I bet you didn’t know these surprising and fun New Hampshire state house facts. With over two centuries of history, New Hampshire’s State House is a repository of fascinating stories and facts. This article will take readers on a journey through the stately building, exploring ten exciting and surprising facts. From the fossils to the flags, readers will get a unique look at this historic building and it’s amazing features. So, come with us and find out why the New Hampshire State House is such a special place.
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Table of contents
Why Are We Doing This?
One day, when my husband needed a new “Live free or die” hat, we drove to Concord, wandered around the State House and discovered tons of historical tidbits. Actually, we liked it so much that we started Two Travel Quests!
Previously, I never even had considered visiting a state house. I would have expected to find legislators, you know, “boring people”, like Alexander Hamilton (Now a Broadway hit). Never did I realize that state houses offer state history right at our finger tips!
Enjoy these fun facts and come visit our state house. Or check out your own!
Top Ten Fun New Hampshire State House Facts
1. A Liberty Bell you can Touch!
In front of the state house there is a full size replica of the Liberty Bell which you can walk around and touch, unlike the bell in Philadelphia. It is part of a collection of bells celebrating a United States Bond Drive “Save For Your Independence”. The Treasury Department donated a bell to each state, to be displayed for all its citizens. The plaque reads
In standing before this symbol you have the opportunity to dedicate yourself as did our founding fathers, to the principles of the individual freedom for which our nation stands.
Liberty Bell replica #42, Concord, NH
This particular liberty bell inspired us to find out more about the replicas and we are now on a quest to visit all 55 state liberty bell replicas.
2. Find Fossils!
A few weeks before our New Hampshire state house tour, we had visited Vermont and “discovered” fossils in that state house. Some of the marble both here and there got its start at a reef 480 million years ago, where present day Zambia is. This so-called Chazy Reef is the oldest reef in the world built by a community of organisms. A truly mind-blowing fact! Read more about this fascinating reef in the Smithsonian magazine.
3. John Stark Diorama
The visitor center has a set of dioramas about our John Stark, who was born in New Hampshire and who lived a very interesting life. He is New Hampshire’s most famous Revolutionary War Hero. When he was young, he was captured and later adopted by Abenaki warriors. After spending the winter with them, he returned to his New Hampshire home. Later, during the French and Indian war, he served as an officer in the British Army.
Afterwards, during the American Revolution, he served as a major-general in the Continental Army. He was instrumental in leading the fight at the Battle of Bunker Hill. Later, Stark and his men traveled to New Jersey to join Washington’s main army. They were with Washington in the battles of Princeton and Trenton in late 1776 and early 1777. He became widely known as the “Hero of Bennington” for his exemplary service at the Battle of Bennington in 1777.
In addition to all this, he married Elizabeth “Molly” Page in 1758, and had 11 children with her. Molly herself was pretty amazing too. During a smallpox epidemic, she served as a nurse to her husband’s troops and opened their home as a hospital during the war.
4. Live Free or Die.
Live Free or Die. is our famous state motto. Did you know that we adopted it from France?
Vivre libre ou mourir (translated to Live Free or Die)
popular motto of the French Revolution
The first New Hampshire native to use it was John Stark. General John Stark, then aged 81 years old, was invited to an anniversary reunion for the battle of Bennington. Sadly, he became ill just prior to the reunion and could not attend. To soften his absence, he sent his toast in a note. Part of that toast read
Live free or die: Death is not the worst of evils.
John Stark, 1809
Long before John Stark used it, this was a popular motto of the French Revolution. In 1945 the New Hampshire legislature adopted it as the state motto, after a suggestion by the Daughters of the American Revolution.
5. The Oldest!
These are the oldest continuously used legislative chambers in America! New Hampshire constructed this state house in 1819 using local NH granite. We have a lot of granite in New Hampshire, so that seems a reasonable choice to me.
6. Cheapskates!
New Hampshire pays its legislators a meager salary of $100 per year! Accordingly, you will have to be reasonably well-off to afford a seat on the New Hampshire legislature. I was really surprised to find out how small the pay is. It seems that New Hampshire does not value its senators and representatives like other states do.
7. HUGE Legislature
Notwithstanding the lousy pay, New Hampshire has the largest number of state Representatives in the US, a grand total of 400. In fact, the New Hampshire General Court (house plus senate) is the 4th largest English-speaking legislature in the world! (Behind the British Parliament, the United States Congress, and the Canadian Parliament ) Not bad for one of our smallest states.
