Our ninth state (and the third New England state) in our series is the Granite State, New Hampshire. I fully expect that Anna will have something to say here (I probably should have asked her to write this post), as she is a native of the state. Before Mrs. BA and I were married, we traveled to New Hampshire for Anna's wedding, traveling throughout New England and New York. Some day, I might tell you about Mrs. BA being kidnapped by nuns when we checked into the hotel for the wedding.
Most summers, the Brave Astronaut's family would travel to my grandmother's summer home in Maine. One highlight (?) of the trip was upon reaching New Hampshire was to count the bridges (overpasses, underpasses, etc.) on the New Hampshire Turnpike. The fine folks at the NH DOT were kind enough to number them. My mother always threatened to write the Governor, because for a few years the numbers were out of sync. There are also no rest areas on the short Turnpike. But there's something even better. State-run liquor stores.
New Hampshire holds the records for several "firsts":
- It was the first state to adopt its own state Constitution
- June 12, 1800 - Fernald's Island (now the site of the Portsmouth Naval Yard) became the first government-sanctioned US Navy shipyard
- Founded in 1833 - the Peterborough Town Library was the first public library, supported with public funds, in the world.
- In July 1944, at the Mount Washington Hotel, The Bretton Woods Agreement, the first fully negotiated system intended to govern monetary relations among independent nation-states was negotiated, resulting in the creation of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank.
- On May 31, 2007, the State of New Hampshire became the first state to recognize same sex unions.
New Hampshire holds a significant place in American politics. In case you hadn't noticed, the Granite State holds the nation's first presidential primary every four years. The state also has produced one President of the United States, Franklin Pierce, although Jed Bartlet is from New Hampshire, too. Democrat John Lynch is the current governor of New Hampshire. The two Senators for the Granite State are split ideologically, but both of them are women - Kelly Ayotte (R) and Jeanne Shaheen (D). The popular Shaheen is the only women in US History to be elected both as a Governor and a Senator. There are two House Members for New Hampshire and both are Republican.
- 1st District - Frank Guinta (R)
- 2nd District - Charles Bass (R)
- State Capital - Concord
- Date of Admission - June 21, 1788
- Area - 9,304 sq mi (46th)
- State Motto - "Live Free or Die" (no foolin' around with them New Hamshirites)
- State Nickname - the Granite State
- State Bird - Purple Finch
- State Wildflower - Purple Lilac
- State University - The University of New Hampshire
- State Archives - The N.H. Department of State, Division of Archives and Records Management
- The New Hampshire Historical Society
- Population (2011 est.) - 1,318,194
- Signers of the Declaration of Independence - Josiah Bartlett, Matthew Thornton (I had a teacher in junior high school that was related to him), William Whipple
- nh.gov - the Official Website of the State of New Hampshire
- Open Up New Hampshire - Entertainment and Travel in the Granite State
- The New Hampshire Tourism site - visitnh.gov
- The Encyclopedia Britannic entry for New Hampshire
- Wikpedia
- 50states.com entry for New Hampshire
- InfoPlease entry for New Hampshire
- The New Hampshire Almanac
- New Hampshire state guide from the Library of Congress
- IMDb list of films and TV shows shot in New Hampshire
- Brooke Astor
- Dan Brown
- Salmon P. Chase - former Chief Justice of the Supreme Court (presided over the Impeachment Trial of Andrew Johnson)
- Mary Baker Eddy
- Daniel Chester French
- Robert Frost - quite possibly my most favorite poet
- Horace Greeley
- John Irving - the author of Hotel New Hampshire, among many others
- Christa McAuliffe - killed in the Shuttle Challenger explosion
- Augustus Saint-Gaudens - (Mrs. BA and I went to his house on the wedding trip noted above)
- Alan Shepard - astronaut
- Harlan Fiske Stone - also a former Chief Justice of the Supreme Court
- The Sununus (John E. and John H.)
- Daniel Webster - The Great Compromiser
3 comments:
I did not know that about the Peterborough library; very interesting. But you (and everyone!) should try to spend a weekend at the Mt. Washington Hotel. Fabulous! It was also the inspiration for Stephen King's _The Shining_, although not used for the movie. I'm pretty sure that Jed Bartlet was a better president than Franklin Pierce. Interesting Shaheen factoid, she was elected and reelected (and reelected) without ever signing "The Pledge," which promises not to create an income tax. (NH has no state income tax nor sales tax. But whoa, the property taxes!) One last bit and I'll stop, promise, New Hampshire's state liquor system seems to WORK (unlike Pennsylvania's say) because you can get a great price (people drive from all over New England to visit a NH store) and outstanding variety (unlike, say, Pennsylvania).
I appreciate homage paid to my current home state. Well done!
Anna - see? I knew you should have written this.
chick - you're welcome.
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