"This is the Twin Peaks of New Hampshire."
--The Muse
The first person to settle in what is now Dublin, New Hampshire was some possibly crazy person named William Thornton, who wandered outside the Peterborough, New Hampshire line and built a cabin here. He only stuck around for a couple of years before moving on. It was not until later in the 18th century that a bunch of people descended from Ulster Protestants set up camp in what became known as Monadnock No. 3, possibly the worst name for a town in history, or at least right up there.
Land speculation in the area was done by Masonian Proprietors for apparently no good reason. The entire area is a rocky wasteland, pretty but fairly useless for agriculture and livestock activities. Dublin is one of three towns with the highest elevations in New Hampshire with an elevation of 1439 feet and it rests at the foot of Mount Monadnock, with Lake Dublin providing the start for many of the hiking trails that lead up to the summit of the mountain. Regardless, the town established itself in 1775 and had over a thousand residents by 1800.
Over time it became known as a colony for writers and artists and the home for the Old Farmer's Almanac and Yankee Magazine, both still headquartered in the center of town. While the town struggled to maintain any real sense of agriculture and fell behind Harrisville, originally a part of Dublin that seperated in the 19th century, as industry began to develop, it developed into a summer community for artists and wealthy folks who sought it out as an idyllic setting.
As agriculture in the area died off and the raising of sheep became an area of interest, the town developed a new identity as a place where standards of education and culture were touted as reasons to flock to the area. Summer cottages became commonplace as those who split time between summers in New England and winters in the south began to see Dublin as a good place to base their northern operations.
As an artist's and writer's colony, Dublin was known as a home to painters Abbott H. Thayer, George deForest Brush and Joseph Lindon Smith. Poetess Amy Lowell was based in Dublin for some time and Mark Twain spent two summers in Dublin. For a time, prior to World War I, the British Embassy found a home in Dublin.
In more modern times, Dublin, Cheshire County, New Hampshire has become a more permanent year-round residence for people who once only spent summers here. Many of the residents are still artists, writers and home-based entrepreneurs. The population at the 2000 census was 1,476 persons. Twenty minutes to the west is Keene, New Hampshire and ten minutes to the east is Peterborough, New Hampshire with Nashua about forty minutes east.
In my experience living here since March of 2005, most of the people here are completely insane. Now that it has become the home of TheDeadGuy, the circle is likely complete.
Research on facts and things done at www.townofdublin.org