The History of Newfields

​From the time it was settled by Edward Hilton and his descendants in 1638 along either side of an ancient Squamscott Indian trail, Newfields was important to Seacoast New Hampshire commerce due to its location at the mouth of the Squamscott River as it empties into the large tidal estuary known as Great Bay. Fed by several inland rivers and emptying into the Piscataqua, Great Bay provided efficient commercial transportation between the port of Portsmouth and the communities of Dover, Durham, Newmarket, Newfields, Exeter, Stratham, and Greenland.

Modest in size with an area of 7.3 square miles and a population of 1,769 (2020 Census), Newfields was part of Exeter in colonial times and was referred to as Newfield Village as early as 1681. In 1727 it became a parish of Newmarket when that town separated from Exeter and incorporated as its own municipality. Known as South Newmarket, Newfields remained part of Newmarket until incorporated in 1849 as the Town of South Newmarket with the borders more or less what they are today.

In 1895 the Town changed its name to Newfields as a condition of Dr. John Brodhead, a descendant of the Town’s first minister, who provided the Town with the Library and $10,000.