Settled in 1741,
this town did not get its
incorporated name until 1778. It was
named for County Antrim in Ireland,
which was the native home of the
land's owner, Philip Riley.
Scots-Irish settlers established a
Presbyterian church in Antrim in
1788.
With falls providing water power, Great Brook was once lined with over twenty mills along its course from Gregg Lake to the Contoocook River. Commercial development centered on South Antrim. Cutlery was the big industry in this small town, beginning with the manufacturing of apple-paring machines in 1864. The manufacturing of cutlery continued in Antrim through 1989. The town is now largely a bedroom community for Peterborough and Hillsborough. It was home to the now-defunct Nathaniel Hawthorne College.
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