Coos County, New Hampshire

Coos County (pronounced with two syllables) is a  in the  of, including the whole of the state's northern. The two-syllable pronunciation is sometimes made visible using, notably in the Lancaster-based weekly newspaper The Coös County Democrat and on some county-owned vehicles.

Coos has the largest area of the New Hampshire counties, but as of 2000, by far the smallest population, at 33,111. The county seat is Lancaster. Major industries are and, with the once-dominant paper-making industry in sharp decline.

History
Coos County was separated from the northern part of and organized at , , although the  was later moved to , with an additional shire town at. The name Coos derives from the  term meaning crooked, the Indian name of the, which rises in the northernmost end of the county.

During the two units of troops of the  —  and  — were raised from the settlers of Coos. From the until 1835 the boundaries in the northern tip of the county (and New Hampshire itself) were disputed with  (which was soon to become part of the ), and for some years residents of the area formed the independent.

In the 1810 census there were 3,991 residents, and by 1870 there were nearly 15,000, at which point the entire county was valued at just under $USD 5 million, with farm productivity per acre comparing favorably with that of contemporary. Other early industries included and manufacturing, using 4,450 water  in 1870.

Geography
According to the, the county has a total area of 4,743 (1,831 ). 4,663 km² (1,800 sq mi) of it is land and 80 km² (31 sq mi) of it (1.70%) is water.

Much of its mountainous area is reserved as, wilderness, state parks and other public areas. These encompass most of the northern portion of the, including all the named s of the (though one, 's, lies about 200 feet from the ). 's peak is the highest in the Northeast.

Mountains of Coos County

 * (in the )

Adjacent counties

 * (east)
 * (southeast)
 * (southwest)
 * (west)
 * , (north)
 * , Canada (north)

Demographics
As of the of 2000, there were 33,111 people, 13,961 households, and 9,158 families residing in the county. The was 7/km² (18/sq mi). There were 19,623 housing units at an average density of 4/km² (11/sq mi). The racial makeup of the county was 98.05%, 0.12% or , 0.28% , 0.37% , 0.02% , 0.16% from , and 1.00% from two or more races. 0.61% of the population were or  of any race. 16.17% of the population speak at home.

There were 13,961 households out of which 28.10% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 52.30% were living together, 8.80% had a female householder with no husband present, and 34.40% were non-families. 28.80% of all households were made up of individuals and 14.10% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.33 and the average family size was 2.82.

In the county the population was spread out with 22.80% under the age of 18, 6.30% from 18 to 24, 26.70% from 25 to 44, 25.70% from 45 to 64, and 18.50% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 42 years. For every 100 females there were 95.60 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 92.60 males.

The median income for a household in the county was $33,593, and the median income for a family was $40,654. Males had a median income of $32,152 versus $21,088 for females. The for the county was $17,218. About 6.80% of families and 10.00% of the population were below the, including 10.70% of those under age 18 and 12.50% of those age 65 or over.

Cities, towns, villages, and unincorporated places*
* '' In New Hampshire, locations, grants, townships (which are different from towns), and purchases are unincorporated portions of a county which are not part on any town and have limited self-government (if any, as many are uninhabited). Villages are census divisions of towns or cities, but have no separate corporate existence from the municipality they are located in.''
 * (former county seat)
 * (village within Dixville township, best known of the small communities that cast the first dozens of votes in the national process)
 * * '' (location of summit and )
 * (former county seat)
 * (village within Dixville township, best known of the small communities that cast the first dozens of votes in the national process)
 * * '' (location of summit and )
 * (village within Dixville township, best known of the small communities that cast the first dozens of votes in the national process)
 * * '' (location of summit and )
 * (village within Dixville township, best known of the small communities that cast the first dozens of votes in the national process)
 * * '' (location of summit and )
 * (village within Dixville township, best known of the small communities that cast the first dozens of votes in the national process)
 * * '' (location of summit and )
 * (village within Dixville township, best known of the small communities that cast the first dozens of votes in the national process)
 * * '' (location of summit and )
 * (village within Dixville township, best known of the small communities that cast the first dozens of votes in the national process)
 * * '' (location of summit and )
 * * '' (location of summit and )
 * * '' (location of summit and )
 * * '' (location of summit and )
 * * '' (location of summit and )
 * * '' (location of summit and )
 * * '' (location of summit and )
 * * '' (location of summit and )
 * * '' (location of summit and )
 * * '' (location of summit and )
 * * '' (location of summit and )
 * * '' (location of summit and )
 * * '' (location of summit and )
 * * '' (location of summit and )
 * * '' (location of summit and )
 * * '' (location of summit and )
 * * '' (location of summit and )
 * * '' (location of summit and )
 * * '' (location of summit and )
 * * '' (location of summit and )
 * * '' (location of summit and )

Radio stations
(Compiled from Radiostationworld.com)
 * - 1230 AM, - Nostalgia
 * - 1490 AM, -  (CP)
 * WXBN - 93.7 FM, -  (CP)
 * - 94.9 FM, -  - "America's Superstation"
 * W251BD - 98.1 FM, -  - "Magic 104" - Rebroadcast of ,
 * - 99.1 FM, -  - "Free 99.1"
 * WRNH - 101.5 FM, -  (CP)
 * - 102.3 FM, - Eclectic Music Mix (//) - "Kiss 102.3"
 * WEVC - 107.1 FM, -

Television stations

 * - - Channel 18,
 * - - Channel 27, rebroadcast of

Coos County is part of the -. Cable companies carry Fox, ABC , CBS , NBC and select  and Portland stations.

Newspapers

 * The News and Sentinel - Weekly in
 * The Berlin Daily Sun
 * The Berlin Reporter - Weekly published Wednesdays from
 * Great Northwoods Journal - Weekly from, circulation 8,900