Formed January 1, 1769 (3rd county)
Hillsborough County (422,941), Nashua (91,335), Manchester (115,653)
The Modern masonry 1992 courthouse is in Nashua. The Modern concrete and glass facility is in Manchester. The Nashua facility is on Spring Street at Hosmer Avenue. New Hampshire State Highway 111 is one block west of the site. Lavalle/Bresinger Professional Association are the Nashua structure architects. The 1969 Manchester courthouse is on Chestnut Street between Merrimack and Central streets and enlarged in 2011. United States Highway 3 is one block to the west of the location. Soule Associates Architects provided the Manchester facility designs. There are augmenting courthouses in Amherst and Merrimack. The county was an original county (3rd county) in January 1, 1769. There were earlier versions of the courthouse in Nashua, Manchester, and Amherst. The county is named for The Viscount Hillsborough. Nashua is named for the Nashua River. Manchester is named for Manchester, England. Amherst was the first county seat until 1864 when Nashua and Manchester both shared the designation. Hillsborough County was the birthplace for 8 New Hampshire Governors, Jeremiah Smith, Levi Woodbury, James A. Weston, David H. Goodell, George A. Ramsdell, Hugh Gregg, John W. King, and Walter R. Peterson, Jr.
The area of the county is 876 square miles. It is 5 out of 10 in the state. It ranks 1 out of 10 in population in the state. It has a density of 482.8 persons per square mile making it 1 out of 10 in the state. Hillsborough County has 48.9% of its population in its incorporated areas. Interstate Highway 93 crosses north to south through the county from Merrimack County to Massachusetts. United States Highway 3 comes from Merrimack County, north, and goes to Massachusetts, south. United States Highway 202 enters from Merrimack County and exits west into Cheshire County. Franklin Pierce, the 14th President, was born in this county.
Hillsborough County government consists of a sheriff, an administrator, an attorney, and a clerk (executive). It has 3 Commissioners and 123 Delegates (legislative.) Thirteen Circuit Court Judges serve Hillsborough County (judicial.) The county is on the southern border with Massachusetts. Boston, Massachusetts is southeast and Portland, Maine is northeast of the county. The county center is 14.1 miles Northwest of Nashua nearer Amherst. The county is surrounded clockwise by Merrimack and Rockingham counties and Massachusetts and Cheshire and Sullivan counties. The overall shape of the county is triangular. Nashua is in the southeast quarter of the county. Manchester is on the southeast border of the county. Nashua is one of the county seats. Manchester is the other county seat and the largest city. Nashua is 21.6% of the county population while Manchester is 27.3% of the county population. The county is pronounced HILZ-BUR-OE. One county seat is pronounced NASH-OO-A. This county is in the Manchester-Nashua Metropolitan Statistical Area.
