercial businesses in and around the former town dump on Walker's Brook Road as well as the Analytical Sciences Corporation. In 1944, Reading adopted the representative town meeting model of local government in place of the open town meeting; this retained the representative town meeting and board of selectmen, but focused policy and decision making in a smaller number of elected boards and committees whilst providing for the employment of a town manager to be responsible for day-to-day operations of the local government.
Basketball player Bill Russell lived in Reading in the 1960s at 1361 Main Street, but moved to 701 Haverhill Street. Vanda
Manchester, New Hampshire
Manchester is a city in the southern part of the U. S. state of New Hampshire. It is the most populous city in northern New England, an area comprising the states of Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont; as of the 2010 census the city had a population of 109,565, up to 111,196 in a 2017 estimate. The combined Manchester-Nashua Metropolitan Area had a 2010 population of 400,721. Manchester is, along with Nashua, one of two seats of Hillsborough County, the state's most populous. Manchester lies near the northern end of the Northeast megalopolis and straddles the banks of the Merrimack River, it was first named by the merchant and inventor Samuel Blodgett, namesake of Samuel Blodget Park and Blodget Street in the city's North End. His vision was to create a great industrial center similar to that of the original Manchester in England, the world's first industrialized city. Manchester appears favorably in lists ranking the affordability and livability of U. S. cities, placing high in small business climate, upward mobility, education level.
Native Pennacook Indians called Amoskeag Falls on the Merrimack River — the area that became the heart of Manchester — Namaoskeag, meaning "good fishing place". In 1722, John Goffe III settled beside Cohas Brook building a dam and sawmill at what was dubbed "Old Harry's Town", it was granted by Massachusetts in 1727 as "Tyngstown" to veterans of Queen Anne's War who served in 1703 under Captain William Tyng. But at New Hampshire's 1741 separation from Massachusetts, the grant was ruled invalid and substituted with Wilton, resulting in a 1751 rechartering by Governor Benning Wentworth as "Derryfield" — a name that lives on in Derryfield Park, Derryfield Country Club, the private Derryfield School. In 1807, Samuel Blodget opened a canal and lock system to allow vessels passage around the falls, part of a network developing to link the area with Boston, he envisioned a great industrial center arising, "the Manchester of America", in reference to Manchester, England at the forefront of the Industrial Revolution.
In 1809, Benjamin Prichard and others built a water-powered cotton spinning mill on the western bank of the Merrimack. Following Blodgett's suggestion, Derryfield was renamed "Manchester" in 1810, the year the mill was incorporated as the Amoskeag Cotton & Woolen Manufacturing Company, it would be purchased in 1825 by entrepreneurs from Massachusetts, expanded to three mills in 1826, incorporated in 1831 as the Amoskeag Manufacturing Company. Amoskeag engineers and architects planned a model company town on the eastern bank, founded in 1838 with Elm Street as its main thoroughfare. Incorporation as a city followed for Manchester in 1846, soon home to the largest cotton mill in the world—Mill No. 11, stretching 900 feet long by 103 feet wide, containing 4,000 looms. Other products made in the community included shoes and paper; the Amoskeag foundry made rifles, sewing machines, textile machinery, fire engines, locomotives in a division called the Amoskeag Locomotive Works. The rapid growth of the mills demanded a large influx of workers, resulting in a flood of immigrants French Canadians.
Many residents descend from these workers. The Amoskeag Manufacturing Company went out of business in 1935, although its red brick mills have been renovated for other uses. Indeed, the mill town's 19th-century affluence left behind some of the finest Victorian commercial and residential architecture in the state. Manchester is in south-central New Hampshire, 18 miles south of Concord, the state capital, the same distance north of Nashua, the second-largest city in the state. Manchester is 51 miles north-northwest of the largest city in New England. According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 35.0 square miles, of which 33.1 square miles are land and 1.9 square miles are water, comprising 5.33% of the city. Manchester is drained by the Merrimack River and its tributaries the Piscataquog River and Cohas Brook. Massabesic Lake is on the eastern border; the highest point in Manchester is atop Wellington Hill, where the elevation reaches 570 feet above sea level. The Manchester Planning Board, in its 2010 Master Plan, defines 25 neighborhoods within the city.
