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UPDATED:
AUG 21, 2018
ORIGINAL:
NOV 9, 2009

New Hampshire
HISTORY.COM EDITORS
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CONTENTS

1. Interesting Facts
New Hampshire, one of the original 13 colonies, was the first state to have its
own state constitution. Its spirit of independence is epitomized in the state
motto–“Live Free or Die.” New Hampshire was the 9th state to ratify the U.S.
Constitution–the final state needed to put the document into effect. It plays an
important role in national elections, as it is the first state to holdnational
primaries, and its primary results are thought to influence those in the rest of
the nation, giving rise to the saying “As New Hampshire goes, so goes the
nation.” It is the site of the White Mountains and the famed Mount
Washington, one of the windiest places in the nation.

Date of Statehood: June 21, 1788

Capital: Concord

Population: 1,316,470 (2010)

Size: 9,348 square miles

Nickname(s): Granite State; Mother of Rivers; White Mountain State;

Switzerland of America

Motto: Live Free or Die

Tree: White Birch

Flower: Purple Lilac
 Bird: Purple Finch

Interesting Facts
 The “Old Man in the Mountain,” depicted on the New Hampshire state
quarter, was a rock formation in Franconia Notch made up of five distinct
granite ledges that lined up perfectly into the shape of a man’s profile. Formed
by a series of geologic events that occurred over millions of years, the profile
extended nearly 40 feet from forehead to chin. On May 3, 2003, the Old Man
in the Mountain collapsed from its perch 1,200 feet above Profile Lake.
 The Scotch-Irish immigrants who settled in Nutfield in April 1719 planted
the first potato crops in North America. The settlement, which was later
renamed Londonderry, is now the town of Derry.
 On December 13, 1774, four months before his famous “midnight ride”
to Lexington, Massachusetts, Paul Revere embarked on a 55-mile ride from
Boston to Portsmouth to warn of Fort William and Mary’s imminent seizure
from British troops. One of the first acts of rebellion leading up to the
revolution, a group of nearly 400 townspeople responded by raiding the
garrison’s gunpowder to prevent the takeover, lowering the fort’s British flag
upon their return to Portsmouth.
 New Hampshire was home to the first American astronaut, Alan
Shepard Jr., and first private civilian, Christa McAuliffe, to travel into space.
Shepard’s 15-minute flight onboard Freedom 7 on May 5, 1961, launched him
116 miles into the atmosphere before landing safely. McAuliffe, a
schoolteacher from Concord who applied to participate in the legendary
mission, perished aboard the Challenger space shuttle on January 28, 1986,
73 seconds and 48,000 feet after liftoff.
 In July 1944, financiers from 44 countries gathered at the luxurious
Mount Washington Hotel for the Bretton Woods International Monetary
Conference, during which the World Bank and International Monetary Fund
wereestablishedand the American dollar was designated the standard of
international exchange.
 New Hampshire is one of only nine states that does not require its
residents to pay state income tax.
 New Hampshire is the only state to have hosted the formal conclusion
of a foreign war. In 1905, the treaty ending the Russo-Japanese War was
signed in Portsmouth.
PHOTO GALLERIES
New Hampshire

10
GALLERY
10 IMAGES

Citation Information
Article Title
New Hampshire
 Author
History.com Editors

Website Name
HISTORY

URL
https://www.history.com/topics/us-states/new-hampshire

Access Date
May 21, 2020

Publisher
A&E Television Networks

Last Updated
August 21, 2018

Original Published Date

November 9, 2009

BY
 HISTORY.COM EDITORS
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FACT CHECK: We strive for accuracy and fairness. But if you
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