Merrimack, New Hampshire

Merrimack, one of the most desirable places to live in southern New Hampshire, is located on the Edward Everett Turnpike, midway between Manchester and Nashua and is bounded on the east by the Merrimack River, for which the town was named.

The town has a rich and varied history. It was home to Native American tribes long before colonial settlement in 1722, when the establishment of Brenton’s Farm, now the town of Litchfield, presented the need of a ferry across the river. The ferry concession, eventually owned by Revolutionary War hero and signer of the Declaration of Independence Matthew Thornton, was the center of the settlement and was first incorporated in 1746. The area of the ferry landing, at the southern end of town’s current boundary, is still known as Thornton’s Ferry.

Through history, the town has made a transition from an economy based on agriculture to one dominated by high-tech industries and is today an important industrial center with an estimated 2005 population of over 26,500. In addition to many electronics firms, Merrimack is home to a regional center for Fidelity Investments, the corporate headquarters of computer retailer PC Connections, and an Anheuser Busch brewery, which offers tours, hosts many events, and stables the famous Budweiser Clydesdales.

But even with the growth of industry and the town’s location in the heart of the most populated area of south-central New Hampshire, Merrimack has been able to maintain a quiet rural atmosphere. The town offers an exceptional quality of life, with a convenient location, highly regarded schools, and many recreational opportunities including golf courses,  an ice rink, tennis courts, boat access to the Merrimack River, and town forestlands. The town’s 2002 Community Profile states a specific goal “to maintain a well-planned, affordable, aesthetically pleasing community with a  rural, residential atmosphere and open space uses, and an effectively  managed municipal and school government."

Sources:

www.ci.merrimack.nh.us/default.htm#visitors

www.city-data.com/city/Merrimack-New-Hampshire.html

www.nhes.state.us/elmi/htmlprofiles/merrimack.html

www.budweisertours.com/docs/nh.htm