Fremont, New Hampshire | ||
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Main Street in 1909
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Location in Rockingham County and the state of New Hampshire. |
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Coordinates: 42°59′27″N 71°08′33″W / 42.99083°N 71.14250°WCoordinates: 42°59′27″N 71°08′33″W / 42.99083°N 71.14250°W | ||
Country | United States | |
State | New Hampshire | |
County | Rockingham | |
Incorporated | 1764 | |
Government | ||
• Board of Selectmen | Gene Cordes, Chair Neal R. Janvrin Roger A. Barham |
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• Town Administrator | Heidi Carlson | |
Area | ||
• Total | 17.4 sq mi (45.1 km2) | |
• Land | 17.2 sq mi (44.4 km2) | |
• Water | 0.2 sq mi (0.6 km2) 1.44% | |
Elevation | 155 ft (47 m) | |
Population (2010) | ||
• Total | 4,283 | |
• Density | 250/sq mi (95/km2) | |
Time zone | Eastern (UTC-5) | |
• Summer (DST) | Eastern (UTC-4) | |
ZIP code | 03044 | |
Area code(s) | 603 | |
FIPS code | 33-27940 | |
GNIS feature ID | 0873602 | |
Website | www |
Fremont is a town in Rockingham County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 4,283 at the 2010 census. Fremont is crossed by the Rockingham Recreation Trail (a rail trail) and NH Route 107.
Settled in the 1720s, Fremont was originally part of Exeter. The area was once famous for its heavy growth of high-quality eastern white pine trees, reserved for use as masts of the Royal Navy. But residents began to use the wood for home construction. When in 1734 David Dunbar, surveyor-general, visited the Copyhold Mill to inspect fallen lumber, local citizens assembled, discharged firearms, and convinced Dunbar to leave. Returning with 10 men, Dunbar's group was attacked, and dispersed to a local tavern, by citizens disguised as Indians. This insurrection would be known as the Mast Tree Riot.
The town was granted in 1764 by Colonial Governor Benning Wentworth as Poplin. In 1853, Poplin petitioned the state legislature to change the name. In 1854, it became Fremont after General John C. Frémont, the first candidate of the Republican Party in the presidential election of 1856. Benton in Grafton County bears the name of Fremont's father-in-law, Senator Thomas Hart Benton.
Fremont is noted for an unspoiled meetinghouse, built in 1800, and today listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The town was once home to the largest brickyard in the state, producing 5 million bricks a year, and to the downtown Spaulding & Frost Cooperage, established in 1874, one of the oldest operating wooden barrel manufacturers in the country.