Claremont, New Hampshire

Claremont is a city in Sullivan County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 13,151 at the 2000 census. (The estimated population in 2007 was 12,898.)

History

Claremont was named in honor of Thomas Pelham-Holles, Earl of Clare, a cousin of colonial governor Benning Wentworth.

Geography

Claremont is located at (43.377207, -72.344555).

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of , of which is land and is water, comprising 2.18% of the town. The Connecticut River forms the western boundary of the city, as well as the boundary between New Hampshire and Vermont. The Sugar River flows from east to west through the center of Claremont and empties into the Connecticut. The highest point in the city is the summit of Green Mountain, at above sea level. Claremont lies fully within the Connecticut River watershed.

Demographics

As of the census of 2000, there were 13,151 people, 5,685 households, and 3,428 families residing in the city. The population density was 305.0 people per square mile (117.8/km²). There were 6,074 housing units at an average density of 140.9/sq mi (54.4/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 97.67% White, 0.31% African American, 0.33% Native American, 0.62% Asian, 0.03% Pacific Islander, 0.12% from other races, and 0.92% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 0.50% of the population.

There were 5,685 households out of which 27.4% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 45.5% were married couples living together, 10.3% had a female householder with no husband present, and 39.7% were non-families. 32.2% of all households were made up of individuals and 14.7% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.28 and the average family size was 2.86.

In the city the population was spread out with 23.3% under the age of 18, 7.8% from 18 to 24, 28.5% from 25 to 44, 23.5% from 45 to 64, and 16.9% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 39 years. For every 100 females there were 92.6 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 89.4 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $34,949, and the median income for a family was $42,849. Males had a median income of $30,782 versus $22,078 for females. The per capita income for the city was $20,267. About 5.4% of families and 10.0% of the population were below the poverty line, including 9.2% of those under age 18 and 11.3% of those age 65 or over.

Education

Claremont is part of New Hampshire's School Administrative Unit 6, or SAU 6. Stevens High School is the city's only public high school, and is located on Broad Street, just a few blocks from City Hall. Claremont Middle School, the city's only public middle school, is located just down the street to the south.

Claremont is home to three elementary schools: Maple Avenue School, Bluff Elementary and Disnard Elementary. Also located in town are St. Mary's School, a private, Catholic school, and the Claremont Christian Academy, a private, parochial school offering education through 12th grade.

Three elementary schools — North Street School, Way Elementary and the West Claremont Schoolhouse — were shut down, Way becoming home to several luxury apartments and North Street turned into offices.

The city's opportunities for higher education include a branch of Granite State College, a branch of the state community college system (River Valley Community College), and a Vocational Center. Additionally, Dartmouth College, an Ivy League university, lies approximately to the north in Hanover, and Keene State College, one of the major state schools, is located approximately to the south. Colby-Sawyer College, Landmark College, Vermont Law School, and branches of the Community College of Vermont are all within an hour's drive.

In March, 1989, the Claremont School Board voted to initiate a lawsuit against the State of New Hampshire, claiming that the state's primary reliance upon local property taxes for funding education resulted in inequitable educational opportunities among children around the state and a violation of their constitutional rights. Following a lawsuit and a series of landmark decisions, the New Hampshire Supreme Court agreed. The suit, which became known as "The Claremont Decision", continues to drive the statewide debate on equitable funding for education; and Claremont continues to play a primary role in this legal challenge. See claremontlawsuit.org for more information.

Transportation

Claremont is the only city within Sullivan County, New Hampshire. The city has a small municipal airport. By highway, it is located 30 minutes south of Interstate 89 in Lebanon, New Hampshire and 5 minutes east of Interstate 91 in Weathersfield, Vermont. Amtrak, the national passenger rail system, provides daily service through Claremont, operating its Vermonter between Washington, D.C. and St. Albans, Vermont.

Culture

A commercial area known as Washington Street is Claremont's primary commercial district. An Italian Renaissance-styled City Hall faces Broad Street Park, a rotary-style town square. This square connects Washington Street, Broad Street, and Main Street, each branching into different portions of the city. Broad Street Park contains war monuments to World War I, World War II, Korea and Vietnam, and Freedom Garden Memorial dedicated to the victims and families of September 11th. The park is also home to a historic bandstand, which primarily serves as performance space for the Claremont American Band, a community band with roots in the 1800s. Parallel to Broad Street lies Pleasant Street, which was once a thriving commercial zone.

A number of mill buildings dot the city center, along the Sugar River, and several attempts have been made at historic preservation of some of them.

To the north end of the town lies the Valley Regional Hospital, an out-patient resource of the popular Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center of Lebanon, NH.

On the southern artery out of Claremont, Route 12, was the large William H. H. Moody horse-farm, having five large barns (the last of which burned in 2004), which once hosted several hundred imported horses on over . Its Victorian farmhouse stands at the top of Arch Road. A multi-hundred-acre plot of land was donated by Moody to the city of Claremont for a city park, the entrance of which is on Maple Avenue; facilities include tennis. A lone access road leads through a coniferous forest to the top of a hill, maintained as a large field by the city, with a large, open-air stone structure suitable for picnics. The park has several miles of interconnected walking trailways; several of these trails terminate at the Boston and Maine Railroad.

In the media

Claremont was the filming location, though not the setting, of the 2006 movie Live Free or Die, co-written and co-directed by Gregg Kavet and Andy Robin and starring Aaron Stanford, Paul Schneider, Michael Rapaport, Judah Friedlander, Kevin Dunn, and Zooey Deschanel. Set in fictional Rutland, New Hampshire, it is a picaresque comedy-drama about a small-town would-be crime legend.

References

External links

• City website
• New Hampshire Economic and Labor Market Information Bureau Profile
• Interactive Aerial photo
• Claremont Stream Tunnels @ www.thisplaceiknow.com
• Public Domain Photographs of Claremont NH