8. Keeping it Balanced
While New Hampshire might have the largest number of state Representatives, it offsets it with one of the smallest numbers of state senators. The NH state senate is the fourth smallest of the nation, with only 24 members. (After Alaska, Delaware and Nevada).
9. Hall of Flags and Moon Rocks!
Originally titled Doric Hall, it now is a hall which brings New Hampshire’s military history alive. On display are 107 flag representing regiments and batteries from the Civil War, Spanish-American War, World War I and II and Vietnam. It even has memorabilia of our first American in Space, Alan B. Shepard who was born in Derry, NH. The exhibit displays tiny moon rocks from the Apollo 11 and 14 moon landings.
10. An Eiffel tower inside the Building
The Executive Council Chamber displays a crystal reproduction of the original model for the Statue of Liberty, presented to New Hampshire in 1986 for the 100th anniversary. It was created at Saint Gebain Glassworks in France.
Conclusion New Hampshire State House Facts
We hope you enjoyed these fun facts! Visiting the state house and taking the tour was like a walk through a magnificent museum. We recommend visiting and experiencing it for yourself! It is totally free and you can learn a lot.
Have you been to this state house? If so, what did surprise you most about it? If not, have you found out similarly surprising facts about other state houses? Have you been on any state house tours? Comment and let us know.
And if you are in Concord anyway, don’t miss the house of the only US President from New Hampshire: Franklin Pierce at the Pierce Mansion!
More Facts related to the New Hampshire State House and others.
In conclusion, here are some useful and interesting links about the New Hampshire state house and other state houses and capitol buildings
- New Hampshire State House Online Visitor Center. This site is designed to assist visitors to the State House, with information like the address and opening times of the state house. It gives information on the times for guided tours. A self guided tour is always available;
- General John Stark. Very interesting wikipedia page on the life and military career of John Stark;
- If you are ready to go explore nature, check out these National Park Sites in New Hampshire.
- Ten Surprising New Hampshire State House Facts New Hampshire people are cheapskates!
- Ten Surprising Vermont State House Facts Discover ancient fossils;
- The Maine State House With bells on;
- The Massachusetts State House Where the Boston Italian North End was born;
- The Old State House in Boston, site of the Boston Massacre.
- Connecticut Capitol Fun Facts Home of the so-called “Black Law”;
- Rhode Island State House: Ten Surprising Facts Discover its Dutch history;
- New York State Capitol. An expensive boondoggle;
- Alaska Capitol. Which animal guards it?
- Washington State Capitol. Women’s suffrage for the win!
- Breaking news: why Puerto Rico has a State House of its own!
- The US Virgin Islands have a Capitol Building in Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas. Voted the state Capitol building with the best view!
- Get inspired by our Travel Quests and start your own!
Where to Stay and Eat in Concord
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Comments
30 responses to “Top Ten Fun Facts about the New Hampshire State House”
I agree some of them are pretty interesting and they do make fun rooms and activities for the kids but some as you said in the first paragraph are pretty boring
Thank you, yorkshiremum! The ones we have visited so far (7 now!) have been ok, it will be interesting to see how the other 43 will turn out 🙂
THanks for stopping by and commenting!
I live nowhere near NH but I love state capitols, so thank you for all of this info!
Thank you, Lindsey! I hope you will make it to New Hampshire some day to experience it for yourself.
I’ll admit I don’t know much about state houses. But the architecture and the fact you can dig for fossils and touch a liberty bell has me intrigued with this one. I’m not so keen on the other activities though.
Thank you, Kim. I hope you will get to visit this state house one day! The Vermont state house has fossils too, but it is harder to touch their liberty bell, since it is put away somewhere in a dusty corner in a different building. Massachusetts is the worst, you can’t get to their liberty bell!
Anyway, thanks for stopping by and commenting!
I do love visiting state and manor houses. I feel they mostly underrated, although frequently they can offer an experience you cannot get anywhere else.
Yes, visiting these places has always been one of my favorite things to do when I travel. It gives such an inside look into history. It makes me dream and wonder about the people who walked there before me.
Thanks for stopping by and commenting!
Wow I did not know there was this much history in the state capital, and I didn’t realize there was so much to do. I love the idea of the old chambers .. to be a fly on the wall
Thank you, Crystal! Yes, I was very happily surprised the first time we visited a state capital and explored their state house / capitol. We are totally sold on our quest to visit all 50 of them now 😀
Thanks for stopping by and commenting!
