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==History== Prior to European settlement, the area that is now Somersworth was central-south [[Abenaki]] land. These [[Algonquian languages|Algonquian]] speaking peoples of the [[Wabanaki Confederacy]] lived along what they called ''Newichwanook'', now the [[Salmon Falls River]]. Colonists from Britain arriving before 1700 named the area "Sligo", after [[Sligo]] in [[Ireland]] and settled there as a part of [[Dover, New Hampshire|Dover]]. The community was organized in 1729 as the parish of "Summersworth", meaning "summer town", because during that season the ministers preached here. It was set off and incorporated in 1754 by colonial governor [[Benning Wentworth]], and until 1849 included [[Rollinsford, New Hampshire|Rollinsford]]. A clerical error at incorporation contracted the name to "Somersworth". It was incorporated as a city in 1893, before which it was also known as "Great Falls". [[Image:High Street, Somersworth, NH.jpg|thumb|left|High Street, {{circa|1910}}]] Situated where the [[Salmon Falls River]] drops {{convert|100|ft|m}} over a mile, Somersworth early became a [[mill town]], beginning with [[gristmill]]s and [[sawmill]]s. In 1822, the brothers Isaac and Jacob Wendell of [[Boston]] purchased for $5,000 a gristmill with its water rights at the Great Falls. They established the Great Falls Manufacturing Company, a [[textile]] business that expanded to include three mills for [[spinning (textiles)|spinning]] thread and [[weaving]] cotton and woolen fabrics, specializing in "drillings, shirtings and sheetings". Throughout the 19th century, other expansive brick mill buildings, including a [[bleach]]ery and [[dyeing|dye works]], were erected beside the river. The bleachery became the longest running textile operation in Somersworth. The building housed the operations that took the buff-colored fabric produced in the seven mills and transformed it into a sparkling white material that could be dyed or printed according to the buyer's wishes.<ref>{{Cite web| url=http://www.somersworth.com/departments-services/library/brief-history-of-somersworth/| title=Brief History of Somersworth| website=www.somersworth.com| access-date=June 3, 2016}}</ref> The gate house at the dam directed water as needed, regulating the flow either into the river or a company canal, which itself had gates sending it under the mill. [[Water power]] turned the wheels and belts that operated mill machinery. The railroad arrived in the early 1840s, before which goods were carted to Dover. At first, millworkers came from surrounding farms, including those in [[Berwick, Maine]], directly across the bridge, many of whom were women. But as the need for labor grew, immigrants arrived from [[Ireland]], and later [[Quebec]]. Brick [[tenement]] [[row house]]s were rented by the company to employee families, many of whose members worked in the mills beside their parents before passage of [[child labor]] laws. For relaxation, workers found entertainment at the Opera House or at Central Park, an [[amusement park]] beside Willand Pond. In the early 1870s, the [[Portsmouth, Great Falls & Conway Railroad]] began excursions to the [[White Mountains (New Hampshire)|White Mountains]]. The Electric Street Railway came in 1890, allowing [[tram|trolley]] rides to [[York Beach, Maine]]. In 1922, Somersworth was affected by the [[1922 New England Textile Strike]], shutting down the mills in the city over an attempted wage cut and hours increase.<ref name=":12">{{Cite book |last=Foner |first=Philip Sheldon |title=History of the labor movement in the United States. 9: The T.U.E.L. to the end of the Gompers era / by Philip S. Foner |last2=Foner |first2=Philip Sheldon |year= 1991 |publisher=Intl Publ |isbn=978-0-7178-0674-4 |location=New York |pages=19β31}}</ref><ref name=":0">{{Cite journal |last=E. Tilden |first=Leonard |date=1923 |title=New England Textile Strike |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/41828627 |journal=Monthly Labor Review |volume=16 |issue=5 |pages=13β36 |JSTOR=41828627}}</ref> But the [[New England]] textile industry went into decline later in the 20th century. Water power was replaced with newer forms of energy, and cotton could be manufactured where it grew, saving transportation costs. Labor was also cheaper in the [[Southern United States|South]], which did not have [[New Hampshire]]'s [[inventory]] tax that levied commodities like coal and cotton at the plants. The [[Great Depression in the United States|Great Depression]] sent many regional textile firms into [[bankruptcy]], when some local facilities were adapted for [[shoemaking]]. The Great Falls Manufacturing Company's big mill was renovated for other uses in the 1980s, although the bleachery suffered a devastating fire in November 2003, which required assistance from 23 fire departments from New Hampshire and [[Maine]]. Aclara Technologies operates a factory (previously owned by [[General Electric Company]]<ref>{{Cite web |last=LLC |first=Aclara Technologies |title=Aclara Technologies LLC to Acquire GE Grid Solutions' Electricity Meters Business |url=https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/aclara-technologies-llc-to-acquire-ge-grid-solutions-electricity-meters-business-300174674.html |access-date=2022-08-09 |website=www.prnewswire.com |language=en}}</ref>) that manufactures state of the art electric meters for the energy business. Somersworth's heyday was during the mill era. Although frequently overshadowed by the larger neighboring cities of Dover and [[Rochester, New Hampshire|Rochester]], Somersworth retains a quantity of [[Victorian architecture]] from its prosperous age. Some antique residences, most notably within the historic district known as "The Hill", have been restored. The municipality is today largely a [[bedroom community]] for other cities and the [[Portsmouth Naval Shipyard]]. The upper end of High Street, however, continues to develop as a retail center, with several [[Big-box store|big-box]] [[chain store]]s. One ship of the [[United States Navy]] was named after the city; the {{USS|Somersworth|PCE(R)-849}} was a [[PCE-842-class patrol craft]].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.somersworth.com/parks-recreation/pages/uss-somersworth |title=USS Somersworth |website=somersworth.com |accessdate=December 23, 2021}}</ref> Commissioned in April 1944, it was named after the city in February 1956, and remained in service until decommissioned in September 1965.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.navsource.org/archives/12/02849.htm |title=Somersworth (EPCE[R] 849) |website=navsource.org |accessdate=December 23, 2021}}</ref> The ship was present at the [[surrender of Japan]] in Tokyo Bay at the end of [[World War II]].<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.history.navy.mil/content/history/nhhc/research/library/online-reading-room/title-list-alphabetically/a/allied-ships-present-in-tokyo-bay.html |title=Allied Ships Present in Tokyo Bay During the Surrender Ceremony, 2 September 1945 |work=history.navy.mil |accessdate=23 December 2021}}</ref> <gallery> File:The Opera House, Somersworth, NH.jpg|Opera House {{circa|1908}} File:Somersworth station 1907 postcard.jpg|R. R. Station {{circa|1908}} File:Mill No. 1, Somersworth, NH.jpg|Mill No. 1 {{circa|1906}} File:Salmon Falls River from Somersworth, NH.jpg|Salmon Falls River {{circa|1915}}, looking to Berwick, Maine File:USS_Somersworth_(PCE(R)-849).jpg|USS ''Somersworth'' {{circa|1960s}} </gallery>
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