Welcome

to the

Strafford County NH Genweb

Strafford County has been the home to many imigrants from England, Ireland, Canada and other countries. It offers a suburban or rural living, with a short commute to work or play. You are a half hour drive to several NH or Maine ocean beaches. The communities have excellent schools and libraries. Strafford County is home to the University of New Hampshire (UNH) in Durham.

You can ride Amtrak from Dover or Durham into Boston 5 times a day or ride to Portland in an hour

City of Dover

Population 28000 people on 28 sq. miles, Dover is the county seat. If you want to know anything about Strafford county, you have to come here. Dover has the county's only Daily newspaper, Foster's Daily Democrat. It is a fine newspaper that covers the entire county. Dover has a great Library that has all of Foster's newspapers on microfilm. Bring dimes for printouts because they have every obit for Strafford County. With two very good microfilm machines, I was there just recently looking up obits in 1918

City of Rochester

Rochester is the largest community in Strafford County with almost 31000 people (I think I'm related to half of them). The city had a weekly paper called the Rochester Courier, which is no longer in print. However, most of them are on microfilm at the Rochester Library, a genealogy friendly library, with a helpful staff on Main St. Rochester has a lot of cemeteries. I guess that people who came here, just never left.

City of Somersworth

With 11,700 people on 10 sq. miles, Somersworth, like Rochester is located on the western bank of the Salmon Falls River. The east side is State of Maine. The river provided water power for mills. Many offspring of Somersworth have taken up residence accross the bridge in Maine and many from Maine into the Somersworth area. Any unsuccessful genealogical search should take you accross to the other state, where you might find that relative.

Many Irish and French imigrants entered Strafford County to work the mills. This resulted in "Irish Catholic Churchs" and "French Catholic Churchs". If you were a french Canadian working in the mills and met your mate also a french Canadian and wanted to get married, you would want the wedding vows done in french, so that you could understand them. If you were in Rollinsford, you simply walked across the bridge to the French church in So. Berwick, Maine. Hense, you were married in Maine, with a NH Marriage license.

Town of Durham

With 12,664 people on 25.5 miles(2 miles underwater)Durham is engulfed by UNH which has over 13400 full time enrolled students. A ride through town reveals that this is a massive campus

Other towns

Barrington, Farmington, Lee, Madbury, Middleton, Milton, New Durham, Rollinsford and Strafford
This is Old Town Cemetery in Rollinsford. in April .  New Town Cemetery is across the street.  Although, its not that new.  They ought to name it Not so old town cemetery

Strafford Cty Transcription site

Strafford Cty Obit Index

State Veterans Cemetery

NHSOG is a powerhouse of info

Strafford County Links