Early years Originally a part of
Dover, boundary disputes among early river settlers caused this area to be called "Bloody Point". By 1640, Trickey's Ferry operated between Bloody Point and Hilton's Point in Dover. On August 22, 1690, Fox Point suffered an Indian raid during
King William's War, in which 14 people were killed and six were captured. In 1712, the meetinghouse was erected and the
parish set off, named "Newington" for an English village, whose residents sent the bell for the meetinghouse. Behind the meetinghouse is a row of horse sheds, once commonplace. About 1725, the
parsonage was built near the Town Forest, considered one of the oldest in the United States. The town was incorporated in 1764 by colonial governor
Benning Wentworth. In 1794, a bridge was completed across Little Bay from Fox Point in Newington to the south bank of the
Bellamy River in Dover, by way of Goat Island—a major engineering feat in its day.
20th century In 1952, the
House Armed Services Committee authorized acquiring by
eminent domain large tracts to create
Pease Air Force Base, which opened on June 30, 1956. Approximately 60% of the installation lay in Newington, including land in the town's center, and 40% was in neighboring
Portsmouth. It would be, however, the first base recommended to be closed by the 1988 Commission on
Base Realignment and Closure. Military personnel in 1990 began leaving the base, which officially closed on March 31, 1991. Although the
Air National Guard retained some property, the old base has been intensely redeveloped, primarily in the Portsmouth section, as the
Pease International Tradeport, a
business park. In the 1970s and 1980s, commercial development from Portsmouth spread into Newington. The Newington Mall opened in the 1970s (replaced by the Crossings at Fox Run in the 2000s), followed by the
Fox Run Mall. ==Geography==