42°49′00″N 71°29′37″W / 42.8166°N 71.4935°W / 42.8166; -71.4935
118-613: The Boston Consolidated TRACON (A90) is located in Merrimack, New Hampshire . A90 opened in 2004 after 8 years of development. The A90 function transferred to the new Boston Consolidated TRACON on February 22, 2004. The MHT function transferred over on March 7, 2004. Manchester TRACON used to be located at Manchester Airport below the old ATCT. Boston TRACON used to be located at the Logan International Airport Control Tower before being consolidated. The new facility
236-475: A town meeting form of government, as many still are today. Towns originally were the only form of incorporated municipality in New England. The city form of government was not introduced until much later. Boston , for instance, was a town for the first two centuries of its existence. The entire land areas of Connecticut and Rhode Island had been divided into towns by the late 18th century, and Massachusetts
354-688: A town meeting , an assembly of eligible town residents. The great majority of municipal corporations in New England are based on the town model; there, statutory forms based on the concept of a compact populated place are uncommon, though elsewhere in the U.S. they are prevalent. County government in New England states is typically weak, and in some states nonexistent. Connecticut , for example, has no county governments , nor does Rhode Island . Both of those states retain counties only as geographic subdivisions with no governmental authority, while Massachusetts has abolished eight of fourteen county governments so far. Counties serve mostly as dividing lines for
472-658: A CDP which is coextensive with the entire town. CDPs are only recognized within towns, not cities. Because the primary role of CDPs is to establish "place" data for communities located in unincorporated areas, a CDP cannot be within an incorporated place. Since the Census Bureau recognizes New England cities as incorporated places, a CDP cannot be within a city. Data users from outside New England should be aware that New Englanders usually think in terms of entire towns (i.e., MCD data), making CDP data of marginal local interest. Since virtually all territory in New England outside of Maine
590-455: A borough or city can span more than one town. In practice, though, most cities in Connecticut today do not function any differently from their counterparts elsewhere in New England. See the section below on boroughs and villages for more background on this topic. There are far fewer cities in New England than there are towns, although cities are more common in heavily built-up areas, and most of
708-479: A borough, a city can cover only a portion of a town rather than being coextensive with the town. This is rare today—only one or two examples remain—but it was more common in the past. At least one borough historically spanned more than one town: the borough of Danielsonville originally laid over parts of Killingly and Brooklyn , until the Brooklyn portion petitioned to be reorganized as a fire district and concurrently
826-627: A charter establishing that the land from Pennichuck Brook to the Souhegan River became the Town of Merrymac. At that time fewer than 50 families lived here. Pawtucket , Nashaway and Pennacook people camped along the banks of the Merrimack and Souhegan rivers. The Pennacooks were greatest in numbers, and their chief, Passaconaway, was the ruler of all the tribes in the Merrimack Valley. On June 5, 1750,
944-474: A city, it is coextensive and consolidated with the Town of Hartford; governed by a single governmental entity with the powers and responsibilities of the Town being carried out by the entity referred to as the City of Hartford. In legal theory though not in current practice Connecticut cities and boroughs could be coextensive (covering the same geography as the town) without being consolidated (a single government); also
1062-470: A direct counterpart to the New England town. New England towns overlie the entire area of a state, similar to civil townships in other states where they exist, but they are fully functioning municipal corporations , possessing powers similar to cities and counties in other states. New Jersey's system of equally powerful townships, boroughs, towns, and cities is the system which is most similar to that of New England. New England towns are often governed by
1180-420: A fair number of unincorporated, named communities that lie within the incorporated territory of a municipality. Connecticut is one of two New England states to have any type of incorporated general-purpose municipality below the town level, namely incorporated boroughs (Vermont has incorporated villages). There are nine remaining in the state, with one, Naugatuck , having consolidated with the town. Additionally,
1298-452: A few cases in Maine where a township or gore does not border any other unorganized land, it is treated as its own MCD rather than being folded into a larger UT. In theory, a CDP could probably be defined within an MCD representing an unorganized area. Due to the extremely sparse population in most such areas, however, there are few if any cases in which the Census Bureau has actually done so. For
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#17330855634521416-409: A grant of land to include a part of this region. This was in 1662, and in the autumn of that year the court acceded to the request, and the aged sachem and his associates were granted a strip of country a mile and a half wide on both banks of the Merrimack at this section of the river. Although the boundaries of this grant are not specifically known today, it is probable that the chieftain held at least
1534-490: A historical example in New Hampshire, see Plantation number four . Most areas of New England never developed municipal forms based on the compact populated place concept. This contrasts with states with civil townships, which typically have extensive networks of villages or boroughs that carve out or overlay the townships. Two of the New England states do have general-purpose municipalities of this type, however, to at least
1652-470: A limited extent. Connecticut has incorporated boroughs , and Vermont has incorporated villages . Such areas remain a part of their parent town, but assume some responsibilities for municipal services within their boundaries. In both states, they are typically regarded as less important than towns, and both seem to be in decline as institutions. In recent decades, many boroughs and villages have disincorporated, reverting to full town control. The term "village"
1770-474: A list of all New England towns and other town-level municipalities, see the following articles: Note: All population statistics are from the 2020 United States census . Connecticut contains 169 incorporated towns. Put into terms that are equivalent to the other New England states, 20 are cities/boroughs and 149 are towns. (As discussed in the Cities section of Other types of municipalities in New England above,
