Manchester, New Hampshire facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Manchester, New Hampshire
City
The skyline of Manchester Victory Park UNH Manchester Smyth Tower Manchester City Hall District C Mill Housing Northeast Delta Dental Stadium
Seal
Nickname(s):  Queen City, Manch Vegas
Motto(s):  Labor Vincit (work conquers)
Location in Hillsborough County, New Hampshire
Country	United States
State	New Hampshire
County	Hillsborough
Incorporated (as Derryfield)	1751
Incorporated (as Manchester)	1846
Named for	Manchester, England
Area
• City	34.94 sq mi (90.48 km2)
• Land	33.07 sq mi (85.65 km2)
• Water	1.87 sq mi (4.84 km2)  5.33%
• Urban	86.1 sq mi (223.1 km2)
Elevation	210 ft (60 m)
Population  (2020)
• City	115,644
• Rank	US: 256th
• Density	3,497.05/sq mi (1,350.23/km2)
• Urban	158,377 (US: 209th)
• Urban density	1,838/sq mi (709.8/km2)
• Metro	422,937 (US: 128th)
Time zone	UTC−5 (Eastern)
• Summer (DST)	UTC−4 (Eastern)
ZIP Codes	03101–03105, 03108-03109, 03111
Area code(s)	603
FIPS code	33-45140
GNIS feature ID	868243

Manchester is the most populous city in the U.S. state of New Hampshire and the tenth most populous in New England. As of the 2020 census, it had a population of 115,644.

Manchester is, along with the city of Nashua, one of two seats of New Hampshire's most populous county, Hillsborough County. Manchester lies near the northern end of the Northeast megalopolis and straddles the banks of the Merrimack River. It was first named by the merchant and inventor Samuel Blodget(t), eponym of Samuel Blodget Park and Blodget Street in the city's North End. His vision was to create a great industrial center similar to that of the original Manchester in England, which was the world's first industrialized city.

During the Industrial Revolution, Manchester was a major industrial and economic hub for New England, with the Amoskeag Manufacturing Company being the largest cotton textile plant in the world. After World War II, many textile manufacturing jobs left Manchester, but new industries and companies were introduced to the city, such as DEKA.

History

Mills on the Merrimack River and the West Side of Manchester

Pennacook Indians called it Namaoskeag, meaning "good fishing place"—a reference to the Amoskeag Falls in the Merrimack River. In 1722, John Goffe III settled beside Cohas Brook, later building a dam and sawmill at what was dubbed Old Harry's Town. It was granted by Massachusetts in 1727 as Tyngstown to veterans of Queen Anne's War who served in 1703 under Captain William Tyng. But at New Hampshire's 1741 separation from Massachusetts, the grant was ruled invalid and substituted with Wilton, Maine, so Governor Benning Wentworth rechartered the town in 1751 as Derryfield. Derryfield remains a neighborhood in contemporary Manchester, along its easternmost area adjacent to Massabesic Lake.

In 1807, Samuel Blodget opened a canal and lock system to allow vessels passage around the falls. He envisioned here a great industrial center, "the Manchester of America", like the Industrial Revolution's Manchester in England, the first industrialized city in the world. In 1809, Benjamin Prichard and others built a cotton spinning mill operated by water power on the western bank of the Merrimack. Following Blodgett's suggestion, Derryfield was renamed Manchester in 1810, the year the mill was incorporated as the Amoskeag Cotton & Woolen Manufacturing Company. It would be purchased in 1825 by entrepreneurs from Massachusetts, expanded to 3 mills in 1826, and then incorporated in 1831 as the Amoskeag Manufacturing Company.

Elm Street, c. 1905

Child laborers at Amoskeag Manufacturing in Manchester (1909); photo by Lewis Hine

On the eastern bank, Amoskeag engineers and architects planned a model company town, founded in 1838 with Elm Street as its main thoroughfare. Incorporated as a city in 1846, Manchester would become home to the largest cotton mill in the world—Mill No. 11, stretching 900 feet (270 m) long by 103 feet (31 m) wide, and containing 4,000 looms. Other products made in the community included shoes, cigars, and paper. The Amoskeag foundry made rifles, sewing machines, textile machinery, fire engines, and locomotives in a division called the Amoskeag Locomotive Works (later, the Manchester Locomotive Works). The rapid growth of the mills demanded a large influx of workers, resulting in a flood of immigrants, particularly French Canadians. Many current residents descend from these workers. The Amoskeag Manufacturing Company went out of business in 1935, although its red brick mills have been renovated for other uses. Indeed, the mill town's 19th-century affluence left behind some of the finest Victorian commercial, municipal, and residential architecture in the state.

