by Christopher W. Hislop (Author)
Newmarket, a quaint seacoast town incorporated in 1727, has long been a hotbed of industry, recreation, and culture. Bordered by the Lamprey River, the town is known for its mill buildings, which essentially make up the architectural backbone and industrial fabric of the downtown area. The earliest settlers took to fishing, lumbering, and shipbuilding on the banks of the Lamprey as their principal means of income and survival; the mills would later provide the town with economic stability through textile- and shoe-manufacturing enterprises. The town also boasted the largest single-room weave shed in the world at the height of its industrial textile boom. Today, Newmarket is a noted settlement, home to both longtime residents as well as college students and faculty who commute nearby to the University of New Hampshire. Locals treasure the Stone Church Meeting House, a music venue established in 1969 within the stone walls of a once prominent Universalist church that was built at the top of famed Zion Hill in 1832. The town has been revitalized in recent years by the equally historic renovations of the downtown mill buildings, which now host a myriad of units, from residential to commercial properties.