Rye

Rye, New Hampshire
—  Town  —
1899 monument marking supposed landing place of 1623
Seal
Location in Rockingham County, New Hampshire
Coordinates: 43°00′48″N 70°46′15″W / 43.01333°N 70.77083°W / 43.01333; -70.77083Coordinates: 43°00′48″N 70°46′15″W / 43.01333°N 70.77083°W / 43.01333; -70.77083
Country	United States
State	New Hampshire
County	Rockingham
Incorporated	1727
Government
• Board of Selectmen	Joseph G. Mills, Jr., Chair Craig N. Musselman Priscilla V. Jenness
Area
• Total	36.7 sq mi (95.1 km2)
• Land	12.6 sq mi (32.7 km2)
• Water	24.1 sq mi (62.4 km2)  65.65%
Elevation	75 ft (23 m)
Population (2010)
• Total	5,298
• Density	140/sq mi (56/km2)
Time zone	Eastern (UTC-5)
• Summer (DST)	Eastern (UTC-4)
ZIP code	03870
Area code(s)	603
FIPS code	33-66180
GNIS feature ID	0873712
Website	www.town.rye.nh.us

Rye is a town in Rockingham County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 5,298 at the 2010 census.^[1]

History

The first settlement in New Hampshire, originally named Pannaway, was established in 1623 at Odiorne's Point.^[2] The first settler in Rye was William Berry. Prior to its incorporation in 1726 as a parish of New Castle, Rye was called Sandy Beach and included land in New Castle, Portsmouth, Greenland and Hampton.^[3]

Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 36.7 square miles (95.1 km²), of which 12.6 square miles (32.6 km²) is land and 24.1 square miles (62.4 km²) is water, comprising 65.65% of the town.^[4] The town is located on the shore of the Atlantic Ocean and includes four of the nine islands known as the Isles of Shoals, which lie approximately 10 miles (16 km) out from the mainland. The highest point in Rye is the summit of Breakfast Hill, at 151 feet (46 m) above sea level, on the town's border with Greenland.

Demographics

As of the census^[5] of 2000, there were 5,182 people, 2,176 households, and 1,462 families residing in the town. The population density was 410.7 people per square mile (158.5/km²). There were 2,645 housing units at an average density of 209.6 per square mile (80.9/km²). The racial makeup of the town was 98.71% White, 0.14% African American, 0.08% Native American, 0.46% Asian, 0.10% from other races, and 0.52% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 0.62% of the population.

There were 2,176 households out of which 26.9% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 57.2% were married couples living together, 7.6% had a female householder with no husband present, and 32.8% were non-families. 27.2% of all households were made up of individuals and 12.0% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.35 and the average family size was 2.87.

In the town the population was spread out with 22.2% under the age of 18, 3.5% from 18 to 24, 25.3% from 25 to 44, 30.0% from 45 to 64, and 19.0% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 44 years. For every 100 females there were 90.8 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 88.2 males.

The median income for a household in the town was $63,152, and the median income for a family was $74,956. Males had a median income of $51,131 versus $34,327 for females. The per capita income for the town was $36,746. About 1.6% of families and 3.5% of the population were below the poverty line, including 5.4% of those under age 18 and 0.9% of those age 65 or over.

Politics

As of 2004, 1,345 registered voters in Rye were Democrats and 1,815 were registered Republicans. [1]

In August 2001, a group of townspeople from Newington and Rye made a plea in protest to the state legislature to consider allowing the town to secede from the state due to disproportionate property tax laws which had been passed by the state in 1997 to balance the state's education economy.^[6] The dispute was largely quelled by the lack of support for the movement, as only 52 of the town's 700+ (and 100 of Rye's 5,000) residents signed the petition. The property tax issue itself quieted as Governor Craig Benson announced in 2003 the property taxes would be cut almost by half by 2008.

Notable people

• Craig Benson, 79th governor of New Hampshire
• William Berry, first settler of Rye
• Dan Brown, author (The Da Vinci Code)^[7]
• Scott Brown, US senator from Massachusetts
• Judd Gregg, 76th governor of New Hampshire and US senator^[8]
• Herbert Philbrick, advertising executive and business owner in Rye; paid by the FBI to infiltrate the Communist Party USA in the 1940's (see: I Led Three Lives)
• Liv Tyler, actress and daughter of Steven Tyler^{[citation needed]}

In culture

Rye was the setting (in part) of the short story "Marjory Daw" by Thomas Bailey Aldrich (1836-1907).^{[citation needed]}

References

• Parsons, Langdon B. (1905). History of the Town of Rye New Hampshire. Concord, NH: Rumford Printing Co.

External links

• Town of Rye official website
• New Hampshire Economic and Labor Market Information Bureau Profile
• Rye Reflections senior journal (2005-2010)
• Fort Dearborn from American Forts Network

v t e Municipalities and communities of Rockingham County, New Hampshire, United States County seat: Brentwood City Portsmouth Towns Atkinson Auburn Brentwood Candia Chester Danville Deerfield Derry East Kingston Epping Exeter Fremont Greenland Hampstead Hampton Hampton Falls Kensington Kingston Londonderry New Castle Newfields Newington Newmarket Newton North Hampton Northwood Nottingham Plaistow Raymond Rye Salem Sandown Seabrook South Hampton Stratham Windham Villages Candia Four Corners East Candia East Derry East Hampstead Hampton Beach Newton Junction North Salem Seabrook Beach