Concord, New Hampshire, United States

History | Geography | Villages | Adjacent municipalities | Economy : Top employers | Transport : Road | Railroads | Transport : Bus | Other modes | Complete Streets Improvement Project | Newspapers and journals | Media : Radio : Television | Sites of interest | Education

🇺🇸 Concord is the capital city of the U.S. state of New Hampshire and the county seat of Merrimack County. It is it the third largest city in New Hampshire behind Manchester and Nashua.

The village of Penacook is in the northern part of the city. Concord is home to the University of New Hampshire School of Law, New Hampshire's only law school; St. Paul's School, a private preparatory school; NHTI, a two-year community college; the New Hampshire Police Academy; and the New Hampshire Fire Academy. Concord's Old North Cemetery is the final resting place of Franklin Pierce, 14th President of the United States.

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History The area that would become Concord was originally settled thousands of years ago by Abenaki Native Americans called the Pennacook. The tribe fished for migrating salmon, sturgeon, and alewives with nets strung across the rapids of the Merrimack River. The stream was also the transportation route for their birch bark canoes, which could travel from Lake Winnipesaukee to the Atlantic Ocean. The broad sweep of the Merrimack River valley floodplain provided good soil for farming beans, gourds, pumpkins, melons and maize.

The area was first settled by Europeans in 1659 as Penacook, after the Abenaki word "pannukog" meaning "bend in the river", referencing the steep bends of the Merrimack River through the area. On January 17, 1725, the Province of Massachusetts Bay, which then claimed territories west of the Merrimack, granted the Concord area as the Plantation of Penacook. It was settled between 1725 and 1727 by Captain Ebenezer Eastman and others from Haverhill, Massachusetts. On February 9, 1734, the town was incorporated as "Rumford", from which Sir Benjamin Thompson, Count Rumford, would take his title. It was renamed "Concord" in 1765 by Governor Benning Wentworth following a bitter boundary dispute between Rumford and the town of Bow; the city name was meant to reflect the new concord, or harmony, between the disputant towns. Citizens displaced by the resulting border adjustment were given land elsewhere as compensation. In 1779, New Pennacook Plantation was granted to Timothy Walker Jr. and his associates at what would be incorporated in 1800 as Rumford, Maine, the site of Pennacook Falls.

Concord grew in prominence throughout the 18th century, and some of the earliest houses from this period survive at the northern end of Main Street. In the years following the Revolution, Concord's central geographical location made it a logical choice for the state capital, particularly after Samuel Blodget in 1807 opened a canal and lock system to allow vessels passage around the Amoskeag Falls downriver, connecting Concord with Boston by way of the Middlesex Canal. In 1808, Concord was named the official seat of state government, and in 1816 architect Stuart Park was commissioned to design a new capitol building for the state legislature on land sold to the state by local Quakers. Construction on the State House was completed in 1819, and it remains the oldest capitol in the nation in which the state's legislative branches meet in their original chambers. Concord was also named the seat of Merrimack County in 1823, and the Merrimack County Courthouse was constructed in 1857 in the North End at the site of the Old Town House.

In the early 19th century, much of the city's economy was dominated by furniture-making, printing, and granite quarrying; granite had become a popular building material for many monumental halls in the early United States, and Concord granite was used in the construction of both the New Hampshire State House and the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C. In 1828, Lewis Downing joined J. Stephens Abbot to form Abbot and Downing. Their most famous product was their Concord coach, widely used in the development of the American West, and their enterprise largely boosted and changed the city economy in the mid-19th century. In subsequent years, Concord would also become a hub for the railroad industry, with Penacook a textile manufacturing centre using water power from the Contoocook River. The city also around this time started to become a centre for the emerging healthcare industry, with New Hampshire State Hospital opening in 1842 as one of the first psychiatric hospitals in the United States. The State Hospital continued to expand throughout the following decades, and in 1891 Concord Hospital opened its doors as Margaret Pillsbury General Hospital, the first general hospital in the state of New Hampshire.

Concord's economy changed once again in the 20th century with the declining railroad and textile industry. The city developed into a centre for national politics due to New Hampshire's first-in-the-nation primary, and many presidential candidates still visit the Concord area during campaign season. The city also developed an identity within the emerging space industry, with the McAuliffe-Shepard Discovery Center opening in 1990 to commemorate Alan Shepard, the first American in space from nearby Derry, and Christa McAuliffe, a teacher at Concord High School who died in the 1986 Space Shuttle Challenger disaster. Today, Concord remains a centre for politics, law, healthcare, and insurance companies.

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Geography Concord is located in south-central New Hampshire. It is 38 miles (61 km) north of the Massachusetts border, 40 miles (64 km) west of the Maine border, 54 miles (87 km) east of the Vermont border, and 170 miles (270 km) south of the Canadian border at Pittsburg.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 67.2 square miles (174.0 km²). 64.0 square miles (165.7 km²) of it are land and 3.2 square miles (8.4 km²) of it are water, comprising 4.81% of the city. Concord is drained by the Merrimack River. Penacook Lake, the largest lake in the city and its main source of water, is in the west. The highest point in Concord is 860 feet (260 m) above sea level on Oak Hill, just west of the hill's 970-foot (300 m) summit in neighboring Loudon.

Concord lies fully within the Merrimack River watershed and is centered on the river, which runs from north-west to south-east through the city. Downtown is located on a low terrace to the west of the river, with residential neighborhoods climbing hills to the west and extending southwards towards the town of Bow. To the east of the Merrimack, atop a 100-foot (30 m) bluff, is a flat, sandy plain known as Concord Heights, which has seen most of the city's commercial development since 1960. The eastern boundary of Concord (with the town of Pembroke) is formed by the Soucook River, a tributary of the Merrimack. The Turkey River winds through the south-western quarter of the city, passing through the campus of St. Paul's School before entering the Merrimack River in Bow. In the northern part of the city, the Contoocook River enters the Merrimack at the village of Penacook.

Aerial view of downtown Concord (looking east)

Concord is 16 miles (26 km) north of Manchester, New Hampshire's largest city, and 66 miles (106 km) north of Boston.

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Villages The city of Concord is made up of its downtown, including its North End and South End neighborhoods, plus the four distinct villages of Penacook, Concord Heights, East Concord, and West Concord.

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Adjacent municipalities • Canterbury (north) • Loudon (northeast) • Pembroke (southeast) • Bow (south) • Hopkinton (west) • Webster (northwest) • Boscawen (north-northwest).

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Economy: Top employers In 2020, the top employer in the city remained the State of New Hampshire, with over 6,000 employed workers, while the largest private employer was Concord Hospital, with just under 3,000 employees. According to the City of Concord's Comprehensive Annual Financial Report, the top 10 employers in the city for the Fiscal Year 2020 were: 1 State of New Hampshire; 2 Capital Region Health Care – Concord Hospital; 3 Concord School District; 4 City of Concord; 5 Lincoln Financial Group; 6 Market Basket; 7 Genesis HealthCare; 8 NHHEAF Network Organizations; 9 St. Paul's School; 10 Merrimack Valley School District.

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Transport: Road Interstate 89 and Interstate 93 are the two main interstate highways serving Concord, and join just south of the city limits. Interstate 89 links Concord with Lebanon and the state of Vermont to the north-west, while Interstate 93 connects the city to Plymouth, Littleton, and the White Mountains to the north and Manchester and Boston to the south. Interstate 393 is a spur highway leading east from Concord and merging with U.S. Route 4 as a direct route to New Hampshire's Seacoast region. North-south U.S. Route 3 serves as Concord's Main Street, while U.S. Route 202 and New Hampshire Route 9 cross the city from east to west. State routes 13 and 132 also serve the city: Route 13 leads south-west out of Concord towards Goffstown and Milford, while Route 132 travels north parallel to Interstate 93. New Hampshire Route 106 passes through the easternmost part of Concord, crossing I-393 and NH 9 before crossing the Soucook River south into the town of Pembroke. To the north, NH 106 leads to Loudon, Belmont and Laconia.

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Railroads Historically, Concord served as an important railroad terminal and station for the Boston and Maine Railroad. The former Concord Station was located at what is now a Burlington department store on Storrs Street. The station itself was built in 1860, but the fourth and most famous iteration of the station was built in 1885, which had a brick head house designed by Bradford L. Gilbert. The head house was demolished in 1959 and replaced by a smaller "McGinnis Era" station. By 1967, all passenger rail services to Concord had been discontinued. For 13 months from 1980 to 1981, MBTA Commuter Rail ran two round trips a day between Boston and Concord. The service was discontinued after federal funding was pulled by the Reagan administration. Since then, there has not been any passenger rail service to Concord.

