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

Charlestown is a town in Sullivan County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 4,806 at the 2020 census, down from 5,114 at the 2010 census. The town is home to Hubbard State Forest and the headquarters of the Student Conservation Association.

The primary village in town, where 1,078 people resided at the 2020 census, is defined as the Charlestown census-designated place (CDP) and is located along New Hampshire Route 12. The town then includes the villages of North Charlestown, South Charlestown and Hemlock Center.

The area was first granted upon December 31, 1735, by colonial officer Jonathan Belcher of Massachusetts as “Plantation No. 4”, the fourth in a pedigree of townships upon the Connecticut Rivers. Settled in 1740, it was the northernmost township, and its 1744 stockade now known as Fort at Number 4 became a strategic military site. On the evening of May 2, 1746, Seth Putnam united Major Josiah Willard and several soldiers as they escorted women to milk the cows. As they approached the barn, Natives hiding in the bushes opened fire, killing Putnam, “the first victim of [Native] vengeance”.^: 26–27 In 1747, during King George’s War, the fort was besieged for three days by a force of French and Native people. Captain Phineas Stevens and 31 militia stationed at the fort repelled the attack, with their realization becoming well-known.