Jefferson, New Hampshire
Jefferson, New Hampshire | ||
|---|---|---|
Town | ||
FIPS code 33-38820 | | |
| GNIS feature ID | 0873634 | |
| Website | www | |
Jefferson is a
Jefferson is part of the Berlin, New Hampshire-Vermont Micropolitan Statistical Area.
History
Colonial Governor Benning Wentworth first made land grants in this area in 1765, but the location was so deep in unexplored territory that few settlers took up their claims. So soon after the French and Indian War, in which certain Native American tribes in New England were allied with the French, English colonists did not want to be exposed on the frontier.
Colonel Joseph Whipple (1738–1816)[3][a] took a grant and cut trails through the forests to build a "manor" house. He named the town "Dartmouth" after William Legge, 2nd Earl of Dartmouth, the patron of Dartmouth College. Brother to William Whipple,[3] a signer of the Declaration of Independence, Colonel Whipple renamed the town "Jefferson" four years prior to Thomas Jefferson's election as president. The state legislature granted the town a new charter as "Jefferson" on December 8, 1796.
In the mid-19th century, the boundary with the adjacent township of Kilkenny was moved so as to include that township's few residents in Jefferson.
In 1885, a landslide on the north side of Cherry Mountain demolished the Stanley farm, mortally wounding a worker. Local hotels immediately arranged daily excursions to view the scene, now marked by a New Hampshire historical marker (number 152) titled "Cherry Mountain Slide".[4] Jefferson's third marker (number 229) honors Deborah Vicker, known as "Granny Stalbird",[4] who is said to have brought the first bible to the north country.
During the early 1900s, Jefferson was a popular summer resort, boasting one of the largest "grand hotels" in the
At tourism's peak, Jefferson had over 30 inns and boarding houses, accessible by several mainline depots, including Riverton, Baileys, Meadows, and Highlands. Some of the original station buildings remain, although most have been moved to nearby locations. The tracks were removed in the 1920s. The wider ownership of automobiles gave people more choices for vacation destinations, and the Great Depression reduced vacations for years. By the end of this period, many people sought other venues than grand hotels.
A number of historic, architecturally interesting structures remain from the resort era. The Waumbek Cottages provided a backdrop for the popular White Mountains Festival of the Arts until 1979. In March 2006, the Waumbek Cottages Historic District was listed in the National Register of Historic Places.
In 1988 and 1989, Jefferson gained national attention when a local volunteer firefighter was charged and tried in connection with dozens of arson fires that had plagued the area. The defendant was acquitted at trial.[5][6][7][8]
Geography
Jefferson is located on U.S. Route 2 between Lancaster and Randolph, west of the midpoint between the Vermont and Maine borders. Set astride the broad Israel River valley, the town commands remarkable views of the Presidential Range and other White Mountain summits. Mount Starr King, with an elevation of 3,907 feet (1,191 m) and named for Thomas Starr King, is the highest point in town, near the town's northern border. It is regularly traversed by hikers scaling nearby 4,006-foot (1,221 m) Mount Waumbek, one of the "four-thousand footers"—the 48 peaks above 4,000 feet (1,200 m) in New Hampshire.[9] Jefferson lies fully within the Connecticut River watershed.[10]
In the past few years, thousands of acres of Jefferson have been sold or donated by private interests to the White Mountain National Forest. These include the Randolph Town Forest, a part of which is within the boundaries of Jefferson, the Silvio O. Conte National Fish and Wildlife Refuge, and Mount Starr King.
