This is a transcription of the Winchester, NH description from New Hampshire As It Is by Edwin A. Charlton; Part II: A Gazetteer of New Hampshire by George Ticknor, Tracy and Sanford Publishers, Claremont, N. H., 1855.

WINCHESTER

WINCHESTER, Cheshire county. Bounded north by Chesterfield and Swanzey, east by Swanzey and Richmond, south by Warwick, Massachusetts, and west by Hinsdale. Area, 33,534 acres. Distance from Concord, 65 miles, south-west; from Keene, 13, south-west. Ashuelot River is the principal stream, and affords extensive water power. It receives the waters of Muddy and Broad Brooks, besides those of smaller streams. Humphrey’s Pond, in the north-east part, is 300 rods long and 80 wide; it is the largest collection of water in the town. The surface is various. In the southerly part of the town it is level; the other portions are more or less uneven. The soil is generally good. On either side of the Ashuelot are broad tracts of interval of rare fertility. There are two pleasant and thriving villages in this town, both of which are situated on the Ashuelot River, and are connected with Keene and the Connecticut River by the Ashuelot Railroad. There are extensive tracts of wood and timber land in this and adjacent towns, which have been rendered easy of access since the opening of the Ashuelot Railroad.

There are in this town two woollen factories, in one of which are employed 40 hands, in the other 15, two pail manufactories, employing 10 hands each, a friction match factory, eight stores, two druggists’ shops, two hotels, two sawmills, and one linseed oil manufactory.

Considerable expense has recently been made in constructing a canal from Ashuelot River, to be applied to manufacturing purposes on a large scale.

The capital of the Winchester Bank is $100,000.

Within the last few years the village in the centre of the town, as well as that in the western part, called Ashuelot, has grown rapidly. The vast amount of water power in both villages, and the readiness and comparatively slight expense with which it may be applied to practical purposes, render it highly probable that at no distant period they will be manufacturing places of considerable importance.

Winchester was first granted by Massachusetts, and was named Arlington. It was granted by New Hampshire, July 2, 1753, to Josiah Willard and others, who settled here in 1732. During the wars with the Indians which followed, the meeting house and all the private buildings of the settlement were burned by the enemy. In the summer of 1756 Josiah Foster and his family were taken captives by the Indians. Some efforts were made to locate Dartmouth College in this town, but, owing to the opposition of Josiah Willard, the principal landholder, they proved unavailing.

The Congregational church was organized November 12, 1786. There are also Methodist and Universalist societies.

Population, 3296.

Number of legal voters in 1854, 600.

Common schools, 21.

Inventory, $716,536.

Value of lands, $411,362.

Stock in trade, $20,125.

Value of mills and factories, $25,950.

Money at interest, $13,423.

Shares in banks, &c., $70,500.

Number of sheep, 1037.

Do. neat stock, 1583.

Do. horses, 305.