Springfield is a

town A town is a human settlement. Towns are generally larger than villages and smaller than city, cities, though the criteria to distinguish between them vary considerably in different parts of the world. Origin and use The word "town" shares ...

in Sullivan County,

New Hampshire New Hampshire is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Gulf of Maine to the east, and the Canadian province of Quebec to the nor ...

, United States. The population was 1,259 at the 2020 census.

Gile State Forest Gile State Forest is a state forest of New Hampshire located mostly in Springfield. The forest covers and is bisected by New Hampshire Route 4A U.S. Route 4 (US 4) in the state of New Hampshire runs for across the central and southern par ...

is located within the town.

History

First settled by Europeans in 1769 and named "Protectworth", the town adopted the name "Springfield" when it was incorporated in 1794. Prior to county division in 1827, Springfield was in Cheshire County.

Geography

Springfield occupies the northeast corner of Sullivan County. According to the

United States Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau (USCB), officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the U.S. Federal Statistical System, responsible for producing data about the American people and economy An economy is an area of th ...

, the town has a total area of , of which are land and are water, comprising 1.99% of the town. The northwest part of town, including the town center, is drained by Bog Brook and its tributaries, leading west to

Stocker Brook Stocker Brook is a stream located in western New Hampshire in the United States. It is a tributary of the North Branch of the Sugar River, part of the Connecticut River and Long Island Sound drainage basin. The brook begins at Cranberry Pond in ...

Grantham Grantham () is a market and industrial town in the South Kesteven district of Lincolnshire, England, situated on the banks of the River Witham and bounded to the west by the A1 road. It lies some 23 miles (37 km) south of the Lincoln a ...

and part of the Sugar River watershed leading west to the Connecticut River. The southeast part of the town, including Baptist Pond and Star Lake, drains south to Lake Sunapee, the headwaters of the Sugar River. The northeast part of town is drained by Kimpton Brook and tributaries of Walker Brook, part of the

Blackwater River A blackwater river is a type of river with a slow-moving channel flowing through forested swamps or wetlands. As vegetation decays, tannins leach into the water, making a transparent, acidic water that is darkly stained, resembling black tea. ...

watershed leading to the Contoocook River and eventually the Merrimack, while the far northeast corner of town is drained by tributaries of Smith Brook, which leads northeast to the Smith River, then the Pemigewasset River, and finally the Merrimack. The highest point in Springfield is the summit of Melvin Hill in the northeast part of town, at above

sea level Mean sea level (MSL, often shortened to sea level) is an average surface level of one or more among Earth's coastal bodies of water from which heights such as elevation may be measured. The global MSL is a type of vertical datuma standardise ...

Adjacent municipalities

Grafton, New Hampshire Grafton is a town in Grafton County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 1,385 at the 2020 census. History Originally granted in 1761, and re-granted in 1769, Grafton, like the county it resides in, takes its name from Augustus Fi ...

(north) * Wilmot, New Hampshire (east) *

New London, New Hampshire New London is a town in Merrimack County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 4,400 at the 2020 census. The town is the home of Colby–Sawyer College. The town center, where 1,266 people resided at the 2020 census, is defined as t ...

(southeast) *

Sunapee, New Hampshire Sunapee is a town in Sullivan County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 3,342 at the 2020 census. The town is home to part of Lake Sunapee and includes the village of Georges Mills. History Like many other towns, this one went ...

(south) * Croydon, New Hampshire (southwest) * Grantham, New Hampshire (west) *

Enfield, New Hampshire Enfield is a town in Grafton County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 4,465 at the 2020 census. The town includes the villages of Enfield, Enfield Center, Upper Shaker Village, Lower Shaker Village, Lockehaven, and Montcalm. Enf ...

(northwest)

Demographics

At the 2000 census there were 945 people, 386 households, and 286 families in the town. The population density was 21.8 people per square mile (8.4/km). There were 534 housing units at an average density of 12.3 per square mile (4.8/km). The racial makeup of the town was 98.84% White, 0.32% Native American, 0.21% Asian, 0.21% from other races, and 0.42% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 0.74%. Of the 386 households 30.1% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 65.3% were married couples living together, 6.2% had a female householder with no husband present, and 25.9% were non-families. 19.9% of households were one person and 6.7% were one person aged 65 or older. The average household size was 2.45 and the average family size was 2.80. The age distribution was 23.5% under the age of 18, 4.2% from 18 to 24, 31.1% from 25 to 44, 28.8% from 45 to 64, and 12.4% 65 or older. The median age was 40 years. For every 100 females, there were 97.3 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 96.5 males. The median household income was $44,659 and the median family income was $58,068. Males had a median income of $33,958 versus $25,223 for females. The per capita income for the town was $23,263. About 3.5% of families and 5.1% of the population were below the

poverty line The poverty threshold, poverty limit, poverty line or breadline is the minimum level of income deemed adequate in a particular country. The poverty line is usually calculated by estimating the total cost of one year's worth of necessities for ...

, including 2.4% of those under age 18 and 7.9% of those age 65 or over.

Notable people

Fairfax Downey Fairfax Davis Downey (1893–1990) was a writer and military historian. Fairfax Downey graduated from Yale, where he was an editor of campus humor magazine '' The Yale Record''. After college, he served in the U.S. Army as a captain of the 12th Fi ...

(1893–1990), author *

William Allen Knowlton General William Allen Knowlton (June 19, 1920 – August 10, 2008) was a United States Army four-star general, and a former Superintendent of the United States Military Academy. As a full general, he served as Commander, Allied Land Forces Sout ...

(1920–2008), US Army general, father-in-law of David Petraeus *

David Petraeus David Howell Petraeus (; born November 7, 1952) is a retired United States Army general and public official. He served as Director of the Central Intelligence Agency from September 6, 2011, until his resignation on November 9, 2012. Prior t ...

(born 1952), US Army general, former

director of the Central Intelligence Agency The director of the Central Intelligence Agency (D/CIA) is a statutory office () that functions as the head of the Central Intelligence Agency, which in turn is a part of the United States Intelligence Community. Beginning February 2017, the ...

* Jeriah Swetland (1817–1906),

Ohio Ohio () is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Of the List of states and territories of the United States, fifty U.S. states, it is the List of U.S. states and territories by area, 34th-l ...

state representative (1867–1869)

Internet connectivity

The town is served by the provider

Consolidated Communications Consolidated Communications Holdings, Inc., doing business as Consolidated Communications, is an American broadband and business communications provider headquartered in Mattoon, Illinois. The company provides data, internet, voice, managed ...

. They provide options for both Fiber-optic and DSL, the latter being phased out in preference for the former. The new plans for fiber range in speeds from 50 megabit to 1 gigabit, and while DSL is still available, it is much slower and less reliable (although slightly cheaper) then the fiber options.Consolidated Communications
/ref> In the part of Springfield that is in the community of Eastman, there is also the internet provider

Comcast Comcast Corporation (formerly known as American Cable Systems and Comcast Holdings),Before the AT&T merger in 2001, the parent company was Comcast Holdings Corporation. Comcast Holdings Corporation now refers to a subsidiary of Comcast Corpora ...

which provides a high of about 300 Mb/s down and 15 Mb/s up.

References

External links

*
New Hampshire Economic and Labor Market Information Bureau Profile
{{authority control Towns in Sullivan County, New Hampshire Towns in New Hampshire