Sunapee is a town in Sullivan County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 3,342 at the 2020 census. The town is home to part of Lake Sunapee and includes the village of Georges Mills.

History

upright|thumb|left|Sunapee Village in 1909

thumb|upright|left|Sunapee Harbor

thumb|upright|left|George's Mills

Like many other towns, Sunapee went through name changes before its incorporation in 1781, including "Saville" in 1768, "Corey's Town", and then "Wendell", after John Wendell, a Masonian Proprietor. A village at the western edge of town and a marsh near Sunapee Middle-High School still bear Wendell's name. The name "Sunapee" was substituted for "Wendell" by the legislature in 1850. The town, Lake Sunapee and Mount Sunapee share the name which comes from the Algonquian words suna meaning "goose", and apee, meaning "water". The Natives called the area "Lake of the Wild Goose" because it is shaped like a goose, with the beak being in Sunapee Harbor.

thumb|Sunapee, 2005

Before Sunapee was a sizable tourist attraction, it was an industrial area. One factory produced 110 clothespins a minute. After the factories faded away, the major attraction became the pristine lake, once surrounded by a number of grand hotels. People used large ferries to get from hotel to hotel around the lake, but the ferries were mostly gone by 1915, when the automobile was widely introduced to the area. Lake Sunapee is the only lake in New Hampshire with three working lighthouses, which were originally built in the 1890s by the Woodsum brothers and are currently maintained by the Lake Sunapee Protective Association.

Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of , of which are land and are water, comprising 16.31% of the town.

thumb|Safety Services facility, completed August 2006

As of the census of 2010, there were 3,365 people, 1,443 households, and 973 families residing in the town. The population density was . There were 2,431 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the town was 97.6% White, 0.2% African American, 0.3% Native American, 0.6% Asian, 0.03% Pacific Islander, 0.3% some other race, and 1.0% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 0.8% of the population.

There were 1,443 households, out of which 27.1% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 55.2% were headed by married couples living together, 7.9% had a female householder with no husband present, and 32.6% were non-families. 25.5% of all households were made up of individuals, and 8.8% were someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.31, and the average family size was 2.74.

Notable people

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  • John H. Bartlett (1869–1952), 57th governor of New Hampshire
  • Ken Burns (born 1953), director and producer of documentary films
  • Steven Tyler (born 1948), lead singer of American rock band Aerosmith

References

  • Lake Sunapee Protective Association
  • New Hampshire Economic and Labor Market Information Bureau Profile