Keene is a city in New Hampshire in the United States and the administrative center of Cheshire County with 23,047 inhabitants (as of the 2020 census).
Keene has an area of 97.1 km², of which 0.6 km² (0.67%) is water and
96.5 km² is land. The highest point in the metropolitan area is Grays
Hill (423 m) in the north-west of the metropolitan area. Keene is mostly
within the Ashuelot River drainage basin, which flows into the
Connecticut River, but a small portion of the northwestern metropolitan
area is also in its direct drainage basin.
neighboring
communities
All distances are given as the crow flies between the
official coordinates of the 2010 census locations.
North: Surry,
3 miles
North: Gilsum, 3.6 miles
Northeast: Sullivan, 10.5 km
East: Roxbury, 7.5 miles
Southeast: Marlboro, 9 miles
South:
Swanzey, 2.1 miles
Southwest: Chesterfield, 15.3 km
West:
Westmoreland, 8.5 miles
town twinning
Einbeck, Germany, since 2002
The mean mean temperature in Keene ranges from -6.6 °C in January to 20.8 °C in July; the mean annual temperature is 7.8 °C. This puts Keene's average temperature about one degree above New Hampshire's average temperature. Snowfall between October and April peaks at around 42 cm in January, about the same as the mean snow depth in the USA. The daily sunshine duration is at the lower end of the value spectrum for the USA.
1890
The population of the city of Keene was 7,446.
1891
The city purchases a steam roller and the first macadam pavement is
laid.
1892
April 7.
The 18-bed Elliott City Hospital is
established on Main Street, now Elliott Hall at Keene State College. The
hospital was made possible by John Henry Elliott's donation of his home
and grounds. It later becomes known as Elliott Community Hospital.
The fire station is expanded.
Charles C. Beadle founds C.C.
Beadle Piano Co. in Keene.
Oct.
The 400th anniversary of
Columbus' arrival in the United States is celebrated.
1893
The
YMCA erects a three-story building on West Street. Classes in
penmanship, bookkeeping, business, and English are offered.
Peerless Insurance Company is founded, followed by the Peerless Casualty
Company in 1901.
1894
Harry Thayer Kingsbury acquires Wilkins
Toy Company; Kingsbury Machine Company division established in 1920.
1895
Keene Gas & Electric Light Company plant on Wilson Street
opens.
Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show with Annie Oakley performs
in Keene.
Walter and Windsor H. Goodnow open 12 department stores
in New England between 1895 and 1920.
1896
11 July.
The
first horse-drawn carriage appears in Keene. It was a maroon 700-pound
Duryea. It was part of the Barnum and Bailey Circus exhibit.
Nov.
23.
The first movie was shown in Keene; the area's first movie
theater, the Nickel Theater, opened in 1905.
1897
A country
club is established in Keene and golf is introduced.
1898
February 15.
The Spanish-American War begins. Soldiers from Keene
answer the call to duty for their country. Keene's unit is ordered to
Cuba twice, but each time the order is rescinded. The only battles
Keane's unit fought were against typhoid, dysentery, fever, and other
diseases in the poorly equipped camps of the time. The soldiers returned
home on the evening of September 13, and were greeted joyfully by 5,000
citizens. Bonfires were lit to signal the approach of the train.
Fireworks were set off and the soldiers received a hot supper in the
armory.
1899
February 28.
The city's first library was
completed. The Victorian mansion at Henry Colony was a gift of Edward
Carrington Thayer.
Apr.
Two naval cannons arrive in Keene and
are placed on either side of the Soldiers' Monument.
July.
The
city contracts with Keene Gas Light Company; 100 incandescent lamps are
installed.
A bike path is constructed.
Sprague & Carlton
establishes a furniture factory. Keene becomes known as the Porch Chair
Capital of America. Sprague & Carlton was one of the first local chair
manufacturers, producing one million rocking chairs each year.
1900
July.
Boston & Maine Railroad takes over management of the
Fitchburg Railroad and its Cheshire branch.
Sept.
Keene
Electric Railway (trolley) begins regular service on its route from
Keene to Marlborough.
Trinity Bicycle Works converted to
automobile manufacturing as Steamboat Company of America.
By
1900, the city had a 24-hour power supply.
The old bandstand at
the head of Main Street became dilapidated and was sold for one cent.
The population of Keene was 9,165.
1901
January-April.
An epidemic of scarlet fever from late January through April closed
schools, churches, libraries, and city hall. Twenty-two people died of
scarlet fever in the epidemic.
The Lincoln School was built.
