Rochester

History

The town was one of four granted by colonial governor Samuel Shute of Massachusetts and New Hampshire during his brief term. The other three were Barrington, Nottingham, and Chester. Incorporated in 1722, it was named for his close friend, Laurence Hyde, 1st Earl of Rochester, brother-in-law to King James II. As was customary, tall white pine trees were reserved for use as masts by the Royal Navy. The same year the town was settled was the first year of Lovewell's War. There were no pitched battles in the town, but throughout the war, there were periodic ambushes of individual settlers. When the provincial assembly put a bounty on Indian scalps, the inhabitants of Rochester organized a militia led by Abraham Benwick to hunt down Indians. In 1737, the Reverend Amos Main became the first settled pastor of the Congregational Church, located on Rochester Hill. The building would be moved to Rochester Common, which then encompassed and was called "Norway Plain Mille Common" after its abundant Norway pines. At the time, the Common extended into what is now downtown Rochester. By 1738, the farming community contained 60 families. A statue of Parson Main, sculpted by Giuseppe Moretti, today presides over the town square. By 1780 the area surrounding the Common was the most thickly settled part of town, so a meeting house/church was erected on the east end of the Common with the entrance facing what is now South Main Street. A cemetery was also established near the new meeting house, but the ground was found to be too wet and the bodies were removed to the Old Rochester Cemetery. In 1842, the meeting house/church was moved to the present-day location at the corner of Liberty and South Main Streets. As the years went by, the size of the Common would shrink as more of it…

Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of , of which are land and are water, comprising 0.91% of the city. Rochester is drained by the Salmon Falls, Isinglass and Cochecho rivers. The highest point in Rochester is Chestnut Hill, occupying the northern corner of the city. New Hampshire Route 16 (the Spaulding Turnpike) is a six-lane controlled-access highway that passes through the city, leading north towards Conway and south to Dover and Portsmouth. U.S. Route 202 uses the turnpike to bypass the city center, then heads northeastward into Maine and southwestward towards Concord. New Hampshire Route 125 passes north–south through the center of town, leading south to Lee and Epping, and traveling north parallel to NH 16 into Milton. New Hampshire Route 11 leads west to Alton and Laconia and northeast along US 202 into Maine. New Hampshire Route 108 leads southeast to Dover, and New Hampshire Route 202A leads southwest to Strafford and Northwood. Besides the main downtown part of Rochester, there are two other named communities of significance within the city limits. East Rochester, a small neighborhood, is located near the northeastern border of the city along routes 202 and 11, next to the Salmon Falls River, while Gonic (from the Native American name Squanamagonic) is located south of downtown along NH 125 at a dam on the Cocheco River. * Lebanon, Maine (north) * Berwick, Maine (northeast) * Somersworth (east) * Dover (southeast) * Barrington (southwest) * Strafford (west) * Farmington (northwest) * Milton (north)

Race & ethnicity

Most-observed species

• Black-capped Chickadee

  Poecile atricapillus (Linnaeus, 1766) · Aves
  21,782
• Northern Cardinal

  Cardinalis cardinalis (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  15,875
• Downy Woodpecker

  Dryobates pubescens (Linnaeus, 1766) · Aves
  15,184
• American Goldfinch

  Spinus tristis (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  13,796
• Tufted Titmouse

  Baeolophus bicolor (Linnaeus, 1766) · Aves
  13,496
• Mourning Dove

  Zenaida macroura (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  12,182
• American Robin

  Turdus migratorius Linnaeus, 1766 · Aves
  11,522
• White-breasted Nuthatch

  Sitta carolinensis Latham, 1790 · Aves
  11,248

Largest nearby schools

• Dover Senior High School
  High · Dover · 1,505 students · 14.3:1 ratio
• Spaulding High School
  High · Rochester · 1,301 students · 14:1 ratio
• Dover Middle School
  Middle · Dover · 1,018 students · 13.8:1 ratio
• Rochester Middle School
  Middle · Rochester · 847 students · 12.8:1 ratio
• Woodman Park School
  Elementary · Dover · 436 students · 11.5:1 ratio
• Barrington Elementary School
  Elementary · Barrington · 424 students · 12.8:1 ratio
• Strafford School
  Elementary · Strafford · 403 students · 10.9:1 ratio
• Somersworth High School
  High · Somersworth · 394 students · 11.6:1 ratio

Most recent

• M 3.8 — 2025-01-27
  9 km SE of York Harbor, Maine
• M 2.7 — 2023-12-23
  5 km SW of Chichester, New Hampshire
• M 2.9 — 2023-04-25
  4 km SW of Center Sandwich, New Hampshire
• M 2.6 — 2021-12-07
  38 km SE of Old Orchard Beach, Maine
• M 2.7 — 2020-03-09
  50 km ESE of Old Orchard Beach, Maine
• M 2.7 — 2018-02-15
  0 km SE of East Kingston, New Hampshire