New Hampshire |
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| Entered the Union: June 21, 1788 (9) | Capital: Concord | |
| Origin of Name: after the English county of Hampshire | ||
| State Nickname: Granite State | State Tree: White Birch | |
| State Motto: Live free or die | State Bird: Purple Finch | |
| State Mammal: White-tailed Deer | State Flower: Purple Lilac | |
| State Songs: “Old New Hampshire" • "New Hampshire, My New Hampshire" | ||
| National Forests: 1 • State Parks: 65 | State Butterfly: Karner Blue | |
| Famous For: Autumn splendor, White Mountain National Forest, 1300 lakes, Maple Syrup | ||
| Famous New Hampshirites: Robert Frost (poet), John Irving (writer), Salmon P. Chase • Harlan F. Stone (US Supreme Court), Benjamin Keith (theater entrepreneur), Franklin Pierce (President), Augustus Saint-Gaudens (sculptor), Alan Shepard (astronaut), Daniel Webster (statesman), Henry Wilson (vice president), Joseph Worcester (lexicographer) | ||
| Animals and Birds: Click on photos of the animals and birds on this page to find out more about them and to hear the sounds they make. | ||
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| The Abenaki and Pennacook Indians were living in the area of New Hampshire when Europeans arrived. | |||||||||||
| In 1603, an English sea captain, Martin Pring, explored the shoreline and a small part of the interior of New Hampshire. In 1623, Capt. John Smith sent settlers to establish a fishing colony at the mouth of the Piscataqua River, near present-day Rye and Dover. Capt. John Mason, who participated in the founding of Portsmouth in 1630, gave New Hampshire its name (after his home county in Hampshire, England). | |||||||||||
| Of the thirteen original colonies, New Hampshire was the first to declare its independence from Mother England -- a full six months before the Declaration of Independence was signed. | |||||||||||
| As leaders in the revolutionary cause, New Hampshire delegates received the honor of being the first to vote for the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776. | |||||||||||
| The first U.S. public library is founded in Peterborough. | |||||||||||
| The first potato grown in the United States was planted at Londonderry Common Field (now Derry) in 1719. | |||||||||||
| The Brattle organ in St. John’s Church in Portsmouth is the oldest pipe organ in the United States. Still played on special occasions, it dates back to 1708. | |||||||||||
| The highest wind speed ever observed by a manned weather station was recorded on April 12, 1934 at Mt. Washington. The winds were three times as fast as those in most hurricanes -- 231 MPH. | |||||||||||
| The longest covered bridge, the 460-foot Cornish-Windsor Bridge, crosses the Connecticut River. | |||||||||||
| In 1833 the first free public library in the United States was established in Peterborough. | |||||||||||
| Levi Hutchins of Concord invented the first alarm clock in 1787. | |||||||||||
| Wolfeboro is known as "The Oldest Summer Resort in America". | |||||||||||
| It takes approximately 40 gallons of sap to make approximately 1 gallon of maple syrup. | |||||||||||
| America's Stonehenge is a 4000 year old megalithic (stone constructed) site located on Mystery Hill in Salem | |||||||||||
| Alan B. Shepard, Jr. of East Derry, New Hampshire became the first American in Space when he orbited the earth in Freedom 7 in May 1961. | |||||||||||
| Merrimack is home to the famous Clydesdales maintained by the Anheuser-Busch Brewery. Standing at 18 hands high (almost 6 feet) at the shoulder, Budweiser Clydesdales weigh approximately 2,000 pounds. They must be geldings, bay in color, have four white stockings and a blaze of white on the face, as well as a black mane and tail. A gentle temperment also is important, as hitch horses meet millions of people each year. In two daily meals, a Budweiser Clydesdale hitch horse will consume 20 to 25 quarts of feed, 50 to 60 pounds of hay and up to 30 gallons of water. | |||||||||||
| New Hampshire's Ethnic Roots: French 25.2%, Irish 19.4%, English 18%, German 8.6%, Italian 8.5% | |||||||||||
| Religion in New Hampshire: 80% Christian (43% Protestant, 35% Catholic, 2% Other), 19% No Religion, 1% Other Religions | |||||||||||
| Robert Frost, a poet who won four Pulitzer Prizes, lived in Derry and Franconia, New Hampshire. | |||||||||||
At a Glance
New Hampshire Quick Facts
| Entered the Union | June 21, 1788 (9) |
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| Capital | Concord |
| Nickname | Granite State |
| State Bird | Purple Finch |
| State Flower | Purple Lilac |
| State Tree | White Birch |
New for 2026
More New Hampshire Facts & Photos
The Mount Washington Cog Railway, the first mountain-climbing cog railway in the world, carried its first train to the summit on July 3, 1869. Built by inventor Sylvester Marsh, it still climbs grades as steep as 37 percent.
The Old Man of the Mountain, the granite profile that has served as New Hampshire's state emblem since 1945, jutted from Cannon Mountain 1,200 feet above Profile Lake until the face crumbled on May 3, 2003.
Flume Gorge was discovered in 1808 by 93-year-old "Aunt" Jess Guernsey, who came upon it while fishing. The 800-foot gorge squeezes between granite walls up to 90 feet high but only 12 to 20 feet apart.
Sarah Josepha Hale of Newport, the magazine editor who wrote "Mary Had a Little Lamb," campaigned for 17 years until President Lincoln proclaimed Thanksgiving a national holiday in 1863.
Voices of America
In Their Own Words
Salmon P. Chase
"And upon this act, sincerely believed to be an act of justice, warranted by the Constitution, upon military necessity, I invoke the considerate judgment of all mankind, and the gracious favor of Almighty God."
US Supreme Court Justice
George Washington
"Arbitrary power is most easily established on the ruins of liberty abused to licentiousness."
President
John Adams
"The general principles on which the fathers achieved independence were.... the general principles of Christianity."
June 28, 1813 Letter to Thomas Jefferson
President
Last updated: July 2026