EPPING, NH

A chronic quip about "Epping—the center of the universe" remains visible on bumper stickers. However, due to its location at the crossroads of Route 101 and Route 125, the town has indeed become a retail center serving the neighboring towns. It has attracted chain stores since Route 101 was upgraded to an expressway in the mid-1990s, with strip malls and big-box stores arriving in the 2010s.

The town also has a traditional center clustered around Main Street and Route 27, an older road connecting Exeter with Hooksett and Manchester. These parts of town retain their traditional architecture.

The area on Route 27 near the Raymond border is known as West Epping.

The town has a total area of , of which are land and are water, comprising 0.70% of the town. Epping is drained by the Lamprey and Piscassic rivers. The highest point in Epping is Kennard Hill at above sea level, located in the town's northwest corner. Epping lies fully within the Piscataqua River (Coastal) watershed.

The town center, defined as the Epping census-designated place (CDP), has a total area of , all land.

Adjacent municipalities

Culture

There are two auto racing venues in Epping. New England Dragway, New England's only quarter-mile track, runs races Wednesday and Friday nights and all day on the weekends, including the IHRA Amalie Oil North American Nationals and, since 2013, the NHRA New England Nationals. The dragway hosts a popular Halloween display during the second half of October. Star Speedway is a NASCAR stock-car oval operating on Saturdays.

An annual canoe race down the Lamprey River occurs on the last weekend in April. Camp Hedding hosts an annual camp meeting for one week in August and an "olde time fair" on the first Saturday of August every year.

Epping has two annual parades, the memorial parade and the Christmas parade. The memorial parade usually includes youth sports teams, scouts, the combined middle and high school marching band, the fire department, police department, and veterans. The Christmas parade includes a few fire trucks and police cars that go around town with a Santa Claus character and his elves throwing candy to any children who are outside.

Demographics

thumb|right|Main Street in 1905

As of the census of 2010, there were 6,411 people, 2,466 households, and 1,768 families residing in the town. There were 2,723 housing units, of which 257, or 9.4%, were vacant. The racial makeup of the town was 96.2% white, 0.3% African American, 0.2% Native American, 1.3% Asian, 0.03% Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander, 0.3% some other race, and 1.6% from two or more races. 1.6% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race.

Of the 2,466 households, 34.4% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 57.5% were headed by married couples living together, 9.0% had a female householder with no husband present, and 28.3% were non-families. 20.3% of all households were made up of individuals, and 6.5% were someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.60, and the average family size was 2.99.

In the town, 22.8% of the population were under the age of 18, 7.6% were from 18 to 24, 28.6% from 25 to 44, 30.5% from 45 to 64, and 10.5% were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 40.0 years. For every 100 females, there were 96.8 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 94.2 males.

For the period 2011–2015, the estimated median annual income for a household was $77,750, and the median income for a family was $86,886. Male full-time workers had a median income of $66,330 versus $47,538 for females. The per capita income for the town was $34,982. 6.3% of the population and 3.3% of families were below the poverty line. 12.1% of the population under the age of 18 and 1.5% of those 65 or older were living in poverty.

Notable people

The men who inspired the town nickname of "Home of Three Governors" are the following:

Plumer and Prescott roads honor two of the governors.

Other notable residents include: