Nashua, New Hampshire in the 1910s
A river-and-rail factory city where cotton, shoes, paper, immigrants, war, and influenza crowded daily life.
Looking around
You stand where the Nashua and Merrimack rivers meet1,3, in a city of 26,005 people1,2. Turn toward the mill side: the Nashua River and Salmon Brook furnish water-power1, and the old planned factory town still shows grid streets, mill buildings, boarding houses, mercantile lots, churches, and a brick schoolhouse3. By the tracks, Boston & Maine divisions center here1, carrying freight and passengers toward Boston and Concord1. Electric cars run out toward Hudson, Litchfield, Pelham, Dracut, and Tyngsboro1. The factories make cotton goods, boots, shoes, foundry work, and machine-shop products1, part of a city with 7,312 manufacturing wage earners4. Around town are St. Francis Xavier, First Congregational, the public library, the court house, two hospitals, and a soldiers’ monument1. Beyond the built streets lie hills to the north, west, and southwest1.
Work
Factory shifts rule
The city had 7,312 manufacturing wage earners4 in 1909, and its factories turned out $17,320,134 in products4. Work centered on cotton goods, boots, shoes, foundry products, and machine-shop products1.
Who lived here
An immigrant mill city
Nashua counted 26,005 people1,2 in 1910. A decade earlier, 8,093 residents were foreign-born1, so mills, churches, shops, and streets were already shaped by immigrant households.
Roads & news
Rails and papers connect
Nashua was 40 miles northwest of Boston by rail1, and Boston & Maine divisions centered here1. Local news moved through the Nashua Daily Telegraph6, while electric lines reached Hudson, Litchfield, Pelham, Dracut, and Tyngsboro1.
Faith
Churches anchor streets
The visible religious landmarks included St. Francis Xavier and First Congregational Church1. The older factory-town plan had placed churches3 among mills, boarding houses, mercantile lots, and schools.
Law & power
City and county authority
Nashua was one of the county seats of Hillsborough County1, with court business in town. Its government kept yearly municipal reports with vital statistics5, tying deaths, schools, streets, and spending to city offices.
What people feared
War, machines, influenza
World War I touched the city through printed soldiers’ and sailors’ names and honor rolls7. Afterward, the great influenza epidemic struck8, while everyday risk remained tied to thousands of manufacturing wage earners4 in mills and shops.
Home & table
Planned mill-town bones
The older industrial city still rested on grid streets, textile factories, boarding houses, mercantile lots, churches, and the Old Brick Schoolhouse3. But ordinary working-class interiors are not described in the online sources opened here.
Money
Products, wages, output
The useful local money figures are industrial rather than household: factory products were worth $17,320,134 in 19094. That output came from 7,312 average manufacturing wage earners4, but a local 1910s wage table was not found here.
Year by year
- 1910The federal census counted Nashua at 26,005 people. here1,2
- 1911The Encyclopædia Britannica described Nashua as a rail-served manufacturing city at the Nashua and Merrimack rivers. here1,3
- 1914World War I began in Europe, and its demand later helped keep Nashua’s mills, machine shops, foundries, and railroads busy. the world3
- 1916The United States fought along the Mexican border, and Nashua men of military age lived amid a rising national preparedness debate. the country
- 1917The United States entered World War I, making soldiers’ names, sailors’ names, and honor rolls local newspaper matter. the country7
- 1918The great influenza epidemic struck after the end of World War I. here8
- 1918The Armistice ended the fighting in Europe on November 11, a date Nashua readers and war families would have followed closely. the world
- 1919Nashua issued its sixty-sixth annual municipal report for the 1918 financial year, including vital statistics. here5
Pictures from the time
What the sources say
- The 1910 census counted Nashua city at 26,005 people, up from 23,898 in 1900. from the sources1,2
- Nashua stood at the confluence of the Nashua and Merrimack rivers in Hillsborough County. from the sources1,3
- The 1911 Britannica placed Nashua 35 miles south-southeast of Concord and 40 miles northwest of Boston by rail. from the sources1
- In 1900, 8,093 of Nashua’s 23,898 residents were foreign-born, a sign that immigration had already strongly shaped the city entering the 1910s. from the sources1
- The Boston & Maine Railroad served Nashua, and several of its divisions centered there, giving the city commercial importance. from the sources1
- Electric railway lines connected Nashua with Hudson, Litchfield, Pelham, Dracut, and Tyngsboro. from the sources1
- The Nashua River and Salmon Brook furnished water-power for the city’s factories. from the sources1
- Nashua’s chief manufactures around 1910 included cotton goods, boots, shoes, foundry products, and machine-shop products. from the sources1
- The 1909 manufactures census counted 7,312 average manufacturing wage earners in Nashua, second in New Hampshire only to Manchester. from the sources4
- Nashua factory products were valued at $17,320,134 in 1909, compared with $12,858,382 in 1904 and $10,096,604 in 1899. from the sources4
- Nashua Manufacturing Company’s earlier planned factory town laid out grid streets, textile factories, boarding houses, mercantile lots, churches, and the Old Brick Schoolhouse on West Pearl Street. inferred3
- By 1911 Nashua had the church of Saint Francis Xavier, First Congregational Church, a public library, a court house, two hospitals, and a soldiers’ monument. from the sources1
- North, west, and southwest of Nashua were hills and mountains, according to the 1911 Britannica description. from the sources1
- Nashua was one of the county seats of Hillsborough County, so courts and county business brought people into the city. from the sources1
- The Nashua annual report for financial year 1918 was a yearly municipal report containing vital statistics, showing the city kept formal accounts of deaths, spending, and departments. from the sources5
- Nashua had a local daily newspaper archive for the 1910s: the Nashua Daily Telegraph pages for 1910–1919 survive in the Nashua Public Library digital archive. from the sources6
- The Nashua Telegraph frequently printed World War I soldiers’ and sailors’ names and honor rolls during the war years. inferred7
- World War I kept Nashua’s textile mills, machine shops, foundries, and railroads going strong, according to the city’s historical account. inferred3
- The Nashua Memorial Hospital history says the great influenza epidemic struck shortly after the end of World War I. from the sources8
- No online source opened here gives a room-by-room description of ordinary Nashua working-class housing in the 1910s. not known
Sources
- 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Nashua. Encyclopædia Britannica via Wikisource, 1911
- Thirteenth Census of the United States: 1910. United States Census Bureau, 1910
- History of Nashua. City of Nashua, New Hampshire
- Thirteenth Census of the United States: Statistics of Manufactures—New Hampshire. United States Census Bureau, 1910
- Sixty-sixth annual report of the municipal government of the city of Nashua, for the financial year 1918. Nashua Town Representatives / University of New Hampshire Scholars’ Repository, 1919
- Digital Archives of the Nashua Public Library. Nashua Public Library
- New Hampshire WWI Military: The Heroes of Nashua. Cow Hampshire, 2016
- Southern New Hampshire Medical Center: A Higher Level of Care. Southern New Hampshire Health
Nashua in other decades
Did someone of yours live here?
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Researched by Yore’s AI historian (gpt-5.5) in October 2026 from the sources above. It is about the place and the time, not about any person. Statements marked “inferred” are conclusions drawn from the sources, not records. Also available as plain Markdown. To cite: Yore, “Nashua, New Hampshire in the 1910s”, yorehistory.com/place/nashua-new-hampshire/1910s