Geography

View of downtown from the north

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 35.0 square miles (90.6 km²), of which 33.1 square miles (85.7 km²) is land and 1.9 square miles (4.8 km²) is water, comprising 5.33% of the city. Manchester is drained by the Merrimack River, the Piscataquog River and Cohas Brook. Massabesic Lake is on the eastern border. The highest point in Manchester is atop Wellington Hill, where the elevation reaches 570 feet (170 m) above sea level.

Neighborhoods

The Manchester Planning Board, in its 2010 Master Plan, defines 25 neighborhoods within the city. LivableMHT has drawn maps of the neighborhoods and neighborhood village centers as defined by the city. Recognition of particular neighborhoods varies, with some having neighborhood associations, but none have any legal or political authority.

The major neighborhoods, historically, include Amoskeag, Rimmon Heights, Notre Dame/McGregorville and Piscataquog/Granite Square also known as "Piscat" on the West Side; and the North End, Janeville/Corey Square, Hallsville and Bakersville on the East Side; along with Youngsville and Goffes Falls on the periphery of the city.

In 2007, the city began a Neighborhood Initiatives program to "insure that our neighborhoods are vibrant, livable areas since these are the portions of the city where most of the residents spend their time living, playing, shopping and going to school." The purpose of this initiative is to foster vibrancy and redevelopment in the neighborhoods, and to restore the sense of neighborhood communities that had been overlooked in the city for some time. The city began the program with street-scape and infrastructure improvements in the Rimmon Heights neighborhood of the West Side, which has spurred growth and investment in and by the community. Despite the success of the program in Rimmon Heights, it was unclear in recent years how the city planned to implement similar programs throughout the city. The city announced plans for extending the Neighborhood Initiatives program to the Hollow neighborhood in February 2012.

View of the West Side from Rock Rimmon

Surrounding urban neighborhoods

The urban core of Manchester extends beyond its city limits in several directions, particularly west and south of downtown, including:

• Pinardville – In the town of Goffstown, Pinardville is a fairly dense, former streetcar suburb along Mast Road to the west of Manchester. It is home to Saint Anselm College.
• River Corridor – In the town of Bedford, the River Corridor is a mid-density, primarily shopping district along South River Road about two-and-a-half miles from downtown Manchester. The area has recently implemented Tax Increment Financing to improve and maintain infrastructure, and the Town of Bedford's most recent master plan has called for increasing mixed-use development and promoting walkability and transit use, though the Manchester Transit Authority bus service in the area was recently curtailed following a decision by the Town of Bedford to discontinue funding service.
• Northeast Bedford – The northeast section of Bedford is a mainly low to mid-density suburban residential area near the terminus of the former St. Joseph's streetcar line along Donald Street and post-war development along Boynton Street, with some businesses scattered throughout. The area does not have a formal name, but the section along Boynton Street has variously been called the Plains and the Pines. The northern area is more rural with large portions owned by Saint Anselm College.
• South Hooksett – The southeastern portion of the town of Hooksett is a sprawling, suburban shopping area north of Manchester.
• Manchester–Boston Regional Airport near the city's southeastern corner, and the surrounding industrial areas extend into neighboring Londonderry.

Climate

Manchester has a four-season humid continental climate (Köppen Dfa), with long, cold, snowy winters, and very warm and somewhat humid summers; spring and fall in between are crisp and relatively brief transitions. The monthly daily average temperature ranges from 24.4 °F (−4.2 °C) in January to 72.5 °F (22.5 °C) in July. On average, there are 11 days of 90 °F (32 °C)+ highs and 2.9 days of sub-0 °F (−18 °C) lows. Precipitation is well-spread throughout the year, though winter is the driest while March tends to be the wettest. Snowfall, the heaviest of which is typically delivered through nor'easters, averages around 47 inches (119 cm) per season, but varies widely from year to year.

