Rochester New Hampshire History & Facts

Rochester is a city in Strafford County, New Hampshire, United States. As of the 2020 census, the city population was 32,492. In addition to the downtown area, the city contains the villages of East Rochester, Gonic, and North Rochester. Rochester is home to Skyhaven Airport and part of Baxter Lake.

Rochester was one of New Hampshire's fastest growing cities between 2010 and 2020.

Rochester was once inhabited by Abenaki Indians of the Pennacook tribe. They fished, hunted and farmed, moving locations when their agriculture exhausted the soil for growing pumpkins, squash, beans and maize. Squanamagonic (abbreviated to "Gonic") means "the water of the clay place hill".

The town was one of four granted by colonial governor Samuel Shute of Massachusetts and New Hampshire during his brief term. Incorporated in 1722, it was named for his close friend, Laurence Hyde, 1st Earl of Rochester, brother-in-law to King James II. As was customary, tall white pine trees were reserved for use as masts by the Royal Navy. But hostility with the Abenaki people delayed settlement until 1728, although attacks would continue until 1748.Early dwellings clustered together for protection, beginning near Haven Hill. Due to warfare or disease, after 1749 Native American numbers dwindled, although many descendants remain in or around Rochester communities. The community at that time included Farmington, which was incorporated in 1798, and Milton, in 1802.

In 1737, the Reverend Amos Main became the first settled pastor of the Congregational Church, located on Rochester Hill. The building would be moved to Rochester Common, which then encompassed 250 acres (1.0 km2) and was called "Norway Plain Mille Common" after its abundant Norway pines. At the time, the Common extended into what is now downtown Rochester. By 1738, the farming community contained 60 families. A statue of Parson Main, sculpted by Giuseppe Moretti, today presides over the town square.

By 1780 the area surrounding the Common was the most thickly settled part of town, so a meeting house/church was erected on the east end of the Common with the entrance facing what is now South Main Street. A cemetery was also established near the new meeting house, but the ground was found to be too wet, and the bodies were removed to the Old Rochester Cemetery. In 1842 the Meeting House/church was moved to the present-day location at the corner of Liberty and South Main streets. As the years went by the size of the Common would shrink as more of it was sold off for development. A bandstand was constructed in 1914. Today, the Common is used for community activities such as Memorial Day events and for concerts throughout the summer months, in addition to having a walking track.

During the Revolutionary War the Common was used as the meeting place for soldiers before going off to war. The common is also the location of the city's Civil War monument that bears the names of the 54 men who died then. The monument was dedicated in the 1870s, and in the 1880s the statue was added to the monument. Four Civil War cannons also decorated the monument, but during World War II the cannon were melted down for use in the war. They were replaced by World War II guns.

Famous Peoples From Rochester New Hampshire

Isaac Adams (inventor)

Isaac Adams (August 16, 1802 – July 19, 1883) was an American inventor and politician. He served in the Massachusetts Senate and invented the Adams Power Press, which revolutionized the printing industry.

Adams was born in Rochester, New Hampshire, the son of Benjamin Adams and Elizabeth (Horne) Adams. His education was limited, and at an early age he was an operative in a cotton factory. Afterward he learned the trade of cabinet maker, but in 1824 went to Boston and sought work in a machine shop.

In 1828 he invented the Adams printing press, which he improved in 1834, and it was introduced in 1830 as "Adams Power Press".The machine "worked a revolution in the art of printing," and beginning in 1836, became the leading machine used in book printing for much of the nineteenth century, and was distributed worldwide. It substantially reduced the cost of book production, and made books more widely available.

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