Editing Errol, New Hampshire (section)

==History==
[[File:Main Street, Showing Church, Errol, NH (caption removed).jpg|right|thumb|250px|Main Street in 1914]]
Errol was granted by Governor [[Sir John Wentworth, 1st Baronet|John Wentworth]] to Timothy Ruggles and others in 1774, the name taken from [[Scotland]]'s [[James Hay, 15th Earl of Erroll]]. In 1789, proprietors of the Errol grant petitioned the [[New Hampshire General Court|General Court]] that towns between [[Conway, New Hampshire|Conway]] and Errol be required to pay for "a good connecting road". The legislature approved the measure in 1781, mandating what is today [[New Hampshire Route 16|Route 16]]. A winter [[trade route]] to [[Andover, Maine]] was built in 1804, connecting Errol to [[Portland, Maine|Portland]] via what is now [[New England Interstate Route 26|Route 26]]. The first settlers arrived at Errol in 1806, and by 1820 the population was 36. It was incorporated in 1836.<ref>[http://abacus.bates.edu/acad/depts/environ/projects/AndroscogginTimeline.html Androscoggin Timeline]</ref>

Although the soil was considered generally poor, it proved suitable for [[hay]], [[oat]]s and [[potato]]es. With vast forests, the town's chief occupation was [[lumbering]]. By 1859, when the population was 130, the town had two [[sawmill]]s, one [[gristmill]] and one [[clapboard (architecture)|clapboard]] machine.<ref name=Coolidge>{{Cite book  | last = Coolidge  | first = Austin J.|author2=John B. Mansfield  | title = A History and Description of New England| publisher = A.J. Coolidge  | year = 1859| location = Boston, Massachusetts| page = [https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_OcoMAAAAYAAJ/page/n527 487]| url = https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_OcoMAAAAYAAJ| quote = coolidge mansfield history description new england 1859.  }}</ref>