Towns in our Neighborhood
Wilton
FOUNDED: 1762
CURRENT POPULATION: 3884
POPULATION AT FOUNDING: 1,105 residents in 1790
TOWN ZIP CODES: 03086
DESCRIPTION: Bordering the western edge of Milford, Wilton is a rural Hillsborough County town that, like Amherst, is considered a bedroom community. A Board of Selectmen governs the town of 25.9 square miles and 3,884 residents. Wilton has a fulltime police department and a volunteer fire department. The Wilton-Lyndeborough Cooperative Middle School/High School is also located in Wilton. A major point of interest in Wilton is the Andyâs Summer Playhouse â a theatre by children that serves the southern New Hampshire community. Part of the Russell-Abbott State Forest is also in Wilton. While just a short drive from Manchester and Nashua, Wilton is also located just 60 miles from Boston.
HISTORY: Wilton was first charted in 1735 as âSalem-Canada,â when Colonial Governor Jonathan Belcher of Massachusetts granted the land to a group of soldiers from Salem Massachusetts. The land was granted to them because they fought in a war against Canada while serving under Sir William Phips in 1690. New Hampshire Governor Benning Wentworth granted the land for a second time in 1749 as âNumber Two.â The town was incorporated in 1762 after residents petitioned Governor Wentworth. In 1765, Wentworth named the town Wilton â most likely after the English sculptor Sir Joseph Wilton. During the 1800s, a number of mills were built along the Souhegan River in Wilton providing prosperity and growth. Today Wilton remains a rural New England town
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