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Capital of New Hampshire · Merrimack County · capital since 1808 · 43.2°N 71.5°W
Concord, New Hampshire
Concord has been the capital of New Hampshire since 1808, after the legislature had rotated among Portsmouth, Exeter and other towns. Manchester, 20 miles south, is the largest city in the state.
Where Concord is
Concord is the seat of Merrimack County, at 43.21°N, 71.54°W, on the west bank of the Merrimack River in south-central New Hampshire. The river, formed about 15 miles upstream where the Pemigewasset and Winnipesaukee rivers meet, flows south past Manchester and Nashua into Massachusetts. Concord is about 290 ft above sea level. Interstates 89 and 93 meet here; I-93 continues north to the White Mountains, about 50 miles away. The city is on Eastern Time.
How it became the capital
Portsmouth, on the coast, was the colonial capital. During the Revolution the legislature met in Exeter, and after independence it moved among several towns. Concord, more central and reachable by the Merrimack, hosted the legislature from 1808 and was formally made the capital when the State House was finished in 1819. The town had been founded in 1727 as Penacook and renamed Concord in 1765 after a boundary dispute with the neighboring town of Bow was settled.
Population
Concord had 43,976 residents in 2020, third among New Hampshire's cities. Manchester, the largest, had 115,644, and Nashua about 91,000. Both are in the southern tier near the Massachusetts line, where most of the state's 1,377,529 people live. Concord is counted within the Boston combined statistical area.
The capitol
The New Hampshire State House on Main Street was built between 1816 and 1819 of local granite to plans by architect Stuart Park. The legislature still meets in its original chambers, which no other state can claim. It was enlarged in 1866, when the gold-leafed dome was added, and again in 1910. The 400-member House of Representatives that meets there is the largest state legislative body in the country and one of the largest in the English-speaking world.
Distances to other cities
| City | Direction | Road distance |
|---|---|---|
| Manchester, NH | south | about 20 mi |
| Boston, MA | south | about 70 mi |
| Portland, ME | northeast | about 90 mi |
Montpelier, Vermont, is about 115 miles to the northwest across the Connecticut River.
Related maps
- New Hampshire map — the whole state with borders, cities and counties.
- New Hampshire county map · blank New Hampshire map · printable New Hampshire map.
- All 50 state capitals on one map, and the state capitals quiz.
- Northeast region · New England division · Eastern Time Zone.