IAbrarics. Great Falls Manu-
facturers, and Village Library, 6,
000 volumes; Agricultural Libra-
ry, 1,000 volumes; A. Twing’s
private library, 1,000 volumes.

Banks. Great Falls National
Bank, Somersworth Savings Bank,
and Somersworth National Bank.
(See tables.)

Newspaper. Great Falls Jour-
nal. (See tables.)

Hotels. Great Falls Hotel, and
Granite State House.

First Settlement. William Went-
worth, John Hall and William
Styles commenced a settlement
within the limits of this town, be-
tween 1650 and 1675, but the exact
date is not known.

Since 1823, the village of Great
Falls has been nearly all built.
At that date the Great Falls Man-
ufacturing Company was char-
tered, with a capital of $500,000;
prior to that time there was only
a saw and grist-mill and two
dwelling houses. Somersworth
was taken from Dover, and incor-
porated April 23, 1754.

Many of the first settlers were
killed or taken captive by the In-
dians. George and Matthew Rick-
er were ambushed and killed near
Varney’s Hill, Oct. 7, 1675. A
Quaker by the name of Ebenezer
Downs was taken captive and car-
ried to Canada in 1724. He was
insulted and abused because he re-
fused to dance with the other cap-
tives for the amusement of the
savages. The following year he
was redeemed. In the summer
of 1710, Jabez Garland was killed
and the next year Gershom Downs
fell a victim to their savage cruel-
ties between Varney’s and Otis
Ilill. This town has been the
birthplace and residence of many

| prominent men. Nicholas Pike,
author of the popular system ol
arithmetic, was born here Oct. 6,
1745; John Wentworth, son of the
Hon. John Wentworth, was born
in this town July 14, 1745, and
graduated at Harvard College,
1768. He was a member of the
Continental Congress in the Rev-
olution, and died January 10, 1787.
Hon. Thomas Wallingford was
born in Bradford, Mass., in 1697.
He came to this town in the
early part of his life, and, being
energetic in his business, from
a small beginning, became one
of the most wealthy men in the
province.

Ichabod Rollins was born here
in 1721. He was Judge of Probate
for the county of Strafford, and
died January 31, 1800.

First Ministers. Rev. James
Pike, ordained in 1730; died in
1792. Rev. Pearson Thurston,
ordained in 1792; dismissed in
1812.

Boundaries. North-east by
South Berwick, Maine, south by
Rollinsford, south-west by Dover,
and north-west by Rochester; area
of improved land, 2,294 acres.

Distances. Forty-five miles east
from Concord, four north-east
from Dover, and twelve north-east
from Portsmouth.

Railroads. The railroad facili-
ties of Somersworth are good.
The Boston & Maine branch ex-
tends to this village, and the East-
ern, Great Falls & Conway passes
along the north-eastern border
with the station at the village.

It is expected that the Ports-
mouth and Dover Railroad will he
extended to this town, forming a
junction with the Great Falls and
Conway Railroad.