In 2021, Amtrak announced their plan to implement new service between Boston and Concord by 2035.

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Transport: Bus Local bus service is provided by Concord Area Transit (CAT), with three routes through the city. Regional bus service provided by Concord Coach Lines and Greyhound Lines is available from the Concord Transportation Center at 30 Stickney Avenue next to Exit 14 on Interstate 93, with service south to Boston and points in between, as well as north to Littleton and north-east to Berlin.

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Other modes General aviation services are available through Concord Municipal Airport, located 2 miles (3 km) east of downtown. There is no commercial air service within the city limits; the nearest such airport is Manchester–Boston Regional Airport, 23 miles (37 km) to the south.

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Complete Streets Improvement Project Concord's downtown underwent a significant renovation between 2015 and 2016, during the city's "Complete Streets Improvement Project". At a proposed cost of $12 million, the project promised to deliver on categories of maintenance to aging infrastructure, improved accessibility, increased sustainability, a safer experience for walkers, bikers and motorists alike, and to stimulate economic growth in an increasingly idle downtown. The main infrastructural change was reducing the four-lane street (two in each direction) to two lanes plus a turning lane in the center. The freed-up space would contribute to extra width for bikes to ride in either direction, increased curb size and an added median where there is no need for a turning lane. Concord opted to add shared lane markings for bikes, rather than a dedicated protected bike lane.

By adding curb space, this project created new opportunities for pedestrians to enjoy the downtown. Many power lines were buried, and street trees, colorful benches, art installations, and other green spaces were added, all allowing people to reclaim a space long dominated by cars. Main Street underwent serious traffic calming, including a road diet, increased diagonal parking, widening sidewalks, adding shared lane markings, adding trees, texturing medians and coloring crosswalks red. Another aspect of the new construction was adding heated sidewalk capabilities, utilizing excess steam from the local Concord Steam plant, and minimizing sand and snow blowing needed during the winter months.

Funding for Complete Streets came from a combination of $4,710,000 from a USDOT TIGER grant and the rest from the City of Concord. The project was initially proposed as costing $7,850,000, but ran over budget due to overambitious ideas. After scrapping some of the most expensive offenders, the budget ended up at $14.2 million, with the project actually coming in $1.1 million below that. Although adding final aesthetic touches with the extra money were debated, the city council ended up deciding to save for financially straining years ahead. The design was carried out by McFarland Johnson, IBI Group, and City of Concord Engineering.

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Newspapers and journals • Concord Monitor (daily) • Concord NH Patch (daily) • New Hampshire Bulletin (daily) • The Concord Insider (weekly) • The Hippo (weekly)

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Media: Radio • WKXL 1450 AM (News Talk Information) • WNHN-LP 94.7 FM (Jazz, Blues, Progressive Talk) • WEVO 89.1 FM (Public radio) • WJYY 105.5 FM (Top 40) • WAKC 102.3 FM (Contemporary Christian) • WICX 102.7 FM (Catholic Radio)

The city is otherwise served by Manchester area stations. New Hampshire Public Radio is headquartered in Concord.

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Media: Television • WPXG-TV (Channel 21) (Ion Television) • Concord TV Public-access television cable TV station

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Sites of interest The New Hampshire State House, designed by architect Stuart Park and constructed between 1815 and 1818, is the oldest state house in which the legislature meets in its original chambers. The building was remodeled in 1866, and the third story and west wing were added in 1910.

Across from the State House is the Eagle Hotel on Main Street, which has been a downtown landmark since its opening in 1827. U.S. Presidents Ulysses S. Grant, Rutherford Hayes, and Benjamin Harrison all dined there, and Franklin Pierce spent the night before departing for his inauguration. Other well-known guests included Jefferson Davis, Charles Lindbergh, Eleanor Roosevelt, Richard M. Nixon (who carried New Hampshire in all three of his presidential bids), and Thomas E. Dewey. The hotel closed in 1961.

