Stratham is a town in Rockingham County, New Hampshire, United States. The town had a population of 7,669 at the 2020 census. It is bounded on the west by the Squamscott River. The town is the home of the only U.S. Lindt & Sprüngli factory and the headquarters of the Timberland Corporation.

History

thumb|Stratham Hill Park

Stratham was settled in 1631 and incorporated in 1716. The area, called Winnicutt by the Pennacook people, was known as "Squamscott Patent" or "Point of Rocks" because of its location between Great Bay and the Squamscott River. The sixth town in the colony to be incorporated, the town was named for Wriothesley Russell, Baron Howland of Streatham, a friend of New Hampshire Royal Governor Samuel Shute.

The town is unusual among New England settlements of its size in having been comprehensively mapped in 1793 by Phinehas Merrill. It is therefore possible to identify how many of the extant buildings of the town predate the map.

Beginning in 1967, the town hosted the annual Stratham Fair, held at Stratham Hill Park during the summer. However, the fair was canceled in 2020, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and has not been held since, reportedly due to net operating losses in its final year, along with outdated equipment and infrastructure. Since 2023, the town has held an annual "Summerfest" at the park. Stratham Hill Park was the site of a wood pavilion collapse during a microburst in 1991, which cause the deaths of three people and left 11 others injured.

The town has multiple properties listed on the National Register of Historic Places, including the John Crockett House, Emery Farm, and original Wiggin Memorial Library building.

Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of , of which are land and are water, comprising 2.29% of the town.

As of the 2020 census, the population of Stratham was 7,669 people and 2,886 households. The 2010 census showed 2,045 families residing in the town. The population density was . As of 2010, there were 2,864 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the town as of 2020 was 91.4% White, 0.2% African American, 3.1% Asian, 0.6% some other race, and 4.7% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 2.2% of the population. Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander, and Native American represented 0% of the population, accord to the 2020 census data.

The 2010 census showed that there were 2,746 households in Stratham, out of which 37.7% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 64.0% were headed by married couples living together, 7.6% had a female householder with no husband present, and 25.5% were non-families. 20.4% of all households were made up of individuals, and 6.6% were someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.64, and the average family size was 3.08. located in a new building at the intersection of Winnicut Road and Portsmouth Avenue (NH 33) next to the Stratham Historical Society.

The Stratham Police Department is located at 76 Portsmouth Avenue. The department has 12 full-time officers, one part-time officer, one prosecutor and one full-time administrative assistant. According to their website, the "Stratham Police are very community oriented and are involved in several events such as National Night Out, Coffee With a Cop, Bike Rodeos, Family Fun Day, and many others."

Notable people

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  • David Barker Jr. (1797–1834), US congressman
  • Josiah Bartlett Jr. (1768–1838), physician, US congressman
  • Daniel Clark (1809–1891), US senator
  • Eric Flaim (b. 1967), Olympic silver-medalist speed skater
  • Maurice J. Murphy Jr. (1927–2002), US senator
  • Scott Poteet (b. 1973), crew member of SpaceX's Polaris Dawn mission
  • Thomas Wiggin (1601–1666), first governor of the Upper Plantation of New Hampshire
  • Paine Wingate (1739–1838), served in the Continental Congress

References

  • Wiggin Memorial Library
  • Stratham Historical Society – includes Merrill's 1793 Plan
  • New Hampshire Economic and Labor Market Information Bureau Profile