Exeter, New Hampshire

Exeter is a census-designated place (CDP) and the main village in the town of Exeter, Rockingham County, New Hampshire, United States. The population of the CDP was 10,109 at the 2020 census, out of 16,049 in the entire town.

The Congregational Church in Exeter is a parish of the United Church of Christ located on Front Street in Exeter, New Hampshire. The congregation was first gathered in 1638 by the Rev. John Wheelwright following his expulsion from the Massachusetts Bay Colony. The current congregation is a merger of the former First Parish and Second Parish of Exeter. Second Parish split from First Parish in the 1700s during the Great Awakening over theological differences. The two congregations then reunited in 1920. Nicholas Gilman, a signer of the Declaration of Independence, was a member of the church. During the schism of the two congregations, Phillips Exeter Academy was founded by John Phillips and other members of the Second Parish. The current Phillips Exeter Academy chapel now occupies the building of the former Second Parish. Church member Amos Tuck was keenly involved in early efforts to address the abolition of slavery, and held meetings on the subject at the church. Today, the church has an active membership, a Sunday School, and various mission and outreach programs. The current Senior Pastor is author and minister the Rev. Dr. E. Carrington Heath. The congregation is a member of the United Church of Christ. It has been an Open and Affirming (actively welcoming LGBTQ people) congregation since 1996. They are also partnered with a church in Pfizda, Zimbabwe, and work to help prepare housing for refugees settling in New Hampshire, and give to a number of local non-profits. The current building, located at 21 Front Street in Exeter, New Hampshire, was built in 1798 and can seat 400 people. It is the fifth meeting house built by the congregation, and was designed by Ebenezer Clifford, a local builder. The building has a number of distinctive features. Its hip roof is believed to be the earliest such roof built on a church in the state, and its only entrances were through the projecting entrance bay (unlike earlier traditional meeting houses, which had entrances on three sides). In 1838 the interior of the building was remodeled, removing box pews, and converting the gallery to a full second floor. The sanctuary is now located on the upper level, with meeting rooms and other facilities below. An addition was made to the rear of the church in 1930, giving it a more square footprint.The building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1971 as The Congregational Church (United Church of Christ) and alternately The First Church. It is included in the Front Street Historic District. Notable items inside the church include the pew in which Abraham Lincoln sat when he came to visit his son at the nearby Phillips Exeter Academy, a portrait of Lincoln, and a portrait of the Rev. Wheelwright. The church sanctuary organ is an Aeolian-Skinner with three manuals and 20 ranks of pipes, dedicated in 1951. There is a small, working memorial garden at the side of the church, in which are also buried town fathers Folsom and Gilman.In literature, the church building figures in John Irving's 1989 novel A Prayer for Owen Meany. Irving grew up in the congregation.

The Dudley House, also known as the Perry-Dudley House, is a historic house at 14 Front Street in Exeter, New Hampshire. Built about 1805, it is a prominent local example of Federal architecture, further notable for its occupation by two of the town's leading 19th-century doctors. The house was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1971. It now houses professional offices.

The Ladd-Gilman House, also known as Cincinnati Memorial Hall, is a historic house at 1 Governors Lane in Exeter, New Hampshire, United States. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and is designated a National Historic Landmark.

The American Independence Museum is a historic house museum located in Exeter, New Hampshire. Its 1-acre (0.40 ha) campus includes two buildings: the Ladd-Gilman House, a registered National Historic Landmark built in 1721 by Nathaniel Ladd, and the Folsom Tavern, listed on the New Hampshire State Register of Historic Places and built in 1775 by Colonel Samuel Folsom. The museum was opened in 1991 after a rare copy of the Declaration of Independence known as a Dunlap Broadside was found in the Ladd-Gilman house, 200 years after its arrival in Exeter. It is the centerpiece of the museum’s collection. The museum’s mission is “Connecting America’s Revolutionary past with the present.”

The Exeter River is a 40.5-mile-long (65.2 km) river located in Rockingham County in southeastern New Hampshire, United States. It rises in the town of Chester, 12 miles (19 km) southeast of Manchester. It follows a winding course east and northeast to Exeter, where it becomes the Squamscott River, a tidal river leading north to Great Bay. There are falls and small dams at several locations along the river. A significant dam (Great Dam) that had long existed at the river's termination in Exeter was removed in the summer of 2016, restoring the river's flow to its natural state where it meets the Squamscott River.The Exeter River drainage basin encompasses an area of 126 square miles (330 km2). The upper 33.3 miles (53.6 km) of the river, from its headwaters to its confluence with Great Brook in Exeter, were designated into the NH Rivers Management and Protection Program in August 1995.

The Gilman Garrison House is a historic house museum at 12 Water Street in Exeter, New Hampshire. Built in 1709, it is a rare surviving example of a garrison house or fortified structure. It is owned by Historic New England, which operates the home as a house museum, and was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1976.

Phillips Exeter Academy Library is a library that serves Phillips Exeter Academy, an independent boarding school located in Exeter, New Hampshire. It is the largest secondary school library in the world, containing 160,000 volumes over nine levels with a shelf capacity of 250,000 volumes.When it became clear in the 1950s that the library had outgrown its existing building, the school initially hired an architect who proposed a traditional design for the new building. Deciding instead to construct a library with a contemporary design, the school gave the commission to Louis Kahn in 1965. The library opened in 1971. In 1997 the library received the Twenty-five Year Award from the American Institute of Architects, an award that recognizes architecture of enduring significance that is given to no more than one building per year. Kahn structured the library in three concentric square rings. The outer ring, which is built of load-bearing brick, includes all four exterior walls and the library carrel desks immediately inside them. The middle ring, which is built of reinforced concrete, holds the heavy book stacks. The inner ring is a dramatic atrium with enormous circular openings in its walls that reveal several floors of book stacks.

The Front Street Historic District in Exeter, New Hampshire, encompasses a portion of the town's historic center. The district extends from Swasey Pavilion, at the junction of Front and Water streets, southwesterly along Front Street to Gale Park, about five blocks. Front Street is one of Exeter's oldest roads, and is lined with a series of 18th and 19th-century civic, religious, and residential structures, many of which are well preserved. The district was listed on the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) in 1973.

The Lamont Gallery is a non-profit art gallery located on the campus of Phillips Exeter Academy, in Exeter, New Hampshire, United States. It primarily showcases visiting exhibitions of local, national and international acclaimed artists, along with art of Phillips Exeter students and faculty. However, it also possesses a small collection.

The Maj. John Gilman House is a historic house at 25 Cass Street in Exeter, New Hampshire, United States. Built in 1738, it is a well-preserved example of a Georgian gambrel-roof house, further notable for its association with the locally prominent Gilman family. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1988.

The Exeter Inn (also known as The Inn at Exeter) is an inn in Exeter, New Hampshire, United States. Located on Front Street on the campus of Phillips Exeter Academy, the Georgian style complex was built in 1932 and mirrors the school's architectural motif. Guests, including parents of many Academy students, enjoy the short walk to historic downtown Exeter.A previous Exeter Inn had been located on Water Street; one of the town's oldest buildings, it was demolished in 1959. The hotel, which frequently hosts events for New Hampshire primary candidates, is home to the Epoch Restaurant and Bar.