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Temperature: 64°F /
17°C
RealFeel Temperature™: 67°F / 19°C Humidity: 87% Winds: CLM 0 mph / 0 kmh Pressure: 29.96" Visibility: 3 mi. / 5 km |
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91°F /
32°C LO: 59°F / 15°C |
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91°F /
32°C LO: 64°F / 17°C |
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84°F /
28°C LO: 67°F / 19°C |
| Monday |
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77°F /
25°C LO: 67°F / 19°C |
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81°F /
27°C LO: 62°F / 16°C |
| City of Keene | |||
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| Nickname: Elm City | |||
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| Coordinates: | |||
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| Country | United States | ||
| State | New Hampshire | ||
| County | Cheshire | ||
| Settled | 1736 | ||
| Incorporated | 1753 (town) | ||
| Incorporated | 1874 (city) | ||
| Government | |||
| - Mayor | Michael E.J. Blastos | ||
| - City Council | Charles H. Redfern Angelo D. DiBernardo, Jr. Randy L. Filiault Paula-Ayn Phillips David C. Richards Nathaniel M. Stout Robert H. Farrar Philip M. Jones Cynthia Georgina Joseph W. Bendzinski Frederick B. Parsells Margaret A. Lynch Christopher C. Coates Mitchell H. Greenwald Philip Dale Pregent |
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| Area | |||
| - City | sq mi ( |
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| - Land | sq mi ( km²) | ||
| - Water | sq mi ( km²) | ||
| Elevation | ft ( m) | ||
| Population (2003) | |||
| - City | |||
| - Density | /sq mi (/km²) | ||
| Time zone | EST (UTC-5) | ||
| - Summer (DST) | EDT (UTC-4) | ||
| ZIP codes | 03431, 03435 | ||
| Area code(s) | 603 | ||
| FIPS code | 33-39300 | ||
| GNIS feature ID | 0867823 | ||
| *Year Settled is from the following page | |||
| Website: www.ci.keene.nh.us | |||
Keene is a city in Cheshire County, New Hampshire, United States. The estimated population was 23,023
in 2005, according to the state Data Center [1]
It is the county seat of Cheshire County
Keene is home to Keene State College and Antioch University New England, and hosts the annual Pumpkin Fest.
The community was granted as Upper Ashuelot in 1735 by Colonial Governor Jonathan Belcher to soldiers who had fought in the war against Canada. Settled after 1736, it was intended to be a fort town protecting the Province of Massachusetts Bay during the French and Indian Wars. When New Hampshire separated from Massachusetts in 1741, the border between the two shifted south, and Upper Ashuelot became part of New Hampshire.
During King George's War, the village was attacked and burned by Indians. Colonists fled to safety, but would return to rebuild in the early 1750s. It was regranted to its inhabitants in 1753 by Governor Benning Wentworth, who renamed it Keene after Sir Benjamin Keene, English minister to Spain and a West Indies trader. Located at the center of Cheshire County, it became county seat in 1769. Land was set off for Sullivan and Roxbury, although Keene would annex 154 acres from Swanzey (formerly Lower Ashuelot).
Timothy Dwight, the Yale president who chronicled his travels, called the town "...one of the prettiest in New England." Situated on an ancient lake bed surrounded by hills, the valley with fertile meadows was excellent for farming. The Ashuelot River provided water power for sawmills, gristmills and tanneries. After the railroad arrived in 1848, numerous other industries were established. Keene became a manufacturing center for wooden-ware, pails, chairs, sash, shutters, doors, pottery, glass, soap, woolen textiles, shoes, saddles, mowing machines, carriages and sleighs. It also had a brickyard and foundry. Keene was incorporated as a city in 1874, and by 1880 had a population of 6,784.
New England manufacturing declined in the 20th century, however, particularly during the Great Depression. Keene is today a center for insurance, education and tourism. The city nevertheless retains a considerable inventory of fine Victorian architecture from its flush mill town era. An example is the Keene Public Library, which occupies a Second Empire mansion built about 1869 by manufacturer Henry Colony.
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 97.3 km² (37.6 mi²). km² (37.3 mi²) of it is land and 0.6 km² (0.2 mi²) of it is water, comprising 0.67% of the town. Keene is drained by the Ashuelot River. The highest point in Keene is Grays Hill (1,388 feet / 423 meters above sea level), in the city's northwest corner. Keene lies almost fully within the Ashuelot River watershed, though a very small portion of the northwest corner of the city is in the Connecticut River watershed.[1]
Keene is located in a temperate climate zone. It experiences all four seasons quite distinctly. The summers can get very hot. The average high temperature in July is 82, and the record high for Keene is 102. As with other cities in the eastern U.S., periods of high humidity can raise heat indices to near 110. During the summer, Keene can get hit by thunderstorms from the west, but the Green Mountains to the west often break up some of the storms, so that Keene doesn't usually experience a thunderstorm at full strength. The last time a tornado hit Cheshire County was in 1997.
