Strafford

Formed January 1, 1769 (5^th county)

Strafford County (130,895), Dover (32,745)

The Modern red brick and glass courthouse was built in 1974.  It is located on County Farm Road west of Eric Drive.  New Hampshire State Highway 16 one mile northeast of the site.  Irving W. Hersey Associates provided the courthouse designs.  There is a 2002 District Courthouse in Dover and a 1912 building converted in 1992 in Rochester which augment.  There was an 1889 version earlier also in Dover, the only county seat.  The county was organized on January 1, 1769 as an original county (5^th county.)  It is named for the Second Earl of Strafford.  Dover is named for English lawyer Robert Dover.  Strafford County was the birthplace for 2 New Hampshire Governors, John Sullivan and Samuel D. Felker. 

Strafford County government consists of a sheriff, an administrator, an attorney, and a clerk (executive).  It has 3 Commissioners and 53 Delegates (legislative.)  Four Circuit Court Judges serve Strafford County (judicial.)  The county is in southeast New Hampshire on the border with Maine.  Manchester, New Hampshire is southwest and Portland, Maine is east of the county.  The county center is 8.8 miles West-Northwest of Dover nearer Barrington.  The county is surrounded clockwise by Carroll County and Maine and Rockingham, Merrimack, and Belknap counties. 

The area of the county is 369 square miles.  It is 10 out of 10 in the state.  It ranks 4 out of 10 in population in the state.  It has a density of 354.7 persons per square mile making it 3 out of 10 in the state.  Strafford County has 58.9% of its population in its incorporated areas.  United States Highway 4 enters the county from Rockingham County, southeast, and exits back into Rockingham County, southwest.  United States Highway 202 comes from Maine, east, and goes to Rockingham County, southwest.  The county is shaped like a lazy capital letter L.  Dover is located in the southeast corner of the county.  Dover is the county seat and the largest city.  It is 25.0% of the county population.  This county is in the Boston-Cambridge-Quincy Metropolitan Statistical Area.