Риндж, Нью-Гэмпшир: История и современность

Rindge is a town in Cheshire County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 6,476 at the 2020 census, Rindge is home to Franklin Pierce University, the Cathedral of the Pines and part of Annett State Forest.

The land in and around Rindge was originally inhabited by ancestors of the Abenaki tribe of Native Americans. Archeological evidence from nearby Swanzey indicates that the region was inhabited as much as 11,000 years ago (coinciding with the end of the last glacial period). As much as half of the Western Abenakis were victims of a wave of epidemics that coincided with the arrival of Europeans in the late 16th and early 17th centuries. Later, many of the Western Abenaki present in southwestern New Hampshire chose to relocate to Canada during Colonial times, primarily due to their allegiance with the French during the French and Indian Wars.

In the eighteenth century, Massachusetts granted unappropriated land to veterans of Sir William Phipps' 1690 expedition against French held Canada as compensation for services. Whole townships were granted to certain military companies and became known as "Canada" townships. Granted in 1736 by Governor Jonathan Belcher to soldiers from Rowley, Massachusetts, Rindge was first known as "Rowley Canada". But the Masonian proprietors were making competing claims to the area, and in 1740 commissioners of the Crown decided that the boundary between Massachusetts and New Hampshire lay south of Rowley Canada. Consequently, it was re granted in 1749 by Governor Benning Wentworth as "Monadnock No. 1", or "South Monadnock". The town was incorporated in 1768 by Governor John Wentworth as "Rindge", in honor of Captain Daniel Rindge of Portsmouth, New Hampshire, one of the original grant holders, and the one who represented New Hampshire's claim to the land before the king. Captain Abel Platts is credited as being Rindge's first temporary settler, arriving in 1738 to take possession of his family's land grant. But disputes about the grants, combined with the outbreak in 1744 of King George's War, made it untenable to remain in Rindge, so early settlers abandoned it. Platts and others returned in 1752, and starting in 1758, settlement increased steadily. There were 1,274 residents by 1859, when water powered industries included three gristmills, thirteen sawmills, thirteen shingle mills, six stave mills, two planing mills, and several clapboard mills. Rindge's highest point is on its eastern border, on the lower slopes of Pratt Mountain, where the elevation reaches 1505 feet (459 m) above sea level. Rindge is home to the villages of Rindge Center, East Rindge, Converseville, and West Rindge. The town is crossed by U. S. Route 202 and New Hampshire Route 119.

As of the census of 2020, there were 6,476 residents and 2,031 households in Rindge. The population density was There were 2,361 housing units at an average density of The racial makeup of the town was 91.17% White, 2.83% African American, 1.10% Asian, 0.29% American Indian and Alaskan Native, 0.08% Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander, 0.63% from other races, and 3.91% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 3.07% of the population. As of the census of 2010, there were 6,014 people, 1,805 households, and 1,316 families residing in the town. The population density was There were 2,224 housing units at an average density of The racial makeup of the town was 95.56% White, 1.33% African American, 0.15% Native American, 0.89% Asian, 0.00% Pacific Islander, 0.45% from other races, and 1.61% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 1.28% of the population.

Annett State Forest, which includes Annett Wayside Park with picnic tables, toilets, and a hiking trail to Black Reservoir. Cathedral of the Pines, a national memorial for all American war dead. The location had been selected by Lieutenant Sanderson Sloane and his wife as the place to build their home when he returned from World War II. A cathedral was created by his parents, Dr. and Mrs. Douglas Sloane, after learning that their son was lost when the bomber he flew was shot down over Germany on February 22, 1944. The Rindge Meeting House, built in 1796, is one of the largest town meeting houses in northern New England and one of the few civic buildings in the region that still straddles the separation of church and state. The building is owned by the town, and the second floor is leased to the First Congregational Church, which uses it for services and other church functions. The first floor is still used for town functions such as Zoning Board meetings as well as community functions such as fairs, Scout meetings, exercise classes, and the like.