LivableMHT has drawn maps of the neighborhoods and neighborhood village centers as defined by the city. Recognition of particular neighborhoods varies, with some having neighborhood associations, but none have any legal or political authority; the major neighborhoods include Amoskeag, Rimmon Heights, Notre Dame/McGregorville and Piscataquog/Granite Square known as "Piscat" on the West Side. In 2007, the city began a Neighborhood Initiatives program to "insure that our neighborhoods are vibrant, livable areas since these are the portions of the city where most of the residents spend their time living, playing and going to school." The purpose of this initiative is to foster vibrancy and redevelopment in the neighborhoods, to restore the sense of neighborhood communities, overlooked in the city for some time. The city began the program with street-scape and infrastructure improvements in the Rimmon Heights neighborhood of the West Side, which has spurred growth and investment in and by the community.
Despite the success of the program in Rimmon Heights, it was unclear in recent years how the city planned to implement similar programs throughout the city. The city announced plans for extending the Neighborhood Initiatives program
Marlborough, Massachusetts
Marlborough is a city in Middlesex County, United States. The population was 38,499 at the 2010 census. Marlborough became a prosperous industrial town in the 19th century and made the transition to high technology industry in the late 20th century after the construction of the Massachusetts Turnpike. Marlborough was declared a town in 1660, it was incorporated as a city in 1890 when it changed its Municipal charter from a New England town meeting system to a Mayor–council government. John Howe in 1656 was a fur trader and built a house at the intersection of two Indian trails, Nashua Trail and Connecticut path, he could speak the language of the Algonquian Indians though the local tribe referred to themselves as the Pennacooks. The settlers were welcomed by the Indians because they protected them from other tribes they were at war with. In the 1650s, several families left the nearby town of Sudbury, 18 miles west of Boston, to start a new town; the village was named after the market town in Wiltshire, England.
It was first settled in 1657 by 14 men led by John Ruddock and John Howe. Rice was elected a selectman at Marlborough in 1657. Sumner Chilton Powell wrote, in Puritan Village: The Formation of a New England Town, "Not only did Rice become the largest individual landholder in Sudbury, but he represented his new town in the Massachusetts legislature for five years and devoted at least eleven of his last fifteen years to serving as selectman and judge of small causes." The Reverend William Brimstead was the first minister of the Puritan church and Johnathan Johnson was the first blacksmith. Marlborough was one of the seven "Praying Indian Towns" because they were converted to Christianity by the Rev. John Eliot of Roxbury. In 1674 a deed was drawn up dividing the land between the natives; this is the only record of names of the natives. The settlement was destroyed by Native Americans in 1676 during King Philip's War. In 1711 Marlborough's territory included Northborough, Southborough and Hudson.
As population and travel grew in the colonies, Marlborough became a favored rest stop on the Boston Post Road. Many travelers stopped at its inns and taverns, including George Washington, who visited the Williams Tavern soon after his inauguration in 1789. In 1836, Samuel Boyd, known as the "father of the city," and his brother Joseph, opened the first shoe manufacturing business - an act that would change the community forever. By 1890, with a population of 14,000, Marlborough had become a major shoe manufacturing center, producing boots for Union soldiers, as well as footwear for the civilian population. Marlborough became so well known for its shoes that its official seal was decorated with a factory, a shoe box, a pair of boots when it was incorporated as a city in 1890; the Civil War resulted in the creation of one of the region's most unusual monuments. Legend has it that a company from Marlborough, assigned to Harpers Ferry, appropriated the bell from the firehouse where John Brown last battled for the emancipation of the slaves.
The company left the bell in the hands of one Mrs. Elizabeth Snyder for 30 years, returning in 1892 to bring it back to Marlborough; the bell now hangs in a tower at the corner of Main Street. Around that time, Marlborough is believed to have been the first community in the country to receive a charter for a streetcar system, edging out Baltimore by a few months; the system, designed for passenger use, provided access to Milford to the south, Concord to the north. As a growing industrialized community, Marlborough began attracting skilled craftsmen from Quebec, Ireland and Greece. Shoe manufacturing continued in Marlborough long after the industry had fled many other New England communities. Rice & Hutchins, Inc. operated several factories in Marlborough from 1875 to 1929. Famous Frye boots were manufactured here through the 1970s, The Rockport Company, founded in Marlborough in 1971, continues to maintain an outlet store in the city. In 1990, when Marlborough celebrated its centennial as a city, the festivities included the construction of a park in acknowledgment of the shoe industry, featuring statues by the sculptor David Kapenteopolous.
