About Rindge

Rindge is a town in Cheshire County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 6,476 at the 2020 census, up from 6,014 at the 2010 census. Rindge is home to Franklin Pierce University, the Cathedral of the Pines and part of Annett State Forest. == History == === Native American inhabitants === The land in and around Rindge was originally inhabited by ancestors of the Abenaki tribe of Native Americans. Archeological evidence from nearby Swanzey indicates that the region was inhabited as much as 11,000 years ago (coinciding with the end of the last glacial period). As much as half of the Western Abenakis were victims of a wave of epidemics that coincided with the arrival of Europeans in the late 16th and early 17th centuries. Later, many of the Western Abenaki present in southwestern New Hampshire chose to relocate to Canada during Colonial times, primarily due to their allegiance with the French during the French and Indian Wars. === Settlement by European colonists === In the eighteenth century, Massachusetts granted unappropriated land to veterans of Sir William Phipps' 1690 expedition against French-held Canada as compensation for services. Whole townships were granted to certain military companies and became known as "Canada" townships. Granted in 1736 by Governor Jonathan Belcher to soldiers from Rowley, Massachusetts, Rindge was first known as "Rowley-Canada".