Manchester was first named by the merchant and inventorSamuel 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 originalManchester in England, which was the world's first industrialized city.[4] During theIndustrial Revolution, Manchester was a major industrial and economic hub for New England, with theAmoskeag Manufacturing Company being the largestcotton textile plant in the world.[5] AfterWorld War II, many textile manufacturing jobs left Manchester, but new industries and companies were introduced to the city, such asDEKA.
The nativePennacook people calledAmoskeag Falls on the Merrimack River—the area that became the heart of Manchester—Namaoskeag, meaning "good fishing place".[6] In 1722,John Goffe III settled besideCohas Brook, later building a dam and sawmill at what was dubbed "Old Harry's Town". It was granted byMassachusetts in 1727 as "Tyngstown" to veterans ofQueen Anne's War who served in 1703 under Captain William Tyng.[7] But at New Hampshire's 1741 separation from Massachusetts, the grant was ruled invalid and substituted withWilton, Maine, resulting in a 1751 rechartering by GovernorBenning Wentworth as "Derryfield"—a name that lives on in Derryfield Park, Derryfield Country Club, and the privateDerryfield School.[7]
In 1807, Samuel Blodget opened a canal and lock system to allow vessels passage around the falls, part of a network developing to link the area withBoston. He envisioned a great industrial center arising, "the Manchester of America", in reference toManchester, England, then at the forefront of theIndustrial Revolution.[7][8]: 13–18 In 1809,Benjamin Prichard and others built a water-powered cotton spinning mill on the western bank of the Merrimack. Apparently following Blodgett's suggestion, Derryfield was renamed "Manchester" in 1810, the year the mill was incorporated as theAmoskeag Cotton & Woolen Manufacturing Company.[9] It would be purchased in 1825 by entrepreneurs from Massachusetts, expanded to three mills in 1826, and then incorporated in 1831 as theAmoskeag Manufacturing Company.[7][8]: 13–18
Amoskeag engineers and architects planned a modelcompany town on the eastern bank, founded in 1838 with Elm Street as its main thoroughfare. Incorporation as a city followed for Manchester in 1846, soon 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 theAmoskeag Locomotive Works (later, theManchester Locomotive Works). The rapid growth of the mills demanded a large influx of workers, resulting in a flood of immigrants, particularlyFrench Canadians. Many current residents descend from these workers. In 1871, the arch dam was built on the Merrimack River, enhancing the mill's water power delivery system. By 1912, the production of woven cloth in the Millyard had reached a production rate of 50 miles in length per hour.[10]
Throughout the late 19th century and the early 20th century, the city began to expand outward, and many streetcar suburbs such as Mast Road were built. Manchester was formerly home to a streetcar network, the Manchester Street Railway. The streetcar network was replaced with a bus network in the 1940s.
In 1922, 17,000 workers from two of the city's largest companies (Amoskeag and Stark Manufacturing Companies)went on strike for a period of nine months. After the strike, the textile industry began a slow decline, with theGreat Depression hitting the city particularly hard. The Amoskeag Manufacturing Company declaredbankruptcy in 1935. During the Great Flood of 1936, the McGregor Bridge was destroyed and $2.5 million of damage was incurred to the city's mills and buildings. After the flood, the Amoskeag Manufacturing Company reorganized out of bankruptcy as Amoskeag Industries, diversifying its manufacturing operations with new industries in the Millyard.[11]
Manchester's economy benefitted fromWorld War II, as the city was already well-positioned and equipped with industry to handle war-time production. In 1941,Grenier Field, on the city's border withLondonderry, was converted to aU.S. Army air base.
The city faced a decline in manufacturing in the 1950s and 1960s, with many Millyard buildings becoming abandoned during this time. An anthrax incident in 1957 led to the abandonment and later razing of the Arms Textile Mill along the river (today a parking lot in front of Arms Park).[12] As part ofurban renewal projects, the city filled in the Millyard canals to make room for roads and demolished several mill structures to make way for parking and roads.The Mall of New Hampshire opened in 1977, leading to further decline of downtown. However, during this time several important buildings were constructed in the downtown area, including the Hampshire Plaza in 1972 (the tallest building in New Hampshire until 1994, later renamed Brady Sullivan Plaza).
The 1980s brought renewed interest in the Millyard and downtown. TheUniversity of New Hampshire at Manchester opened a campus in the Millyard during this time, andSegway inventorDean Kamen purchased two old mill buildings which became the headquarters forDEKA. Kamen purchased more buildings in 1984 and 1991, aiming to convert the Millyard into a high-tech center for smart manufacturing and offices. John Madden, a local developer, and Kamen worked with the city to implement capital improvements to the Millyard in the 1980s and early 1990s.[13]
City Hall Plaza was built in downtown Manchester in 1992, to this day the tallest building in New Hampshire and northern New England. In 1991, the city went into economic decline as four major banks were shut down by federal regulators. Many shops and restaurants along the Elm Street thoroughfare closed during this time, as foot traffic declined. At the turn of the century, renewed interest in the Millyard led to a boom in development and business. Several high-tech firms opened offices or relocated to the Manchester Millyard in the 2000s, includingAutodesk in 2000 andDyn in 2004. Brady Sullivan, a local real estate developer, opened its first Millyard apartments in 2013. During the early to mid 2010s, Manchester saw an uptick inopioid-related deaths,[14][15][16] reporting more opioid-related deaths per capita than any city in the United States in 2016.[17] Since 2018, the death rate has declined through the efforts of theNew Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services and local outreach organizations, hitting a 10-year low in 2023.[18][19]
Manchester has continued to grow steadily and transform itself into a cultural and commerce hub for the state of New Hampshire. Themill town's 19th-century affluence left behind some of the finestVictorian commercial, municipal, and residential architecture in the state.[8]: 22–27
Manchester is in south-central New Hampshire, 18 miles (29 km) south ofConcord, the state capital, and the same distance north ofNashua, the second-largest city in the state. Manchester is 51 miles (82 km) north-northwest ofBoston, the largest city in New England.
According to theUnited States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 34.9 square miles (90.5 km2), of which 33.1 square miles (85.7 km2) are land and 1.9 square miles (4.8 km2) are water, comprising 5.33% of the city.[20] Manchester is drained by the Merrimack River and its tributaries thePiscataquog River andCohas 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) abovesea level.
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.[21] 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; the North End, Janeville/Corey Square, Hallsville and Bakersville on the East Side; and Youngsville and Goffes Falls on the periphery of the city.[22]
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."[23] 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.[24] 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.[25]
Manchester has a four-seasonhumid continental climate (KöppenDfa), 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 25.6 °F (−3.6 °C) in January to 73.8 °F (23.2 °C) in July. On average, there are 16 days of highs at or above 90 °F (32 °C) and 3.0 days of lows at or below 0 °F (−18 °C) annually.[26] Precipitation is well-spread throughout the year, though winter is the driest season while early spring tends to be the wettest. Record temperatures range from −29 °F (−34 °C) on February 16, 1943, up to 103 °F (39 °C) on July 22, 2011.[27]
Map of racial distribution in Manchester, 2020 U.S. census. Each dot is one person:⬤ White⬤ Black⬤ Asian⬤ Hispanic⬤ Multiracial⬤ Native American/OtherDowntown 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 the2010 census.[28] As of the2020 census, the city had a population of 115,644.[3] 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.[29]
As of the 2010 census,[30] 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). Theracial 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,[31] down from 98.0% in 1980.[32]
Manchester, New Hampshire – Racial and ethnic composition Note: the US Census treats Hispanic/Latino as an ethnic category. This table excludes Latinos from the racial categories and assigns them to a separate category. Hispanics/Latinos may be of any race.
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.[30]
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.[30]
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. Theper capita income for the city was $26,131. Of the population 14.1% and 9.6% of families were below thepoverty line, along with 21.8% of persons who were under the age of 18 and 9.9% of persons 65 or older.[38]
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".[1] TheMall 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, theVerizon 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 theSNHU Arena in 2016, after Manchester'sSouthern New Hampshire University.
As of 2017, the following organizations and companies were the largest employers in the Manchester ZIP Code area:[39]
Downtown Manchester'sOne 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 ofCambridge, 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-storyDoubleTree 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.
TheSNHU 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.[41] TheNortheast Delta Dental Stadium (formerly MerchantsAuto.com Stadium) is a baseball park on the Merrimack River in downtown Manchester and is home to the localAA baseball affiliate of theToronto Blue Jays, theNew Hampshire Fisher Cats. HistoricGill 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 theUniversity of New Hampshire at Manchester, have been uniquely retro-fitted into properties along Commercial and Canal Street.
Manchester has three main retail areas: downtown Manchester, South Willow Street (NH Route 28), and Second Street (NH Route 3A) on the West Side. TheMall 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.
