| # |
County |
Date
Formed(1) |
Area
(sq. mi.)(2) |
Origin of County Name(3) |
| 1 |
Belknap |
1840 |
401.3 |
for Jeremy Belknap (1744-98), Portsmouth minister & early NH historian |
| 2 |
Carroll |
1840 |
933.9 |
for Charles Carroll of Carrollton (1737-1832), signer of the Declaration of Independence |
| 3 |
Cheshire |
1769 |
707.5 |
for Cheshire, England |
| 4 |
Coos |
1803 |
1,800.6 |
Indian word meaning "crooked", for a bend in the Connecticut River |
| 5 |
Grafton |
1769 |
1,713.5 |
for Augustus Henry Fitzroy (1735-1811), the third Duke of Grafton (England) |
| 6 |
Hillsborough |
1769 |
876.5 |
for Wills Hill (1718-1793), Earl of Hillsborough (Ireland/Great Britian) |
| 7 |
Merrimack |
1823 |
934.5 |
after the Merrimack River |
| 8 |
Rockingham |
1769 |
695.2 |
for Charles Watson Wentworth (1730-82), the second Marquis of Rockingham (England) |
| 9 |
Strafford |
1769 |
368.8 |
for William Wentworth, the Earl of Strafford (England), ancestor of NH Governors Benning and John Wentworth |
| 10 |
Sullivan |
1827 |
537.4 |
for John Sullivan (1740-1795), Governor of NH |
Sources:
1 - N.H. Manual for the General Court, no. 43 (NH Department of State, 1973); NH county histories.
2 - US Census Bureau, "Table 1. Land Area, Population, and Density for States and Counties: 1990", http://www.census.gov/population/censusdata/90den_stco.txt. Released: March 12, 1996. [area is also given in square kilometers]
3 - N.H. Manual for the General Court, no. 43 (NH Department of State, 1973); Dictionary of American Biography; Dictionary of National Biography; NH county histories. Governor John Wentworth (served 1767-1775) named the first five counties in NH after his friends and relatives and places in England.
County Government Offices
New Hampshire Association of Counties
c/o The Dupont Group
114 N. Main Street, Suite 401
Concord, NH 03301
http://www.nhcounties.org
National Association of Counties
http://www.naco.org/counties/counties/index.cfm
Use the interactive state map or the drop-down box to select NH.
County Population and Other Demographic Information
US Census Bureau, "New Hampshire Profiles" page:
http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/33000.html
State and county quick facts available from the US Bureau of the Census.
New Hampshire Office of Energy & Planning, State Data Center:
http://www.nh.gov/oep/programs/DataCenter/index.htm
Easy access to census related information on New Hampshire. Much of the information reported is at the town or city level, rather than the county level, but miscellaneous county information can be found here, such as a listing of NH towns by county. |