Demographics

Map of racial distribution in Manchester, 2020 U.S. census. Each dot is one person: ⬤ White ⬤ Black ⬤ Asian ⬤ Hispanic ⬤ Multiracial ⬤ Native American/Other

Downtown Manchester looking south along Elm Street

The city is the center of the Manchester, New Hampshire, New England City and Town Area (NECTA), which had a population of 187,596 as of the 2010 census. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 115,644. The Manchester-Nashua metropolitan area, comprising all of Hillsborough County, with a population of 422,937 at the 2020 census, is home to nearly one-third of the population of New Hampshire.

As of the 2010 census, there were 109,565 residents, 45,766 households, and 26,066 families in the city. The population density was 3,320.2 inhabitants per square mile (1,281.9/km²). There were 49,288 housing units at an average density of 1,493.6 per square mile (576.7/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 86.1% White, 4.1% Black or African American, 0.30% Native American, 3.7% Asian, 0.1% Pacific Islander, 3.1% from some other race, and 2.7% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 8.1% of the population. Non-Hispanic Whites were 82.0% of the population, down from 98.0% in 1980.

In 2011, the largest ancestry groups within the city's population were: French and French-Canadian (23.9%), Irish (19.5%), English (9.9%), German (8.6%), and Italian (8.1%).

At the 2010 census, there were 45,766 households, out of which 26.4% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 38.4% were married couples living together, 13.1% had a female householder with no husband present, and 43.0% were non-families. Of all households 32.4% were made up of individuals, and 9.8% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.34 persons and the average family size was 2.99.

In the city, 21.6% of the population were under the age of 18, 10.2% were age 18 to 24, 30.4% were 25 to 44, 26.0% were 45 to 64, and 11.8% were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 36.0 years. For every 100 females, there were 98.5 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 96.6 males.

In 2011, the estimated median income for a household in the city was $51,082, and the median income for a family was $63,045. Male full-time workers had a median income of $43,583 versus $37,155 for females. The per capita income for the city was $26,131. Of the population 14.1% and 9.6% of families were below the poverty line, along with 21.8% of persons who were under the age of 18 and 9.9% of persons 65 or older.

Economy

Amoskeag Bank in 1913: At 10 stories, it was Manchester's "skyscraper" for over a half-century.

Manchester is northern New England's largest city. Its economy has changed greatly, as Manchester was primarily a textile mill town throughout much of its history. Manchester is nicknamed the Queen City, as well as the more recently coined "Manch Vegas". The Mall of New Hampshire, on Manchester's southern fringe near the intersection of Interstates 93 and 293, is the city's main retail center. In 2001, the Verizon Wireless Arena, a venue seating more than 10,000, opened for major concerts and sporting events, enhancing the city's downtown revitalization efforts with a major hotel and convention center already in place across the street from the arena. The building was renamed the SNHU Arena in 2016, after Manchester's Southern New Hampshire University.

Manchester is the home of Segway, Inc., manufacturers of a two-wheeled, self-balancing electric vehicle invented by Dean Kamen.

As of 2017, the following organizations and companies were the largest employers in the Manchester ZIP Code area:

• Elliot Hospital, 3,682 employees
• Catholic Medical Center, 2,600 employees
• Southern New Hampshire University, 2,093 employees
• Eversource Energy, 1,400 employees
• FairPoint Communications, 1,050 employees
• TD Bank, 900 employees
• Citizens Bank, 700 employees
• Saint Anselm College, 689 employees
• Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield, 500 employees

In 2021, Business Insider named Manchester number 12 on its list of the 25 best cities to start a business in.

Downtown

Downtown Manchester's One City Hall Plaza stands 22 stories high, quickly followed by the all-black, 20-story Brady Sullivan Plaza, formerly known as the Hampshire Plaza. They are the tallest New England buildings north of Cambridge, Massachusetts. The Sullivan Plaza is shorter than City Hall Plaza by a mere 16 feet (4.9 m). Other major buildings include the 18-story Wall Street Apartments tower; the 14-story, recently renamed Brady Sullivan Tower, which was the former New Hampshire Insurance building; the 12-story DoubleTree Hotel and Convention Center Manchester (which serves the SNHU Arena across the street), the Carpenter Center (a former hotel), and the Hampshire Towers condominium building; the 10-story Citizens Bank Building, which was, for much of the early- and mid-20th century, Manchester's iconic Amoskeag Bank "skyscraper"; and several high-rises of or exceeding 10 stories on the city's West Side. This partial list only includes residential and commercial buildings and does not include hospitals, spires and domes, etc.

