Editing Barrington, New Hampshire (section)

==History==

Barrington was incorporated in 1722 and named for [[Samuel Shute]] of Barrington Hall, [[Colony|colonial]] governor of [[Massachusetts]] and New Hampshire. His brother was [[John Shute Barrington, 1st Viscount Barrington]].

The town was made up of two grants, the first containing all of [[Strafford, New Hampshire|Strafford]] and present-day Barrington except for a parcel {{convert|2|mi|km|spell=in}} wide called New Portsmouth, or the Two Mile Streak. This second grant had been set aside to provide fuel and home sites for imported workers at the [[Lamprey River Iron Works]], chartered in 1719 by the [[Massachusetts General Court]] to encourage industrial development in the province.

Slow at first to be settled because of rocky soil, Barrington by 1810 had 3,564 residents, then the state's third largest town, its primary industry the [[smelting]] of [[iron ore]]. The [[Isinglass River]], together with its tributaries, provided [[water power]] for [[gristmill|grist]], [[fulling]] and [[saw mills]]. In 1820, Strafford was set off from Barrington, reducing its land area by about half, because of lengthy travel required to attend town meetings.

In 1882, the Reverend Alonzo Hall Quint wrote:

:"Of those towns in the state whose scenery is somewhat quiet, one of the most beautiful is Barrington."

Indeed, the town's attractive natural features, including rivers, brooks, waterfalls and not less than 14 ponds, are summarized by the name of a {{convert|374|ft|m|adj=on}} summit, Beauty Hill. Barrington is bisected by the Calef Highway ([[New Hampshire Route 125]]), named for a state senator from the 1800s whose family also founded in 1869 a locally famous [[general store]] that remains in operation.