NH Fun Facts & Tidbits!

Nicknamed "The Granite State"

Origin of Name - From the English County of Hampshire

Received its statehood in 1778

Ninth state to join the Union

Residents called New Hampshirites

NH has 13 cities, 222 towns and 24 communities which remain unincorporated to this day

NH has 10 counties (as seen in the map above)

State Flag - The State Seal surrounded by laurel leaves with 9 stars (adopted 1949)

State Seal - The Frigate Raleigh on stocks in Portsmouth, NH - recalls ship building

State Capital - Concord

Motto - Live Free Or Die (adopted 1945)

State Flower - Lilac (adopted 1919)

State Wildflower - Pink Lady's Slipper (adopted 1991)

State Bird - Purple Finch (adopted 1957)

State Insect - The Lady Bug (adopted 1977) It's not the black fly or mosquito!!!

Butterfly - Karner Blue (1992)

State Amphibian - The Red Spotted Newt (adopted 1985)

Saltwater Fish - Striped Bass (1994)

Freshwater Fish - Brook Trout (adopted 1995)

State Animal - White Tailed Deer (adopted 1983)

State Gem - Smokey Quartz (adopted 1985)

State Tree - White Birch (adopted 1947)

State Emblem - Old Man of the Mountains (adopted 1945)

Songs - "Old New Hampshire" (adopted 1949) and

"New Hampshire, My New Hampshire" (adopted 1963)

New Hampshire is 9,304 Square Miles

Approximately 84% covered by forest

Greatest width is 90 miles

Greatest length is 180 miles

There are 17.75 miles of seacoast

NH has 182 mountain peaks over 3,000 feet

Mount Washington is the highest peak in the Northeastern U.S. at 6,288 ft.

NH has 1,300 lakes & ponds

NH has approximately 40,000 miles of streams

NH has 65 State Parks - Approximately 50,000+ acres

NH's Geographic Center is in Belknap County, 3 miles East of Ashland

Highest wind velocity ever recorded on earth was at the summit of Mount Washington in 1934

The wind was recorded at 231 mph, with gusts even higher

The average snowfall is approximately 100 inches

(More in the North - Less in the South)

The White Mountain National Forest was established in 1911