Grafton_County,_New_Hampshire

Grafton County, New Hampshire

Grafton County is a county located in the U.S. state of New Hampshire. As of the 2000 census, the population was 81,743. Its county seat is North Haverhill, which is a village within the town of Haverhill. Until 1972, the county courthouse and other offices were located in downtown Woodsville, a larger village within the town of Haverhill. Grafton County is part of the Lebanon, NH–VT Micropolitan Statistical Area.

The county is the home of Dartmouth College and Plymouth State University. Progressive Farmer rated Grafton County fourth in its list of the "Best Places to Live in Rural America" in 2006, citing low unemployment (despite slow economic growth), a favorable cost of living, and the presence of White Mountain National Forest, the state's only national forest.

History

Grafton was one of the five counties originally identified for New Hampshire in 1769. It was named for Augustus FitzRoy, 3rd Duke of Grafton, who had been a supporter of American causes in Parliament, and who was serving as British Prime Minister at the time. The county was organized at Woodsville in 1771, and originally included the entire northern frontier of New Hampshire, including a number of towns that are now in Vermont. In 1803, the northern area was removed for the formation of Coos County. The three counties to the south were Strafford, Hillsborough and Cheshire, and the eastern edge bordered the "District of Maine". In 1797, the county contained 50 townships and 17 locations, and had a population of 23,093.

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of , of which is land and (2.10%) is water.

Grafton County is heavily rural. About half of its total area is in the White Mountain National Forest. Squam Lake, featured in the film On Golden Pond, and the Old Man of the Mountain landmark are located here, as are Dartmouth College and the Hubbard Brook Experimental Forest. Many of the 4,000-foot mountains of New Hampshire are within the county. The Appalachian Trail passes through parts of at least ten towns in the county.

Adjacent counties

Politics and government

In the 2000 presidential election, Al Gore narrowly defeated George W. Bush, taking 47.41% of the vote to Bush's 46.81%. Other candidates got a combined 5.78%. In the 2004 presidential election John Kerry defeated George Bush by a wider margin: Kerry received 55.74% of the vote, while Bush received 43.17%.

County Commission

The executive power of Grafton County's government is held by three county commissioners, each representing one of the three commissioner districts within the county.

District	Name	Hometown	Party
District 1	Michael J. Cryans	Hanover, NH	Democrat
District 2	Raymond S. Burton	Bath, NH	Republican
District 3	Martha Richards	Plymouth, NH	Democrat

Legislative Branch

The legislative branch of Grafton County is made up of all of the members of the New Hampshire House of Representatives from the county. In total, there are 26 members from 11 different districts.

Total		26	100%
Affiliation		Members	Voting Share	Democratic Party	19	73%	Republican Party	7	27%

Members

District	Name	Party	Hometown
District 01	Lyle E. Bulis	Republican	Littleton, NH
District 01	Stephanie Eaton	Republican	Littleton, NH
District 02	Martha McLeod	Democrat	Franconia, NH
District 03	Edmond Gionet	Republican	Lincoln, NH
District 03	Gregory Sorg	Republican	Easton, NH
District 04	Robert Matheson	Democrat	Woodstock, NH
District 05	Vernon Dingman	Republican	Haverhill, NH
District 05	Paul Ingbretson	Republican	Pike, NH
District 06	James Aguiar	Democrat	Campton, NH
District 06	Carol Friedrich	Democrat	Wentworth, NH
District 07	Mary Cooney	Democrat	Plymouth, NH
District 07	Carol Estes	Democrat	Plymouth, NH
District 08	Sidney Lovett	Democrat	Holderness, NH
District 08	Philip Preston	Democrat	Ashland, NH
District 08	Burton Williams	Republican	Bristol, NH
District 09	Bernard Benn	Democrat	Hanover, NH
District 09	Ruth Bleyler	Democrat	Lyme, NH
District 09	Sharon Nordgren	Democrat	Hanover, NH
District 09	David Pierce	Democrat	Etna, NH
District 10	Suzanne Laliberte	Democrat	Enfield, NH
District 10	Catherine Mulholland	Democrat	Grafton, NH
District 10	Peter Solomon	Democrat	Canaan, NH
District 11	Susan Almy	Democrat	Lebanon, NH
District 11	Gene Anderson	Democrat	Lebanon, NH
District 11	Lee Hammond	Democrat	Lebanon, NH
District 11	A. Laurie Harding	Democrat	Lebanon, NH

Demographics

As of the census of 2000, there were 81,743 people, 31,598 households, and 20,254 families residing in the county. The population density was 48 people per square mile (18/km²). There were 43,729 housing units at an average density of 26 per square mile (10/km²). The racial makeup of the county was 95.76% White, 1.73% Asian, 0.53% Black or African American, 0.31% Native American, 0.03% Pacific Islander, 0.39% from other races, and 1.26% from two or more races. 1.12% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race. 19.0% were of English, 12.9% Irish, 11.1% French, 7.8% American, 7.5% German, 6.8% French Canadian and 5.5% Italian ancestry according to Census 2000. 95.1% spoke English, 1.5% French and 1.3% Spanish as their first language.

There were 31,598 households out of which 29.50% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 52.40% were married couples living together, 8.30% had a female householder with no husband present, and 35.90% were non-families. 27.40% of all households were made up of individuals and 9.50% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.38 and the average family size was 2.90.

In the county the population was spread out with 21.90% under the age of 18, 13.50% from 18 to 24, 27.00% from 25 to 44, 24.20% from 45 to 64, and 13.40% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 37 years. For every 100 females there were 96.70 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 94.30 males.

The median income for a household in the county was $41,962, and the median income for a family was $50,424. Males had a median income of $31,874 versus $25,286 for females. The per capita income for the county was $22,227. About 5.10% of families and 8.60% of the population were below the poverty line, including 8.60% of those under age 18 and 7.50% of those age 65 or over.