Merrimack County, New Hampshire
Concord is the county town. The county of Merrimack is bounded N.E. by the county of Strafford, S.E. by the county of Rockingham, S.W. by the county of Hillsborough, and N.W. by the counties of Sullivan and Grafton.
Its greatest length is 38 miles; its breadth at the broadest part is 26 miles. It contains an area of 506,000 acres. The surface is uneven, and in some parts rugged and mountainous; but its general fertility is perhaps equal to either of the other counties in the state. In the towns of Hopkinton, Henniker, Boscawen, Salisbury, Canterbury, Concord, &c., are seen many extensive and well cultivated farms. The northerly part of the county is rough and mountainous. Kearsarge is the highest mountain, its summit being 2,461 feet above the level of the sea. It is composed of a range of hills, running north and south about six miles; its general aspect is rugged and craggy, excepting when its roughness is shaded by the woody covering that darkens its sides. The Ragged mountains, so called, from their appearance, lie northeast of Kearsarge, and between Andover and Hill. These are nearly 2,000 feet high at the north points of the range. Bear's Hill, in Northfield, Sunapee mountain, in Newbury, Catamount, in Pittsfield, and the peak in Hooksett, are the other most considerable elevations. A part of lake Sunapee lies in Newbury; and there are numerous ponds interspersed throughout the whole territory.
The Merrimack river meanders through nearly the centre of the county, and forms the boundary some distance at the northeastern part. It receives from the west the Blackwater and Contoocook rivers, and from the east, Soucook and Suncook, and other smaller streams.
This county was constituted by an act of the legislature, 1 July, 1823—being taken from the counties of Rockingham and Hillsborough, ten towns being separated from the former and thirteen from the latter. Population, 1820, 32,843; 1830, 34,619. Twenty four towns, 44 inhabitants to a square mile. In 1837 there were 66,152 sheep in the county.
