Tilton is a town in the US state of New Hampshire. It is located on the Winnipesaukee River in Belknap County. The US The Census Bureau recorded a population of 3,962 as of the 2020 census. Also part of Tilton is the village of Lochmere.
In 1748 the land was first granted to owners after interested parties
sent a petition to King George II. The first settlement was at Union
Bridge, in the Lochmere Section, or today's Laconia Road. Sergeant John
Sanborn built the first permanent house there in 1765; it stood about
4,000 feet north of Tilton on the road that leads from the village to
Sanbornton Square. In 1766 the first grist mill was built.
Since
1763 a bridge has crossed the Winnipesaukee, which was part of the
connecting road from Canterbury to Sanbornton. By 1775 at the latest,
the first sawmill was established with Old Morrison or Darling
privilege, and in 1789 the first shop. He stood where the Town Hall is
today. A school was founded in 1845 with 76 students, but it burned down
in the 1860s. It was a Methodist school called the New Hampshire
Conference Seminary. From 1852, girls were also accepted, and the
students were prepared for service in the church. It was moved to the
other side of the river, to the spot where the village school is still
located today. In the 1880s the brick building was replaced by Knowles
Hall. Until 1903, when the school was named Tilton Seminary, it was run
as a girls' college; since 1923 the school has been called the Tilton
School.
The residents of Sanbornton Bridge, which was built in
1762, tried to become their own town from 1850, i.e. to gain
self-government. But activities came to nothing, even when in 1860 a
meeting decided to divide the city. In 1869 another meeting took place.
On May 18, 150 of the delegates voted for partition and 105 against.
Governor Onslow Stearns agreed on June 30, 1869. So a separate town was
created under the name Tilton.
The town was named after Nathaniel
Tilton, who ran an iron foundry and the first hotel, the Dexter House.
He had gone to California during the gold rush and returned rich. His
great-grandson Charles E. Tilton, the city's wealthiest citizen, started
the initiative. Tilton Hall, the former country house built in 1861, now
houses the Lucian Hunt Library. The Helene Grant Daly Art Center emerged
from the coach house, which was renovated in 1980. Charles Tilton built
a monument to his ancestors 50 m above the Winnipesaukee River, as well
as a mausoleum in which he was buried in 1901. He floated plans to
incorporate neighboring Northfield, but local residents successfully
resisted. Tilton built the town hall, paved the streets, built two
bridges, and put in numerous statues, some of which still stand today.
He had a statue erected in memory of Chief Squantum, who had
maintained friendly relations with the settlers at Plymouth Rock in
1620. The statue was one of about 20 works from the J.L. Mott Iron Works
in New York. Squantum has been restored and is now on the corner of Main
Street and Park Street in Vest Pocket Park.
Tilton is located at coordinates 43°28′16″N 71°34′35″W. According to the United States Census Bureau, Tilton has a total area of 31.05 km², of which 28.84 km² is land and (7.12%) 2.21 km² is water.
According to the 2010 census, there were 3,567 people, 1,462
households, and 888 families residing in the area. There were 1,845
housing units, of which 383 (20.8%) were vacant. Of the vacant units,
212 were seasonal or recreational. The racial makeup of the town was
96.2% White, 0.4% African American, 0.2% Native American, 1.4% Asian,
0.0% Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander, 0.2% from other races, and
1.7% from two or more races. 1.1% of the population is Hispanic or
Latino of any race.
Of the 1,462 households, 25.2% had children
under the age of 18 living with them, 46.4% were headed by a married
couple only, 9.5% were headed by a woman without a husband, and 39.3%
were non-household heads. Individual households accounted for 30.2% of
all households, and 11.6% of all households were headed by a single
person aged 65 or older. The average household size was 2.28 persons and
the average family size was 2.83 persons.
17.9% of the town's
population is under the age of 18, 7.4% is between 18 and 24, 24.5% is
between 25 and 44, 30.4% is between 45 and 64, and 20.0% is over 65. The
median age was 45.2 years. There were 106.2 men for every 100 women;
106.2 men for every 100 women aged 18 and older.
The estimated
median annual household income from 2011-2015 was $54,276 and the median
household income was $59,754. The median income for male full-time
workers was $40,132, compared to $36,715 for females. The town's per
capita income was $28,510. 8.3% of the population and 4.6% of families
were below the poverty line; 16.6% of the population under age 18 and
6.4% of the population over age 65 were in poverty.