According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 50.3 square miles (130.3 km2), of which 50.0 square miles (129.5 km2) are land and 0.3 square miles (0.9 km2) are water, comprising 0.66% of the town.[1]
Climate
According to the
| Climate data for Jefferson, New Hampshire, 1991–2020 normals, extremes 2000–present | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Record high °F (°C) | 62 (17) |
65 (18) |
78 (26) |
86 (30) |
93 (34) |
94 (34) |
94 (34) |
92 (33) |
92 (33) |
80 (27) |
71 (22) |
62 (17) |
94 (34) |
| Mean maximum °F (°C) | 50.5 (10.3) |
50.1 (10.1) |
58.4 (14.7) |
75.3 (24.1) |
84.1 (28.9) |
87.6 (30.9) |
88.8 (31.6) |
85.9 (29.9) |
84.3 (29.1) |
72.4 (22.4) |
64.1 (17.8) |
51.5 (10.8) |
90.6 (32.6) |
| Mean daily maximum °F (°C) | 26.2 (−3.2) |
28.8 (−1.8) |
37.5 (3.1) |
50.9 (10.5) |
64.4 (18.0) |
72.6 (22.6) |
77.6 (25.3) |
75.9 (24.4) |
67.4 (19.7) |
55.3 (12.9) |
41.5 (5.3) |
30.9 (−0.6) |
52.4 (11.4) |
| Daily mean °F (°C) | 16.8 (−8.4) |
19.0 (−7.2) |
27.6 (−2.4) |
40.6 (4.8) |
53.1 (11.7) |
61.6 (16.4) |
66.7 (19.3) |
64.8 (18.2) |
56.4 (13.6) |
46.0 (7.8) |
34.0 (1.1) |
23.3 (−4.8) |
42.5 (5.8) |
| Mean daily minimum °F (°C) | 7.4 (−13.7) |
9.1 (−12.7) |
17.8 (−7.9) |
30.3 (−0.9) |
41.7 (5.4) |
50.5 (10.3) |
55.8 (13.2) |
53.6 (12.0) |
45.4 (7.4) |
36.7 (2.6) |
26.5 (−3.1) |
15.7 (−9.1) |
32.5 (0.3) |
| Mean minimum °F (°C) | −14.0 (−25.6) |
−9.7 (−23.2) |
−4.3 (−20.2) |
18.8 (−7.3) |
30.4 (−0.9) |
39.2 (4.0) |
45.9 (7.7) |
42.7 (5.9) |
31.8 (−0.1) |
24.9 (−3.9) |
10.8 (−11.8) |
−4.2 (−20.1) |
−16.6 (−27.0) |
| Record low °F (°C) | −31 (−35) |
−22 (−30) |
−17 (−27) |
8 (−13) |
25 (−4) |
32 (0) |
40 (4) |
36 (2) |
21 (−6) |
16 (−9) |
−2 (−19) |
−16 (−27) |
−31 (−35) |
| Average precipitation inches (mm) | 2.51 (64) |
2.28 (58) |
2.61 (66) |
3.36 (85) |
3.80 (97) |
4.40 (112) |
4.26 (108) |
3.98 (101) |
3.34 (85) |
4.29 (109) |
2.95 (75) |
3.26 (83) |
41.04 (1,043) |
| Average snowfall inches (cm) | 20.1 (51) |
19.8 (50) |
16.7 (42) |
6.5 (17) |
0.5 (1.3) |
0.0 (0.0) |
0.0 (0.0) |
0.0 (0.0) |
0.0 (0.0) |
1.8 (4.6) |
7.7 (20) |
21.7 (55) |
94.8 (240.9) |
| Average precipitation days (≥ 0.01 in) | 16.3 | 13.5 | 14.1 | 13.6 | 14.5 | 14.5 | 12.9 | 12.2 | 10.6 | 14.4 | 14.5 | 16.9 | 168 |
| Average snowy days (≥ 0.1 in) | 15.3 | 13.2 | 10.5 | 4.9 | 0.5 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 1.4 | 7.7 | 13.7 | 67.2 |
| Source 1: NOAA[11] | |||||||||||||
| Source 2: National Weather Service (mean maxima and minima 2006–2020)[12] | |||||||||||||
Demographics
| Census | Pop. | Note | %± |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1800 | 112 | — | |
| 1810 | 197 | 75.9% | |
| 1820 | 252 | 27.9% | |
| 1830 | 492 | 95.2% | |
| 1840 | 575 | 16.9% | |
| 1850 | 629 | 9.4% | |
| 1860 | 700 | 11.3% | |
| 1870 | 826 | 18.0% | |
| 1880 | 951 | 15.1% | |
| 1890 | 1,062 | 11.7% | |
| 1900 | 1,080 | 1.7% | |
| 1910 | 1,061 | −1.8% | |
| 1920 | 960 | −9.5% | |
| 1930 | 771 | −19.7% | |
| 1940 | 763 | −1.0% | |
| 1950 | 728 | −4.6% | |
| 1960 | 600 | −17.6% | |
| 1970 | 714 | 19.0% | |
| 1980 | 803 | 12.5% | |
| 1990 | 965 | 20.2% | |
| 2000 | 1,006 | 4.2% | |
| 2010 | 1,107 | 10.0% | |
| 2020 | 1,043 | −5.8% | |
| U.S. Decennial Census[2][13] | |||
As of the
There were 407 households, out of which 28.0% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 62.4% were married couples living together, 5.2% had a female householder with no husband present, and 27.5% were non-families. 20.4% of all households were made up of individuals, and 6.9% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.47 and the average family size was 2.84.
