Nicknames for New Hampshire Cities That Might Surprise You

Sure, sure, sure, everyone knows New Hampshire is called the Granite State, and its residents are called Granite Staters.  That one is a no-brainer.

However, there are other nicknames – like the ones you give your friends for very good reason – which might not be as well-known.

Let's look at the White Mountains.  Oh, those beautiful, tall, snow-covered giants are also considered "The Winter Wonderland" of New Hampshire.  Think of a snow globe and you will have an accurate picture, which also lends to the name "The White Mountain State".

The North Woods of New Hampshire is so far north and has so much snow that the region is called "The Switzerland of America", says destguides.com.

With five streams originating in the Granite State before becoming major New England rivers, New Hampshire is now known as the "Mother of Rivers", according to nh.gov.  The streams are the Cocheco, Salmon Falls, Merrimack, Connecticut, and Pemigewasset Rivers.

City Nicknames

Another nickname for Manchester is "Queen City", and that's well-known. But did you know it's also known as "ManchVegas", because it's the largest city in the state and has a lively night life?

Rochester is the "Lilac City", while Salem is known as "The Gateway City" from Massachusetts into New Hampshire.  Rumney is known for its beautiful rock formations, but also as "The Crutch Capital of the World". This is because the site of the Loveland Bridge is where there was once a crutch factory, churning out over 3,000 pairs of crutches per week during and after World War I, per stoppingpoints.com.

Peterborough is called "Our Town", thanks to the Thornton Wilder play of the same name. Derry is called "Spacetown" because it's the birthplace of Alan Shepard, the first U.S. astronaut in space. Dover is the "The Garrison City", named for all the log homes by settlers here. Log homes were also called garrisons.

And finally, far north is Berlin, known as "The City Built by Trees" because of all the pulp and paper mills there. The city is pronounced "BUR-lin", and not "Bur-LIN", as the pronunciation was changed during WWI to show patriotism against Germany.

Yes, there are more, but that's for another post.