Situated directly along the roaring currents of the Merrimack River between Manchester and Concord, Hooksett, New Hampshire, is a town forged by rugged water topography and industrial heavy lifting.
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Old photo of Hookset, NH in 1937
The Etymology of the "Hooksett" Name: Long before it became an official town, early loggers and English settlers referred to the area as "Hooksett." This name stems from a sharp, hook-shaped bend in the Merrimack River channel where early rivermen built a "set" of navigational locks to bypass the turbulent rapids, which fishermen also called "Hookline Falls."
Carved From Three Separate Towns: As population centers grew along the river in the early 19th century, residents grew frustrated by being politically fractured across multiple borders. In July 1822, Hooksett was officially incorporated as a unified municipality by carving away adjacent land tracts from the neighboring towns of Chester, Goffstown, and Dunbarton.
The 1830 Census Baseline: Eight years after its initial incorporation, Hooksett established its very first official federal census baseline. In 1830, the town recorded a modest, tight-knit community of exactly 880 permanent residents.
The Power of the Merrimack Ledges: The spine of Hooksett’s early economy was a series of fierce water drops and rocky river ledges. These treacherous rapids initially made boat navigation difficult, but early industrial engineers successfully harnessed the kinetic energy to power a booming network of lumber mills, cotton textile facilities, and highly profitable brick-making operations.
Henry David Thoreau’s Rainy Voyage: In his classic book A Week on the Concord and Merrimack Rivers, legendary American author Henry David Thoreau wrote extensively about Hooksett’s prominent 484-foot geological landmark, The Pinnacle. However, during his famous 1839 boat journey, Thoreau and his brother John did not actually climb it; a torrential rainstorm left their homemade boat bogged down in the mud right at the base of the mountain, forcing them to turn back.
The True Origins of Robie’s Country Store: Hooksett's most celebrated political landmark, Robie’s Country Store, did not open during the town's founding year. The original market on the site was built by the Robie family in 1887. After a devastating fire burned it down, the current iconic wooden structure was rebuilt on the same foundation in 1907.
A Primary Proving Ground for Presidents: For decades, Robie's Country Store served as a mandatory, historic pit stop for presidential candidates navigating the first-in-the-nation New Hampshire Primary. Everyone from Jimmy Carter and Ronald Reagan to Bill Clinton and modern candidates stopped in to buy coffee, meet locals, and gauge the state's political climate—earning the store a spot on the National Register of Historic Places.
The Clay and Brick Manufacturing Boom: Hooksett's unique riverbanks were rich with deep deposits of high-quality clay. Throughout the 19th century, the town became a major manufacturing hub for bricks, supplying millions of durable, locally fired bricks to build the massive textile mills downriver in Manchester and Lawrence, Massachusetts.
The Devastation of the 1936 Flood: Because of its close, low-lying relationship with the riverfront, Hooksett was hit catastrophically hard by the Great New England Flood of March 1936. Rapid spring snowmelt combined with torrential rain caused the Merrimack to swell completely out of its banks, creating rushing torrents that tore down the town’s historic bridges, inundated rail lines, and permanently altered the architectural layout of the riverfront.
A Landmark Concrete Bridge Triumph: Following the destructive 1936 floods, the town underwent a massive civil engineering overhaul. A major symbol of this recovery was the construction of the Lilac Bridge, an innovative, multi-span concrete arch bridge completed in 1938 to replace a destroyed iron structure. It stood for decades as an award-winning example of depression-era infrastructure before being replaced by modern spans.
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