12 STATION BULLETIN 346 



Subdivisions of the State 



The entire area of the state is divided into ten counties. Each is 

 a corporate body and inchides all the places and towns within its 

 borders as fixed by public law.-' As in other New England states, 

 the county is much less important than the town as an administrative 

 agency, its functions being coniined principally to welfare and judicial 

 matters. For these two functions, however, the county has come to 

 be the most important unit of local government. 



The origin of the present ten counties is best reviewed in the 

 following footnote appearing on page 70, Revised Stattites, 1842: 



The state was first divided into counties by the act of 9th George 

 III, (March 19, 1771). They were five in number: Rockingham, Straf- 

 ford, Hillsborough, Cheshire and Grafton. They were so called from 

 the names of the Enjlish ministry then in power. Coos was formed 

 from Grafton, December 24, 1803. Merrimack was set off from Rock- 

 ingham and Hillsborough, July 1, 1823. Sullivan was set off from Che- 

 shire, July 25, 1827. Belknap and Carroll were set off from Strafford, 

 Deceniber 23, 1840. 



An act was passed by the state legislature June 16, 1791,"^ which 

 defined the boundaries of the orginal five counties. Since the Revised 

 Statutes, 1842, only five changes in county boundaries have been 

 made, the last in 1897. 



The entire area of the state is further subdivided into towns. 

 cities, and unincorporated places. There are 15 imincorporated places 

 located in the northern part of the state mostly in the region of the 

 White Mountain National Forest. They are virtually uninhabited. 

 The terms "towns" and "municipalities" are commonly used inter- 

 changeably in New Hampshire to include the 223 towns and 11 cities, 

 each of which is a municipal corporation and a legal and distinct 

 body politic. 



All provisions of statutes, now made or hereafter enacted relating 

 to towns, shall be understood to apply to cities; and all provisions relat- 

 ing to the selectmen and town clerks of towns shall be construed to 

 apply to the mayor and aldermen and clerks of cities, respectively, un- 

 less a different intention appears. 5 



Thus the word "towns" as used in the statutes usually includes all 

 of the 234 municipalities. 



Although the state grants rather broad powers of home rule to 

 these units of government, the enumerated powers and duties are 

 established by statute which furthermore provides for the election or 

 appointment of certain of^cers for administering the numerous serv- 

 ices for which they are responsible. New Hampshire cities have not 

 been extended broader powers for home rule than the town except 

 such as have been granted through the city charter, but rather 



All cities now or hereafter incorporated shall have, exercise and en- 

 joy all the rights, immunities and privileges of, and shall be subject to 



^Revised Laws, 1941, Chapter 28. 



* Laws of New Hampsliire, 1792. 



= Revised Laws, 1941, Chapter 62, Section 2. 