1888-517: A map of the Northeast United States will be displayed that shows all traffic landing or departing at Boston or Boston Satellite fields. This allows the controllers to look up at the screen and quickly tell if there is a rush about to come. Also commonly displayed is the IDS5 display. This information is also shown on a small touch-screen above each controller's station. Also, commonly displayed above
2006-461: A normal-sized town, these areas were known by a variety of names, including gores , grants, locations, purchases, surpluses, and strips. Sometimes these areas were not included in any town due to survey errors (which is the technical meaning of the term "gore"). Sometimes they represent small areas that were left over when a particular region was carved into towns, not large enough to be a town on their own. Some appear to have simply been granted outside
2124-550: A part of a town — within Barnstable, the seven villages correspond to districts for fire, water, sewer and elementary schooling, for instance. (In Maine and New Hampshire, the term "village corporation" is used for a type of special-purpose district.) Many villages also are recognized as places by the United States Postal Service (some villages have their own post offices , with their names used in mailing addresses) or
2242-487: A particular area. This was very common in the mid to late 18th century—although there were towns which predated that period and were not part of this process in southeastern New Hampshire, such as Exeter . Once there were enough residents in a town to formally organize a town government, no further action was necessary to incorporate. This practice can lead to inconsistencies in the dates of incorporation for towns in this region. Dates given in reference sources sometimes reflect
2360-520: A particular municipality. All municipalities titled as cities are classified as incorporated places, even if their population-distribution pattern is no different from that of a typical town; towns are never classified as incorporated places, even if they are thoroughly built up. The ambiguity over whether certain municipalities in Massachusetts should be classified as cities or towns, and the Census Bureau's inconsistent handling of these municipalities (see
2478-483: A portion of the current town of Merrimack. European settlers first came to the area in the late 17th century when the area was still in dispute between the Province of New Hampshire and Massachusetts Bay Colony . The town of Merrimack was originally part of the 1673 Dunstable grant. On June 25, 1734, Massachusetts granted the town organization as "Naticook", which was made up of Litchfield and part of Merrimack. In 1746
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#17330855634522596-413: A result, Maine has developed more of an infrastructure for administration of unincorporated and unorganized areas than the other New England states. The existence of this fallback probably explains why Maine has had significantly more towns disincorporated over the years than any other New England state. There have been numerous instances of towns in Maine disincorporating despite populations that numbered in
2714-537: A seven-member town council . This form of government was adopted by a ballot measure on May 25, 2006. More information on Merrimack's local government can be found at Charter commission website . Each March, the town conducts two deliberative sessions (school and general) to decide what warrant articles will be on the Town General Election ballot in April, one of which is always election of town officers, and another
2832-513: A similar purpose to MCDs in other states in terms of governmental function or civic-identity importance. New England towns are classified as MCDs not because they are not "incorporated" but rather the data that the census gathers on places is analyzed based on different models (those of compact settled places and open rural places) that is not well represented by the New England Town system of organization. In order to better fit their own purposes,
2950-412: A single compact populated place. Plantations in Maine are similarly classified as MCDs. That New England towns serve, in essence, the same function as incorporated places in other states, but are not treated as incorporated places by the Census Bureau, can be a source of confusion. The Census classifications should not be understood to imply that New England towns are not incorporated, or necessarily serve
3068-423: A town and a city have become blurred. Since the early 20th century, towns have been allowed to modify the town meeting form of government in various ways (e.g., representative town meeting , adding a town manager ). In recent decades, some towns have adopted what effectively amount to city forms of government, although they still refer to themselves as towns. As a practical matter, one municipality that calls itself
3186-719: A town and another that calls itself a city may have exactly the same governmental structure. With these changes in town government, a reluctance to adopt the title of city seems to have developed, and few towns have officially done so since the early 20th century. In Massachusetts, nine municipalities ( Agawam , Barnstable , Braintree , Franklin , Palmer , Randolph , Southbridge , West Springfield and Weymouth ) have adopted Mayor-Council or Council-Manager forms of government in their home rule charters, and are therefore considered to be legally cities, but nevertheless continue to call themselves "towns". They are sometimes referred to in legislation and other legal documents as "the city known as
3304-426: A town disincorporated or a plantation surrendered its organization). The remaining eight counties contain significant amounts of unincorporated/unorganized territory. Most of these areas are in very sparsely populated regions, however. Only about 1.3% of the state's population lives in areas not part of a town, city, or plantation. (Since the 2000 Census, two towns, Madrid and Centerville, have disincorporated. Thus, at
3422-557: A town meeting as its legislative body; instead, a city's legislative body is an elected representative body, typically called the city council or town council or board of aldermen . City governments are typically administered by a mayor (and/or city manager ). In common speech, people often generically refer to communities of either type as "towns", drawing no distinction between the two. The presence of incorporated boroughs in Connecticut and incorporated villages in Vermont has influenced
3540-460: A unique type of entity called a plantation . Beneath the town level, Connecticut has incorporated boroughs , and Vermont has incorporated villages . In addition to towns, every New England state has incorporated cities. However, cities are treated in the same manner as towns under state law, differing from towns only in their form of government. Most cities are former towns that changed to a city form of government because they grew too large to have