In the town, the population was spread out, with 22.0% under the age of 18, 4.5% from 18 to 24, 27.2% from 25 to 44, 32.4% from 45 to 64, and 13.9% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 43 years. For every 100 females, there were 103.6 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 105.0 males.
The median income for a household in the town was $41,089, and the median income for a family was $42,067. Males had a median income of $27,130 versus $21,382 for females. The
Sites of interest
- Jefferson Historical Museum, located in the former St. John's Methodist church, on US Route 2, east of village center. From June to October it is open free to the public on Thursday and Sunday afternoons.
- Pondicherry Wildlife Refuge[15]
Notable person
- Thaddeus S. C. Lowe (1832–1913), scientist, inventor
See also
Notes
- ^ Colonel Joseph Whipple of Jefferson is a different person than the like-named Colonel Joseph Whipple of Rhode Island, who died in 1746.
References
- ^ a b "2021 U.S. Gazetteer Files – New Hampshire". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved November 9, 2021.
- ^ a b c "Jefferson town, Coos County, New Hampshire: 2020 DEC Redistricting Data (PL 94-171)". U.S. Census Bureau. Retrieved November 9, 2021.
- ^ a b Bond, Charles D.; Bond, Marie R. (November 2002). "Mount Joseph Whipple: How and Why It Got Its Name" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on December 27, 2004. Retrieved July 10, 2020 – via whipple.org.
{{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires|journal=(help) - ^ a b "List of Markers by Marker Number" (PDF). nh.gov. New Hampshire Division of Historical Resources. November 2, 2018. Archived (PDF) from the original on January 27, 2013. Retrieved July 5, 2019.
- ^ "Arsonist Taunts N.H. Town with 19th Fire", The Boston Globe, August 24, 1988
- ^ "Ex-Fireman Charged in N.H. Arson", The Boston Globe, October 13, 1988
- ^ "N.H. Man Cleared of Charge Related to Fire", The Boston Globe, April 8, 1989
- ^ "N.H. Jurors Acquit Man of Arson Wave", The Boston Globe, July 1, 1989
- ^ Gene Daniell and Jon Burroughs, ed., White Mountain Guide, 26th ed., Boston, Massachusetts, Appalachian Mountain Club, 1998
- ^ Foster, Debra H.; Batorfalvy, Tatianna N.; Medalie, Laura (1995). Water Use in New Hampshire: An Activities Guide for Teachers. U.S. Department of the Interior and U.S. Geological Survey.
- ^ "U.S. Climate Normals Quick Access". National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Retrieved August 3, 2022.
- ^ "NOAA Online Weather Data". National Weather Service. Retrieved August 3, 2022.
- ^ "Census of Population and Housing". Census.gov. Retrieved June 4, 2016.
- ^ "U.S. Census website". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved January 31, 2008.
- ^ "New Hampshire - Silvio O. Conte - U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service". www.fws.gov. Retrieved September 24, 2017.
- Julyan, Robert and Mary (1993). Place Names of the White Mountains (Revised ed.). Hanover, NH: University Press of New England. ISBN 0-87451-638-2.
- Davis, Abner (1972). History of Coos County ((Republished facsimile of original. In Jefferson CD-ROM (2002) from Jefferson Historical Society.) ed.). Somersworth, NH: New Hampshire Publishing Company. pp. 399–425.
- Boston and Maine Railroad (September 21, 1914). "Local Time Table, White Mountains Division".
{{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires|journal=(help) - Tolles, Bryant F. (2000). Summer Cottages in the White Mountains: The Architecture of Leisure and Recreation 1870 to 1930. Hanover: University Press of New England. ISBN 0-87451-953-5.
- Town of Jefferson (1995). Jefferson, New Hampshire: Before 1996. Littleton: Sherwin Dodge.
External links
Places adjacent to Jefferson, New Hampshire | |
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| International | |
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| National | |
