Enfield is a town in Grafton County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 4,465 at the 2020 census.

The first European settlers in town were Jonathan Paddleford and family who arrived, after the successful conclusion of the French and Indian War, between 1765 and 1772.

On the southwest shore of Mascoma Lake is Enfield Shaker Village, once a utopian religious community of Shakers, renowned for simple and functional architecture and furniture. Established in 1793 and called "Chosen Vale", the village was subdivided into several "Families", with men and women leading pious, celibate and industrious lives. Although the genders shared dormitories, like Enfield's Great Stone Dwelling built between 1837 and 1841, the sexes used separate doors and stairways. They practiced ecstatic singing and dancing, an expression of their worship, which earned them the appellation of Shaking Quakers, or Shakers.

Several trades operated at the village, from agriculture and packaging of seeds, to the manufacture of brooms, brushes, spinning-wheels, and furniture. To speed delivery of products to the railroad across Mascoma Lake, in 1849 the community erected Shaker Bridge.

The Shaker movement crested in the 1840s, with 19 "societies" scattered from Maine to Kentucky and west to Indiana. But growing employment opportunities created by the Industrial Revolution, as near as the mill town of Lebanon, enticed away potential and practicing church members. Others grew disaffected with celibacy, self-abnegation, and communal ownership of property. Indeed, Mary Marshall Dyer, once a member of the Enfield church, became an outspoken Anti-Shaker. Eventually the village would close and, in 1927, be sold to the La Salette Brotherhood of Montreal, a Catholic order noted for its Christmas display. In 1986, Enfield Shaker Village was established as a museum on part of the historic property. The museum steadily expanded its footprint by purchases of key Shaker properties, culminating in the acquisition of all the remaining La Salette buildings and land in September 2023 when the Catholic order left Enfield.

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File:View of Enfield, NH.jpg|Enfield

File:Union Church, Enfield Center, NH.jpg|Centre Village Meeting House in 1909

File:Bird's-eye View of Shaker Bridge, Enfield, NH.jpg|Shaker Bridge in 1908

File:Upper Baltic Mills, American Woolen Co., Enfield, NH.jpg|Baltic Mills in 1908

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Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of , of which are land and are water, comprising 6.60% of the town.

Enfield is served by Interstate 89, U.S. Route 4, New Hampshire Route 4A and New Hampshire Route 10.

Demographics

As of the census of 2010, there were 4,582 people, 2,044 households, and 1,305 families residing in the town. The population density was 113.7 persons per square mile (43.9/km<sup>2</sup>). There were 2,508 housing units at an average density of 24.0/km<sup>2</sup> (62.2/sq&nbsp;mi). The racial makeup of the town was 96.8% white, 0.4% African American, 0.3% Native American or Alaska Native, 0.9% Asian, 0.0% Pacific Islander, 0.2% some other race, and 1.4% from two or more races. 1.2% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race.

There were 2,044 households, out of which 24.1% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 50.1% were headed by married couples living together, 8.9% had a female householder with no husband present, and 36.2% were non-families. 27.7% of all households were made up of individuals, and 7.0% were someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.24, and the average family size was 2.70.

Sites of interest

  • Enfield Shaker Museum
  • Shaker Historic Trail, Enfield
  • Lockhaven Schoolhouse Museum

Notable people

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  • Robert O. Blood (1887–1975), physician, 65th governor of New Hampshire
  • Jacob Cochran (1782–1836), preacher
  • Wolfgang Köhler (1887–1967), German psychologist, phenomenologist
  • Frederick Ferdinand Moore (1881–1947), novelist, publisher, soldier and war correspondent
  • William Goodhue Perley (1820–1890), businessman and member of the House of Commons of Canada
  • Stan Williams (1936–2021), Major League Baseball pitcher

References

  • Enfield Public Library
  • New Hampshire Economic and Labor Market Information Bureau Profile