The SNHU Arena has become the centerpiece of downtown Manchester. The venue can seat slightly less than 12,000 patrons for concerts, and at least 10,000-seat configurations for sporting and other forms of entertainment. It has also hosted major recording artists and comedians, national touring theatrical productions, family-oriented shows, and fairs since it opened in 2001. The Northeast Delta Dental Stadium (formerly MerchantsAuto.com Stadium) is a baseball park on the Merrimack River in downtown Manchester and is home to the local AA baseball affiliate of the Toronto Blue Jays, the New Hampshire Fisher Cats. Historic Gill Stadium supported professional minor-league baseball into the early 21st century and continues to be a viable and popular downtown venue for many sporting and entertainment events, seating nearly 4,000 patrons, depending on the event format.

In recent years there has been continual redevelopment of the Amoskeag Millyard and its residential Historic District. The increasing popularity of downtown living has caused many properties originally built as tenement housing for mill workers in the 19th century to be converted to stylish, eclectic residential condominiums. Many new retail stores and higher education institutions, including the University of New Hampshire at Manchester, have been uniquely retro-fitted into properties along Commercial and Canal Street.

Shopping

Manchester has three main retail areas: downtown Manchester, South Willow Street (NH Route 28), and Second Street (NH Route 3A) on the West Side. The Mall of New Hampshire is on South Willow Street, and, with more than 125 stores, is one of the largest shopping centers in southern New Hampshire and central New England.

Arts and culture

Currier Museum of Art at 150 Ash Street

Cultural landmarks include the historic Palace Theatre, the Currier Museum of Art, the New Hampshire Institute of Art, the Franco-American Center, the Manchester Historic Association Millyard Museum, the Massabesic Audubon Center, the Amoskeag Fishways Learning and Visitors Center, the Lawrence L. Lee Scouting Museum and Max I. Silber Library, the Zimmerman House and Kalil House designed by Frank Lloyd Wright, and the SEE Science Center. Valley Cemetery, the resting place of numerous prominent citizens since 1841, is an early example of a garden-style burial ground.

The John F. Kennedy Memorial Coliseum is another, smaller venue in downtown Manchester with a capacity of approximately 3,000 seats. It was completed in 1963, serves as home ice for the Manchester Central and Memorial High School hockey teams, and is home to the Southern New Hampshire Skating Club.

The nickname "ManchVegas" was derived from illegal gambling in local businesses during the late 1980s or early 1990s. Many pizza shops and local bars had video poker machines that would pay out real money. The nickname was coined following a citywide campaign of law enforcement. It was then adopted as a lampoon of the city's limited entertainment opportunities. The term has since become a source of pride as the city's entertainment scene has grown. By 2003, it was well enough known that a note on Virtualtourist.com said, "Residents reflect the regional dry humor by referring to sedate Manchester as 'ManchVegas'." By 2005, an article in Manchester's Hippo (a local alternative weekly) said that then-Mayor Robert A. Baines "is pushing to replace the nickname ManchVegas with Manchhattan" (meaning Manchester+Manhattan). In 2009, the film Monsters, Marriage and Murder in ManchVegas was released referencing Manchester's popular nickname and using much of the city as its backdrop.

Manchester has a growing collective of artists, due in large part to the influx of young students at the New Hampshire Institute of Art, Southern New Hampshire University, and the University of New Hampshire at Manchester. Slam Free or Die, New Hampshire's only weekly slam poetry venue, is in Manchester.

The Manchester City Library has served the city's residents since the mid-1850s and has been housed in the Carpenter Memorial Building on Pine Street since 1914. There is a branch location on North Main Street on the West Side.

