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Wentworth, New Hampshire

Wentworth, New Hampshire
Town
Wentworth Common
Wentworth Common
Location in Grafton County, New Hampshire
Location in Grafton County, New Hampshire
Coordinates: 43°52′08″N 71°54′36″W / 43.86889°N 71.91000°W / 43.86889; -71.91000Coordinates: 43°52′08″N 71°54′36″W / 43.86889°N 71.91000°W / 43.86889; -71.91000
Country United States
State New Hampshire
County Grafton
Incorporated 1766
Government
 • Board of Selectmen Chris Bassingthwaite, Chair
Peter Santom
Raymond Youngs
Area
 • Total 42.0 sq mi (108.7 km2)
 • Land 41.4 sq mi (107.3 km2)
 • Water 0.5 sq mi (1.3 km2)  1.21%
Elevation 630 ft (192 m)
Population (2010)
 • Total 911
 • Density 22/sq mi (8.4/km2)
Time zone Eastern (UTC-5)
 • Summer (DST) Eastern (UTC-4)
ZIP code 03282
Area code(s) 603
FIPS code 33-80500
GNIS feature ID 0873752
Website www.wentworth-nh.org

Wentworth is a town in Grafton County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 911 at the 2010 census. The town is home to Plummer's Ledge Natural Area, and part of the White Mountain National Forest is in the northeast. The town has a picturesque common, presided over by a Federal style church and bordered by antique homes.

It was granted by Governor Benning Wentworth on November 1, 1766 to John Page and 60 others. Named for the governor himself, Wentworth was settled and incorporated the same year. Many of the settlers arrived from Massachusetts, particularly Salisbury. With a pretty New England common set atop an elevated tongue of land, the village has been noted since the 19th century for its charm; while in "... beauties of landscape, Wentworth has a more than ordinary share."

Farmers cultivated the rich soil on the intervales. The Boston, Concord & Montreal Railroad diagonally crossed the town. With abundant water power from the Baker River, Wentworth developed into a lumber producing town with nine sawmills. But disaster struck on August 6, 1856, when dams on the Upper and Lower Baker ponds in Orford breached during a flood, releasing a wall of water down Pond Brook to the Baker River. It raced three miles (4.8 km) down the steep, rocky channel, then undermined and washed away Wentworth's riverside mills, houses, barns, sheds and roads. It widened the river by nearly 90 feet (27 meters).


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