The construction of Interstates 495 and 290 and the Massachusetts Turnpike has enabled the growth of the high technology and specialized electronics industries. With its easy access to major highways and the pro-business, pro-development policies of the city government, the population of Marlborough has increased to over 38,000 at the time of the 2010 census. Marlborough is located at 42°21′3″N 71°32′51″W. According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 22.2 square miles, of which, 21.1 square miles of it is land and 1.1 square miles of it is water. The Assabet River cuts across the northwest corner of the city. Within city limits are three large lakes, known as Lake Williams, Millham Reservoir and Fort Meadow Reservoir. Marlborough is crossed by Interstate 495, U. S. Route 20 and Massachusetts Route 85; the eastern terminus of Interstate 290 is in Marlborough. Marlborough is located in eastern Massachusetts, bordered by six municipalities: Berlin, Sudbury, Framingham and Northborough.
As of the census of 2000, there were 36,255 people, 14,501 households, 9,280 families residing in the city. The population density was 1,719.4 people per square mile. There were 14,903 housing units at an average density of 706.8 per square mi
Boston
Boston is the capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city proper covers 48 square miles with an estimated population of 685,094 in 2017, making it the most populous city in New England. Boston is the seat of Suffolk County as well, although the county government was disbanded on July 1, 1999; the city is the economic and cultural anchor of a larger metropolitan area known as Greater Boston, a metropolitan statistical area home to a census-estimated 4.8 million people in 2016 and ranking as the tenth-largest such area in the country. As a combined statistical area, this wider commuting region is home to some 8.2 million people, making it the sixth-largest in the United States. Boston is one of the oldest cities in the United States, founded on the Shawmut Peninsula in 1630 by Puritan settlers from England, it was the scene of several key events of the American Revolution, such as the Boston Massacre, the Boston Tea Party, the Battle of Bunker Hill, the Siege of Boston.
Upon gaining U. S. independence from Great Britain, it continued to be an important port and manufacturing hub as well as a center for education and culture. The city has expanded beyond the original peninsula through land reclamation and municipal annexation, its rich history attracts many tourists, with Faneuil Hall alone drawing more than 20 million visitors per year. Boston's many firsts include the United States' first public park, first public or state school and first subway system; the Boston area's many colleges and universities make it an international center of higher education, including law, medicine and business, the city is considered to be a world leader in innovation and entrepreneurship, with nearly 2,000 startups. Boston's economic base includes finance and business services, information technology, government activities. Households in the city claim the highest average rate of philanthropy in the United States; the city has one of the highest costs of living in the United States as it has undergone gentrification, though it remains high on world livability rankings.
Boston's early European settlers had first called the area Trimountaine but renamed it Boston after Boston, England, the origin of several prominent colonists. The renaming on September 7, 1630, was by Puritan colonists from England who had moved over from Charlestown earlier that year in quest for fresh water, their settlement was limited to the Shawmut Peninsula, at that time surrounded by the Massachusetts Bay and Charles River and connected to the mainland by a narrow isthmus. The peninsula is thought to have been inhabited as early as 5000 BC. In 1629, the Massachusetts Bay Colony's first governor John Winthrop led the signing of the Cambridge Agreement, a key founding document of the city. Puritan ethics and their focus on education influenced its early history. Over the next 130 years, the city participated in four French and Indian Wars, until the British defeated the French and their Indian allies in North America. Boston was the largest town in British America until Philadelphia grew larger in the mid-18th century.
Boston's oceanfront location made it a lively port, the city engaged in shipping and fishing during its colonial days. However, Boston stagnated in the decades prior to the Revolution. By the mid-18th century, New York City and Philadelphia surpassed Boston in wealth. Boston encountered financial difficulties as other cities in New England grew rapidly. Many of the crucial events of the American Revolution occurred near Boston. Boston's penchant for mob action along with the colonists' growing distrust in Britain fostered a revolutionary spirit in the city; when the British government passed the Stamp Act in 1765, a Boston mob ravaged the homes of Andrew Oliver, the official tasked with enforcing the Act, Thomas Hutchinson the Lieutenant Governor of Massachusetts. The British sent two regiments to Boston in 1768 in an attempt to quell the angry colonists; this did not sit well with the colonists. In 1770, during the Boston Massacre, the army killed several people in response to a mob in Boston.