Florence Hall of Keene becomes one of the first women hired by a New
England railroad office. 1902
Apr.
On April 21, 1775, to mark the
path taken by patriots in response to the battles at Lexington and
Concord, the Daughters of the American Revolution, Ashuelo Chapter,
installed a platted granite boulder at the corner of Main and Baker
Streets on the corner of Main and Baker Streets to mark the path taken
by patriots in response to the battle.
September.
A school for
nurses opened near Elliott City Hospital.
1903
May.
Denman
Thompson's play "The Old Homestead" was performed at City Hall, with
proceeds of $738.75 donated to Elliott City Hospital.
4 Jul.
City of Keene celebrates its 150th anniversary.
The first public
kindergartens opened at Tilden School and Elliott Street School.
9 September.
Repairs to City Hall are completed, a new stage and
scenic design are installed, and electric lighting is installed.
Sept.
The Edward Joslin Nurses Home opens to the public.
The
Daughters of the American Revolution take charge of moving 10 headstones
from the Old Main Street Cemetery to the Washington Street Cemetery.
1904
Apr.
Robertson Motor Company opens for business, selling
the state's first dump truck.
History of the Town of Keene by S.
G. Griffin published.
The Lodge of Elks Benevalent and Protective
order is established.
Keene Council of the Knights of Columbus
formed.
1905
January 9.
The Majestic Theater (Nickel
Theater) on Church Street opens.
The city's first garbage
collection begins.
Asteria Chapter of the Eastern Star is
organized.
Local 132 of the Amalgamated Clothing Workers of
America was organized at the Brattleboro Overalls factory in Keene.
1906
The Franklin School is built.
Keene's first auto show
is held in the auditorium of City Hall. In addition to cars and trucks,
airplanes were hung from the ceiling.
The Fraternal Order of
Eagles is established in Keene.
1909
April 9.
Keene Normal
School (now Keene State College) opens.
1910
Population of the
City of Keene is 10,065.
Central Square was frequently watered
during the hot summer months, throughout the week, and before Sunday
church services.
Central Square was paved.
1912
10 Oct.
Large reception for President Taft at Cheshire House, attended by
8,000-10,000 people.
1913
Daughters of the American Revolution
builds first meeting house in Keene.
September 10.
First
Talking Picture Exhibition opens at City Hall; October Dreamland Theater
presents pioneering talkie films.
Brown Tails and Gypsy Moths are
first discovered in Keene.
December.
The first Christmas tree
is installed in Central Square. The Christmas tree was a 50-foot spruce
with a small illuminated tree around it. Carols were sung and gifts were
distributed to poor children.
1911
April 14.
Denman
Thompson, author of "The Old Homestead," died at age 77.
A post
office opened on West Street.
It is reported that "bystanders on
the square on Sunday morning in 1911 counted 208 teams, 188 bicycles, 88
automobiles, and 9 motorcycles".
1912
Radios are introduced in
Keene.
In the fall, Harry B. Brown is credited with the first
airplane flight over Keene.
The first "blimp" departed from
Keene, but landed in the treetops soon after takeoff.
1913
"Minnie" the elephant visited Keene on a traveling roadshow and drew the
largest audience in Keene's history.
1914
Elliot Street School
renamed Wheelock School. The school was built in 1885.
Funds were
raised for the Belgian children at Christmas.
The first
Chautauqua was held in Keene.
1915
Jul.
Record rainfall of
11.9 inches.
Aug.
New Hampshire Defense League is formed and
holds a public meeting at City Hall.
Girl Scouts begin in Keene
with 12 girls.
1916
June 30.
The first transcontinental
telephone call is made from Keene (and New Hampshire) to California.
1917
June.
600 people from Keene serve in World War I. Of
these 600 men, 25 were killed in action.
A chapter of the
American Red Cross is organized in Keene.
1918
November 11.
World War I ended and 5,000 Keene citizens celebrated in Central Square.
An 11-week Spanish flu epidemic sickened thousands and killed 153
people in Keene.
1919
May 27.
Thirty veterans join to form
the American Legion Post, named Gordon Bissell Post No. 11 in honor of
James H. Bissell and Grant H. Gordon, the first Keeneans to give their
lives in the conflict.
The first male students enroll at Keene
Normal School.
1920
November 9.
The city dedicates a
flagpole at the end of Main Street as a war memorial.
Women gain
the right to vote. Five of the 15 city council members are women.
Keene Women's Club founded; by 1926 it is the largest club in the
state federation.
