Manchester, New Hampshire
Manchester is the largest city in the
U.S. state of
New Hampshire and the largest city of northern
New England, an area composed of
Vermont,
New Hampshire and
Maine. It is in
Hillsborough County on the banks of the
Merrimack River. As of the 2000 census, the city had a total population of 107,007.
As of 2004 the population has been estimated by the New Hampshire Office of Energy and Planning to be nearly 110,000.[
1] Manchester is the center of the Manchester, NH,
New England City and Town Metropolitan Area (NECTA MA), with a population of 176,663.[
2]
Incorporated as a city in 1846, Manchester is nicknamed the
Queen City. In 1998, it was named the "Number One Small City in the East" by
Money magazine. The
Mall of New Hampshire, on Manchester's southern fringe, is the city's main retail center.
Historically, Manchester is important as a
textile manufacturing center. The world's largest textile factory was once located along the
Merrimack River.
Manchester is named after the much bigger city of
Manchester, in
Greater Manchester,
England (traditionally in the county of
Lancashire).
|
Picture of Downtown manchester, as seen from Manchester's West Side (circa 1999) |
Manchester is located at (42.986284, -71.451560)
1. The city is sometimes considered the northernmost city of the
BosWash megalopolis.
|
Mills along the Merrimack River and the west side of Manchester |
According to the
United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 90.4
km² (34.9
mi²). 85.5 km² (33.0 mi²) of it is land and 4.9 km² (1.9 mi²) of it (5.44%) is water. The highest point in Manchester is its extreme northwest corner, where the elevation reaches 560
feet (171
meters) above
sea level.
City of Manchester
Population by year [3][4] | 1767 - 230
1773 - 279
1775 - 285
1786 - 338
1790 - 362
1800 - 557
1810 - 615
1820 - 761
1830 - 877
1840 - 3,235
1850 - 13,932
1860 - 20,107
1870 - 23,536
1880 - 32,630
1890 - 44,126
1900 - 56,987
1910 - 70,063
1920 - 78,384
1930 - 76,834
1940 - 77,685
1950 - 82,732
1960 - 88,282
1970 - 87,754
1980 - 90,936
1990 - 99,332
2000 - 107,006
2004 - 109,761 (estimate) |
As of the
census of 2000, there were 107,006 people, 44,247 households, and 26,105 families residing in the city. The
population density was 1,251.6/km² (3,241.4/mi²). There were 45,892 housing units at an average density of 536.8/km² (1,390.2/mi²). The racial makeup of the city was 91.75% White (this includes a large Bosnian population) 2.10%
African American, 0.30%
Native American, 2.32%
Asian, 0.04% Pacific Islander, 1.76% from other races, and 1.73% from two or more races. 4.62% of the population were
Hispanic or
Latino of any race. Manchester is a national refugee relocation center.
There were 44,247 households out of which 29.4% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 42.6% were
married couples living together, 11.7% had a female householder with no husband present, and 41.0% were non-families. 31.7% of all households were made up of individuals and 10.3% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.36 and the average family size was 3.00.
In the city the population was spread out with 23.7% under the age of 18, 9.5% from 18 to 24, 33.4% from 25 to 44, 20.5% from 45 to 64, and 12.9% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 35 years. For every 100 females there were 95.9 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 93.3 males.
The median income for a household in the city was $40,774, and the median income for a family was $50,039. Males had a median income of $34,287 versus $26,584 for females. The
per capita income for the city was $21,244. 10.6% of the population and 7.7% of families were below the poverty line. Out of the total people living in poverty, 14.6% are under the age of 18 and 11.7% are 65 or older.
The city is a refugee resettlement center. More than 10% of the city's population is currently foreign-born.
High schools
Manchester has four public high schools:
*
Manchester High School West ("West High School")
*
Manchester High School Central ("Central High School")
*
Manchester Memorial High School ("Memorial High School")
*
Manchester School of Technology ("MST")Manchester is served by three private high schools:
*
Trinity High School, a private, Roman Catholic high school in Manchester
*
Derryfield School, a private school serving students from sixth through twelfth grade
*
Holy Family Academy, a small Roman Catholic private school serving students from seventh through twelfth grade
Post-secondary schools
Area institutions of higher education, together enrolling more than 8,000 students, include:
*
University of New Hampshire at Manchester*
Southern New Hampshire University (mostly located within the adjacent town of
Hooksett)
*
New Hampshire Community Technical College*
Hesser College*
Saint Anselm College (mostly located within the adjacent town of
Goffstown)
*
Springfield College School of Human Services*
Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences*
North Eastern Institute of Whole Health*
New Hampshire Institute of Art |
No. 11 Mill and McGregorville; Millyard Museum |
Cultural landmarks include the Palace Theater, home to the New Hampshire Symphony and the Opera League of New Hampshire, the
Currier Museum of Art, the
New Hampshire Institute of Art, the Manchester Historic Association Millyard Museum, the Massabesic Audubon Center, the Amoskeag Fishways Learning and Visitors Center, and the SEE Science Center.
