Keene is a city in Cheshire County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 22,955 at the 2000 census. The estimated population was 22,834 in 2007, according to the State Data Center. It is the county seat of Cheshire County.
Keene is home to Keene State College and Antioch University New England, and hosts the annual Pumpkin Fest.
Keene is home to Keene State College and Antioch University New England, and hosts the annual Pumpkin Fest.
The community was granted as Upper Ashuelot in 1735 by Colonial Governor Jonathan Belcher to soldiers who had fought in the war against Canada. Settled after 1736, it was intended to be a fort town protecting the Province of Massachusetts Bay during the French and Indian Wars. When New Hampshire separated from Massachusetts in 1741, the border between the two shifted south, and Upper Ashuelot became part of New Hampshire.
During King George's War, the village was attacked and burned by Indians. Colonists fled to safety, but would return to rebuild in the early 1750s. It was regranted to its inhabitants in 1753 by Governor Benning Wentworth, who renamed it Keene after Sir Benjamin Keene, English minister to Spain and a West Indies trader.
During King George's War, the village was attacked and burned by Indians. Colonists fled to safety, but would return to rebuild in the early 1750s. It was regranted to its inhabitants in 1753 by Governor Benning Wentworth, who renamed it Keene after Sir Benjamin Keene, English minister to Spain and a West Indies trader.
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