The winters in Keene can be very harsh. The most recent such winter was 2002-2003, when Keene received 112.5" of snow. The majority of the snowfall in Keene comes from nor'easters, areas of low pressure that move up the Atlantic coast and strengthen. Many times these storms can produce blizzard conditions across southern New England. Recent examples are the blizzard of 2005 and the blizzard of 2006. Keene is situated in an area where cold air meets the moisture from the south, so more often than not, Keene gets the jackpot with winter storms. Aside from snow, winters can be very cold. Even in the warmest of winters, Keene usually has at least one night below zero. During January 2004, Keene saw highs below freezing 25 of the days including five days in the single digits and one day with a high of zero. Overnight lows dropped below zero 12 times, including 7 nights below -10. The record low in Keene is -31. In addition to the cold temperatures, Keene can receive biting winds that drive the wind chill down below -30.
Snow events can continue to occur right through the end of April, but on the other end, 80-degree days can begin in late March. Autumn weather is similar. Keene's first snowfall usually occurs in early November, though the city can also see 60-degree days into mid November. Significant rain events can occur in the spring and fall. For example, record rainfall and flooding with the axis of heaviest rain near Keene occurred in October 2005. Another significant flood event occurred in May of the following year.
As of the census
There were 9,013 households out of which 26.8% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 43.8% were married couples living together, 9.7% had a female householder with no husband present, and 43.2% were non-families. 31.5% of all households were made up of individuals and 12.4% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.27 and the average family size was 2.86.
In the city the population was spread out with 19.6% under the age of 18, 18.9% from 18 to 24, 24.7% from 25 to 44, 21.6% from 45 to 64, and 15.2% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 35 years. For every 100 females there were 88.2 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 83.8 males.
The median income for a household in the city was $37,033, and the median income for a family was $49,935. Males had a median income of $32,720 versus $25,488 for females. The per capita income for the city was $20,544. About 5.2% of families and 10.7% of the population were below the poverty line, including 8.7% of those under age 18 and 5.6% of those age 65 or over.
Several sources offer news and information about Keene. These include:
The city has several radio stations, including some which are licensed by the FCC to nearby towns but based in Keene. The stations are:
Keene is also home to the syndicated radio talk show Free Talk Live.
Keene is often considered a minor college town due to Keene State College, whose 6,400 students make up over 1/4 of the city's population, and Antioch University New England. Keene also hosts a branch of the New Hampshire Community Technical Colleges and a satellite campus of Franklin Pierce College. However, Keene is not solely identified by its colleges.
At the secondary level, Keene serves as the educational nexus of the area, due in large part to its status as the primate city of Cheshire County. Keene High School, home of the Blackbirds, is the largest regional High School in Cheshire County. Keene has one middle school, Keene Middle School, which is located on Washington Street near Central Square.
Keene has five elementary schools: Jonathan Daniels Elementary School, Fuller Elementary School, Franklin Elementary School, Symonds Elementary School, Wheelock Elementary School. There is also one juvenile corrections school, the TNT School. Keene is part of New Hampshire's School Administrative Unit 29, or SAU 29.
Keene has over 20 churches and one synagogue. A significant landmark in downtown Keene is the United Church of Christ at Central Square, colloquially known in town as the "White Church" or the "Church at the Head of the Square". A second church on the square is Grace United Methodist Church, also known as the "Brick Church".
Keene has two Roman Catholic churches, St. Bernard's (which is the Parish seat for several churches in Cheshire County) and St. Margaret Mary's. Keene is within the see of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Manchester. Keene has one Episcopal church, St. James, which is within the Episcopal Diocese of New Hampshire. Keene also has one Greek Orthodox church, St. George's under the see of the Metropolis of Boston.
The town's synagogue is the Congregation Ahavas Achim.
Several vagrants are known to wander around this small city:
1. Amazon Dave- dresses in leather, always has a backpack, is always smoking. Generally a scary dude. 2. Punk Simmons- like Richards Simmons, but fat, and always wearing a Misfits or similar band shirt. Can be seen walking around during the day bopping to his headphones. 3. Crazy Guy- this one is shit nuts; really no other way to desribe this cat. Always asks people for small amounts of money (which he obviously has no use for, concept of, or way to repay), checks out trash cans and payphones, and is generally creepy as hell. Looks and walks like he just escaped from a botched lobotomy session.
Pumpkin Festival
Each year in October, Keene hosts an annual Pumpkin Festival. This event has set world records for the largest simultaneous number of jack-o'-lanterns on display several times [2], and the tally from the 2003 festival stood as the record until Boston took the lead in 2006. Guiness [3]. Besides the pumpkins stacked on massive towers set in the streets (see photo at right), thousands of additional pumpkins line the streets of the city. Face painting, fireworks, music, and other entertainments are also provided.
Keene Music Festival
In late August or early September the city hosts the Keene Music Festival. Several stages are located throughout the downtown area during the day's events, which are free to the public and sponsored by locally-owned businesses. Visitors, mostly from the local community, roam the city's sidewalks listening to the dozens upon dozens of bands.
Many community groups perform on a regular basis, including the Keene Chamber Orchestra, the Keene Chamber Singers, the Keene Pops Choir, and the Keene Jazz Orchestra.
Every year, the Keene branch of the Lions Clubs International performs a
Broadway musical at the Colonial Theatre (a restored theatre dating back to 1924 — not to be confused with the Colonial Theatre in
 Griffin Estate c. 1908 |
 Central Square in 1907 |
 West Street in 1910 |
