Rockingham County, New Hampshire

Rockingham County is a located in the  of. As of 2000, the population was 277,359. The traditional is, although there is a County Courthouse in both  and the adjacent. Both towns may be referred to as the county seat of Rockingham County..

History
The area that today is Rockingham County was first settled by Europeans moving north from the in  as early as. The government was linked tightly with Massachusetts until New Hampshire became a separate colony in, but Counties weren't introduced until.

Rockingham was identified in as one of five original counties for the colony. It is named for, who had been in 1765-1766. The county was organized in, with its County Seat at. In its area was reduced by the formation of  to the northwest. In the county court facilities were moved to the current county seat at.

Geography
According to the, the county has a total area of 2,056 (794 ). 1,800 km² (695 sq mi) of it is land and 256 km² (99 sq mi) of it (12.47%) is water.

Adjacent Counties

 * (north)
 * (northeast)
 * (south)
 * (west)
 * (northwest)

Demographics
As of the of 2000, there were 277,359 people, 104,529 households, and 74,320 families residing in the county. The was 154/km² (399/sq mi). There were 113,023 housing units at an average density of 63/km² (163/sq mi). The racial makeup of the county was 96.80%, 0.58% or , 0.18% , 1.11% , 0.04% , 0.38% from , and 0.92% from two or more races. 1.19% of the population were or  of any race. 94.3% spoke, 1.8% and 1.3%  as their first language.

There were 104,529 households out of which 35.90% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 59.50% were living together, 8.20% had a female householder with no husband present, and 28.90% were non-families. 22.00% of all households were made up of individuals and 7.00% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.63 and the average family size was 3.11.

In the county the population was spread out with 26.40% under the age of 18, 6.20% from 18 to 24, 32.80% from 25 to 44, 24.40% from 45 to 64, and 10.10% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 37 years. For every 100 females there were 97.40 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 95.40 males.

The median income for a household in the county was $58,150, and the median income for a family was $66,345. Males had a median income of $45,598 versus $30,741 for females. The for the county was $26,656. About 3.10% of families and 4.50% of the population were below the, including 5.00% of those under age 18 and 6.40% of those age 65 or over.

Cities and towns
Rockingham County Communities - Population, Land Area, and Population Density Rankings

Attractions
The is a  located in. Museum in is a collection of historic buildings from the seventeenth through nineteenth centuries. , located in, is an amusement park that opened in 1902. Also in Salem is racetrack, which features weekly, and , which claims to be a pre-Columbian collection of stone structures. was home to poet, who taught at nearby. His home, the, has been converted to a.

Rockingham County is also home to New Hampshire's entire seacoast and features several popular resort towns. has a boardwalk and. The town of features several undeveloped beaches such as  and contains New Hampshire's portion of the. contains the and the, the last nuclear plant opened in the United States.