By 1920, Keene had nearly 100 miles of streets
(12.08 miles paved), 5 firemen (60 on call), 9 police officers, 8 church
buildings, 10 parks and playgrounds, an 80-bed hospital, and the widest
paved main street in the world (172 feet from curb to curb).
The
population of Keene was 11,210.
1921
Roosevelt School was
built on Washington Street.
The hospital was renamed Elliott
Community Hospital.
1922
The Rotary Club of Keene is
organized.
1923
Mary B. Dinsmoor donates a 13-acre parcel on
Maple Street (Dinsmoor Woods) to the city for public use. Faulkner &
Colony Manufacturing Company donates 8 acres adjacent to Dinsmoor Woods
to the city.
The Cheshire County Fish and Game Club is formed.
The Colonial Theater Block is built on Main Street, replacing the
Peleg Sprague House, which had been at this location since 1795.
The 1,070-seat Lachis Theater is opened by Demetrius P. Lachis.
The Country Club purchases the Spalding farm as its new site and sells
the old site on Arch Street to the High School Athletic Association.
1924
January.
The Colonial Theatre opens and Charles Baldwin
entertains about 6,000 people free of charge.
Feb.
Delegation
refuses to move the county farm from Westmoreland to Keene.
Nov.
The flagpole at the end of the plaza is dedicated as a war memorial.
New clubhouse opens on West Street at the Country Club.
Fresh
Air program for children sponsored by the Keene Women's Club begins.
Basketball becomes an official team sport at Keene High School.
The Keene High School yearbook, Salmagundi, is launched.
Chautauqua continues to be a major summer event.
1925
July 1.
President Calvin Coolidge passes through Keene.
6 Nov.
The
city flag is adopted.
Fuller Park is developed.
Enrollment
at Keene Normal School increases to 568 students.
New
streetlights are dubbed "White Way."
1926
Fire Department
burns down and is rebuilt.
The water department's total number of
meters increases to 2,587.
1927
28 Apr.
The city
appropriates funds for the construction of a new Simmons School to be
built in West Keene. The original Simmons School was located at 38 Park
Avenue.
Apr.
A forest fire breaks out in northern Keene.
Cheshire County Historical Society established.
July 27.
Charles Lindbergh flew over Keene.
November.
The Connecticut
River rises 29.4 feet.
An armory is completed on upper Washington
Street.
1928
September 21.
The first Keene Airport opens in
West Keene near Wyman Road.
The city of Keene is nicknamed "Elm
City" because of the many giant elm trees on the streets.
1929
December 12.
Keene's first traffic light is installed in Central
Square.
1930
Sunday baseball is declared illegal by Mayor
Carey.
St. Joseph School opens on Wilson Street.
The
population of Keene is 13,774.
As of the 2010 census, the city's population was 23,409. The average
population density was 242.3 people per 1 km². The racial makeup of the
city was 95.3% White, 0.6% African American, 0.2% Native American, 2%
Asian, 0.004% Hawaiian and Pacific Islander, and 0.5% from other races.
%, representatives of two or more races - 1.4%, Hispanics (of any race)
- 1.6%. The median age of a resident was 34 years.
The annual
Pumpkin Festival set the world record for the most Halloween pumpkin
lanterns.
sons and daughters of the town
John Dickson (1783–1852),
politician and New York State representative in the US House of
Representatives
Joseph Buffum (1784–1874), politician and New
Hampshire State representative in the US House of Representatives
Thomas M. Edwards (1795–1875), politician and New Hampshire State
representative in the US House of Representatives
Samuel Dinsmoor
junior (1799–1869), politician and governor of the state of New
Hampshire
Francis B. Brewer (1820–1892), politician and New York
State representative in the US House of Representatives
Samuel S.
Montague (1830–1883), railway civil engineer
George E. Adams
(1840–1917), politician and representative of the state of Illinois in
the US House of Representatives
William H. Parker (1847–1908),
politician and representative of the state of South Dakota in the US
House of Representatives
George H. Bridgman (1853–1925), physician
and diplomat
Robert Aliber (born 1930), economist
John Morton
(born 1946), biathlete
Alan G Lafley (born 1947), manager
Raymond
Buckley (born 1959), politician and Member of the New Hampshire House of
Representatives
Heather Wilson (born 1960), politician and
representative of the state of New Mexico in the US House of
Representatives
Personalities who worked on site
James Wilson
(1766–1839), politician and New Hampshire State representative in the US
House of Representatives; Lawyer in Keene
Samuel Dinsmoor
(1766–1835), US Congressman; was then President of Ashuelot Bank in
Keene
Clarence DeMar (1888–1958), track and field athlete and 1924
Olympic Games competitor