Colebrook, New Hampshire

First granted in 1762 by New Hampshire's colonial Governor Benning Wentworth, the territory was named "Dryden", after English poet and playwright John Dryden. Due to the inability of its original grantees to settle the remote area, however, it was regranted in 1770 by Colonial Governor John Wentworth, who renamed it "Colebrook Town" after Sir George Colebrooke, the East India Company's chairman of the board. It was settled that same year by a single family by the name of Rosebrook, but the family was driven out by the Revolutionary War, and further settlement did not occur until after the war's end. The 1790 census recorded a population of 29, and the town was incorporated as Colebrook on June 11, 1796. For many years, it was the shire town of the Northern Judicial District of Coos County. Today, it has a district branch of the Lancaster Superior Court. A conflicting account holds that the town "was originally called Coleburne and was granted to Sir George Colebrook and others. It was incorporated June 11, 1795." The first road through the town was known as River Road, taking a route that is roughly followed today by U.S. Route 3, the Daniel Webster Highway. The first surveyed lots in the town comprised about each, running from River Road to the Connecticut River. Settlement then proceeded up two new roads, Titus Hill Road and what is now Pleasant Street. Titus Hill leads southeast out of the town center up to high ground in the neighboring town of Columbia that supports farming, while Pleasant Street, now a short road in Colebrook village, led east up the valley of the Mohawk River (now the route of New Hampshire Route 26) to the area of East Colebrook, the present-day village of Kidderville, and what was known as "Factory Village", which grew about east of the present village of Colebrook around a woolen mill constructed in 1816. Serial killer Christopher Wilder's nationwide murder spree ended at a Colebrook gas station on April 13, 1984, when two New Hampshire state troopers attempted to apprehend him, but in a scuffle Wilder shot and killed himself as well as seriously wounding one of the troopers. On August 19, 1997, Carl Drega carried out a shooting spree in the town killing two state troopers, a judge and a newspaper editor. He was later killed in a shootout with law enforcement in Vermont. File:Main Street, Colebrook, NH.jpg|Main Street Image:Monadnock House, Colebrook, NH.jpg|Monadnock House Image:Parsons Street, Colebrook, NH.jpg|Parsons Street Image:Bridge Street, Colebrook, NH.jpg|Bridge Street ==Geography==

Colebrook is the hub of northern Coos County. Roads from Maine, Vermont, and Quebec all converge in the center of town. To the north is Stewartstown, to the east is Dixville and to the south is Columbia. Lemington, Vermont, is located to the west of town, across the Connecticut River. U.S. Route 3 passes through the center of Colebrook, leading north to West Stewartstown and south through Columbia to Groveton. New Hampshire Route 145 has its southern terminus at US 3 in Colebrook and is the most direct route north to Pittsburg. New Hampshire Route 26 also runs through the center of Colebrook, leading west to its terminus in Lemington, Vermont, and east through Dixville Notch to Errol. According to the United States Census Bureau, the town of Colebrook has a total area of , of which are land and are water, comprising 0.51% of the town. Climate Colebrook has a humid continental climate (Köppen Dfb) with warm summer days and mild nights but severely cold winters with high diurnal temperature variation. Snowfall is high during winter, similar to most of Northeastern United States, but a long-lasting snow pack is formed due to the persistently cold temperatures. Average winter lows are only narrowly above 0 °F, according to NOAA's weather station normals. ==Demographics==

At the first census of 1790 there were 29 residents. As of the census of 2010, there were 2,301 people, 1,073 households, and 612 families residing in the town. There were 1,429 housing units, of which 356, or 24.9%, were vacant. 245 of the vacant units were for seasonal or recreational use. The racial makeup of the town was 97.4% white, 0.2% African American, 0.3% Native American, 0.7% Asian, 0.0% Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander, 0.2% some other race, and 1.2% from two or more races. 1.2% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race. Of the 1,073 households, 24.3% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 43.9% were headed by married couples living together, 9.3% had a female householder with no husband present, and 43.0% were non-families. 36.2% of all households were made up of individuals, and 17.9% were someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.14, and the average family size was 2.73. ==Adjacent municipalities==

• Stewartstown (north) • Dixville (east) • Columbia (south) • Lemington, Vermont (southwest) • Canaan, Vermont (northwest) == Notable people ==

• Irving W. Drew (1845–1922), US senator • Chester B. Jordan (1839–1914), 48th governor of New Hampshire • Horace White (1834–1916), co-owner and editor-in-chief of the Chicago Tribune ==See also==

• Beaver Brook Falls Wayside • Colebrook Area Historical Society & Museum, located in the Town Hall building • Poore Family Homestead Farm Museum ==References==