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Nashua is a city in Hillsborough County, New Hampshire, USA. As of the 2000 census, Nashua had a total population of 86,605[1], making it the second largest city in the state after Manchester. As of 2005, the population is estimated to be 87,986.[2] Built around the now-departed textile industry, in recent decades it has been swept up in southern New Hampshire's economic expansion as part of the Boston region. Nashua was twice named "Best Place to Live in America" in annual surveys by Money magazine.[3] It is the only city to get the No. 1 ranking two times—in 1987 and 1997. Nashua is currently ranked #87, as of summer 2006.[4] In 2007, the Morgan Quinto Press ranked Nashua as the 27th safest city in the country.
HistoryImage:Nashuacityhall.jpg City Hall in 2006
Located at the confluence of the Merrimack with the Nashua rivers, Dunstable was first settled about 1655 as a fur trading town. But like many 19th century riverfront New England communities, it would be developed during the Industrial Revolution with textile mills operated from water power. By 1836, the Nashua Manufacturing Company had built three cotton mills which produced 9.3 million yards of cloth annually on 710 looms. Dunstable was renamed Nashua after the Nashua River by a declaration from the New Hampshire legislature. The town split in two for a while following a tax dispute between the town of Nashville north of the Nashua River, where most of the wealthy lived, and the town of Nashua south of the river. They would eventually reconcile and join together to charter the city of Nashua in 1853. Six railroad lines crossed the mill town, with 56 trains entering and departing daily before the American Civil War. Like the rival Amoskeag Manufacturing Company upriver in Manchester, the Nashua Manufacturing Company prospered until about World War I, after which it began a slow decline. Water power was replaced with newer forms of energy to run factories. Cotton could be manufactured into fabric where it grew, saving transportation costs. The textile business started moving to the South during the Great Depression, with the last mill closing in 1949. Many citizens were left unemployed. But then Sanders Associates, a newly created defense firm that is now part of BAE Systems, moved into one of the closed mills and launched the city's rebirth. The arrival of Digital Equipment Corp. (now part of Hewlett-Packard) in the 1970s made the city part of the Boston-area high-tech corridor.
Notable residents
GeographyImage:Nashua 0509.jpg Nashua River Dam in 2006 According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 82.5 km² (31.8 mi²). 80.0 km² (30.9 mi²) of it is land and 2.5 km² (0.9 mi²) of it is water, comprising 2.98% of the town. Nashua is drained by the Nashua River and Salmon Brook. The highest point in Nashua is Long Hill (418 feet / 127 meters above sea level), in the southern part of the city. The city is bordered on the east by the Merrimack River, across which lies the town of Hudson, New Hampshire. To the north is Merrimack, New Hampshire, west is Hollis, New Hampshire, and south is Tyngsboro, Massachusetts. The city is roughly bisected by the Nashua River. DemographicsImage:Police Station, Nashua, NH.jpg Police Station in c. 1908 As of the censusGR2 of 2000, there were 86,605 people, 34,614 households, and 22,083 families residing in the city. The population density was 1,082.5/km² (2,803.5/mi²). There were 35,387 housing units at an average density of 442.3/km² (1,145.5/mi²). The racial makeup of the city was 89.25% White, 2.01% African American, 0.32% Native American, 3.88% Asian, 0.03% Pacific Islander, 3.05% from other races, and 1.46% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 6.22% of the population. There were 34,614 households out of which 31.6% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 49.3% were married couples living together, 10.4% had a female householder with no husband present, and 36.2% were non-families. 28.3% of all households were made up of individuals and 8.7% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.46 and the average family size was 3.05. Image:Greeley Park, Nashua, NH.jpg Greeley Park in c. 1920 In the city the population was spread out with 24.7% under the age of 18, 8.1% from 18 to 24, 33.5% from 25 to 44, 22.2% from 45 to 64, and 11.6% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 36 years. For every 100 females there were 97.6 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 95.2 males. The median income for a household in the city was $51,969, and the median income for a family was $61,102. Males had a median income of $43,893 versus $29,171 for females. The per capita income for the city was $25,209. About 5.0% of families and 6.8% of the population were below the poverty line, including 8.7% of those under age 18 and 6.4% of those age 65 or over. GovernmentThe city's government is headed by a mayor and fifteen aldermen: six at-large aldermen elected three at a time every four years, and nine ward aldermen, one for each