Chicken Tender Capitol of the World

At a public meeting on December 6, 2022, comedian Nick Lavallee suggested that Mayor Joyce Craig and the Board of Aldermen declare Manchester "The Chicken Tender Capital of the World". Lavallee's initiative, documented by New Hampshire magazine, included paying respect to the Puritan Backroom for having invented the chicken tender and celebrating all chicken tenders offered by other Manchester establishments. Mayor Craig positively recognized the effort on her Facebook page on February 16, 2023. Lavallee first mentioned Manchester's association with the chicken tender during his appearance on The Beat with Ari Melber, a nationally broadcast television program hosted by Ari Melber, on February 7, 2020. Mayor Craig officially declared Manchester "The Chicken Tender Capital of the World" on July 27, 2023. Lavallee read the city's official resolution on field at Delta Dental Stadium before the New Hampshire Fisher Cats played as "The Manchester Chicken Tenders".

Sports

The city is home to McIntyre Ski Area, which opened in 1971. There are also college sports teams that play in and out of the city. Saint Anselm College is located less than a mile outside the city's border in Goffstown, although it has a Manchester postal address, and Southern New Hampshire University is located primarily in Hooksett, but has its campus partially within city limits. The two colleges participate in the NCAA Division II Northeast-10 Conference, and the school with the most head-to-head victories in a school year earns the Queen City Cup.

Professional

Manchester is the only city in New Hampshire with a professional sports team: three-time Eastern League champions, the New Hampshire Fisher Cats, play at Delta Dental Stadium - formerly Northeast Delta Dental Stadium. In 2021, the Eastern League was abolished and the Fisher Cats joined the newly established Double-A Northeast. The name, "Double-A Northeast" lasted only a single season and the league was renamed the Eastern League in 2022.

From 2001 to 2015, the Manchester Monarchs played in the American Hockey League. In their final season in Manchester, the Monarchs won the league championship. From 2015 to 2019, the city hosted the lower-division Manchester Monarchs in the ECHL. Both teams were based at the SNHU Arena (formerly known as the Verizon Wireless Arena.)

From 2002 through 2009, the arena was also the home of a professional arena football team: the Manchester Wolves of AF2.

Education

Lincoln statue by John Rogers in front of Central High School, 2005

Weston Observatory in Derryfield Park, 2012

Public schools

Manchester's public school system is run by the Manchester School District. Manchester School District has four public high schools:

• Manchester High School West
• Manchester High School Central
• Manchester Memorial High School
• Manchester School of Technology

Manchester School District has four public middle schools and fourteen elementary schools.

Private and charter schools

Manchester is served by three private high schools:

• Trinity High School, a private, Roman Catholic high school
• The Derryfield School, a private school serving sixth through twelfth grades
• Holy Family Academy, a small Roman Catholic private school serving seventh through twelfth grades

There are several charter schools in the city:

• The Founders Academy, a public charter school that began in the 2014–2015 school year for children in 6th to 12th grades
• Making Community Connections Charter School Manchester Campus, also known as MC2 (M.C. Squared), a 6th to 12th grade public charter school
• Mills Falls Charter School, a public charter school offering a Montessori education from kindergarten to 6th grade
• Polaris Charter School, a public charter school that offers elementary education
• Kreiva Academy, a public charter school in downtown Manchester for 6th to 12th grades

Other schools:

• Robert B. Jolicoeur School, a private special education school
• Mount Zion Christian Schools, a non-denominational, evangelical Christian school serving kindergarten through twelfth grade
• Saint Benedict Academy, a Catholic elementary school serving kindergarten through sixth grade (formerly Saint Raphael School and Westside Regional Catholic School)
• Cardinal Lacroix School, a K–6 Catholic elementary school that combines St. Anthony School and St. Casimir School
• St. Catherine of Siena School, a Pre-K to 6th grade parochial elementary school
• St. Joseph Regional Junior High School, a grade 7–8 regional Catholic junior high school

Post-secondary schools

Area institutions of higher education, together enrolling more than 8,000 students, include:

• Franklin Pierce University, Manchester branch campus
• Granite State College, Manchester branch campus
• Hellenic American University
• Manchester Community College
• Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences, Manchester, New Hampshire Secondary Campus
• New Hampshire Institute of Art (formerly called the Manchester Institute of Arts and Sciences)
• Southern New Hampshire University on the boundary between Manchester and Hooksett
• University of New Hampshire at Manchester, an integral college of the University of New Hampshire

Saint Anselm College, in the Pinardville neighborhood of the town of Goffstown, is adjacent to the city line and has a Manchester mailing address and telephone exchange.

