Effingham is a town located in Eastern New Hampshire in the Lakes region of the state. It is situated in Eastern Carroll County and encompasses a total of 39.6 square miles, only 1.2 of which is land As of the 2010 United States Census, Effingham was home to 1,465 people.
Effingham was first settled by the Leavitt family, who hailed from nearby Hampton. Because of this, the early settlement was referred to as “Leavitt’s Town.” Governor Benning Wentforth officially granted the town in 1749, at which point it was renamed Effingham, after the Earls of Effingham whom Wentworth was related to. Effingham was incorporated as a town in 1778 and, for many years, was mostly a mill town, boasting multiple saw mills, grist mills and factories.
The town of Effingham boasts 1.2 square miles of water, which amounts to nearly 3 percent of its total area. Bodies of water in the area include Ossipee River, Ossipee Lake, Broad Bay, Berry Bay, Province Lake, Pine River, South River and Saco River. Effingham is also home to the first normal school (teacher’s college) in the state of New Hampshire.
Effingham is governed by an elected Board of Selectmen. The town boasts a full-time police department, a volunteer fire department and volunteer medical services. The top employers in the area include Lakeview Neurorehab, Thermalarm Products Inc. and Boyles Family Market. Children in Effingham attend school in the Governor Wentworth Regional School District, which also serves the nearby towns of Brookfield, New Durham, Ossipee, Tuftonboro and Wolfeboro.
For recreational activities and entertainment, Effingham residents can enjoy the town’s various golf courses, youth organizations and sports leagues, campgrounds, fishing and hunting areas, boating marinas, bicycle and snowmobile trails and cross country skiing. The town also has its own public library, which is open Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays.