Cheshire County is a county in New Hampshire, United States, in the southwestern corner of the state, bordering Vermont and Massachusetts. It had a population of 76,458 at the 2020 census and covers 706.7 square miles (1,830 km2) of land plus 22.2 square miles (57 km2) of water, centred near 42°55′N 72°15′W.<\/p>\n
Keene is the county seat, and its postal code is 03431. The county holds one city and 23 towns, plus a number of unincorporated villages and hamlets clustered within those towns. Cheshire County runs on Eastern time, and its FIPS county code is 33005.<\/p>\n
Cheshire County has 24 incorporated municipalities — Keene, the only city, and 23 towns — each of which governs a New England-style town meeting territory that also contains one or more named villages. The table below lists the 24 municipalities plus the county’s better-known unincorporated villages and crossroads settlements. “Town” covers New Hampshire’s incorporated towns; “Unincorp.” marks a village or hamlet that has no separate municipal government of its own and is administered by its surrounding town.<\/p>\n
| Place<\/th>\n | Type<\/th>\n | Pop.<\/th>\n | ZIP<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n |
|---|---|---|---|
| Keene<\/td>\n | City · seat<\/td>\n | 23,047<\/td>\n | 03431<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Alstead<\/td>\n | Town<\/td>\n | 2,038<\/td>\n | 03602<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Chesterfield<\/td>\n | Town<\/td>\n | 3,988<\/td>\n | 03443<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Dublin<\/td>\n | Town<\/td>\n | 1,753<\/td>\n | 03444<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Fitzwilliam<\/td>\n | Town<\/td>\n | 2,558<\/td>\n | 03447<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Gilsum<\/td>\n | Town<\/td>\n | 836<\/td>\n | 03448<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Harrisville<\/td>\n | Town<\/td>\n | 1,101<\/td>\n | 03450<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Hinsdale<\/td>\n | Town<\/td>\n | 4,046<\/td>\n | 03451<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Jaffrey<\/td>\n | Town<\/td>\n | 5,681<\/td>\n | 03452<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Marlborough<\/td>\n | Town<\/td>\n | 2,077<\/td>\n | 03455<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Marlow<\/td>\n | Town<\/td>\n | 803<\/td>\n | 03456<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Nelson<\/td>\n | Town<\/td>\n | 760<\/td>\n | 03457<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Richmond<\/td>\n | Town<\/td>\n | 1,209<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Rindge<\/td>\n | Town<\/td>\n | 6,383<\/td>\n | 03461<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Roxbury<\/td>\n | Town<\/td>\n | 269<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Stoddard<\/td>\n | Town<\/td>\n | 1,235<\/td>\n | 03464<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Sullivan<\/td>\n | Town<\/td>\n | 764<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Surry<\/td>\n | Town<\/td>\n | 773<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Swanzey<\/td>\n | Town<\/td>\n | 7,414<\/td>\n | 03446<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Troy<\/td>\n | Town<\/td>\n | 2,285<\/td>\n | 03465<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Walpole<\/td>\n | Town<\/td>\n | 3,734<\/td>\n | 03608<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Westmoreland<\/td>\n | Town<\/td>\n | 1,972<\/td>\n | 03467<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Winchester<\/td>\n | Town<\/td>\n | 4,321<\/td>\n | 03470<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Ashuelot<\/td>\n | Unincorp.<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n | 03441<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Chesham<\/td>\n | Unincorp.<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| East Alstead<\/td>\n | Unincorp.<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| East Swanzey<\/td>\n | Unincorp.<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| East Westmoreland<\/td>\n | Unincorp.<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Fitzwilliam Depot<\/td>\n | Unincorp.<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Jaffrey Center<\/td>\n | Unincorp.<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Munsonville<\/td>\n | Unincorp.<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n | 03457<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| North Swanzey<\/td>\n | Unincorp.<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| North Walpole<\/td>\n | Unincorp.<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n | 03609<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| South Keene<\/td>\n | Unincorp.<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| South Stoddard<\/td>\n | Unincorp.<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Spofford<\/td>\n | Unincorp.<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n | 03462<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Swanzey Center<\/td>\n | Unincorp.<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| West Chesterfield<\/td>\n | Unincorp.<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| West Swanzey<\/td>\n | Unincorp.<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n | 03469<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Westmoreland Depot<\/td>\n | Unincorp.<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n North Hinsdale and Drewsville are additional small crossroads villages, in Hinsdale and Walpole respectively, without their own postal codes. Roundys Corner, Curtis Corner and similar single-farm crossroads named in older gazetteers are too small to carry verified population or postal data and are omitted here rather than guessed.<\/p>\n ZIP Codes<\/h2>\nSmaller towns such as Richmond, Roxbury, Sullivan and Surry share a neighboring town’s post office rather than issuing their own ZIP code.<\/p>\n Geography<\/h2>\nCheshire County sits in the Monadnock Region of southwestern New Hampshire, named for Mount Monadnock, whose 3,165-foot summit in the northwest corner of Jaffrey is the county’s highest point and one of the most-climbed mountains in the country. The Ashuelot River and Connecticut River drain the county, the latter forming its western boundary with Vermont. The county borders Sullivan County, New Hampshire to the north, Hillsborough County, New Hampshire<\/a> to the east, Worcester County, Massachusetts<\/a> to the southeast, Franklin County, Massachusetts<\/a> to the southwest, and Windham County, Vermont<\/a> to the west across the Connecticut River. Sullivan County, New Hampshire does not yet have its own live page on this site.<\/p>\n Cheshire County counted 76,458 residents at the 2020 census, a density of about 108 people per square mile. Keene is by far the largest municipality at 23,047, followed by Swanzey at 7,414 and Rindge at 6,383. Median household income in the county runs below the New Hampshire median of $96,838, reflecting a mix of college-town, small-manufacturing and rural-farm economies rather than the state’s wealthier southern-tier suburbs.<\/p>\n Keene anchors the county’s economy as home to Keene State College, a public liberal-arts college, and to C&S Wholesale Grocers, one of the largest private grocery distributors in the United States. Cheese, dairy farming, sugar maple production and small-scale manufacturing remain active in the outlying towns. Keene hosted the Keene Pumpkin Festival for many years, which repeatedly set the world record for most jack-o’-lanterns lit at once, and downtown Keene’s Main Street — among the widest in New England — still anchors the region’s retail and civic life.<\/p>\n Cheshire County was established in 1769 and organized at Keene in 1771 as one of New Hampshire’s five original counties, named for the county of Cheshire in England. In 1827 the New Hampshire legislature split off the county’s northern towns to form Sullivan County. Keene grew through the 19th century on textile and woodworking mills powered by the Ashuelot River, and the county’s outlying hill towns — Nelson, Roxbury, Sullivan, Surry — remain among the least-populated municipalities in the state.<\/p>\n New Hampshire Routes 9, 10, 12, 101 and 119 cross the county, with NH Route 101 running east–west through Keene and Dublin. Selected distances from Keene:<\/p>\n The nearest commercial airport is Manchester–Boston Regional Airport, roughly 55 miles northeast of Keene; Dillant-Hopkins Airport in Keene itself serves general aviation.<\/p>\n Where is Cheshire County?<\/strong> What is the population of Cheshire County?<\/strong> How big is Cheshire County?<\/strong> What is the county seat of Cheshire County?<\/strong> How many towns are in Cheshire County?<\/strong> What ZIP codes are in Cheshire County?<\/strong> |