3658-475: A very rudimentary organization that does not rise to the level of an organized general-purpose municipal government (e.g., a town clerk 's office exists for the purpose of conducting elections for state or federal offices). In general, unorganized areas fall into one of the three categories below. During the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, as town boundaries were being drawn up, small areas would sometimes be left over, not included in any town. Typically smaller than
Boston Consolidated TRACON - Misplaced Pages Continue
3776-560: Is 63,000 square feet (5,900 m). A Terminal Radar Approach Control, or TRACON , is responsible for descending airplanes from the ARTCC and lining them up for landing at their destination airport, as well as climbing departures before handing off to the ARTCC. The primary responsibility of the Boston TRACON is the safe, orderly, and expeditious flow of arrival, departure, and en-route traffic. A90
3894-586: Is ATVoice which provides the Voice Recognition and Response for the simulator. ATVoice allows the students to issue clearances directly to the simulated pilots during the exercise and then in turn ATVoice generates the proper pilot feedback/responses. Above each TDW is an exact replica of the IDS-5 information display. The facility also has State-of-the-art classrooms which are able to feature computer generated graphics and multimedia source material that comes right from
4012-452: Is considered to extend westward to the Amherst border. This is due in large part to the former Town Meetinghouse, which was located on the corner of Turkey Hill Road and Meetinghouse Road. As of the 2010 census , there were 25,494 people, 9,503 households, and 7,150 families residing in the town. There were 9,818 housing units, of which 315, or 3.2%, were vacant. The racial makeup of the town
4130-794: Is consistently ranked among the top liberal arts schools in the country. The Rock'N Ribfest, hosted by the Nashua West Rotary Club, was an annual event held from 2003 through 2018, the proceeds of which benefited many local charities. In 2019 the event was hosted by the Merrimack Rotary Club and renamed the Great American Ribfest and Food Truck Festival. The ribfest is held on the Anheuser-Busch grounds in Merrimack and features BBQ, children's games and activities, music, and other entertainment. The town government consists of
4248-411: Is incorporated, CDPs do not really serve the same purpose as they do elsewhere; CDPs in New England invariably represent territory that is not "unincorporated", but part of a larger incorporated town. The extent to which such an area has its own distinct identity can vary, but is not usually as strong as identification with the town as a whole. There are numerous instances where the Census Bureau recognizes
4366-415: Is located on the second floor of the facility. Below the operations control room on the first floor is the electronics room where all of the computer and other electronic equipment is housed, with extra space for expansion or testing of new equipment. The Facility is backed up by two 1250 kW diesel generators and 4 UPS units (two 225kVA, two 40kVA). Every workstation in the control room is equipped with
4484-433: Is no area that is outside the bounds of a municipality. Using usual American terminology, there is no "unincorporated" land in Massachusetts. Of the 351 municipalities, the number that are cities and the number that are towns is a matter of some ambiguity. Depending on which source is consulted, anywhere from 39 to 53 are cities. The ambiguity is the result of questions around the legal status of municipalities that have since
4602-518: Is not traditionally considered a portion of Reeds Ferry. While as a defined village it was located mostly near the Merrimack River , the area near Baboosic Lake may now possibly be seen as part of Reeds Ferry. Reeds Ferry Elementary School is located on Lyons Road. Centered on Pennichuck Square on Rte. 101A and Continental Boulevard, South Merrimack is usually considered to be the southwestern part of town near Rte. 101A and Boston Post Road. However,
4720-410: Is now buried in a cemetery near the intersection of Daniel Webster Highway ( U.S. Route 3 ) and Greeley Street. Thorntons Ferry Elementary School is located on Camp Sargent Road. The northern portion of the town, Reeds Ferry is centered on the current intersection of Bedford Road and Daniel Webster Highway. The boundaries of the area are unclear, as the northwestern part of town near Baboosic Lake
4838-499: Is one of the few states in the region that is an exception to this rule; the Massachusetts Constitution requires a town to have a population of at least 10,000 people before it can switch its government from a town meeting form to a city form. Nevertheless, even without a hard and fast population limit for city status, the practical threshold to become a city seems to be higher in the three southern New England states than in
Boston Consolidated TRACON - Misplaced Pages Continue
4956-444: Is responsible for one main airport, Boston Logan International Airport. Additionally, A90 is responsible for dozens of smaller but busy fields, including Manchester-Boston Regional Airport , Hanscom Field , Norwood Memorial Airport , Beverly Municipal Airport , Lawrence Municipal Airport , Portsmouth International Airport at Pease , and Nashua Airport . The Boston TRACON is one of six "Medium TRACONs" currently existing throughout
5074-481: Is sometimes used in New England to describe a distinct, built-up place within a town or city. This may be a town center , which bears the same name as the town or city (almost every town has such a place), or a name related to that of the town, or a completely unrelated name. The town of Barnstable, Massachusetts , for example, includes the villages of Barnstable Village , West Barnstable , Centerville , Marstons Mills , Osterville , Cotuit , and Hyannis . Except for
5192-460: Is sufficiently populated to be covered by a town or a city. In colonial times, Massachusetts also used the term "plantation" for a community in a pre-town stage of development (Maine originally got the term from Massachusetts, as Maine was part of Massachusetts until 1820, when it became a state via the Missouri Compromise ). The term "plantation" had not been much used in Massachusetts since
5310-431: Is the budget. If the budget is not approved by the voters, the town's governing council either holds an emergency hearing regarding a new budget or goes forward with the priors years' budget, amended with any time-sensitive information pending upon the current year. The Merrimack Village District administers the water system that serves the central area of the town. As a large, suburban community located directly between
5428-404: The 2020 census . There are four villages in the town: Merrimack Village (formerly known as Souhegan Village), Thorntons Ferry, Reeds Ferry , and South Merrimack. The first known settlers of the area appeared sometime after the last ice age . Merrimack is a Native American term meaning sturgeon , a type of fish. The Pennacook people named the Merrimack River after this fish because of
5546-774: The Merrimack School District and include Thorntons Ferry Elementary School, Reeds Ferry Elementary School, James Mastricola Elementary School, James Mastricola Upper Elementary School, Merrimack Middle School and Merrimack High School . Merrimack High School has won one state championship in baseball (2007), three in softball (1980, 1988, 2001), one in football (1987), two in soccer (1998 girls, 2008 boys), three in indoor track (1999, 2007, 2008), four in outdoor track (2003, 2004, 2006, 2007), one in cross-country (2006), one in girls lacrosse (2012), one in skiing (1979), two in volleyball (2001, 2014), and four in basketball (1967, 2003, 2004, 2012). The Academy for Science and Design
5664-558: The New Hampshire Executive Council , Merrimack is in district 5 and is currently represented by Republican Dave Wheeler. In the U.S. House of Representatives , Merrimack is included in New Hampshire's 1st congressional district and is currently represented by Democrat Chris Pappas . Merrimack leans Republican in presidential elections, but in recent years has shifted to become a battleground town. In 2020 , Joe Biden
5782-497: The United States Census Bureau (which recognizes some villages as census-designated places and tabulates census data for them). Towns with an example of the former, such as Richmond, Rhode Island , do not have a post office themselves, but instead use villages in town or villages in nearby towns as a mailing address. This leads to a weaker town identification in such towns, with residents more strongly identifying with
5900-549: The United States Census Bureau does not classify New England towns as "incorporated places". They are instead classified as " minor civil divisions " (MCDs), the same category into which civil townships fall. The Census Bureau classifies New England towns in this manner because they are conceptually similar to civil townships from a geographic standpoint, typically exhibiting similar population-distribution patterns. Like civil townships, but unlike most incorporated municipalities in other states, New England towns do not usually represent
6018-439: The boundary line between Massachusetts and New Hampshire was revised, and the land which was originally part of Massachusetts became part of New Hampshire . When it went back into New Hampshire, the province disincorporated the towns of Dunstable, Naticook, and Nottingham and formed it into one giant territory again, roughly the size of the old Dunstable Grant from the 1670s. On April 2, 1746, Governor Benning Wentworth signed
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#17330855634526136-460: The 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries. Town boundaries were not usually laid out on any kind of regular grid, but were drawn to reflect local settlement and transportation patterns, often affected by natural features. In early colonial times, recognition of towns was very informal, generally connected to local church divisions. By 1700, colonial governments had become more involved in the official establishment of new towns. Towns were typically governed by
6254-446: The 1840s, and for many years prior to the 1860s Vermont had just one city. Even Massachusetts, historically New England's most populous state, did not have any cities until 1822, when Boston was granted a city form of government by the state legislature. In most of New England, population is not a determining factor for what makes a city or town, and there are many examples of towns with larger populations than nearby cities. Massachusetts
6372-717: The 18th and 19th centuries as what might be termed "future towns", but never saw enough settlement to actually commence operation of a formal town government. All three of the northern New England states also include at least one unorganized township that was once a town but has disincorporated and reverted to unorganized territory, generally due to population loss. Maine also has some unorganized townships that were once organized as plantations. Maine has significantly more unorganized territory than Vermont or New Hampshire. Fewer than 100 Vermont residents and fewer than 250 New Hampshire residents live in unorganized areas. In Maine, by contrast, about 10,000 residents live in unorganized areas. As
6490-489: The 18th century. Massachusetts also once had "districts", which served much the same purpose. They were considered to be incorporated, but lacked the full privileges of a town. On August 23, 1775, in order for more representation for the Revolutionary War, 36 towns in Massachusetts and 6 in Maine were incorporated, effectively eliminating the district meaning. Maine and Rhode Island are also known to have made limited use of
6608-457: The 1970s, through home-rule petition, adopted corporate charters approved by the state legislature with forms of government that resemble city government and do not include elements traditionally associated with town government (especially, a board of selectmen and a town meeting). Of the fourteen communities that have done so, all but three call themselves a "town" in their municipal operations, and are usually referred to by residents as "towns", but
6726-450: The 20th century, however. One late instance was the separation of Sugar Hill, New Hampshire , from the town of Lisbon in 1962. It has not taken place anywhere in New England in the last fifty years; boundary changes of any type are fairly rare. Towns are the basic building block of the New England municipality system, although several other types of municipalities also exist. Every New England state has cities . In addition, Maine also has
6844-475: The CDP. At the same time, not all built-up places with significant populations are recognized as CDPs. The Census Bureau has historically recognized relatively few CDPs within urbanized areas in particular. Many towns located in such areas do not contain any recognized CDPs and will thus be completely absent from Census materials presenting the population of "places". Greenwich, Connecticut, is one prominent example. While
6962-410: The Census Bureau, can be another source of confusion. The Census classifications should not be understood to imply that cities are incorporated but towns are not, or that cities and towns represent two fundamentally different types of entities. The Census classifies New England municipalities strictly based on whether they are towns or cities, with no regard to the actual population-distribution pattern in
