Formed January 1, 1840 (9th county)
Belknap County (63,709), Laconia (16,872)
The classic 1893 Romanesque courthouse is made of red brick. It is located on Court Street at Academy Street. United States Highway 3 is five blocks south of the location. William N. Butterfield is the building architect. The building was enlarged in 1976. A school building was converted to the District Courthouse to augment in 1978. Belknap County was formed on January 1, 1840 from Merrimack and Strafford counties as the 9th county. The county is named for author Jeremy Belknap. Meredith was the first county seat. In 1855 Laconia became the county seat. The county seat is named for the land development company. Belknap County was the birthplace for 3 New Hampshire Governors, William Badger, Hiram A. Tuttle, and Charles A. Busiel.
Belknap County government consists of a sheriff, an administrator, an attorney, and a clerk (executive). It has 3 Commissioners and 18 Delegates (legislative.) Two Circuit Court Judges serve Belknap County (judicial.) Belknap County is in central New Hampshire. The geographical center of New Hampshire is 3 miles east of Ashland in the county. Manchester, New Hampshire is south and Portland, Maine is east of the county. The county center is 5.3 miles Southeast of Laconia. The county is surrounded clockwise by Carroll, Strafford, Merrimack, and Grafton counties.
The area of the county is 401 square miles. It is 9 out of 10 in the state. It ranks 7 out of 10 in population in the state. It has a density of 158.9 persons per square mile making it 5 out of 10 in the state. Belknap County has 26.5% of its population in its incorporated areas. Interstate Highway 93 crosses north to south in the county from Grafton County, northwest, to Merrimack County, south. United States Highway 3 parallels Interstate Highway 93 from Grafton to Merrimack counties. The county resembles a space ship flying southeast. Laconia is located in the northwest quarter of the county. Laconia is the county seat and the largest city since it is the only incorporated city. It is 26.5% of the county population. The county seat is pronounced LA-KOEN-YA. This county is in the Laconia Micropolitan Statistical Area.
Laconia