Media

The city is served by the New Hampshire Union Leader (formerly the Manchester Union Leader), The Hippo, and Manchester Ink Link.

Radio

The Manchester radio market, which contains Hillsborough County and portions of Merrimack and Rockingham counties, is home to the following FM radio stations:

Additionally, almost all stations from Boston can be received throughout the market, along with some stations (depending on location) from Worcester, the Seacoast and/or the Lakes Region.

Television

Manchester is on the northern edge of the Boston television market. The following stations are based in Greater Manchester:

Infrastructure

Transportation

Manchester Union Station, c. 1910

Air

Manchester-Boston Regional Airport, the fourth-largest passenger and third-largest cargo airport in New England, serves the city.

Roads

Two Interstate Highways, one U.S. Route, and six New Hampshire State Routes in the city. These include:

Bus

The Manchester Transit Authority runs several local bus routes throughout the city and surrounding areas, and operates three regional bus routes called the Zip Line service, which offers express service from Manchester to Concord, Nashua, and Salem, New Hampshire. Greyhound Lines operates bus service between Manchester and destinations in the Northeast.

Passenger rail

Into the 1950s, numerous Boston and Maine Railroad trains operated out of Manchester Union Station, going to points northwest as far as Montreal, north to Woodsville, east to Portsmouth and south to Boston, among these the Alouette and the Ambassador (both of these being Boston - Montreal trains). The last services were a once a day train between Boston and Concord; this service ended in 1967.

A proposed extension of the MBTA Commuter Rail's Lowell Line would see MBTA Commuter Rail service running as far north as Manchester with service frequencies similar to that of the current Lowell Line. A study currently being carried out by AECOM and the State of New Hampshire to design and make a financial plan for the project is due to be completed by 2023. The proposed Manchester station location would be located behind the Market Basket grocery store on Elm Street.

With the expansion of Interstate 93 to eight lanes from Salem to Manchester under construction, space is being reserved in the median for potential future commuter or light rail service along this corridor. The I-93 transit study also suggested restoring service on the Manchester and Lawrence branch for commuter and freight rail. This corridor would support freight rail along with commuter, something that light rail cannot do.

In late 2011, Dean Kamen, inventor of the Segway and owner of several buildings in the Millyard, as well as co-founder of FIRST, proposed a rail loop for downtown and the Millyard. Several meetings have been held with area business and property owners, city officials and local developers, but the idea is in the early conceptual stages.

The downtown rail loop, if approved by the Board of Mayor and Aldermen, would be about three miles long. The loop would go from the Manchester Millyards, down south for about half a mile, then turn over Elm Street, separate into two rails (the other going towards Manchester-Boston Regional Airport), and climb north to Bridge Street, ending at the Brady Sullivan Tower at the northern end of Elm Street. More concrete plans were revealed in 2018.

In 2021, Amtrak announced plans to implement new service from Boston to Concord, including a stop at Manchester, by 2035.

Public safety

Law enforcement

Law enforcement is provided by the Manchester Police Department. The Manchester police station is at 405 Valley Street on the corner of Valley and Maple.

The Hillsborough County Department of Corrections is at 445 Willow Street. The prison houses an average of 500 inmates.

Fire department

The city of Manchester is protected all year by the 200 paid, professional firefighters (IAFF Local 856) of the City of Manchester Fire Department. The department is commanded by a Chief of Department, Daniel Goonan, one Assistant Chief, and five District Chiefs. The Manchester Fire Department operates out of ten fire stations throughout the city, and operates a fire apparatus fleet of ten engines, four ladder trucks (two staffed/two cross-staffed by the engine), one rescue, and one district chief (two if manpower permits). The Manchester Fire Department responds to over 26,000 emergency calls annually.

Notable people

Sister cities

• Neustadt an der Weinstraße, Germany
• Taichung, Taiwan

See also

In Spanish: Mánchester (Nuevo Hampshire) para niños