South from the Eagle Hotel on Main Street is Phenix Hall, which replaced "Old" Phenix Hall, which burned in 1893. Both the old and new buildings featured multi-purpose auditoriums used for political speeches, theater productions, and fairs. Abraham Lincoln spoke at the old hall in 1860; Theodore Roosevelt, at the new hall in 1912.

Walker-Woodman House, built from 1733 to 1735, as it appeared c. 1908

North on Main Street is the Walker-Woodman House, also known as the Reverend Timothy Walker House, the oldest standing two-story house in Concord. It was built for the Reverend Timothy Walker between 1733 and 1735.

On the north end of Main Street is the Pierce Manse, in which President Franklin Pierce lived in Concord before and following his presidency. The mid-1830s Greek Revival house was moved from Montgomery Street to North Main Street in 1971 to prevent its demolition.

Beaver Meadow Golf Course, located in the northern part of Concord, is one of the oldest golf courses in New England. Besides this golf course, other important sporting venues in Concord include Everett Arena and Memorial Field.

The SNOB (Somewhat North Of Boston) Film Festival, started in the fall of 2002, brings independent films and filmmakers to Concord and has provided an outlet for local filmmakers to display their films. SNOB Film Festival was a catalyst for the building of Red River Theatres, a locally owned, nonprofit, independent cinema in 2007. The SNOB Film Festival is one of the many arts organizations in the city.

Other sites of interest include the Capitol Center for the Arts, the New Hampshire Historical Society, which has two facilities in Concord, and the McAuliffe-Shepard Discovery Center, a science museum named after Christa McAuliffe, the Concord teacher who died during the Space Shuttle Challenger disaster in 1986, and Alan Shepard, the Derry-born astronaut who was the second person and first American in space as well as the fifth and oldest person to walk on the Moon.

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Education Concord is home to New Hampshire Technical Institute, the city's primary community college, and Granite State College, which offers online two-year and four-year degrees. The University of New Hampshire School of Law is located near downtown, and the Franklin Pierce University Doctorate of Physical Therapy program also has a location in the city. Concord Hospital recently announced plans to open a joint program with the New England College School of Nursing as part of their Bachelor of Nursing degree. Concord is also a major clinical site of Dartmouth College's Geisel School of Medicine, New Hampshire's only medical school.

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Concord, New Hampshire, United States 
<b>Concord, New Hampshire, United States</b>
Image: Warren LeMay

Concord has a population of over 42,695 people. Concord also forms the centre of the wider New Hampshire state which has a population of over 1,395,231 people. Concord is ranked #447 for startups with a score of 0.444.

To set up a UBI Lab for Concord see: https://www.ubilabnetwork.org Twitter: https://twitter.com/UBILabNetwork

Text Atribution: Wikipedia Text under CC-BY-SA license | StartupBlink

Antipodal to Concord is: 108.46,-43.206

Locations Near: Concord -71.5398,43.2063

🇺🇸 Manchester -71.463,42.989 d: 24.9  

🇺🇸 Laconia -71.467,43.517 d: 35  

🇺🇸 Derry -71.317,42.867 d: 41.9  

🇺🇸 Nashua -71.454,42.766 d: 49.4  

🇺🇸 Brentwood -71.073,42.978 d: 45.6  

🇺🇸 Lowell -71.307,42.645 d: 65.2  

🇺🇸 Lawrence -71.162,42.709 d: 63.3  

🇺🇸 Dover -70.867,43.183 d: 54.6  

🇺🇸 Leominster -71.75,42.517 d: 78.6  

🇺🇸 Claremont -72.333,43.367 d: 66.7  

Antipodal to: Concord 108.46,-43.206

🇦🇺 Bunbury 115.637,-33.327 d: 18751.6  

🇦🇺 Albany 117.867,-35.017 d: 18796.9  

🇦🇺 Mandurah 115.721,-32.529 d: 18668.9  

🇦🇺 Rockingham 115.717,-32.267 d: 18642.8  

🇦🇺 City of Cockburn 115.833,-32.167 d: 18628  

🇦🇺 Perth 115.857,-31.953 d: 18605.6  

🇦🇺 Vincent 115.834,-31.936 d: 18604.8  

🇦🇺 Guildford 115.973,-31.9 d: 18595.6  

🇦🇺 Midland 116.01,-31.888 d: 18592.9  

🇦🇺 Wanneroo 115.803,-31.747 d: 18587  

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