Coös County, New Hampshire


Coös County or Coos County is the northernmost county in the U.S. state of New Hampshire. As of the 2020 census, the population was 31,268, making it the least-populated county in the state. The county seat is Lancaster.
Coös County is part of the Berlin, NH–VT Micropolitan Statistical Area. It is the only New Hampshire county on the Canada–United States border, south of the province of Quebec, and thus is home to New Hampshire's only international port of entry, the Pittsburg–Chartierville Border Crossing. The only city in Coös County is Berlin, with the rest of the communities being towns, or unincorporated townships, gores and grants.
Major industries in Coös County include forestry and tourism, with the once-dominant paper-making industry in sharp decline. The county straddles two of the state's tourism regions. The southernmost portion of the county is part of the White Mountains Region and is home to Mount Washington. The remainder of the county is known as the Great North Woods Region, or known locally as the North Country.

Toponymy

The name Coös, the diaeresis indicating a disyllable, derives from a Cowasuck word meaning "small pines". The county government sometimes respects the diaeresis but sometimes omits it, using it on only some of its vehicles, for example. The Lancaster-based weekly newspaper The Coös County Democrat is one of the local businesses that remains loyal to the traditional spelling.

History

Coös County was separated from the northern part of Grafton County, New Hampshire, and organized at Berlin on December 24, 1803, although the county seat was later moved to Lancaster, with an additional shire town at Colebrook.
During the American Revolutionary War, two units of troops of the Continental Army — Bedel's Regiment and Whitcomb's Rangers — were raised from the settlers of Coös. From the Treaty of Paris of 1783 until 1835, the boundaries in the northern tip of the county were disputed with Lower Canada, and for some years residents of the area formed the independent Republic of Indian Stream.
In the 1810 census, there were 3,991 residents, and by 1870 there were nearly 15,000, at which point the entire county was valued at just under, with farm productivity per acre comparing favorably with that of contemporary Illinois. Other early industries included forestry and manufacturing, using 4,450 water horsepower in 1870.

Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau, the county has a total area of, of which is land and is water. It is the largest county in New Hampshire by area, and borders both Vermont and Maine, as well as Canada.
Much of its mountainous area is reserved as national forest, wilderness, state parks and other public areas; these encompass most of the northern portion of the White Mountains, including all the named summits of the Presidential Range. Mt. Washington's peak is the highest in the Northeast. The Cohos Trail runs the length of the county.
The principal state highways in Coös County are New Hampshire Route 16, which runs mostly parallel to the Maine state line and through the city of Berlin, and New Hampshire Route 26, which traverses the Great North Woods from Vermont Route 102 southeast to Maine Route 26 towards Portland. The two major U.S. Highways are U.S. Route 2, which roughly bisects the county from Lancaster to the Oxford County line, and U.S. Route 3, which runs from Carroll in the south to the Pittsburg–Chartierville Border Crossing, where it continues as Quebec Route 257.
Coös County is the least populated of all New Hampshire counties, and the only one with significant amounts of unincorporated land; over half of the municipal-like entities are unincorporated townships, gores, or grants, a rarity in New Hampshire, where nearly all of the land is incorporated as towns or cities. The population of these unincorporated territories is minuscule; collectively they account for less than 1% of the population of the county, with only three reporting populations in the double digits for recent censuses. Approximately 1/3 of the population lives in Berlin, the only city, most populous municipality, and economic hub. Lancaster serves as the county seat.

Mountains

2020 census

As of the 2020 census, the county had a population of 31,268. The median age was 50.4 years. 16.3% of residents were under the age of 18 and 26.1% of residents were 65 years of age or older. For every 100 females there were 103.1 males, and for every 100 females age 18 and over there were 102.2 males age 18 and over.
The racial makeup of the county was 92.6% White, 1.7% Black or African American, 0.3% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.6% Asian, 0.0% Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander, 0.5% from some other race, and 4.3% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino residents of any race comprised 2.1% of the population.
30.9% of residents lived in urban areas, while 69.1% lived in rural areas.
There were 13,908 households in the county, of which 21.0% had children under the age of 18 living with them and 24.7% had a female householder with no spouse or partner present. About 32.8% of all households were made up of individuals and 16.0% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older.
There were 20,444 housing units, of which 32.0% were vacant. Among occupied housing units, 71.6% were owner-occupied and 28.4% were renter-occupied. The homeowner vacancy rate was 2.6% and the rental vacancy rate was 10.2%.
Race / Ethnicity Pop 2000Pop 2010% 2000% 2010
White alone 32,33731,80128,62997.66%96.20%91.56%
Black or African American alone 361414940.10%0.42%1.57%
Native American or Alaska Native alone 88107840.26%0.32%0.26%
Asian alone 1221651930.36%0.49%0.61%
Pacific Islander alone 1130.00%0.00%0.00%
Other race alone 1322710.03%0.06%0.22%
Mixed race or Multiracial 3134171,1220.94%1.26%3.58%
Hispanic or Latino 2014016720.60%1.21%2.14%
Total33,11133,05531,268100.00%100.00%100.00%

2010 census

As of the census of 2010, there were 33,055 people, 14,171 households, and 8,879 families residing in the county. The population density was. There were 21,321 housing units at an average density of. The racial makeup of the county was 96.9% white, 0.5% Asian, 0.4% American Indian, 0.4% black or African American, 0.3% from other races, and 1.4% from two or more races. Those of Hispanic or Latino origin made up 1.2% of the population.
Of the 14,171 households, 25.3% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 48.5% were married couples living together, 9.2% had a female householder with no husband present, 37.3% were non-families, and 30.3% of all households were made up of individuals. The average household size was 2.23 and the average family size was 2.72. The median age was 46.4 years.
18.9% of the population were under the age of 18, 6.7% were from age 18 to 24, 22.1% were from 25 to 44, 32.9% were from 45 to 64, and 19.4% were age 65 or older. The median age was 46.4 years. For every 100 females there were 103.4 males, and for every 100 females age 18 and older, there were 101.8 males.
During the period 2011–2015, the largest self-reported ancestry groups in the county were 39.3% French or French Canadian, 16.9% Irish, 14.2% English, 7.2% "American", 5.5% Italian, 4.9% German, and 3.6% Scottish.
During 2011–2015, the estimated median annual income for a household in the county was $42,312, and the median income for a family was $55,385. Male full-time workers had a median income of $41,934 versus $34,859 for females. The per capita income for the county was $24,546. About 9.9% of families and 14.1% of the population were below the poverty line, including 21.7% of those under age 18 and 8.2% of those age 65 or over.

Politics and government

Coös County has supported the winner of the presidential election in all but three elections since 1892. The exceptions were 1968, 2004, and 2020, when it supported Hubert Humphrey over Richard Nixon, John Kerry over George W. Bush, and Donald Trump over Joe Biden, respectively.

County Commission

The executive power of Coös County's government is held by three county commissioners, each representing one of the three commissioner districts within the county.
DistrictCommissionerHometownParty
1Robert ThebergeBerlinRepublican
2Thomas BradyJeffersonRepublican
3Raymond GormanColebrookRepublican

In addition to the County Commission, there are five directly elected officials: they include County Attorney, Register of Deeds, County Sheriff, Register of Probate, and County Treasurer.
OfficeName
County AttorneyJohn McCormick
Register of DeedsLeon Rideout
County SheriffBrian Valerino
Register of ProbateTerri Peterson
County TreasurerSuzanne Collins