East Rochester is a neighborhood within the city of

Rochester, New Hampshire Rochester is a city in Strafford County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 32,492 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the List of municipalities in New Hampshire, 6th most populous city in New Hampshire. In ad ...

, United States, located on the banks of the

Salmon Falls River The Salmon Falls River is a tributary of the Piscataqua River in the U.S. states of Maine and New Hampshire. It rises at Great East Lake, Newichawannock Canal, and Horn Pond and flows south-southeast for approximately , forming the border b ...

which separates

Maine Maine ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the United States, and the northeasternmost state in the Contiguous United States. It borders New Hampshire to the west, the Gulf of Maine to the southeast, and the Provinces and ...

from

New Hampshire New Hampshire ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Gulf of Maine to the east, and the Canadian province of Quebec t ...

. Home to approximately 3,600 residents,2020 Census population count for census tract most closely covering East Rochester: the community is located east of Rochester proper, and is one of two villages (the other being Gonic) within city limits.

History

The area was a farming community which developed into a small

textile Textile is an Hyponymy and hypernymy, umbrella term that includes various Fiber, fiber-based materials, including fibers, yarns, Staple (textiles)#Filament fiber, filaments, Thread (yarn), threads, and different types of #Fabric, fabric. ...

and shoe manufacturing

mill town A mill town, also known as factory town or mill village, is typically a settlement that developed around one or more List of types of mill#Manufacturing facilities, mills or factories, often cotton mills or factories producing textiles. Europe ...

during the

Industrial Revolution The Industrial Revolution, sometimes divided into the First Industrial Revolution and Second Industrial Revolution, was a transitional period of the global economy toward more widespread, efficient and stable manufacturing processes, succee ...

. The

Abenaki The Abenaki ( Abenaki: ''Wαpánahki'') are Indigenous people of the Northeastern Woodlands of Canada and the United States. They are an Algonquian-speaking people and part of the Wabanaki Confederacy. The Eastern Abenaki language was pred ...

people called the area's river ''Newichawannock'', meaning "river with many falls", which in the 19th century became the source of

water power Hydropower (from Ancient Greek -, "water"), also known as water power or water energy, is the use of falling or fast-running water to produce electricity or to power machines. This is achieved by converting the gravitational potential or kin ...

for two mills. The first was called the Cocheco Woolen Manufacturing Company, with the second smaller one built upstream and called the White Mill. Between the 1880s and 1920s, "Eastside" (as it is referred to by locals) achieved its maximum growth. It was served by the Nashua & Rochester Railroad, which later became part of the

Boston & Maine Railroad The Boston and Maine Railroad was a U.S. Class I railroad in northern New England. It was chartered in 1835, and became part of what was the Pan Am Railways network in 1983 (most of which was purchased by CSX in 2022). At the end of 1970, B&M ...

. Called "Rindgemere", the

depot Depot may refer to: Places * Depot, Poland, a village * Depot Glacier (disambiguation) * Depot Island (disambiguation) * Depot Nunatak * Depot Peak Brands and enterprises * Maxwell Street Depot, a restaurant in Chicago, United States * Of ...

was located on Autumn Street. But during the

Great Depression The Great Depression was a severe global economic downturn from 1929 to 1939. The period was characterized by high rates of unemployment and poverty, drastic reductions in industrial production and international trade, and widespread bank and ...

, the mills began to decline, and finally folded in the 1970s. With its principal employers gone, East Rochester slipped in its quality of life. More recently, however, the district has enjoyed a rebirth. Located near major routes and industrial centers, its small village ambience has attracted new residents, and several beautiful

Victorian Victorian or Victorians may refer to: 19th century * Victorian era, British history during Queen Victoria's 19th-century reign ** Victorian architecture ** Victorian house ** Victorian decorative arts ** Victorian fashion ** Victorian literatur ...

buildings have been restored. East Rochester gets a good percentage of local business from just across the border in

Lebanon, Maine Lebanon is a town in York County, Maine, United States. The population was 6,469 at the 2020 census. Lebanon includes the villages of Center Lebanon, West Lebanon, North Lebanon, South Lebanon, and East Lebanon. It is the westernmost town in Main ...

Geography

East Rochester consists of a main street (

U.S. Route 202 U.S. Route 202 (US 202) is a spur route of U.S. Route 2, US 2. It follows a northeasterly and southwesterly direction stretching from Delaware in the south to Maine in the north and traveling through the states of Pennsylvania, N ...

and

New Hampshire Route 11 New Hampshire Route 11 is a east–west state highway in New Hampshire, running completely across the central part of the state. Its western terminus is at the Vermont state line in Charlestown, where it continues west as Vermont Route 11. Th ...

) with several small shops and a shopping center known as Shoreyville Plaza, named after the original settlement in the area. Portland Street crosses Routes 202 and 11 at the center of East Rochester; on it are two churches and a small library. In recent years, the old fire station (1902 till the early 1980s) has been converted into a museum, as fire services are now obtained from the main station in Rochester. A three-story block located on Portland Street once housed the post office and a clothing store until the early 1980s, when the post office moved into a two-story brick block further north on Portland Street. The area no longer has its post office, but East Rochester still has its own ZIP code (03868).

References

{{authority control Unincorporated communities in New Hampshire Rochester, New Hampshire