Jaffrey is a town in Cheshire County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 5,476 at the 2000 census.
The primary settlement in town, where over 51% of the population resides, is defined as the Jaffrey census-designated place (CDP) and is located along the Contoocook River at the junction of U.S. Route 202 and New Hampshire Routes 124 and 137.
First granted in 1736 to soldiers from Rowley, Massachusetts, returning from the war in Canada, the town was known as "Rowley-Canada". In 1749, the town was re-chartered by Colonial Governor Benning Wentworth as "Monadnock No. 2", sometimes called "Middle Monadnock" or "Middletown". It was one of the first towns established under the New Hampshire proprietors' purchase of undivided lands under the Masonian claim.
Settled about 1758, the town was regranted in 1767. It would be incorporated in 1773 by Governor John Wentworth, and named for George Jaffrey, member of a prominent Portsmouth family. Jaffrey's son was a life trustee of Dartmouth College, and designer of the official college seal. The Contoocook River provided water power for mills. Village prosperity would be expressed in fine antique architecture, including the Town Meetinghouse, built in 1775.
The primary settlement in town, where over 51% of the population resides, is defined as the Jaffrey census-designated place (CDP) and is located along the Contoocook River at the junction of U.S. Route 202 and New Hampshire Routes 124 and 137.
First granted in 1736 to soldiers from Rowley, Massachusetts, returning from the war in Canada, the town was known as "Rowley-Canada". In 1749, the town was re-chartered by Colonial Governor Benning Wentworth as "Monadnock No. 2", sometimes called "Middle Monadnock" or "Middletown". It was one of the first towns established under the New Hampshire proprietors' purchase of undivided lands under the Masonian claim.
Settled about 1758, the town was regranted in 1767. It would be incorporated in 1773 by Governor John Wentworth, and named for George Jaffrey, member of a prominent Portsmouth family. Jaffrey's son was a life trustee of Dartmouth College, and designer of the official college seal. The Contoocook River provided water power for mills. Village prosperity would be expressed in fine antique architecture, including the Town Meetinghouse, built in 1775.
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