What's the deal with Penacook? We will try to tell you the story....

Penacook is Concord, but Concord is not Penacook. It is a sweet village in a city.

Penacook is Concord, but Concord is not Penacook. It is a sweet village in a city.

Originally named "Fisherville," Penacook is a village inside the borders of the city of Concord, carved out of Concord's northern quarter. The name comes from the Native American tribe that once lived in the region. "Penacook" (or Pennycook) was also the original name of the lands incorporated into modern-day Concord.

The Penacook built their villages along the Merrimack River, the Pennacook, but contact with Europeans led to smallpox, measles, influenza, and diphtheria wiping out 75% of the Penacook nation. The land we live on was taken from them. To be clear, Penacook is a place name, Abenaki is the name of the people and a language. And, people are still speaking and teaching Abenaki today.

Penacook today is set on the Contoocook River right before it meets the Merrimack River. This brought hydro-powered mills - and dams on the river still generate power today. It’s quaint downtown has shops and eateries, and a lot of historic buildings and churches worth exploring - plus hiking, river beaches and spots to fish. Penacook has its own phone exchange (753), its own ZIP code (03303), and its own school district.

Historians tell us that "The village is located partly in the city of Concord and partly in the town of Boscawen. . . . With the Contoocook river as a central line, the village limits extend about one mile along the west bank of the Merrimack river, and about one and half miles westward from the Merrimack to the upper falls of the Contoocook river at the Borough; making about one and one half square miles of territory.”