The Liberty Bell!! I saw the one in Philadelphia before but didn’t know that the Treasury Department donated a bell to each state, I wonder if it’s like that for every state, where you can touch it, but the original one is the only one that can’t be touched.
YES! I hope you take us on the quest of the 55 other Liberty Bells – you can even hashtag it #libertybellquest on instagram/twitter.
John Stark’s life sounds so interesting, first representing the British Army and then as a major-general in the Continental Army – wow and he had 11 children too!
That’s so cool that the 1819 state house using NH granite is still in use, must be really strong granite to have lasted this long. WOW, only $100 as a salary for the legislators, how is that even legal, that’s such a small sum! That’s so interesting that although the pay isn’t great, they have the largest number of State Representatives!
The Hall of Flags sounds like quite a literal walk through history, are there little plaques detailing which one is for what?
Thank you so much for sharing these State House facts, it was so interesting to read. It sounds like you had an amazing time quite literally walking through history!
Sahara
We have only visited 7? of the liberty bells so far, and some are easy as New Hampshire was, others are impossible like in Massachusetts. I am looking forward to writing more about them and sharing all the stories. And I love your idea of the #LibertyBellQuest , I will happily steal that. I have been experimenting with #FeeTheLibertyBell for the Boston one, but I have not been spending enough time / energy / advertising 😀 on it.
I loved finding out about John Stark, I feel like he would justify a blog post all for him, but I am not sure whether I will ever get around to it. Some day maybe, after I write all the other blog posts in my head 🙂 Or not.
I think the $100 pay is ridiculous, and I would like to research and write more about it. The Hall of Flags has a printed “self guided tour” which give tons of info.
Glad you enjoyed my facts and I LOVE your long and thoughtful comments. Thank you!
Such interesting information! I wonder why they pay so low… is it to purposefully keep wealthy people in that position?!
I have wondered about that! It seems like they should start paying a more reasonable salary as to increase the diversity of the representatives. I have to admit it annoys me and it seems like it invites an “elite” group of people who might not always have the best interests of the “common people” in mind.
Thanks for stopping by and commenting!
How neat! I enjoyed reading this – New Hampshire and Vermont are the only states east of the Mississippi that I haven’t been to – I need to stop by!! Thanks for sharing!
Very welcome! I hope you will make it over here some day. We have lots of interesting history like these state houses and more. You might want to avoid the winter though, we have WAY too much snow! (Unless you are a skier, in that case, come during the winter 🙂
Thanks for stopping by and commenting!
Looks like fun, love the bell! I think our nearest equivalent in the UK is probably stately homes. I always love visiting those, not sure my hubby agrees though!
I have been to one stately home in the UK, and I loved it. Luckily my husband is as much a history buff as I am 😀
Thanks for stopping by and commenting!
Great post! It was very interesting to see pictures from a state and a country that I’m not from 🙂
The live free or die motto seems very inspiring and hey, I think I’ll go appreciate my country a little more too!
Thanks for sharing!
Layna
http://www.beautybeyondtwenty.com
Hi Layna,
THanks for stopping by and commenting! I checked out your blog and saw you are from Singapore. We visited last year and loved it, I hope to get back there some day.
Singapore and the USA are such different countries. I love how small and compact Singapore is and how the public transportation system actually works!
I hope that one day you will be able to visit our New Hampshire State House and see it for yourself
Wow, these are awesome facts. I need to take my kids to our state capital. I think it would be an amazing learning expeirence for them.
Yes, Lyndsey, go for it! I saw that your are homeschooling, so this would be the perfect field trip for them! You can combine it with studying government, figure out what all those people are doing in the state house. How did they get elected? Could they imagine working there and making laws?
Sorry, we homeschooled for many years so I get carried away by the possibilities ^^
Too bad that I didn’t know about the coolness of capitols back then!
Thanks for stopping by and commenting!
Wow! I did not know most of that. I’m especially intrigued by the idea of fossil hunting in the columns. I’ll have to do that with my daughter when she gets older.
https://www.melanie.city/what-is-adenovirus-inside-the-killer-cold/
Glad you found out some new fun facts about the new Hampshire state house!
Thank you for stopping by and commenting.
Love this! I live in Manchester 🙂
Sweet! So you have no excuse not to visit our state house some day and enjoying its history 🙂
Thanks for stopping by and commenting!
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