Concord, NH Summary

New Hampshire’s capital has grown from a trading post established in 1659 on the Merrimack River to a city of 37,850. It is the seat of Merrimack County, and the state’s center for politics, finance, technology industries, commerce and transportation.

Located in the south-central part of New Hampshire, the settlement began as a land grant made in 1725 by the Massachusetts Bay Colony with the original name of Rumford.

Commerce increased due to its riverside setting, and in 1741 a dispute began between Massachusetts and New Hampshire over which region had jurisdiction over Rumford. New Hampshire won, and in 1765 the town was renamed Concord to commemorate the unity of its people during the dispute. It was made the state capital in 1808.

In 1827 wheelwright Lewis Downing and coachbuilder J. Stephens Abbot launched a stagecoach factory. The Concord stagecoaches built here became a key means of travel in the American West through much of the nineteenth century. The town was also home to NASA’s first civilian astronaut, Concord High School social studies teacher Christa McAuliffe, who died in the 1986 explosion of the space shuttle Challenger. A planetarium in Concord is named in her memory, and is open to the public.

Visitors can also take in the Museum of New Hampshire History, which includes an early Native American canoe and an original Concord coach. Pierce Manse was the home and law office of President Franklin Pierce from 1842 to 1848. Concord’s historic State House, on Main Street, is said to be the oldest (1819) in the country in which a legislature still meets in its original chambers.

Near Concord are quarries where the state’s famous white granite was mined for construction of the Library of Congress in Washington DC. A few miles north of Concord is Canterbury Shaker Village, which was established in 1792 and is now a museum and historic site.

Recreational opportunities include boating on the Merrimack River and upstream lakes, which also offer fishing and swimming.

Concord can be reached by car by I-89/93/393 and bus service is available. Air links are provided by Concord Municipal Airport.