Stratham, New Hampshire

Population: 6,355
Located in Rockingham County

Perhaps the greatest challenge of living or doing business in Stratham is in the amount of time spent educating visitors on the correct pronunciation of the town's very English name; the "h" is silent, with an actual pronunciation of "Strat-um."

For centuries, this town of 15 square miles has been crisscrossed by local traffic passing between nearby commercial hubs, mainly from Exeter to Durham and Dover to the north via Route 108, and Portsmouth to the northeast via Route 33. Modern-day Stratham seems to lack a commercial town center much as it has through history; instead, it has always served as a corridor and suburb, even in the earliest days when farming was the mainstay of the community.

The Stratham economy is fueled by the occupants of the Stratham Industrial Park and by dozens of large and small businesses lining the town's two main roadways. Most are located in supermarket-anchored shopping centers, attractive brick business centers or high-end, wood-framed mini-malls. A day spa and salon now occupies a converted estate on Route 33, convenient to newly constructed office/ business space.

Education plays an important role in Stratham, home to several private preschools, a Montessori school and its own community-supported Memorial School (K-6). It's also the site of the seacoast branch of the seven-college New Hampshire Community Technical College System, which offers an array of programs in business, health care and technology, awarding associate degrees, certificates and diplomas in day and evening classes.

Popular youth recreation programs in baseball, softball, basketball and soccer are run by a volunteer recreation director. Town teams have the use of various fields behind the college, thanks to a joint management/use agreement between the two entities. Recreation fields at Stratham Hill Park, Memorial School and the municipal center are in constant demand.

Each July, thousands of visitors turn Stratham upside down for one weekend during the Stratham Fair, which fills Stratham Hill Park with prize farm animals, 4-H shows, craft displays, special entertainment and midway. The park is named for Stratham Hill, the highest land point in the seacoast with a fire tower that affords views as far as Mount Washington on a clear day. In winter, a snowy weekend brings out dozens of families for great sledding down the side of the hill.

The volunteer Stratham Fire Department actively supports a local scout troop, and the town has benefited from Eagle Scout projects like cross-country skiing and hiking trails at Stratham Hill Park and a public boat launch on the Squamscott River.

Stratham's gently rolling countryside, much of it just off the beaten path, belies the fact that this is a community of steady, vibrant growth whose population recently doubled. There's still a sense of the quiet, rural lifestyle around every turn of Stratham's back roads, even in the new millennium!

Information Courtesy of Exeter Area Chamber of Commerce

Find homes for sale in Stratham New Hampshire