This Moment in NHMA History —

2002 – 21 years ago…

In 2002, the Town of Derry opened the state’s first off-leash dog park. The dog park was established on a half-acre site of the town’s well field, already protected by a sixfoot chain-link fence. “This place is great.” remarked a visitor to the park, “Every town should have one.”

The Town of Waterville Valley, by a town meeting vote of 100 to 10, enacted one of New Hampshire’s “Dark Sky” ordinance in March. Designed to protect and enhance viewing of the night sky, the ordinance regulates outdoor lighting to reduce glare, save energy, and minimize light pollution. The Town’s ordinance applied to all new or replacement outdoor lighting within town limits.

The .gov (read “dot gov”) domain, was originally reserved for United States governmental entities only, but made available for state and local level governments as well. This meant that all state governments and programs, cities and towns and counties could register their name in the .gov domain. Domain names are the names we type in our web browser to locate certain web pages.

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Name the town that was originally granted in 1761, and regranted in 1769, and took its name from a relative of colonial governor Benning Wentworth. The town was incorporated in 1778.

Name That Town Or City

According to Wikipedia, this town is an active hub for Libertarians as part of the Free Town Project, an offshoot of the Free State Project. The town’s appeal as a favorable destination was due to its absence of zoning laws and a very low property tax rate.

When you have figured out the answer, email it to tfortier@nhmunicipal.org. The answer will appear in the May/June 2023 issue.

ANSWER TO PHOTO IN THE JANUARY/FEBRUARY ISSUE: The photo on page 47 in the last issue of New Hampshire Town and City magazine is that of the Town of Charlestown. Thanks to Diane Town in the Selectman’s in Charlestown who provided the photo and narrative for this trivia in the last issue.

Special thanks to Marshall Buttrick (Greenfield) who responded with the correct answer. Even Marshall exclaimed, “You made me work on this one!”