Towns in our Neighborhood
Nashua
FOUNDED: 1746
CURRENT POPULATION: 87321
POPULATION AT FOUNDING: 632
TOWN ZIP CODES: East of Everett Turnpike 03060
Post Office Boxes 03061
West of Everett Turnpike, South of River 03062
West of Everett Turnpike, North of River 03063
East of Everett Turnpike, North of Nashua River, 03064
DESCRIPTION: Calling itself the âGateway City,â Nashua is the first glimpse of New Hampshire to motorists trekking up Route 3 North. Since a commercial development boom in the 1980s, the city - New Hampshireâs second largest - has served as a shopping Mecca for those fleeing Massachusettsâs sales taxes.
Like everywhere else where malls have spread like wildfire, the city is making an aggressive effort to prevent the downtown from becoming a ghost town. Great American Downtown (GAD) is Nashuaâs downtown revitalization organization. Established in July of 2002 as a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, our mission is to âprovide coordination, collaboration and partnerships that unify the entire Nashua community around a common vision for an attractive downtown that is vibrant, viable and truly reflects the character of our city.â
Nashua City Hall features a bronze sculpture of John F. Kennedy, marking the spot where candidate Kennedy gave his first official campaign speech in 1960.
Holman Stadium off of Amherst Street was where future Brooklyn Dodger stars Roy Campanella and Don Newcombe played in 1946 on the first integrated baseball team in the U.S. (Jackie Robinson was playing in Montreal the same year).
HISTORY: Nashua began as a fur trading post in the mid-1600s â better known by its Native American name of âWatanic.â The City of Nashua was chartered in 1853. It had grown out of the Village of Nashua, centered near Railroad Square and the Main Street Bridge, and the Village of Nashville, across the Nashua River. The city is in the approximate center of the original 1673 grant of Dunstable, which included all or parts of the surrounding towns. The Dunstable grant was part of Massachusetts until the boundary line was revised in 1741. The New Hampshire portion was incorporated by that state in 1746 and was gradually broken into smaller pieces as outlying areas developed. Just south of Nashua, the tiny Massachusetts town of Dunstable keeps the name alive.
Nashua was an early textile center. By 1836, Nashua Corporation had built three cotton mills and was producing 9.3 million yards of cotton cloth annually on 710 looms. Six railroad lines crossed the city with 56 trains entering and departing daily before the Civil War. The present Pennichuck Water Works was begun in 1853. The high school, built in 1874, was considered the best-constructed school in the state. The Nashua Telegraph was founded in 1832, a few months after its competitor, the Gazette, which no longer exists. After World War II, the textile mills moved south and the city gradually developed a diversified industry, particularly high technology and retail. Today, Nashua is the stateâs second largest city.
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