Our Town: Discover the Always Up and Coming Newmarket

Newmarket has been called “up and coming” in recent years, but longtime residents say this town of nearly 10,000 people has always been a special place.

Newmarket packs a lot into just 14 square miles. There is a food market and butcher shop, a hardware store, a brewery, scores of local restaurants, coffee shops, churches, a health care clinic, dental and eye care practices, barber shops and hair salons, the venerable Stone Church Music Club, the historic Rockingham Ballroom, a 9-hole golf course and even a bowling alley. 

Musician and resident Jon Nolan, seen along Main Street in downtown Newmarket, praises the town’s sense of community.

Tucked along Great Bay’s western shore, Newmarket’s rich history dates to settlement in 1638 and incorporation in 1727. Early settlers were largely English who were soon joined by French Canadians, then Polish, Italians, and later Laotians and Cambodians in the late 20th century.

Seacoast musician Jon Nolan grew up just over the town line in Durham but thought of Newmarket as his hometown before moving here in 1998. He purchased a home with his wife, Laura, and they raised three children in town.

“A lot of people talk about great places to raise a family. Newmarket is one of those places,” Nolan said. “We have raised our children with friends and acquaintances, and we have a sense of who is helping us raise our children. It takes a village in that sense.”

Nolan praised the town’s diversity.

“It’s always been a place where the saltwater meets the fresh. The river meets the bay where different tides come together,” he said. “There are people who have been here for hundreds of years and younger UNH students and young professionals looking for a place to live. At the center has always been an ever more diverse group of people at the heart of the town.”

Resident Suki Casanave helped organize the annual Heritage Festival, which ran from about 1998 to 2015. The festival grew out of a thesis project by the late Michael Provost, a beloved town historian. It was sponsored by the nonprofit Newmarket Main Street Corporation. Casanave, a corporation member, said the Seacoast’s “favorite international block party” brought people together to celebrate Newmarket’s diverse roots as a mill town.

“The town continues to evolve,” she said, “thanks to volunteers old and new who recognize Newmarket’s special character and are committed to nurturing the same sense of community the Heritage Festival celebrated for so many years.”

Realtors Jen Russell and Kate Foss, of Foss & Russell Group at BHHS Verani, stand on the bridge near the Macallen Dam. Both have lived in Newmarket for 26 years and together have sold 346 homes in town totaling over $126 million.

The Newmarket Historical Society, with its 1841 Stone School Museum, has shared the town’s history since
1966. The museum’s eclectic local artifacts represent the town’s changing eras, and its president, John Carmichael, said programming melds the past and present. Among the many offerings is a walking tour of Newmarket’s historical sites, education programs and the recently published book, “Newmarket Stories,” a collection of memories “As told by 35 Townsfolk.” The Santa Pub Crawl, with attendees strolling through downtown in holiday garb, is one of the Society’s biggest fundraisers with 140 attendees in 2025. This year’s Crawl is Saturday, Dec. 12.

Kris Carmichael, John’s wife, highlighted the Riverside Cemetery Reveal, which brings local history to life with monologues performed by volunteers over the graves of residents. “Many of those featured have never had their names mentioned. That’s local history,” Kris said.

Newmarket Town Manager Steve Fournier stands in front of the downtown mural that is part of the community’s continued work to accentuate the town’s history of arts and culture.

The Stone Church stands atop Zion Hill adjacent the Stone School Museum. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places, it has hosted rising superstars such as Aerosmith, Bonnie Raitt and Phish. It’s a cherished ground for countless Seacoast bands including Jon Nolan’s band Say Zuzu. Current owners Jack O’Sullivan and Stephan Francescone are extending its legacy as the oldest continuously operated music venue in New England.

The pair’s numerous improvements include an expanded outdoor patio that will host the new Summer Patio Series with free shows on Thursday and Friday from June to September before the main shows start inside. The series is part of the owners’ goal to see the Stone Church help cultivate a new generation of musicians. O’Sullivan, a Newmarket resident since 2000 and his college days, understands the venue’s importance.

