Weare, New Hampshire

Infobox Settlement
official_name = Weare, New Hampshire
nickname =
motto =


image_

imagesize =
image_caption =

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mapsize = 250px
map_caption = Location in Hillsborough County, New Hampshire
settlement_type = Town


mapsize1 =
map_caption1 =
subdivision_type = Country
subdivision_name = United States
subdivision_type1 = State
subdivision_name1 = New Hampshire
subdivision_type2 = County
subdivision_name2 = Hillsborough
government_type =
leader_title = Board of Selectmen
leader_name = Leon Methot, Chairman
Heleen Kurk
Joseph Fiala
Donna Osborne
Thomas Clow
established_title = Incorporated
established_date = 1764
area_magnitude = 1 E8
area_total_km2 = 155.1
area_total_sq_mi = 59.9
area_land_km2 = 152.4
area_land_sq_mi = 58.8
area_water_km2 = 2.7
area_water_sq_mi = 1.0
area_water_percent = 1.74
population_as_of = 2000
population_note =
population_total = 7776
population_density_km2 = 51.0
population_density_sq_mi = 132.1
timezone = Eastern
utc_offset = -5
timezone_DST = Eastern
utc_offset_DST = -4
latd = 43 |latm = 05 |lats = 41 |latNS = N
longd = 71 |longm = 43 |longs = 50 |longEW = W
elevation_m = 193
elevation_ft = 633
website = [http://www.weare.nh.gov/ www.weare.nh.gov]
postal_code_type = ZIP code
postal_code = 03281
area_code = 603
blank_name = FIPS code
blank_info = 33-79780
blank1_name = GNIS feature ID
blank1_info = 0873749
footnotes =

Weare is a town in Hillsborough County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 7,776 at the 2000 census, with an estimated population of 8,925 in 2006. [cite web | url = http://www.census.gov/popest/cities/files/SUB-EST2006_33.csv | title = Subcounty population estimates: New Hampshire 2000-2006| format = CSV | publisher = United States Census Bureau, Population Division | date = 2007-06-28 | accessdate = 2008-05-28] Its rapid growth is largely due to the fact that it is close to two important New Hampshire cities, Manchester and Concord.

History

Starting as a 1735 grant by Massachusetts Colonial Governor Jonathan Belcher to soldiers in the Canadian wars, this town was named "Beverly-Canada", for the soldiers' hometown of Beverly, Massachusetts. It then went through the names "Halestown", "Robiestown", and "Wearestown". In 1764, it was incorporated by Governor Benning Wentworth as "Weare", in honor of Meshech Weare, who served as the town's first clerk.

In 1834, Moses Cartland founded "Clinton Grove Academy", the first Quaker seminary in the state. A cousin of John Greenleaf Whittier, Cartland named the village where the school was located "Clinton Grove", in honor of Dewitt Clinton, chief sponsor of the Erie Canal. The original academy served as a private high school. The complex, which included a classroom building, boarding house, barn and sheds, burned in 1872. Classes were then held in the Quaker meetinghouse across the common until 1874, when a new building was completed. It would serve as the Weare school district from 1877 to 1938.

On September 21, 1938, following several days of heavy rain, a hurricane moving up from the West Indies passed through the center of New England. The additional heavy rains from the hurricane caused the failure of the Deering Reservoir dam, which produced a wall of water that rushed down to the Weare Reservoir dam. Although the dam held, the rushing water broke through the land at the side of the dam, releasing millions of gallons of water in the reservoir. The raging river, completely out of control, washed away everything in its path, leaving parts of Weare devastated. Many active mills were destroyed in the disaster.

In response to the disaster and seasonal flooding, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers built the convert|2000|ft|m|adj=on long Everett Dam, as part of the Hopkinton-Everett Flood Control Project, which had been authorized by Congress to prevent a recurrence of the devastating floods. The overall project was completed in 1963 at a total cost of $21,400,000. The dam required the village of East Weare to be permanently abandoned, and formed Everett Lake.

In 2005, the town was proposed as the site of the Lost Liberty Hotel, currently a farmhouse owned by U.S. Supreme Court Associate Justice David Souter. The effort to seize Souter's property for the project, in retaliation for a June, 2005 court ruling he supported concerning eminent domain, received international media coverage. However, at the February 4, 2006 deliberative session of the town meeting, a warrant article that would have empowered town officials to take the property was amended by residents in a way that made the March 14, 2006 ballot measure moot. Irrespective of the town warrant vote in March, the seizure for the proposed hotel will not happen.

Notable inhabitants

* Rt. Rev. Gene Robinson, Episcopal bishop
* David Souter, associate justice of the U.S. Supreme Court

Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of convert|59.9|sqmi|km2|lk=on|1, of which convert|58.8|sqmi|km2|abbr=on|1 is land and convert|1.0|sqmi|km2|abbr=on|1 is water, comprising 1.74% of the town. Weare is drained by the Piscataquog River, which is impounded by Lake Horace in the northwest and by Everett Lake in the northeast. The three highest summits in Weare form a cluster near the center of town. From south to north, they are Mount Dearborn, at convert|1211|ft|m|lk=on above sea level, Mine Hill (1,211 feet), and Mount Wallingford (approximately convert|1210|ft|m).

Demographics

As of the censusGR|2 of 2000, there were 7,776 people, 2,618 households, and 2,117 families residing in the town. The population density was 132.1 people per square mile (51.0/km²). There were 2,828 housing units at an average density of 48.1/sq mi (18.6/km²). The racial makeup of the town was 98.25% White, 0.17% African American, 0.22% Native American, 0.42% Asian, 0.22% from other races, and 0.72% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 0.69% of the population.

There were 2,618 households out of which 48.2% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 71.0% were married couples living together, 5.6% had a female householder with no husband present, and 19.1% were non-families. 13.4% of all households were made up of individuals and 2.6% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.97 and the average family size was 3.28.

In the town the population was spread out with 32.0% under the age of 18, 5.7% from 18 to 24, 36.8% from 25 to 44, 20.7% from 45 to 64, and 4.7% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 34 years. For every 100 females there were 101.1 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 99.5 males.

The median income for a household in the town was $59,924, and the median income for a family was $62,661. Males had a median income of $38,986 versus $27,643 for females. The per capita income for the town was $22,217. About 1.5% of families and 2.5% of the population were below the poverty line, including 1.1% of those under age 18 and 8.2% of those age 65 or over.

Education

Weare has one elementary school, Center Woods Elementary School, serving children in kindergarten through fourth grade.

Weare Middle School serves children from fifth through eighth grade. Construction on a new middle school facility began in late 2005.

High school students in Weare attend John Stark Regional High School.

References

External links

* [http://www.weare.nh.gov Town website]
* [http://cwes.weare.k12.nh.us Center Woods Elementary School]
* [http://wms.weare.k12.nh.us Weare Middle School]
* [http://jsrhs.net/ John Stark Regional High School]
* [http://www.nh.gov/nhes/elmi/htmlprofiles/weare.html New Hampshire Economic and Labor Market Information Bureau Profile]
* [http://www.nhstateparks.org/state-parks/alphabetical-order/clough-state-park Clough State Park]
* [http://www.nae.usace.army.mil/recreati/hel/helhome.htm Hopkinton-Everett Lake]
* [http://www.wearenh.net Website for the people of Weare]