Editing New Boston, New Hampshire (section)

== History ==

The town was first granted in 1736 by [[British North America|colonial]] governor [[Jonathan Belcher]] of [[Province of Massachusetts Bay|Massachusetts]] and [[Province of New Hampshire|New Hampshire]]. At the time, lands to the west of the [[Merrimack River]], disputed between the two provinces, were treated by Belcher as part of Massachusetts, and he granted the town to several [[Boston]] families. It was to have been called "Lanestown" or "Piscataquog Township", but by 1751 they called it "New Boston" after their hometown. Not all the grantees took up their claims, and the land was regranted 10 years later to settlers from [[Londonderry, New Hampshire]]. When the town was incorporated in 1763, Governor [[Benning Wentworth]] formally recognized the long-used name of "New Boston".<ref>{{cite book |last=Cogswell |first=Elliott Colby |title=History of New Boston, New Hampshire |year=1864 |publisher=Press of G. C. Rand & Avery |location=Boston |url=https://archive.org/details/historynewbosto00cogsgoog}}</ref>

In 1820, the town had 25 [[sawmill]]s, six [[gristmill|grain mills]], two clothing mills, two [[carding]] mills, two [[Tanning (leather)|tanneries]] and a [[bark mill]]. It also had 14 schoolhouses and a [[tavern]]. The Great Village Fire of 1887, which started when a spark from a [[cooper (profession)|cooper's]] shop set a barn on fire, destroyed nearly 40 buildings in the lower village. In 1893, the [[railroad]] came to New Boston, and farm produce was sent by rail to city markets.<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| pages = [https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_OcoMAAAAYAAJ/page/n635 593]| url = https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_OcoMAAAAYAAJ}}</ref> Passenger service was discontinued in 1931, and the tracks were removed in 1935. Today the former grade is the multi-use New Boston Rail Trail.

The town is home to the {{convert|2800|acre|adj=on}} [[New Boston Space Force Station]], which started as an [[United States Army Air Corps|Army Air Corps]] bombing range in 1942. By 1960, it had become a [[U.S. Air Force]] base for tracking military [[satellite]]s. In July 2021, the facility was given its current name and began operating as part of the [[United States Space Force]]. New Boston was also home to the [[Gravity Research Foundation]] from the late 1940s through the mid-1960s. Founder [[Roger Babson]] placed it in New Boston because he believed it safe from nuclear fallout should New York or Boston be attacked.

Dodge's Store, in the center of town, was established in 1872 and was owned and operated by five generations of the Dodge family until 1994. Clarence H. Dodge started the family business, and ownership remained in the Dodge family until Malcom J. Dodge sold the business in 1994 due to a downturn in the economy. The store closed on August 29, 2011, due to the owner's financial problems, but has since been reopened under new ownership.<ref>[http://www.cabinet.com/cabinetcabinetnews/931210-308/town-tradition-comes-to-an-end.html Cabinet.com "Town tradition comes to an end"]</ref>