7080-448: The Census only counts cities and certain fully urbanized towns as "places" in its categorization. In other towns, those with small built-up central villages, the Census designates one or more census-designated places (CDPs) and considers all other land to be parts of "minor civil divisions". This classification is done only for the Census's own data analysis, and otherwise has no connection to
7198-488: The Initial Departure sector is a live video feed from Boston Tower showing the departure strip bay. This camera system is used to satisfy the requirement for "non-verbal rolling notification" as required by FAAO 7110.65. What is displayed on each screen can be changed at one of the center console positions, which is controlled with a computer touch screen. BCT has a state-of-the-art simulator training facility located on
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#17330855634527316-514: The Killingly portion was renamed Danielson by the General Assembly. There are no legal restrictions in Connecticut that would prevent a city or borough today from similarly overlaying the territory of more than one town, provided it is not consolidated with one of the underlying towns. Cities actually developed earlier in Connecticut than in the other New England states, and were originally based on
7434-620: The Massachusetts Secretary of the Commonwealth's Office considers all fourteen to be legally cities. Other sources within state government often refer to all fourteen municipalities as towns, however. The U.S. Census Bureau listed all as towns through the 1990 Census. For the 2000 Census, some were listed by the Federal government as towns and some as cities, a situation that continues in Census materials since 2000. Massachusetts appears to be
7552-630: The Operations room. With the consolidation of Cape TRACON into the A90 in February 2018, a new division of airspace has emerged. The new configuration is known as "Boston-North" and "Boston-South" areas of specialization. Two sectors shared between both areas are Initial Departure ID and Lincoln SL. Boston North Area - Airspace to the north of Boston Logan International Airport. These airports include BOS, BED, LWM, BVY, MHT, ASH, PSM, CON Boston South Area - Airspace to
7670-556: The STARS Terminal Controller workstation TCW. Raytheon provides the hardware and UFA provides the software and embedded simulator. Features of this simulator include: - Weather - Pre-programmed events - 600 aircraft profiles - Up to 24 simultaneous training exercises - Scenario development tools - Pseudo Pilot functions. This is one of the most advanced simulators in the National Airspace System. Accompanying ATCoach
7788-466: The Statistics and Superlatives section below), further blurs matters. To fill in some of the "place" data, the Census Bureau sometimes recognizes census-designated places (CDPs) within New England towns. These often correspond to town centers or other villages, although not all such areas are recognized as CDPs. In cases where a town is entirely or almost entirely built-up, the Census sometimes recognizes
7906-1025: The Systems Atlanta ACE-IDS IDS5 Software Suite. BCT utilizes the Raytheon Standard Terminal Automation replacement system at all of its positions. Also at each position is a computer touch screen which is the Enhanced Terminal Voice Switch (ETVS) built by the Northrop Grumman Corporation, this handles all of the ground to air and ground to ground communications. A90 is equipped with multiple plasma flat-screen television screens which are used to display up to 16 different types of information needed by supervisory, traffic management and controllers-in-charge ranging from ETMS to Weather. Although they can be set to display almost anything, they will usually be set to one of three things. Commonly,
8024-512: The Town of ..." Greenfield, in December 2017, dropped the "town" designation, which some called "embarrassing" and which legislators said made paperwork more difficult. Common parlance labeling a community a "city" or a "town" may have more to do with its current size, whether its current size or its historical size and reputation. In addition to towns and cities, Maine has a third type of town-like municipality not found in any other New England state,
8142-524: The Town of Greenwich appears in MCD materials, the Census Bureau does not recognize Greenwich as a "place". In New Hampshire and Vermont, the Census Bureau treats each individual unorganized entity (township, gore, grant, etc.) as an MCD. In Maine, it seems, due to the extent of unorganized area, the Census Bureau typically lumps contiguous townships, gores, and the like together into larger units called "unorganized territories" (UTs), which are then treated as MCDs. In
8260-611: The U.S., except that it uses the town as its basic unit rather than the county. Even though the Census Bureau does not treat New England towns as "incorporated places", it does classify cities in New England as such. The rationale behind this is that cities are likely to be more thoroughly built-up and therefore more readily comparable to cities in other states than towns are. Boroughs in Connecticut and incorporated villages in Vermont are also treated as incorporated places. That New England states, in general, regard cities and towns on equal footing, yet they are handled in two different ways by
8378-556: The US Census Bureau treats Groton Long Point as a borough, as an act of the state legislature gives it the same powers as a borough, although it has never formally organized as one. They were once more numerous. Many of those that remain are very small. Connecticut also has at least one remaining city ( Groton ) that is within, but not coextensive with, its parent town . A second non-coextensive city, Winsted , still exists on paper, but its government has been consolidated with that of
8496-519: The United States. It is home to a brewery tour and one of the five stables for the Budweiser Clydesdales . The Merrimack School Board attracted national attention in 1995 when it passed a "prohibition of alternative lifestyle instruction" act, which resulted in the removal of a work by William Shakespeare from the school curriculum. The board members who supported the act were voted out in
8614-1203: The United States. The others include the Salt Lake TRACON , the Bradley TRACON , the Indianapolis TRACON , the Pensacola TRACON , and the Des Moines TRACON . In February 2018 the Boston Consolidated TRACON absorbed the functions of the Cape TRACON located down at OTIS Air National Guard Base on Cape Cod. Yearly traffic counts for A90 from the FAA Air Traffic Activity Data System website. 2004 - 692,627 2005 - 729,625 2006 - 710,765 2007 - 693,158 2008 - 639,782 2009 - 603,131 2010 - 634,151 2011 - 626,137 2012 - 595,823 2013 - 603,974 2014 - 604,516 2015 - 615,078 2016 - 639,759 2017 - 658,524 2018 - 805,780 2019 - 824,230 2020 - 529,574 2021 - 672,401 2022 - 775,698 The Operations room
