Durham, New Hampshire
Located beside the Oyster River as it empties into Great Bay, Durham, New Hampshire is a college town of about 13,000 people. Convenient to Portsmouth and Dover, residents of Durham can enjoy all the trappings of the city but return to their comfortable hometown with relative ease. Being the home to the University of New Hampshire’s Durham campus, the community caters to the college set while maintaining its sense of history in today’s modern world.
First referred to as “Oyster River Plantation”, the area to become Durham was settled in 1635 as a part of the larger town of Dover to the north. Before incorporating as its own town, the “Plantation” was attacked by several-hundred French-led Native Americans who killed nearly four-dozen inhabitants, took prisoner another four-dozen and burned much of the community to the ground. The destruction of the crops and livestock caused serious problems for the remaining residents, but the people rebuilt and in 1735 Durham became its own township, so-named for Durham, England. Durham’s boundaries once included parts of present-day Madbury, Lee and Newmarket until those towns broke off to form their own communities. In 1866 the NH College of Agriculture and Mechanic Arts moved from Hanover, NH to Durham and about fifty years later changed its name to become the University of New Hampshire, as we know it today.
As a college town, there is plenty to do. The facilities at the university are mostly open to public use, including tennis courts, an indoor ice-skating rink, hiking, bicycling and horseback riding trails, baseball fields, basketball courts, soccer and football fields and more. A commuter train stops in Durham several times per day giving students and residents alike a fast and inexpensive ride to points north and south. The center of Durham is lined with small Mom & pop operations, pizza shops by the score, music stores, bookstores and convenience stores. The Malls of Portsmouth and Newington are only a fifteen-minute drive east as is the Pease International Tradeport, for all your air travel needs. Movie cinemas can be found in Dover and nearby Barrington, as can bowling and other such activities. Within a short drive there is a Home Depot, two Wal-Marts, a Target store, a Hannaford’s, a Shaws and much more. Everything is convenient when you live in Durham.
Durham students not ready for college attend the Oyster River Cooperative School District, along with Madbury and Lee. Elementary school age children attend either Mast Way Elementary School or Moharimet Elementary School, depending on their home’s location in town. Students in grades five through eight attend the Oyster River Cooperative Middle School in Durham while high school age students attend the Oyster River Cooperative High School, also in Durham.
When it comes to a friendly, positive environment, you can’t beat Durham, New Hampshire. Upbeat and current, yet refreshingly quiet and reverent, this college-focused community would make a perfect location for a young family just starting out. The Oyster River Cooperative School District is one of the best in the state, and UNH always ranks high among state colleges. Durham – it’s a great place to start.
If Durham sounds like a place you’d be proud to call home, your first call should be to Jim Miller Bean Group at (603) 801-3987. We know Durham and all the other wonderful towns in the Granite State and we’d love to discuss them all with you. Just give us a call and we’ll start the ball rolling.
Mast Way Elementary School (k-4)
(603) 659-3001
Moharimet Elementary School (k-4)
(603) 742-2900
Oyster River Cooperative Middle School (5-8)
(603) 868-2820
Oyster River Cooperative High School (9-12)
(603) 868-2375
