Barrington, New Hampshire
Strafford county. It lies 20 miles N.W. from Portsmouth, 10 W. from Dover, and 30 E. from Concord. The surface of Barrington is somewhat broken and rocky, the soil being principally a gravelly loam.—The town is abundantly supplied with ponds, of which there are no less than thirteen of considerable magnitude, from whence issue streams affording excellent mill seats. At one of these mill seats, on the Isinglass river, is a perpendicular fall of 30 feet. There is, about two miles from the centre of the town, a remarkable cavern, or fissure in a rock, commonly called the Devil's den. The entrance is on the side of a hill, and is sufficiently large to admit a person in a stooping posture. Having entered 5 feet in a horizontal direction, there is a descent of 4 or 5 feet, on an angle of 45°, large enough only to admit the body of a middling sized man. After squeezing through this passage, you enter a chamber 60 feet in length, from 10 to 15 in height, and from 3 to 8 in width.—Communicating with this are several other fissures of equal height, and from 10 to 15 in length. Barrington was incorporated May 10, 1722, and the settlement commenced in 1732. Population, 1830, 1,895.