8732-470: The actual organization or legal status of New England towns. The census bureau does uniquely recognize towns, however, in that it classifies metropolitan areas in New England on the basis of town boundaries rather than county boundaries as it does in other parts of the U.S. Unique to New England is the New England city and town area , which is analogous to Metropolitan Statistical Areas in other parts of
8850-505: The borough concept. At one time, all cities were non-coextensive; the practice of making cities coextensive with their towns was a later adaptation intended to mimic the city concept that had emerged in the other New England states. Over time, many non-coextensive cities have expanded to become coextensive with their parent town. As with boroughs, many have also disincorporated and reverted to full town control. These two trends have combined to make non-coextensive cities very rare in recent times;
8968-625: The boundary with New York State , housing the Stratford Shoal Light , is not part of any town and is administered directly by the United States Coast Guard . In general, inhabited minor off-shore islands are administered as part of a nearby town and in some cases, are their own independent towns, such as the town of Gosnold , Massachusetts, which encompasses the Elizabeth Islands . Unlike municipalities in most other states,
9086-415: The built-up area around a town center as a CDP, resulting in a CDP that bears the same name as the town. In these cases, data for the CDP is, in general, meaningless to local residents, who seldom draw any particular distinction between the built-up area around the town center and outlying areas of the town. A local source citing data for such a community will almost always use the data for the entire town, not
9204-399: The date when the town was chartered, which may have been long before it was settled, and not the date when its town government became active. In other parts of New England, some "future towns" were laid out along these lines, but such areas would not be formally incorporated as towns until they were sufficiently settled to organize a town government. A typical town in the northern three states
9322-434: The district concept. Districts have not been at all common since the first half of the 19th century, and there have not been any districts anywhere in New England in over a century. Maine is the only New England state that currently has a significant amount of territory that is not sufficiently populated to support town governments; thus, it is the only New England state that still needs the plantation type of municipality. For
9440-400: The evolution of cities in those states. In Connecticut in particular, the historical development of cities was quite different from in the other New England states, and at least technically, the relationship between towns and cities is today different from elsewhere in New England. Just as boroughs in Connecticut overlay towns, so do cities; for example, while Hartford is commonly thought of as
9558-484: The exception rather than the rule in the New England system, and the number of New England residents who live in them is extremely small in comparison to those who live in towns and cities, even in Maine. Most such areas are located in very sparsely populated regions. Much of the barely inhabited interior of Maine is unorganized, for example. The majority of the unincorporated areas in New Hampshire are in Coos County , and
9676-456: The former villages that now make Merrimack still exist. However, the boundaries and exact definitions are unclear due to the expansion of suburban development in the town during the latter half of the 20th century. The area of town near Naticook Lake and Continental Boulevard, its name comes from Matthew Thornton , one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence who lived in Merrimack and
9794-797: The hundreds. While these were not large communities, they were large enough to realistically operate a town government if they wanted to, but simply elected not to. In Vermont and New Hampshire, disincorporation has, in general, not been brought up for discussion unless a town's population has approached single digits. In general, coastal waters in the New England states are administered directly by either state or federal agencies and are not part of any town. Several towns, however, have chosen to include all or part of their corresponding coastal waters in their territory. Coastal waters include human-made structures built within them. In Connecticut, for example, an artificial, uninhabited island in Long Island Sound at
9912-490: The incorporated villages in Vermont, these "villages" are not incorporated municipalities and should not be understood as such. Towns do sometimes grant a certain measure of recognition to such areas, using highway signs that identify them as "villages", for example. These informal "villages" also sometimes correspond to underlying special-purpose districts such as fire or water districts, which are separately incorporated quasi-municipal entities that provide specific services within
10030-464: The largest municipalities in the region are titled as cities. Across New England as a whole, only about 5% of all incorporated municipalities are cities. Cities are more common in the three southern New England states, which are much more densely populated, than they are in the three northern New England states. In early colonial times, all incorporated municipalities in New England were towns; there were no cities. Springfield, Massachusetts , for instance,
10148-612: The majority of the unincorporated areas in Vermont are in Essex County . Two additional counties in New Hampshire and three additional counties in Vermont contain smaller amounts of unincorporated territory. In Maine, eight of the state's sixteen counties contain significant amounts of unorganized territory (in essence, those counties in the northern and interior parts of the state). Four other counties contain smaller amounts. Most of these areas have no local government at all; indeed, some have no permanent population whatsoever. Some areas have
10266-443: The only New England state where this issue has arisen, though other New England states also have municipalities that have adopted what amounts to city forms of government but continue to call themselves "towns". In the other New England states, it does not appear that any need to officially label such municipalities as "cities" has been identified. For purposes of determining the "largest town" and "smallest city", in this article, only
10384-530: The only one currently incorporated is the city of Groton , located in the southwestern part of the town of Groton, Connecticut . In Vermont, if a village becomes a city, it does not continue to overlay its parent town, but breaks away and becomes a completely separate municipality. Most cities in Vermont today are actually former villages rather than former towns, and are much smaller than a typical town in terms of land area. The above process has created several instances where there are adjacent towns and cities with
10502-411: The original existing towns. This was an especially common practice during the 18th and early 19th centuries. More heavily populated areas were often subdivided on multiple occasions. As a result, towns and cities in urbanized areas are often smaller in terms of land area than an average town in a rural area. Formation of new towns in this manner slowed in the later part of the 19th century and early part of
10620-523: The period 2011–2015, the estimated median annual income for a household was $ 90,708, and the median income for a family was $ 101,786. Male full-time workers had a median income of $ 69,937 versus $ 50,184 for females. The per capita income for the town was $ 39,695. 4.0% of the population and 2.3% of families were below the poverty line . 4.7% of the population under the age of 18 and 4.4% of those 65 or older were living in poverty. PC Connection and Brookstone are based in Merrimack. Merrimack Canoe Company
10738-524: The plantation. A plantation is, in essence, a town-like community that does not have enough population to require full town government or services. Plantations are organized at the county level and typically found in sparsely populated areas. There is no bright-line population divider between a town and a plantation, but no plantation currently has any more than about 300 residents. Plantations are considered to be "organized" but not "incorporated." Not all counties have them; in some southern counties, all territory
10856-421: The relationship between towns and cities in Connecticut is different from the other New England states, at least on paper; thus, in the technical sense, all 169 of the above municipalities are really towns, with 20 overlaid by a coextensive city or borough of the same name.) Together, these 169 municipalities cover the entire state. There is no unincorporated territory, but, as in all New England states, there are
10974-439: The remaining 32 are organized as plantations. These 485 organized municipalities together cover much of, but not all of, the state's territory. Of Maine's sixteen counties, only four are entirely incorporated. Four other counties are almost entirely incorporated, but include small amounts of unincorporated/unorganized territory (three of these four counties were entirely incorporated or organized at one time, but lost that status when
11092-506: The same name. In all cases, the city was originally the "town center" of the town, but later incorporated as a city and became a separate municipality. All three of the northern New England states ( Vermont , New Hampshire , and Maine ) contain some areas that are unincorporated and unorganized, not part of any town, city or plantation. Maine has significantly more such area than the other two states. While these areas do exist, their importance should not be overstated. They are certainly
11210-408: The second floor just down from the operations control room. The room contains five training positions. The training room includes a Raytheon Standard Terminal Automation Replacement System (STARS). The STARS system has an embedded simulator ATCoach which is produced by UFA. Inc. out of Burlington, Massachusetts. This system provides the instructor and the student with a virtual display of live traffic on
11328-475: The south of Boston Logan International Airport. These airports include OWD, PYM, FMH, HYA, MVY, ACK, CQX, PVC A90 is bordered by the following facilities: Providence TRACON (G90) Bradley TRACON (Y90) Portland TRACON (PWM) Boston Air Route Traffic Control Center Merrimack, New Hampshire Merrimack is a town in Hillsborough County, New Hampshire , United States. The population was 26,632 as of
11446-469: The southeastern portion of town near Harris Pond might also be considered part of South Merrimack or Thornton's Ferry. The center of town is not known as "Merrimack Village" per se, but constitutes the area between the more defined Reeds Ferry and Thorntons Ferry areas. Largely considered to be located at the Public Library on the corner of Baboosic Lake Road and Daniel Webster Highway , Merrimack Village
11564-514: The state's two largest cities ( Manchester and Nashua ), Merrimack plays a disproportionate role to its size every four years in the New Hampshire primary ; in almost every Fourth of July preceding a presidential election, every presidential candidate will march or have a float in the town's Fourth of July parade. In the New Hampshire Senate , Merrimack is in the 11th district and is currently represented by Democrat Shannon Chandley . On
11682-452: The states' judicial systems and some other state services in the southern New England states while providing varying (but generally limited) services in the more sparsely populated three northern New England states. Towns date back to the time of the earliest English colonial settlement , which predominated in New England, and they pre-date the development of counties in the region. Areas were organized as towns as they were settled, throughout
11800-426: The subsequent board election. According to the United States Census Bureau , the town has a total area of 33.4 square miles (86.6 km ), of which 32.6 square miles (84.4 km ) are land and 0.85 square miles (2.2 km ) are water, comprising 2.55% of the town. The highest point in Merrimack is an unnamed hill in the northwestern part of town that reaches 512 feet (156 m) above sea level . Shadows of
11918-452: The three northern New England states. In Massachusetts, Connecticut and Rhode Island, almost every city has at least 10,000 people, and all but a few have at least 20,000. In Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont, however, there are a number of cities with fewer than 10,000 people, and there are five (three in Maine and two in Vermont) with fewer than 5,000. Over time, some of the distinctions between
12036-399: The time of the 2000 Census, Maine had 22 cities, 434 towns, and 34 plantations, for a total of 490 organized municipalities. Also since the 2010 Census, Sanford adopted a new charter that included designation as a city.) Massachusetts contains 351 municipal corporations, consisting of cities and towns. These 351 municipalities together encompass the entire territory of Massachusetts; there
12154-444: The town of Winchester for many years, making it more of a special-purpose district than a true municipality. Winsted is no longer recognized by the Census Bureau as an incorporated place, although data is tabulated for a Census Designated Place that is coextensive with that of the original city. As of the 2020 census, Maine contains 485 organized municipalities, of which 23 are incorporated as cities, 430 are incorporated as towns, and