The colonists compelled the British to withdraw their troops. The event was publicized and fueled a revolutionary movement in America. In 1773, Britain passed the Tea Act. Many of the colonists saw the act as an attempt to force them to accept the taxes established by the Townshend Acts; the act prompted the Boston Tea Party, where a group of rebels threw an entire shipment of tea sent by the British East India Company into Boston Harbor. The Boston Tea Party was a key event leading up to the revolution, as the British government responded furiously with the Intolerable Acts, demanding compensation for the lost tea from the rebels; this led to the American Revolutionary War. The war began in the area surrounding Boston with the Battles of Concord. Boston itself was besieged for a year during the Siege of Boston, which began on April 19, 1775; the New England militia impeded the movement of the British Army. William Howe, 5th Viscount Howe the commander-in-chief of the British forces in North America, led the British army in the siege.
On June 17, the British captured the Charlestown peninsula in Boston, during the Battle of Bunker Hill. The British army outnumbered the militia stationed there, but it was a Py
Bradford, New Hampshire
Bradford is a town in Merrimack County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 1,650 at the 2010 census; the main village of the town, where 356 people resided at the 2010 census, is defined as the Bradford census-designated place, is located in the northeast part of the town, west of the junction of New Hampshire routes 103 and 114. The town includes the village of Bradford Center. Granted by Governor Benning Wentworth in 1765 to John Pierce and George Jaffrey of Portsmouth, it was settled in 1771 by Dea. William Presbury and family. Three years other settlers arrived, several of them from Bradford, after which the town was named New Bradford, it was called Bradfordton, but upon incorporation by the General Court on September 27, 1787, it was named Bradford. Parts of the town are hilly. Streams provided water power for watermills. By 1859, when Bradford's population reached 1,341, industries included one woolen mill, one sash and door factory, one wheelwright shop, two sawmills, one gristmill, one tannery, one clothing mill.
In 1850, the Concord & Claremont Railroad opened from Concord to Bradford, which would remain its terminus until the line was extended to Claremont in 1871-72. According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 36.0 square miles, of which 35.3 sq mi is land and 0.7 sq mi is water, comprising 1.94% of the town. The village of Bradford is located near the northern border of the town, at the intersection of routes 103 and 114, just north of the Warner River and adjacent to the outlet of Todd Lake; the largest water body in the town is Lake Massasecum, near the town's eastern border. The highest point in Bradford is an unnamed 2,096-foot summit overlooking Ayers Pond on the town's western border. Knights Hill—1,910 ft above sea level—and Rowes Hill—1,950 ft —constitute a large, hilly mass occupying the southern portion of town. Bradford lies within the Merrimack River watershed; as of the census of 2010, there were 1,650 people, 667 households, 471 families residing in the town.
There were 917 housing units, of which 250, or 27.3%, were vacant. 203 of the vacant units were for recreational uses. The racial makeup of the town was 97.5% white, 0.1% African American, 0.4% Native American, 0.2% Asian, 0.1% Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander, 0.2% some other race, 1.6% from two or more races. 1.3% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race. Of the 667 households, 29.1% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 57.7% were headed by married couples living together, 7.8% had a female householder with no husband present, 29.4% were non-families. 21.1% of all households were made up of individuals, 7.1% were someone living alone, 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.47, the average family size was 2.86. In the town, 20.7% of the population were under the age of 18, 6.3% were from 18 to 24, 20.9% from 25 to 44, 38.9% from 45 to 64, 13.2% were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 46.3 years. For every 100 females, there were 100.7 males.
For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 100.6 males. For the period 2011-2015, the estimated median annual income for a household was $59,783, the median income for a family was $68,750. Male full-time workers had a median income of $55,119 versus $40,000 for females; the per capita income for the town was $28,152. 7.1% of the population and 4.8% of families were below the poverty line. 7.8% of the population under the age of 18 and 8.5% of those 65 or older were living in poverty. Bement Covered Bridge, built 1854 Odds Bodkin and musician John Q. A. Brackett, 36th governor of Massachusetts John Milton Hawks and physician Mason Tappan, US Congressman and State Attorney General Bainbridge Wadleigh, US senator Town of Bradford official website Bradfordnh.com Brown Memorial Library New Hampshire Economic and Labor Market Information Bureau Profile
