Editing Orford, New Hampshire (section)

==History==

[[Image:The Ridge, Orford, NH.jpg|thumb|left|The Ridge {{circa|1912}}]]
First called "Number Seven" in a line of [[Connecticut River]] fort towns, Orford was incorporated in 1761 by Governor [[Benning Wentworth]] and named for [[Robert Walpole]], [[Earl of Orford]], who was the first [[prime minister of Great Britain]]. The town was settled in 1765 by Daniel Cross and wife from [[Lebanon, Connecticut]].<ref name="Coolidge & Mansfield">[https://books.google.com/books?id=OcoMAAAAYAAJ&dq=coolidge+mansfield+history+description+new+england+1859&pg=PA609 A. J. Coolidge & J. B. Mansfield, ''A History and Description of New England;'' Boston, Massachusetts 1859]</ref> By 1859, it had 1,406 inhabitants, most involved in [[agriculture]]. There was a large [[Tanning (leather)|tannery]], a chair factory, ten [[sawmill]]s, a [[starch]] factory, a [[gristmill]], a [[window sash|sash]], [[window shutter|blind]] and door factory, and two boot and [[shoemaking|shoe]] factories.<ref name="Coolidge & Mansfield"/>

An original grantee was General Israel Morey, whose son [[Samuel Morey]] discovered a way to separate [[hydrogen]] from [[oxygen]] in water, making possible the first [[marine steam engine]]. He recognized the potential of steam power after working at his father's [[ferry]]. In 1793, on the river at Orford, he was first to demonstrate the use of a [[paddlewheel]] to propel a [[steamboat|steam boat]].

Author [[Washington Irving]] visited Orford in 1832 and is quoted as saying, "In all my travels in this country and in [[Europe]], I have seen no village more beautiful than this. It is a charming place—nature has done her utmost here."<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=yfsaAAAAYAAJ&dq=Washington+Irving+In+all+my+travels+Orford,+New+Hampshire&pg=RA1-PA319 ''The White Mountains: A Handbook for Travellers;'' James R. Osgood & Company, Boston 1880]</ref> Of the famous sequence of seven early homes built on The Ridge, [[Dartmouth College|Dartmouth]] Professor of [[Architecture]] Hugh Morrison said, "As a row and counting the setting, this is the finest group of [[Federal style architecture|Federal-style]] houses in the United States."<ref>[http://www.crjc.org/heritage/N13-6.htm Alice Doan Hodgson, ''Orford Street Historic District -- National Register Nomination Information'' 1976]</ref> Built between 1773 and 1839, the dwellings show the influence of architect [[Asher Benjamin]].