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Warner is a town in Merrimack County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 2,937 at the 2020 census.[1] The town is home to Magdalen College of the Liberal Arts, Rollins State Park and Mount Kearsarge State Forest. The town's central village, where 453 people resided at the 2020 census, is defined as the Warner census-designated place (CDP) and is located along New Hampshire Route 103 and the Warner River. The town also includes the communities of Davisville, Lower Village, Melvin Mills, and Waterloo. [edit] History
The town was granted in 1735 as "Number One" by Massachusetts Governor Jonathan Belcher to petitioners largely from Amesbury, Massachusetts. Called "New Amesbury", it was part of a line of settlements running between the Merrimack and Connecticut rivers intended to help defend Massachusetts against New France's predations. It was regranted by the Masonian Proprietors in 1749, when it was settled with four houses and a sawmill. Called "Jennesstown", it was abandoned and destroyed during the French and Indian War. The town was granted again in 1767 to Jonathan Barnard and others, who called it "Amesbury". But on September 3, 1774, it was incorporated as "Warner", named after Jonathan Warner, a leading Portsmouth citizen, namesake of the Warner House and relative of Governor John Wentworth. It was one of the last towns established under English provincial rule prior to the Revolution. Warner developed into a prosperous farming community which produced meats, dairy goods, vegetables, hay and apples. The Warner River and its tributaries provided water power for mills, which in 1832 included twelve sawmills, six gristmills, a paper mill and two clothing factories. By 1858, there was also a cabinet manufacturer and bottle manufacturer. In 1885, industries included a bedstead factory, chain factory, woolen cloth factory, iron foundry, tannery, and glove manufacturer. On September 9, 1821, the town was hit by a tornado. It leveled houses and forests in a swath of destruction beginning west of Lake Sunapee, through New London and Sutton, over the southwest spur of Mount Kearsarge and ending at the Webster line. The storm killed four people in Warner, seriously injured others and destroyed considerable property. Each October, on Columbus Day weekend, Warner hosts the annual Fall Foliage Festival, attracting thousands of people from all over New England and beyond. [edit] Research Tips
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