The Great Things of Exeter

• Exeter was the capital of New Hampshire during the American Revolution. It was moved from Portsmouth to Exeter and then to Concord.
• Though there are many claims to it, Exeter is the birthplace of the Republican Party, formed by Amos Tuck on October 12, 1853 at a meeting in Major Blake’s Hotel, which still stands today.
• George Washington and Abraham Lincoln both visited Exeter.
• Exeter was actually a seaport and known for its shipbuilding. The last schooner was launched from Exeter in 1836.
• The book Incident at Exeter chronicles a U.F.O. sighting in the 1960’s.
• The longest continuously organized brass band in the country is Exeter’s, established in 1847.
• Author John Irving was born in Exeter and spent his formative years here.
• Exeter is home to the oldest Sportsmen’s Club in the country.
• The work of such notables as Daniel Chester French (an Exeter native), Henry Bacon, Louis Khan and Fredrick Law Olmstead can be found in Exeter.
• Gun powder from the raid on Fort William & Mary in Newcastle in December 1774, considered the first overt act of the revolution, was dispensed to powder houses around the seacoast, including Exeter, and later used in the Battle of Bunker Hill. The square design of Exeter’s powder house stands in sharp contrast to the more typical round ones.
• The Ioka Theater in Exeter, built in 1915, is one of the last remaining single-screen movie theaters still operating as a theater. The first movie shown there was Birth of a Nation.