The Verizon Wireless Arena is a civic center that hosts a variety of events, from sports such as hockey and arena football to concerts and fairs. It opened in November, 2001. [
5] The John F. Kennedy Memorial Coliseum is another, smaller venue located in Manchester. It was completed in 1963, and serves as home ice for Manchester Central and Memorial High School hockey teams, and is home of the Southern New Hampshire Skating Club. [
6]
The city is served by four newspapers:
New Hampshire Union Leader (daily), the
Manchester Daily Express (a daily newspaper published by Hippo Press),
The Hippo (weekly) and the
Manchester Mirror, a weekly produced by the New Hampshire Union Leader.
In addition to several commercial
AM and
FM radio stations, Manchester is also served by local
cable television and one commercial television station:
*
MCAM TV-23, a public-access television facility. View programs online at
MCAM Producer's Page*
Manchester Community Television, providing government access (channel 22) and education access (channel 16) channels
*
WMUR-TV, the local
ABC television affiliate
*
WZMY-TV, an independent television station located in nearby Derry that will become an affiliate of
My Network TV in the fall of 2006
Manchester is part of the Boston television market, although it has two major stations of its own.
Manchester is home to four professional sports teams:
*
Manchester Wolves (
af2 arena football)
*
New Hampshire Fisher Cats (minor league baseball) Double A Blue Jays
*
Manchester Monarchs (
American Hockey League) L.A. Kings
*
Phantoms of New Hampshire USL Soccer team
The city is served by
Manchester-Boston Regional Airport, one of the fastest-growing airports in the nation, and fourth largest in New England. It is the secondary airport serving
Boston, Massachusetts.
Interstates 93 and
293 and
US Highway 3 connect the area to
Concord and the
White Mountains to the north and
Nashua and
Boston to the south.
NH 101 is a freeway-grade expressway that connects Manchester to the southeastern part of the state and Maine via
Interstate 95.
Public transportation is provided by the
Manchester Transit Authority, which runs several bus routes throughout the city and surrounding areas.
Concord Trailways runs commuter services to Boston and other parts of the state.
Vermont Transit Lines (affiliated with
Greyhound) has lines to Montreal.
Rail service to
Boston and beyond will become reality in Manchester in the next decade. With the expansion of
Interstate 93 to eight lanes from Salem to Manchester, a very large margin will be added in the middle of the highway to accommodate for this future service.
Manchester is northern New England's largest city, and its metropolitan area is the fastest growing in New England. On top of this, Manchester is one of New England's best places for finding a job. Its economy has changed greatly, as Manchester was a textile mill town just about 20 years ago.
Downtown
Manchester has a thriving downtown area, with more restaurants and stores going up all the time.
City Hall Plaza, northern New England's tallest building, is located in downtown Manchester. Other notable downtown buildings include the New Hampshire headquarters of
Citizens Bank and
Bank of America.
The
Verizon Wireless Arena has become the centerpiece of downtown Manchester. It is a 10,000 seat arena for concerts and sporting events. The Verizon is also home to the
Manchester Monarchs, the local
AHL affiliate of the
LA Kings. The
Merchantsauto.com Stadium (formerly Fishercats Park) is a baseball park located on the Merrimack River in downtown Manchester and is home to the local
AA baseball affiliate of the
Toronto Blue Jays, the
New Hampshire Fishercats.
The Red Arrow, one of the top 10 diners in the United States , is located downtown.
Shopping
Manchester has two great areas to shop, downtown Manchester and South Willow Street. This suburban artery has hundreds of stores including
The Sports Authority,
Tweeter,
Circuit City,
Toys R Us,
L.L. Bean,
Barnes and Noble, and
The Home Depot, just to name a few. The
Mall of New Hampshire is located on South Willow Street, with more than 125 stores, including
Macy's,
J.C. Penney,
Sears,
Best Buy,
Abercrombie and Fitch,
The Gap,
Forever 21,
A.C. Moore,
Old Navy,
Olympia Sports, and
Charlotte Russe. The mall also has four
full-service restaurants (
Bertucci's,
Ruby Tuesday,
Longhorn Steakhouse, and
T.G.I. Friday's). There is also a large food court.
*Manchester is a sister city of
Nashville, Tennessee.
*Manchester's main street, Elm Street, is believed to be the only main street in the country ending in two dead-ends.
*The city is the hometown of fictional
President Jed Bartlet and his family on the
American television series,
The West Wing.
*"The Amoskeag Manufacturing Company and Manchester, New Hampshire, the city it had planned and developed starting in 1837, were products of the new industrial order launched in New England by a closely knit group of Boston-based entrepreneurs. The newly created town, strategically located by the
Amoskeag Falls on the Merrimack River, was deliberately named after Manchester, England, already famous as the world's largest textile city." --Tamara K. Hareven,
Amoskeag: Life and Work in an American Factory City*Manchester is the hometown of comedian
Adam Sandler, race car driver
Jamie Aube, and
Rock Star: Supernova contestant
Josh Logan.
*
Segway and
iBOT inventor
Dean Kamen's company,
DEKA, is based in Manchester.
*An alternate nickname for the city is "
ManchVegas," a name that has become widely used in recent years.
*
List of mayors of Manchester, New Hampshire*
*
Official web site**
Manchester Historic Association Website**
Millyard Museum Website**
Manchester City Library Website**
Currier Museum of Art Website*
New Hampshire Economic and Labor Market Information Bureau Profile
