Coos County, New Hampshire
Encyclopedia : C : CO : COO : Coos County, New Hampshire
Coos County (pronounced "CO-ahss" with two syllables) is a county in the U.S. state of New Hampshire, including the whole of the state's northern panhandle. The two-syllable pronunciation is sometimes made visible using diaeresis, notably in the Lancaster-based weekly newspaper The Coös County Democrat and on some county-owned vehicles.
Coos has the largest area of the New Hampshire counties, but as of 2000, by far the smallest population, at 33,111. The county seat is Lancaster. Major industries are forestry and tourism.
History
Coos county was separated from the northern part of Grafton County, New Hampshire and organized at Berlin December 24, 1803, although the county seat was later moved to Lancaster, with an additional shire town at Colebrook. The name Coos derives from the Algonquian Indian term meaning crooked, the Indian name of the Connecticut River, which rises in the northernmost end of the county.During the American Revolutionary War two units of troops Bedel's Regiment and Whitcomb's Rangers of the Continental Army were raised from the settlers of Coos. From the Treaty of Paris of 1783 until 1835 the boundaries in the northern tip of the county (and New Hampshire itself) were disputed with Lower Canada (which was soon to become part of the Province of Canada), and for some years residents of the area formed the independent Republic of Indian Stream.
In the 1810 census there were 3,991 residents, and by 1870 there were nearly 15,000, at which point the entire county was valued at just under $USD 5 million, with farm productivity per acre comparing favorably with that of contemporary Illinois. Other early industries included forestry and manufacturing, using 4,450 water horsepower in 1870.
Geography
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 4,743 km² (1,831 mi²). 4,663 km² (1,800 mi²) of it is land and 80 km² (31 mi²) of it (1.70%) is water.Much of its mountainous area is reserved as national forest, wilderness, state parks and other public areas. These encompass most of the northern portion of the White Mountains, including all the named summits of the Presidential Range (though one, Mt. Webster's, lies about 200 feet from the county line). Mt. Washington's peak is the highest in the Northeast.
Adjacent Counties
- Quebec Province, Canada (north)
- Oxford County, Maine (east)
- Carroll County (southeast)
- Grafton County (southwest)
- Essex County, Vermont (west)
Demographics
As of the census² of 2000, there were 33,111 people, 13,961 households, and 9,158 families residing in the county. The population density was 7/km² (18/mi²). There were 19,623 housing units at an average density of 4/km² (11/mi²). The racial makeup of the county was 98.05% White, 0.12% Black or African American, 0.28% Native American, 0.37% Asian, 0.02% Pacific Islander, 0.16% from other races, and 1.00% from two or more races. 0.61% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race.There were 13,961 households out of which 28.10% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 52.30% were married couples living together, 8.80% had a female householder with no husband present, and 34.40% were non-families. 28.80% of all households were made up of individuals and 14.10% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.33 and the average family size was 2.82.
In the county the population was spread out with 22.80% under the age of 18, 6.30% from 18 to 24, 26.70% from 25 to 44, 25.70% from 45 to 64, and 18.50% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 42 years. For every 100 females there were 95.60 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 92.60 males.
The median income for a household in the county was $33,593, and the median income for a family was $40,654. Males had a median income of $32,152 versus $21,088 for females. The per capita income for the county was $17,218. About 6.80% of families and 10.00% of the population were below the poverty line, including 10.70% of those under age 18 and 12.50% of those age 65 or over.
Cities, towns, villages, and unincorporated places*
- Atkinson & Gilmanton Academy Grant
* '' - Bean's Grant
* '' - Bean's Purchase
* '' - Berlin (former county seat, before economic decline and loss of population)
- Cambridge
* '' - Carroll
- Chandler's Purchase
* '' - Clarksville
- Colebrook
- Columbia
- Crawford's Purchase
* '' - Cutt's Grant
* '' - Dalton
- Dix's Grant
* '' - Dixville
* '' - *Dixville Notch (village within Dixville township, best known of the small communities that cast the first dozens of votes in the national presidential primary process)
- Dummer
- Errol
- Erving's Location
* '' - Gorham
- Green's Grant
* '' - Groveton
* '' - Hadley's Purchase
* '' - Jefferson
- Kilkenny
* '' - Lancaster
- Low and Burbank's Grant
* '' - Martin's Location
* '' - Milan
- Millsfield
* '' - Northumberland
- Odell
* '' - Pinkham's Grant
* '' - Pittsburg
- Randolph
- Sargent's Purchase
* '' (location of Mount Washington summit and Tuckerman Ravine) - Second College Grant
* '' - Shelburne
- Stark
- Stewartstown
- Stratford
- Success
* '' - Thompson and Meserve's Purchase
* '' - Wentworth's Location
* '' - Whitefield
Mountains of Coos County
External links
- [Coos County Website]
- [Coos County web pages at the University of New Hampshire]
- [National Register of Historic Places listing for Coos County]
| Communities in Coos County, New Hampshire | |
|---|---|
| Atkinson & Gilmanton Academy Grant | Bean's Grant | Bean's Purchase | Berlin | Cambridge | Carroll | Chandler's Purchase | Clarksville | Colebrook | Columbia | Crawford's Purchase | Cutt's Grant | Dalton | Dix's Grant | Dixville | Dummer | Errol | Erving's Location | Gorham | Green's Grant | Groveton | Hadley's Purchase | Jefferson | Kilkenny | Lancaster | Low and Burbank's Grant | Martin's Location | Milan | Millsfield | Northumberland | Odell | Pinkham's Grant | Pittsburg | Randolph | Sargent's Purchase | Second College Grant | Shelburne | Stark | Stewartstown | Stratford | Success | Thompson and Meserve's Purchase | Wentworth's Location | Whitefield |
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