Counties
New Hampshire is made up of 10 counties, all with separate governmental responsibilities.
Belknap
- Date Formed: 1840
- Area (sq. mi.): 401.3
- Origin of County Name: for Jeremy Belknap (1744-98), Portsmouth minister & early New Hampshire historian
Visit the Belknap County website for more information
Carroll
- Date Formed: 1840
- Area (sq. mi.): 401.3
- Origin of County Name: for Jeremy Belknap (1744-98), Portsmouth minister & early NH historian
Visit the Caroll County website for more information
Cheshire
- Date Formed: 1769
- Area (sq. mi.): 707.5
- Origin of County Name: for Cheshire, England
Visit the Cheshire County website for more information.
Coos
- Date Formed: 1803
- Area (sq. mi.): 1,800.6
- Origin of County Name: Indian word meaning "crooked", for a bend in the Connecticut
Visit the Coos County website for more information.
Grafton
- Date Formed: 1769
- Area (sq. mi.): 1,713.5
- Origin of County Name: for Augustus Henry Fitzroy (1735-1811), the third Duke of Grafton (England)
Visit the Grafton County website for more information.
Hillsborough
- Date Formed: 1769
- Area (sq. mi.): 876.5
- Origin of County Name: for Wills Hill (1718-1793), Earl of Hillsborough (Ireland/Great Britian)
Visit the Hillsborough County website for more information.
Merrimack
- Date Formed: 1823
- Area (sq. mi.): 934.5
- Origin of County Name: after the Merrimack River
Visit the Merrimack County website for more information.
Rockingham
- Date Formed: 1769
- Area (sq. mi.): 695.2
- Origin of County Name: for Charles Watson Wentworth (1730-82), the second Marquis of Rockingham (England)
Visit the Rockingham County website for more information.
Strafford
- Date Formed: 1769
- Area (sq. mi.): 368.8
- Origin of County Name: for William Wentworth, the Earl of Strafford (England), ancestor of New Hampshire Governors Benning and John Wentworth
Visit the Strafford County website for more information.
Sullivan
- Date Formed: 1827
- Area (sq. mi.): 537.4
- Origin of County Name: for John Sullivan (1740-1795), Governor of NH
Visit the Sullivan County website for more information.
Sources:
- Date Formed: NH Manual for the General Court, no. 43 (NH Department of State, 1973); NH county histories.
- Area (sq. mi.): US Census Bureau, "Table 1. Land Area, Population, and Density for States and Counties: 1990",Released: March 12, 1996. [area is also given in square kilometers]
- Origin of County Name: NH Manual for the General Court, no. 43 (NH Department of State, 1973); Dictionary of American Biography; Dictionary of National Biography; New Hampshire county histories. Governor John Wentworth (served 1767-1775) named the first five counties in New Hampshire after his friends and relatives and places in England.