Belmont is town located in Central New Hampshire. It is situated in Belknap County, in the Lakes Region of the state, and encompasses 32.3 square miles in area, 30.5 of which is land and 1.9 of which is water. As of the 2010 U.S. Census, the town is home to 7,256 residents.
Chartered in 1727, Belmont was originally a parish of the town of Gilmanton. It wasn?t until 1859 that the town was separated from Gilmanton by an act of legislature and officially incorporated. Ten years later, in 1869, the town adopted the name Belmont, in hopes of honoring financier August Belmont and garnering contributions from him. Unfortunately, he never acknowledged the honor.
In its early years, Belmont was primarily a mill town. In 1833, the town became home to a cotton and wool manufacturing plant. Later, that plant became the Belmont Hosiery Company and, though it closed in 1955, the building still stands today. It was renovated and now serves as a community center for residents in Belmont.
Belmont is home to parts of just two bodies of water: the Tioga River and the Merrimack River watershed. It is governed by an elected Board of Selectmen, which currently includes Chairman Jon Pike, Ronald Cormier Jr. and Ruth Mooney. These representatives are voted on every three years. The town has a full-time police department, as well as a full-time, on-call fire department and emergency medical services department. The biggest employers in the area include Wilcom Products, Shaw?s Supermarket, First Student bus services and Lakes Region Coca-Cola.
Children in the area attend schools in the Shaker Regional School District, which serves both Belmont and the neighboring town of Canterbury. In Shaker ISD, there are two elementary schools, one middle school and one high school. Belmont also has a parks and recreation department, which provides sports leagues, lessons, camps and more for local residents.