Brentwood, New Hampshire

Brentwood is a town in Rockingham County, New Hampshire, United States. As of the 2010 census, the town had a total population of 4,486.^[1] Brentwood has been the county seat of Rockingham County^[2] since 1997. It is drained by the Piscassic, Little and Exeter rivers.

History

Long before Europeans settled the area, Brentwood was home to the Pennacook Abenaki tribes which farmed, fished and hunted there. Two main foot trails ran through the town, one along the Exeter River, where arrowheads and other stone and wooden artifacts have been found. At Pickpocket Dam, this pathway joined with the historic Pentucket Trail leading to Haverhill, Massachusetts, or points north.

The town was once a part of Exeter known as Brentwood Parish. It was named after Brentwood, Essex, originally called "Burnt Wood", where, in 1177, King Henry II granted permission for 40 acres (160,000 m²) of the king's forest to be cut, burned and cultivated. As early as 1738, residents living in the southwestern portion of Exeter, now Brentwood and Fremont, petitioned to be set off, but were denied. On 26 June 1742,^[3] however, permission was granted, and Brentwood was incorporated by Colonial Governor Benning Wentworth.

But almost from the beginning, a dispute arose between districts regarding the placement of a meetinghouse. It divided the community. Consequently, Gov. Wentworth, acting without approval of the General Assembly, in 1744 issued a King's Patent to establish a new town within Brentwood called Keeneborough Parish, named after his friend, Sir Benjamin Keene (1697–1757), English minister to Spain. Factions reconciled in 1750, when Keeneborough reunited with Brentwood.

Mills along the rivers produced lumber and manufactured goods in the early days, although the community would shift towards the cultivation of agriculture. It is now predominantly residential.

Brentwood was marginally involved in the Exeter incident, a UFO sighting in 1965. While the main incident was reported in nearby Kensington, a young Brentwood couple, Jack Sidoway and Lindsey Webb, also reported having seen lights while parked out in a field. They claimed that these lights followed them as they got out of their car and ran through a field in order to "try to get away from the lights." It is thought that their claims were not taken seriously due to their age. Also as this account is from Brentwood and not Exeter it was not included in the official Exeter documents, and as such were overlooked.^[4]

Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 17.0 square miles (44.0 km²), of which 16.8 square miles (43.4 km²) is land and 0.23 square miles (0.6 km²) is water, comprising 1.30% of the town.^[1] The highest point in Brentwood is Great Hill, at 275 feet (84 m) above sea level, whose summit is in the southeast corner of the town. The town is drained by the Exeter River and its tributaries. Brentwood lies fully within the Piscataqua River (Coastal) watershed.^[5]

Demographics

Historical population
Census	Pop.		%±
1790	976		—
1800	899		−7.9%
1810	905		0.7%
1820	892		−1.4%
1830	891		−0.1%
1840	888		−0.3%
1850	923		3.9%
1860	887		−3.9%
1870	895		0.9%
1880	999		11.6%
1890	967		−3.2%
1900	957		−1.0%
1910	759		−20.7%
1920	685		−9.7%
1930	725		5.8%
1940	720		−0.7%
1950	819		13.8%
1960	1,072		30.9%
1970	1,468		36.9%
1980	2,004		36.5%
1990	2,590		29.2%
2000	3,197		23.4%
2010	4,486		40.3%
Est. 2015	4,731	^[6]	5.5%
U.S. Decennial Census^[7]

As of the census of 2010, there were 4,486 people, 1,319 households, and 1,087 families residing in the town. The population density was 267.0 people per square mile (103.4/km²). There were 1,350 housing units at an average density of 80.4 per square mile (31.1/km²). The racial makeup of the town was 96.3% White, 0.7% African American, 0.1% Native American, 1.0% Asian, 0.1% Pacific Islander, 0.5% some other race, and 1.3% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 1.5% of the population.^[8]

There were 1,319 households, out of which 46.2% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 71.6% were headed by married couples living together, 7.1% had a female householder with no husband present, and 17.6% were non-families. 14.0% of all households were made up of individuals, and 5.9% were someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 3.02, and the average family size was 3.33.^[8]

In the town the population was spread out with 26.6% under the age of 18, 7.2% from 18 to 24, 24.0% from 25 to 44, 28.8% from 45 to 64, and 13.4% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 41.1 years. For every 100 females there were 106.1 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 106.6 males.^[8]

For the period 2007-2011, the estimated median annual income for a household in the town was $110,250, and the median income for a family was $111,650. Male full-time workers had a median income of $69,565 versus $55,000 for females. The per capita income for the town was $37,385. About 1.0% of families and 2.2% of the population were below the poverty line, including 3.2% of those under age 18 and 0.4% of those age 65 or over.^[9]

Notable person

Ted King (b. 1983), professional cyclist
Joshua Smith (1760–1795), author and minister

References

1 2 "Geographic Identifiers: 2010 Demographic Profile Data (G001): Brentwood town, Rockingham County, New Hampshire". U.S. Census Bureau, American Factfinder. Retrieved January 31, 2013.
↑ "Find a County". National Association of Counties. Archived from the original on 2011-06-15. Retrieved 2011-06-07.
↑ Article in Statistics and Gazetteer of New-Hampshire (1875)
↑ Art Champoux (December 5, 2007). "Incident At Exeter: Facts you might not have known, Part I". UFO Digest. Retrieved February 1, 2013.
↑ Foster, Debra H.; Batorfalvy, Tatianna N.; Medalie, Laura (1995). Water Use in New Hampshire: An Activities Guide for Teachers. U.S. Department of the Interior and U.S. Geological Survey.
↑ "Annual Estimates of the Resident Population for Incorporated Places: April 1, 2010 to July 1, 2015". Retrieved July 2, 2016.
↑ "Census of Population and Housing". Census.gov. Archived from the original on May 11, 2015. Retrieved June 4, 2016.
1 2 3 "Profile of General Population and Housing Characteristics: 2010 Demographic Profile Data (DP-1): Brentwood town, Rockingham County, New Hampshire". U.S. Census Bureau, American Factfinder. Retrieved February 1, 2013.
↑ "Selected Economic Characteristics: 2007-2011 American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates (DP03): Brentwood town, Rockingham County, New Hampshire". U.S. Census Bureau, American Factfinder. Retrieved February 1, 2013.

External links

Municipalities and communities of Rockingham County, New Hampshire, United States

County seat: Brentwood

City	Portsmouth

Towns	Atkinson Auburn Brentwood Candia Chester Danville Deerfield Derry East Kingston Epping Exeter Fremont Greenland Hampstead Hampton Hampton Falls Kensington Kingston Londonderry New Castle Newfields Newington Newmarket Newton North Hampton Northwood Nottingham Plaistow Raymond Rye Salem Sandown Seabrook South Hampton Stratham Windham

CDPs	Derry Epping Exeter Hampton Hampton Beach Londonderry Newfields Newmarket Raymond Seabrook Beach

Other villages	Candia Four Corners East Candia East Derry East Hampstead Newton Junction North Salem West Nottingham

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 11/7/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.