ward in the city, elected every two years. In the New Hampshire General Court, Nashua is represented in the House by Hillsborough County's 20th (Ward 1), 21st (Ward 2), 22nd (Ward 3), 23rd (Ward 4), 24th (Ward 6), 25th (Ward 7) and 26th (Wards 5, 8 and 9) districts and in the Senate by District 12 (Wards 1, 2, 5 and 9, shared with Hollis, Mason, and Brookline) and District 13 (Wards 3, 4, 6, 7, and 8). EconomyImage:Main Street South, Nashua, NH.jpg Main Street in c. 1905 Nashua's downtown is a regional commercial, entertainment, and dining destination. Recent plans have incorporated the Nashua River into the design of a pedestrian-friendly walkway. The Nashua Riverwalk is a large, public/private venture funded through the use of Tax Increment Financing (TIF). The city is home to a number of technical firms, including Nashua Corporation, which took its name from the city and river. Nashua Corp. was a leading producer of floppy disks through the early 1990s, making the Nashua name well-known in the world of personal computers. Defense contractor BAE Systems and computer firm Hewlett-Packard are the largest representatives of the high-tech industry prominent in the region. TransportationImage:Boirefield.jpg Entrance of Boire Field, Nashua's airport U.S. Route 3 and the Everett Turnpike are the major highways running through the city. Nashua Municipal Airport (Boire Field), a general aviation facility, is in the city's northwest corner. Public transportation is provided by the Nashua Transit System, which runs a bus line. An extension from the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority commuter rail Lowell Line to Nashua once existed, and efforts are being made to resurrect it. Maps of the Nashua area often show a stretch of freeway forming a circumferential highway through Nashua and the neighboring town of Hudson. Only a small section of the south end of this highway (Exit 2 off U.S. Route 3) has been built, and it is unclear whether the highway will ever be completed. If finished, the Nashua-Hudson Circumferential Highway would be part of the Everett Turnpike, and would rejoin the mainline highway at a hypothetical Exit 9 in northern Nashua. As of February 13, 2007, Boston Express, a subsidiary of Concord Trailways began operating a Nashua-Boston bus line that runs out of the Nashua Welcome Center off of Exit 6. This bus line transports passengers to South Station and Logan International Airport in Boston, and is being used in place of the rail line to Lowell which is in the process of being brought back. [1] MediaThe city has a daily newspaper, the Nashua Telegraph, which is printed in neighboring Hudson, New Hampshire. Nashua also has two weekly newspapers, The Broadcaster and The Hippo, as well as a regional radio station, WGAM 900 AM (FOX Sports Radio). Another radio station, WSMN 1590 AM (news/talk), is back on the air after going dark in January 2005. Longtime FM station WHOB 106.3 FM moved to Hooksett, New Hampshire, after changing owners in 2004. NH Public Radio has a FM transmitter in Nashua at 88.3 MHz. ReligionThe city has a wide variety of religious centers of many different denominations. EducationAccording to the 2000 U.S Census, 22,700 residents over age three currently are enrolled in a Nashua educational institution, approximately a fourth of the city. [5]. CollegesImage:Danielwebstercollege.JPG Entrance of Daniel Webster College Nashua is not considered a college town compared to locales such as Durham, New Hampshire, but as of 2006 the city has 5,000 students enrolled at six colleges: Hesser College Nashua campus, Southern New Hampshire University Nashua campus, Franklin Pierce College Nashua campus, Daniel Webster College, the New Hampshire Community Technical Colleges (Nashua campus), and Rivier College. Secondary schoolsIn 2005, Nashua's public high school was split into Nashua High School South (home of the Panthers, opened in 1976 and rebuilt/reopened in 2004) and the new Nashua High School North (home of the Titans, opened in 2002) on Broad Street. The city has two private religious high schools: Bishop Guertin High School, a coeducational Catholic high school, and Nashua Christian Academy, a coeducational K-12 Christian school. Middle schoolsImage:Fairgroundmiddleschool.JPG Pennichuck Middle School
Elementary schools
SportsAs of 2006, Nashua's only professional sports team is a Can-Am minor league baseball team: The Nashua Pride, which has played at Holman Stadium since 1998. Before the Pride, Holman was the home stadium for the independent Nashua Hawks; the AA Nashua Pirates; the AA Nashua Angels; and the A Nashua Dodgers, the first racially integrated professional baseball team in the modern age of baseball[2]. In collegiate sports, Nashua is home to the Daniel Webster College Eagles and Rivier College Raiders, who compete in the Great Northeast Athletic Conference or GNAC. The Spartans Drum and Bugle Corps (1997, 1998, and 2004 Drum Corps International Division II World Champions) is based in Nashua. See alsoReferences
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