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Monroe is a town in Grafton County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 864 at the 2020 census,[1] up from 788 at the 2010 census. The town is located along the Connecticut River, across from Barnet, Vermont. It was originally chartered as part of Lyman. [edit] History
In 1762, colonial Governor John Wentworth issued a grant ("Number 11") to 64 persons obligated to clear, farm and settle one tenth of each of their parcels or forfeit the grant. Only two made the attempt, but the charter was extended, in 1769, for another five years. Eleven of the original 64 grantees were named Lyman. In that same year, Wentworth also granted to one Colonel John Hurd of Portsmouth, New Hampshire, part of the land which is today within the bounds of Monroe. The grant was named "Hurd's Location" and included five small islands in the Connecticut River, known as "Deer Islands", and a parcel of land from below the present Village Bridge to the foot of Fifteen Mile Falls. In addition to Hurd's Location and the governor's , there were 23 lots of the 64 portions of Lyman located in "West Lyman", or the "Lyman Plain", now Monroe, making up less than of the present area. portion of Bath, to the south, was annexed in 1897.[2] The first known settlers on the "West Lyman" portion of Lyman were John Hyndman (also, "John Hinman"), with his wife and son, who settled on the largest of the Deer Islands (below the present-day Barnet Bridge) in 1784 and built a log cabin. When Colonel Hurd learned of Hyndman's structure, he sued to have him evicted. A Barnet benefactor settled the controversy by purchasing the title from Hurd. The first permanent settlers also came in the 1780s. They were the Olmstead families: Joseph, Timothy, and Israel, their wives and children.[2] The first native son, Ethan Smith, was born in a cabin on the Canaan Road (over the Gardner Mountain to Lyman) in 1784. Because of the difficulty traversing the steep "Gardner's Mountain" running north to south through the original Lyman grant of 1761, the settlers of the western portion had different priorities and needs than the rest of Lyman to the east. Monroe was incorporated as a separate town in 1854. After appropriate consideration, it was named after President James Monroe. In 1860, Monroe had 619 residents. By 1880, the population had decreased to 504. "Captain" Phillip Paddleford, a Revolutionary War soldier, settled in 1790, and built Monroe's first sawmill and gristmill on what is now called Smith Brook. Peter Paddleford (1785–1859) was the inventor of the wooden Paddleford Truss for covered bridges. Many of his original bridges still stand. He was the builder of the "third Lyman Bridge" from Monroe to McIndoes, Vermont, in 1833, after the 1826 floods had taken out all bridges on the Connecticut River. It was a covered bridge of pine, over long, and stood for over 96 years, making it one of the oldest on the river.[2] [edit] Research Tips
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