12272-459: The town's charter was ratified, giving the town an additional 3 miles (5 km) to the north. The new portion called "Souhegan East" was made up of the land north of the Souhegan River. Matthew Thornton , a signer of the Declaration of Independence , lived and was buried in Merrimack. The Signer's House and Matthew Thornton Cemetery are still located in the town. The original meetinghouse
12390-621: The usual town structure, sometimes in areas where it was probably not contemplated that towns would ever develop. Over time, those located in more populated areas were, in general, annexed to neighboring towns or incorporated as towns in their own right. No such areas exist today in Massachusetts, Connecticut or Rhode Island, but some remain in New Hampshire, Vermont and Maine. All three of the northern New England states contain some town-sized unorganized entities, referred to as "unorganized townships" (sometimes, just "townships") or "unorganized towns". Most of these are areas that were drawn up on maps in
12508-540: The vast population that once existed there. The Pennacooks spelled it Monnomoke or Merramake . "When the town was incorporated, it took the name of the river and spelled it Merrymac," according to the Merrimack Historical Society. The first mention of the territory containing the current town of Merrimack among written records was the petition of Passaconaway to the General Court of Massachusetts for
12626-451: The village they live in. However, villages or CDPs have no existence as general-purpose municipalities separate from the town (if they even have any legal existence at all), and are usually regarded by local residents as a part of the town in which they are located, less important than the whole. It is possible for a Connecticut borough or Vermont village to become a city. In Connecticut, cities overlay towns just as boroughs do, and, just like
12744-424: Was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.67, and the average family size was 3.06. In the town, 24.5% of the population were under the age of 18, 6.7% were from 18 to 24, 25.7% from 25 to 44, 32.7% from 45 to 64, and 10.3% were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 40.7 years. For every 100 females, there were 99.0 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 96.4 males. For
12862-549: Was 95.0% White, 0.8% African American, 0.2% Native American, 2.0% Asian, <0.1% Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander, 0.5% some other race, and 1.6% from two or more races. 2.1% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race. Of the 9,503 households, 36.7% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 62.6% were headed by married couples living together, 8.5% had a female householder with no husband present, and 24.8% were non-families. 18.8% of all households were made up of individuals, and 5.7% were someone living alone who
12980-574: Was a charter school established for the 2007–2008 academic year; it was New Hampshire's first charter school to concentrate on science, math, engineering, and design and is free of tuition fees. The school has since moved to Nashua. In 2014, the Gate City Charter School for the Arts opened its doors to students. Also within the town lies the Thomas More College of Liberal Arts . The college
13098-547: Was almost completely covered early in the 19th century. By 1850, the only New England state that still had large unincorporated areas was Maine ; by the end of the 19th century, most areas in Maine that could realistically be settled had been organized into towns. Early town organization in Vermont and much of New Hampshire proceeded in a somewhat different manner from that of the other New England states. In these areas, towns were often "chartered" long before any settlers moved into
13216-431: Was built along the Souhegan River that roughly cuts the current town in half. The elementary school in this part of town is named after James Mastricola, who deeded the land to the town upon his death. One of the three elementary schools, the upper elementary school, Merrimack High School, the library, and the current town hall, among other buildings, are all located on the land formerly owned by Mastricola. The "village"
13334-575: Was built at the exact center of town. There were two cemeteries. Turkey Hill on Meetinghouse Road is the first mentioned in the town records, but Thornton Cemetery on Route 3 has the oldest gravestone. The nineteenth century saw much growth in Merrimack. The meetinghouse was too small and too far from what had become the center of town. The church and government became separate and two new churches were built in more convenient locations, one in South Merrimack and one on Baboosic Lake Road. A new town hall
13452-477: Was built to replace the meetinghouse. The Boston and Maine Railroad laid tracks through the town in the 19th century, with several stations operating until the mid-20th century, when the advent of the automobile transformed Merrimack from a largely agricultural community to a bedroom community of Boston and nearby cities in New Hampshire. Since 1970 the town has been the home of an Anheuser-Busch brewery , their easternmost, and one of their smallest plants in
13570-486: Was laid out in a 6-by-6-mile (9.7 by 9.7 km) square. Each contained 36 sections, 1 mile (1.6 km) squares or 640 acres (260 ha). One section was reserved for the support of public schools. This was copied when the Continental Congress laid out Ohio in 1785–87. Many early towns covered very large amounts of land. Once areas had become settled, new towns were sometimes formed by breaking areas away from
13688-442: Was settled as a "plantation" (in colonial Massachusetts, the term was synonymous with town) as early as 1636, but the city of Springfield was not established until 1852. The oldest cities in New England date to the last few decades of the 18th century, (e.g. New Haven, Connecticut , was chartered as a city in 1784). In New England, cities were not widespread until well into the 19th century. New Hampshire did not have any cities until
13806-568: Was started in Merrimack before being relocated to Tennessee . Other notable employers include Fidelity Investments , Anheuser-Busch , Campers Inn, and BAE Systems . Opened in 2012, the Merrimack Premium Outlets are a 560,000-square-foot (52,000 m ) retail mall area with 12 buildings, parking lots, and other site improvements located off exit 10 of the Everett Turnpike . The six public schools in Merrimack are managed by
13924-456: Was the first Democrat to carry the town with a majority of votes since Lyndon B. Johnson 's landslide victory in 1964 . Republicans currently hold five of the town's eight seats in the General Court . The current General Court district of Merrimack is Hillsborough 12. New England town The town is the basic unit of local government and local division of state authority in the six New England states. Most other U.S. states lack
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