TheJohn 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.[43]
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'."[44] By 2005, an article in Manchester'sHippo (a local alternative weekly) said that then-MayorRobert A. Baines "is pushing to replace the nickname ManchVegas with Manchhattan" (meaning Manchester+Manhattan).[45] In 2009, the filmMonsters, Marriage and Murder in ManchVegas was released referencing Manchester's popular nickname and using much of the city as its backdrop.[46]
TheManchester 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.[48]
The city is home toMcIntyre Ski Area, which opened in 1971. There are also college sports teams that play in and out of the city.[49]Saint Anselm College is located less than a mile outside the city's border in Goffstown, although it has a Manchester postal address, andSouthern New Hampshire University is located primarily in Hooksett, but has its campus partially within city limits. The two colleges participate in theNCAA Division IINortheast-10 Conference, and the school with the most head-to-head victories in a school year earns the Queen City Cup.[50]
Manchester is incorporated as a city under the laws of the state of New Hampshire, and operates under a strong mayoral form of government. The mayor serves as chairman of the fourteen-member Board of Mayor and Aldermen, the city's legislative body. Each of Manchester's twelve wards elects a single alderman, and two additional at-large members are elected citywide.Jay Ruais is the currentmayor.
The mayor also serves as the chair of the board of school committee. Like the board of aldermen, the school board has twelve members elected by ward and two at-large members. The school board is not a city department; rather, it is a school district coterminous with the city, which obtains financing from the Board of Mayor and Aldermen.
At the presidential level, Manchester leans Democratic.George W. Bush narrowly carried the city by 170 votes in2004, but no other presidential elections since then have been nearly as close. In2020,Joe Biden won the highest percentage of the vote in Manchester since1964.
Manchester city vote by party in presidential elections[53]
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[54]
Mills Falls Charter School, a public charter school offering aMontessori education from kindergarten to 6th grade[55]
Polaris Charter School, a public charter school that offers elementary education[56]
Kreiva Academy, a public charter school in downtown Manchester for 6th to 12th grades[57]
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[58]
St. Joseph Regional Junior High School, a grade 7–8 regional Catholic junior high school
Saint Anselm College, in thePinardville neighborhood of the town ofGoffstown, is adjacent to the city line and has a Manchester mailing address and telephone exchange.
The Manchester radio market, which containsHillsborough County and portions ofMerrimack andRockingham 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) fromWorcester, theSeacoast and/or theLakes Region.
TheManchester 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, andSalem, New Hampshire.[62]Greyhound Lines operates bus service between Manchester and destinations in the Northeast.[63]
A proposed extension of theMBTA Commuter Rail'sLowell 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 byAECOM and the State of New Hampshire to design and make a financial plan for the project is due to be completed by 2023.[needs update][67] The proposed Manchester station location would be located behind theMarket Basket grocery store on Elm Street.[68]
With the expansion ofInterstate 93 to eight lanes fromSalem to Manchester under construction, space is being reserved in the median for potential future commuter or light rail service along this corridor.[69] The I-93 transit study also suggested restoring service on the Manchester and Lawrence branch for commuter and freight rail.[70] This corridor would support freight rail along with commuter, something that light rail cannot do.
In late 2011,Dean Kamen, inventor of theSegway and owner of several buildings in the Millyard, as well as co-founder ofFIRST, 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.[71]
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 towardsManchester-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.[72]
In 2021, Amtrak announced plans to implement new service from Boston to Concord, including a stop at Manchester, by 2035.[73]
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.
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.[74][75] 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.[76][77][78]
^Official precipitation records for Manchester were kept at an undisclosed location in the area from February 1885 to June 5, 1948, Manchester–Boston Regional Airport (KMHT) from June 6, 1948, to March 31, 1967, another, possibly differing, undisclosed location from April 1, 1967, to March 31, 1998, and again at KMHT since April 1, 1998. Temperature records began in April 1885, while snowfall records began on November 22, 1902. There are significant gaps in data coverage before April 1998; for more information, seeThreadEx.
^ab"Station: MANCHESTER AP, NH".U.S. Climate Normals 2020: U.S. Monthly Climate Normals (1991-2020). National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. RetrievedMay 18, 2021.
Hareven, Tamara K., and Randolph Langenbach.Amoskeag: Life and work in an American factory-city (UPNE, 1995) The Amoskeag textile factory in Manchester was the largest in the world; this is the story of its workers.online
Core cities are metropolitan core cities of at least a million people. The other areas are urban areas of cities that have an urban area of 150,000+ or of a metropolitan area of at least 250,000+. Satellite cities are in italics.
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