Template:Wp-Winchester, New Hampshire-History

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Originally named "Arlington" in honor of Charles Fitzroy, Earl of Arlington, this town was one of those established in 1733 by colonial Governor Jonathan Belcher as protection for the Massachusetts Bay Colony border at the Connecticut River. This was in the area encompassed in the relatively newly acquired Equivalent Lands. After being designated a part of the Province of New Hampshire in 1741, the town was granted to Colonel Josiah Willard, commander of the Fort Dummer outpost. In 1753, it was incorporated by Governor Benning Wentworth as "Winchester", for Charles Paulet, 3rd Duke of Bolton, 8th Marquess of Winchester, and constable of the Tower of London.

Pioneers who came to the town as early as 1732 were attacked many times by Indians. Several settlers were taken captive, and the town was burned in 1745.^[1] Its church, founded in 1736, is the oldest religious body in Cheshire County. The town has two covered bridges.

The Winchester Profession, an influential statement of the principles of Universalism, was adopted at a Universalist congress in Winchester in 1803.

Although it has been an agricultural town, many small industries have been established in Winchester. In the 1830s, Graves & Company was among the nation's first manufacturers of musical instruments. The coming of the Ashuelot Railroad in 1850 fostered the growth of textile mills and wooden-ware factories, especially box manufacture and leather tanning.