15.2.13

New Hampshire


     The following is a guest post from Alane for the 50 States feature at a glimpse of our life.


Mt. Washington Hike

It is cold atop Mt. Washington in the summer!

Welcome to New Hampshire!  My family and I have been living in New Hampshire for over 10 years now, and are grateful to live in such a beautiful state!  I’d love to share a little history and facts about New Hampshire.

Stats:
  • Population: 1,320,718
  • Square Miles: 9304 sq. mi. (46th largest state in the nation)
  • Largest City: Manchester (109,000 people)
  • State Motto: Live free or die
  • State Capital: Concord, NH
Fun Facts:
  • On January 5, 1776, the Provincial Congress of New Hampshire ratified the first-in-the-nation state constitution in Exeter, New Hampshire.
  • We have the proud distinction of being the 9th state to enter the United States of America by ratifying the US Constitution.  June 21, 1788
  • On May 5, 1961, Alan B. Shepard, Jr., of Derry, New Hampshire, rode a Mercury spacecraft aloft for 15 minutes, and reached a peak altitude of 115 miles, becoming the first American in space.
  • On April 12, 1934, Mt. Washington Observatory meteorologist Salvatore Pagliuca recorded the world's wind speed record of 231 mph atop Mt. Washington.
  • Earl Tupper of Berlin, New Hampshire, invented "tupperware" and founded Tupper Plastics Company in 1938.
  • We are proud to host the first-in-the-nation Presidential Primary in New Hampshire.  Over the past 10 years, it has afforded us the opportunity to attend small meet-and-greets to connect with presidential candidates.  We even stopped into a McDonalds on our way home from skiing and had the opportunity to have our pictures taken with Newt Ginrich!
  • We have the shortest coastline of any ocean state – only 18 miles.  But, these beaches are beautiful and we’re grateful to be able to be close to both mountains and beaches in the summer.
NH Farm Museum

One fact that isn’t so “fun” but is sadly interesting is that New Hampshire is one of the most un-churched states in the US.  Wikipedia had this statistic:

A survey suggests that people in New Hampshire and Vermont[27] are less likely than other Americans to attend weekly services and only 54% say that they are "absolutely certain there is a God" compared to 71% in the rest of the nation.[28][29] New Hampshire and Vermont are also at the lowest levels among states in religious commitment. In 2012, 23% of New Hampshire residents in a Gallup poll considered themselves "very religious", while 52% considered themselves "non-religious".[30]
This is similar to what our pastor has quoted to us at different times.  So, if you ever want to go on a mission trip to an unchurched people, you do not have to travel outside of the US – you can visit here.


Around our state:
  • We have done quite a few field trips in and around our little state.  One of our favorites was to the Mount Washington Weather Discovery Center in North Conway, NH.   Since Mt. Washington has recorded some of the highest wind speeds in the US, it is a great place to learn about the effects of wind.   You can get hooked up to the Mt. Washington Observatory scientists to learn about real-time weather on the mountain and how they measure the wind speeds.  You can try to steer small sailboats into harbor by using wind at a water table.  You an even experience high winds in a pretend cabin that simulates the high speeds and sound recorded in the 1930s.
  • Another favorite place we attended while learning about US history was the American Independence Museum.  I discovered it one year when gas prices were near $4/gallon and a trip down to Boston looked pretty pricey! This is a small colonial home that has been preserved with artifacts from the time of the American Revolution.  What I appreciated most about it was the opportunity to learn how regular colonists reacted to the events of the Revolution.  In the 1980s, an original copy of the Constitution was found inside the walls of the home.  This was the version that had been sent to the colony to be read to the residents as it was considered for ratification.
  • I love visiting Strawbery Banke in Portsmouth NH.  In one visit, we can learn about New Hampshire history at many points in history and learn how people lived in Portsmouth during colonial times, Revolutionary times, Civil War times, and during the late 1800s and early 1900s.  One of my favorite places to visit is the corner grocery store from the 1940s.  Here, you can see the types of foods that were available during World War II and decide if your family would have enough rations to purchase your favorite items. 
  • There is always something to do in any season here in New Hampshire:  skiing and outdoor sports in the winter, leaf peeping in the fall, beaches, hikes and boating during the summer.  The only tricky part of visiting us in March-April-May is that you never know what type of weather we are having.  We’ve had everything from late spring snows to torrential rains to heat waves!  Often time we don’t call this time of year “spring” but “mud season” instead.
IMG_2009
Hut system on the Presidential Peaks of the White Mountains


dscn0325Alane and her husband Dave are blessed to have three boys, one dog and one cat.  They’ve been living in New Hampshire for about a decade and love it.  When not homeschooling the boys, feeding the dog and teaching the cat not to jump on the dining room table, they enjoy working together with their business partners managing running races throughout New England with Sub 5 Race Management.  Alane blogs about homeschooling her three sons at reapingaharvest.com

50 states blog posts

1 comment:

  1. It looks miserably cold on top of mt Washington. :-( We've only passed through NH, but would have loved to have time to explore a little. Perhaps another time!

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