“Society is high when enriched with art,” he said. “It’s a duty in general to own the Stone Church.”

Newmarket’s granite block and stone mills have defined the town since 1823, when the Newmarket Manufacturing Company built its first factory along the Lamprey River. Harnessing the river’s hydro power, the mills churned out textiles for over 100 years, at their peak employing 700 people. The local textile industry would fade, though, and the factories were abandoned in the 1930s.

Jack O’Sullivan and Stephan Francescone, co-owners of the Stone Church Music Club, enjoy the patio outside the venue, which is listed
on the National Register of Historic Places.

The town soon saw a resurgence as shoe companies saw an opportunity to employ Newmarket’s industrious residents. While that era would also end, the town was left with a cherished legacy. The iconic Timberland boot was launched here in 1973. The “Timbs” are memorialized with a monument, part of the Newmarket Main Street Corporation’s Historic Plaque Project, that includes markers on 20 downtown buildings, with more to come.

The sturdy mills of granite have stood the test of time for over 200 years. Redeveloped by Chinburg Properties beginning with the Bryant Rock buildings in the early 2000s, they have given the town a new life with townhouses, condos, apartments, restaurants, commercial businesses and community spaces. The Chinburgs chose the mills for their headquarters, which includes 160 employees. 

John Carmichael, president of the Newmarket Historical Society, steps outside the 1841 Stone School Museum. The Society has collected and shared the town’s history since 1966.

Jen Chinburg, executive vice president of corporate development & brand, said the company, led by her husband, owner and CEO Eric Chinburg, recognized the town had a vision that they could facilitate and enhance. 

“The natural beauty on the Lamprey River and the quaint New England downtown existed, but it would take quite a few years for all the pieces of the puzzle to come together and become what it is today,” Jen said.

The stone mills include 112 loft, one- and two-bedroom apartments that spurred the opening of new restaurants and shops. Jen said the “live, work, play” model was critical.

“We were committed to the idea of the connection to the downtown and also that residents could spend a whole day without getting into their cars, from yoga, to coffee to restaurants, to kayaking on the Lamprey River, and especially the Newberry Farms Market, to be able to have all their needs met without having to get in their car and drive to other places.”

Jen and Eric Chinburg stand atop one of the mills in downtown Newmarket that was redeveloped by Chinburg Properties into a mixed-use site of townhouses, condos, apartments, restaurants, commercial businesses and community spaces.

Outdoor recreation abounds with kayaking and boating upriver from the Macallen Dam and downriver to Great Bay. Fishing holes dot the town for both warm and winter months. There are hiking trails throughout as well as the Rockingham Recreational Trail where people can walk, mountain bike and snowmobile when the snow flies. Town Manager Steve Fournier says everywhere in town is within a quarter-mile of a trail, kayak launch or park.

Realtors Jen Russell and Kate Foss, of the Foss & Russell Group at BHHS Verani, have both lived in Newmarket for 26 years. They say: “It’s not just where we work — it’s where we live, raise our families and stay deeply connected to the community.” The duo has sold 346 homes in Newmarket totaling over $126 million.

Dave Legault, a member of the Newmarket Main Street Corporation, stands near the monument noting the birthplace of Timberland’s iconic boot. The “Timbs” monument is part of the corporation’s Historic Plaque Project that includes markers on 20 downtown buildings with more to come.

“One of the things we say all the time is that most of our clients who move to Newmarket never leave,” they said. “There’s something special about this town. The community is warm, welcoming and genuinely supportive and people feel that the moment they arrive.”

Fournier says investing in housing and infrastructure is essential to continued vibrancy.

“Our success depends on offering homes that people can afford,” he said. “Without attracting new residents, we risk stagnation. It’s also vital to ensure our roads and utilities can support those homes. It is important not only to support economic development, but to ensure that such growth preserves the character of Newmarket.”