Get an ADT-Monitored Home Security System in Alstead, New Hampshire

Alstead is a town in Cheshire County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 1,864 at the 2020 census. Alstead is house to Feuer State Forest.

The town was chartered by Massachusetts Governor Jonathan Belcher in 1735 as one in a line of nine forts meant to protect southwestern New Hampshire from Indian attack. It was established as “Newton” or “Newtown” in 1752 by Governor Benning Wentworth, but would be incorporated in 1763 as Alstead. It was named for Johann Heinrich Alsted, who compiled an to the lead encyclopedia that was popular at Harvard College. Settled just about 1764, Alstead would be one of the towns that wavered in its loyalty after the Revolutionary War. It fixed to link Vermont in April 1781, but at the insistence of George Washington, returned to New Hampshire authority upfront the bordering year.

Formerly known as “Paper Mill Village”, Alstead is the location of one of the state’s first paper mills. It was established in 1793 on the Cold River by Ephraim and Elisha Kingsbury. Paper was then a rare and costly product, made by chopping rags of linen and cotton cloth into pulp. The mill was destroyed by ember in 1880. While Alstead was basically an agricultural community, its streams and ponds taking into consideration powered a variety of little mills. A turbine water mill at East Alstead is probably the last of its type anywhere in the region.