User:Ken Gallager/Hillsboro-Dearing High School

a Town with an abundant history beginning in the early 18th century. Hillsborough is still today made up of four villages: Hillsborough Bridge Village (is our downtown), Hillsborough Center, Hillsborough Upper Village and Hillsborough Lower Village. Though having many hills it differs from the majority of towns in central and northern New Hampshire because none of its altitudes are of sufficient height to be termed mountains. The hills afford all of the advantages of the exhilarating air and picturesque scenery without the usual disadvantages of poor access.

Hillsborough has many attributes to be proud of including two remarkable historic areas in the Center and Lower Villages, Fox Forest, more preserved stone arch bridges than any other town in New Hampshire, lakes and river-ways and the Franklin Pierce Homestead, the home of the fourteenth President of the United States - Franklin Pierce. The town was first granted in 1735 by Colonial Governor Jonathan Belcher as "Number Seven," one in a line of nine towns set up as defense barriers against Indian attacks. The towns were renamed following the 1741 establishment of New Hampshire as a separate province. Settled in 1741, the town was granted in 1748 by Governor Benning Wentworth as "Hillsborough," named for Sir Wills Hill, Earl of Hillsborough. It would be incorporated in 1772 by Governor John Wentworth.

Hillsborough is the birthplace in 1804 of Franklin Pierce, 14th president of the United States, and the only president from New Hampshire. The Pierce Homestead was built in 1804 by his father, Benjamin Pierce, a general in the Revolutionary War, and twice governor of New Hampshire. Restored in 1925, the home was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1961. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places, the house is today a museum owned by the state, and operated by the Hillsborough Historical Society.

In 1735 and 1736, Colonel John Hill was granted a tract of land about six miles square and named it Hillborough. The ‘s’ was added later. He started a community with a generous tract of land, which would be known as Hillsborough Center. Hillsborough was incorporated on November 4, 1772 at the Bradford Inn on Bible Hill.

The first regular mail to Hillsborough was delivered starting in 1791 at the Center once a week by a Post rider from Concord. The first post office was located in the Lower Village. The only turnpike to pass through Hillsborough was the 2nd New Hampshire Turnpike opened in 1801.

Benjamin Pierce came to Hillsborough to survey land and was so taken by the town that he bought a small cabin and farm, and settled. He became involved in local and state politics and served twice as Governor of New Hampshire. Franklin Pierce was born in 1804 and spent his childhood at the Pierce Homestead. After graduating from Bowdoin College, Franklin would return to serve as Hillsborough Town Moderator, and then as its State Representative. His career would lead him to become the only U.S. President from New Hampshire, and he attributed it all to his hometown.

Once home to more than a dozen stone arch masonry bridges, Hillsborough now has five left with four locations in active use and one location still standing at the intersection of Route 202 and W. Main Street, which is going to become the focal point of a public park. These bridges are registered as historic structures by the Historic American Building Survey, part of the National Park Services. The bridges have also been recognized as a National Historic Civil Engineering Landmark, the second in New Hampshire, after the Cog Railway.

Francophone communities in New England
French language spoken at home by more than 10% of the population: