stage to Hillsborough Bridge, on
Contoocook Valley Railroad.

ATKINSON.

Rockingham Co. This town
has an uneven surface; but the
soil is of a superior quality, and
under a high state of cultivation.
Much attention has been given to
the cultivation of the apple, and
the best fruit in the State is pro-
duced here.

Employments. Farming is the
principal occupation of the people,
but there are about forty mechan-
ics, the larger proportion of whom
are engaged in making shoes.
Thirty-six thousand pairs are an-
nually made, and valued at $50,000.

Resources. Annual productions
of the soil valued at $41,476; an-
nual value of mechanical labor,
$ 16,287; money at interest, $ 12,-
600; stock in trade, $2,300; from
summer tourists, $6,000.

Summer Resorts. Atkinson, ow-
ing to its elevated position, and its
quiet and pleasant village, is be-
coming noted as a place for sum-
mer resort. Over 200 persons
spent their summer vacation and
recreation here the past year.

Schools, Libraries, &c. Atkinson
Academy, in this town, is.one of
the oldest and most respectable in-
stitutions in the State; incorporat-
ed in 1791. There is a library,
connected with the academy, con-
taining 800 volumes. The school
is now under the charge of B. H.
Weston, A. M.

Churches. Congregational, Rev.
C. F. Morse, pastor; and Univer-
salist Church. Valuation, $ 10,000.

First Settlers. This town was
named in honor of Theodore At-
kinson. a large land-holder and a
member of the council. It was
originally a part of Plaistow; but,
owing to some difficulty in locat-
ing a meeting-house, it was set off
and incorporated September 3,
1767. Benjamin Richards, Jona-
than and Edmund Page, and John
Dow were the first settlers, and
came here about 1728.

First Minister. Rev. Stephen
Peabody, ordained in 1772; died
in 1819.

Boundaries. South by Haver-
hill, Mass., west by Salem and
Londonderry, north by Hampstead,
and east by Plaistow. Area, 6939
acres.

Distances. Thirty miles south-
west from Portsmouth, and thirty-
six south-east from Concord.

Railroads. Boston & Maine.
If the Plaistow and Nashua Rail-
road is built it will pass through
Atkinson.

ASHLAND.

Grafton Co. Ashland is a
small township taken from the
southern portion of Holderness in
1868. The soil is hard, but, when
properly cultivated, produces good
crops. The farmers find a ready
sale for their surplus products, in
the thriving manufacturing village
of Ashland.

Rivers. Pemigewasset River
washes the extreme western part
of the town. Squam River, the
outlet of Squam Lake and Squam
Pond, runs in a south-west direc-
tion, and empties into the Pemi-
gewassett. This river affords
some of the best water power in
the State, enough at all seasons of
the year, and a surplus. Much of
this power is improved, but double
the capital could be invested on it
to good advantage.

Village. On Squam River, and