Alstead

Web site: http://www.alsteadnh.org

Population: 1,759 (1990); 1,944 (2000); 2,045 (2006)

Overview
Alstead was called Newton when it was granted to Samuel Chase and others. The town received its New Hampshire charter in 1763. Alstead was one of the towns that wavered in its allegiance after the Revolutionary War. It decided to join Vermont in April 1781, but returned to N.H. authority early the next year. The first paper mill in New Hampshire was established by Ephraim and Elisha Kingsbury in 1793 on Cold River.

While Alstead was basically an agricultural community, its streams and ponds once powered a variety of small mills. A turbine water mill at East Alstead is probably the last of its type anywhere in the region. Shedd-Porter Memorial Library, built in 1910 in neo-classic revival style, was a gift to Alstead and Langdon by native son John G. Shedd, an associate of Marshall Field’s department store in Chicago. Another native-son philanthropist, Charles M. Vilas, gave a large public recreation area, school building and the only carillon in Cheshire County. Marion Nicholl Rawson, chronicler of U.S. arts and crafts, made her home in Alstead.

Information from the Town of Alstead Web site

Geography
Region: Monadnock
County: Cheshire
Distance from:
o Manchester, NH: 71 miles
o Boston, MA: 102 miles
o New York, NY: 233 miles
o Montreal, Quebec: 222 miles

Town Hall
Selectmen's Office,Town Clerk and Tax Collector
P.O. Box 60
15 Mechanic Street
Alstead, NH 03602
(603) 835-2986

Municipal Information
Government: Selectmen
Planning Board: Appointed
Police Department: Full time
Fire Department: No full time
Nearest Hospital: Cheshire Medical; Valley Regional (18 miles)


Election Districts
State House District: 24
State Senate District: 8
Executive Council District: 2
U.S. Congress House of Representatives District: 2

Schools

Fall Mountain Regional District
http://www.sau60.org/

Vilas Elementary School
98 Mechanic St
Alstead, NH 03602
(603) 835-6351

Alstead Primary School
58 Mechanic Street
P.O. Box 670
Alstead, NH 03602
Phone: (603) 835-2482
Fax: (603) 835-9912

Services
hedd-Porter Library
Main St
Alstead, NH 03602
(603) 835-6661

Alstead Fire Department
Hill Rd
Alstead, NH 03602

Alstead Police Department
15 Mechanic St
Alstead, NH 03602
(603) 835-6277

Utilities
Electric: PSNH; Granite State Electric
Gas: None
Water Supplier: Private wells
Sanitation: Private septic
Curbside Trash Pickup: No
Telephone: Verizon
Cable television service: Yes