Community

     Nestled in the Connecticut River Valley midway up state, Lebanon, New Hampshire, is a healthy and thriving community that enjoys both the quiet everyday living of rural life, and the cultural experience of the big city. Appearing more than once in Prentice Hall's The 100 best Small Towns in America, a Nationwide Guide to the Best in Small Town Living, often in the top four, Lebanon's 12,568 residents are living testimonials that this recognition is richly deserved. Welcome to the Crossroads of New England.

    King George III of England formally signed the Charter for the Town of Lebanon on July 4, 1761, and colonists began settling the area almost immediately. With such easy access to the Connecticut River and the smaller Mascoma River, Lebanon provided the perfect location for transporting the resources necessary for running mills; textiles manufacturing became an obvious source of commerce. With the evolution of the railroads along the waterways and their direct route to Boston, the textile trade positively flourished, becoming Lebanon's greatest source for employment; the rail industry itself served as a close second.

     Textiles manufacturing continued to be Lebanon's primary employer until the 1950's. At that time, foreign imports and a change in the nation's economy forced Lebanon to turn from the faltering mills and railroads to cleaner industries with their advanced technologies. As a result, Lebanon is now home to software companies, high-tech research facilities and manufacturers, and state-of-the-art medical facility, a nationally acclaimed cancer center, and the most advanced plasma-cutting technology company in the world.

     Lebanon is the center of the Upper Valley's labor market, and over half of its citizens are employed within the city limits. Sixty one percent of Lebanon's residents work for private for-profit organizations, approximately 19 percent work for non-profit organizations, just under 14 percent work for local, state, or the federal government, and 6 percent are self-employed. The median household income is over $32,200, and Lebanon currently boasts (as it often does) the lowest unemployment rate in the entire state at around 1.4 percent.

     The primary sector of Lebanon's economy is professional services, followed by retail/wholesale and then manufacturing. The city's top five employers are Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center and the Hitchcock Clinic with over 4700 employees, Timken Aerospace which manufactures spit ball-bearings with over 612, the Lebanon School District with almost 337, Luminescent Systems employing 170 individual, and the City of Lebanon itself with 206 employees.

     Lebanon's location near the junction of two major interstates, its instant access by rail or by air, and its close proximity to Dartmouth College, help foster the growth of the area at a steady rate and ensure success.

Theater
    The Lebanon Town Hall was built in 1923 complete with theater, meeting hall, courthouse, and town offices. Originally the theater showed only movies and an occasional play, but over the years it has come to be the cultural center of Lebanon. With 800 seats, both orchestra and balcony, the Jack O'Connell Theater currently hosts plays, musicals, lectures, and many school concerts.

     The North Country Community Theater provides a musical every summer, Opera North sponsors two operas near the end of every summer. Informal entertainment, various music groups perform free concerts every Monday night on Colburn Park all summer long.

Health and Fitness
     The River Valley Club and the Carter-Witherell Center, both of Lebanon, and the fountain of Youth in White River Junction, offer complete state-of-the-art facilities for recreation, health, and fitness. Dartmouth College in Hanover, New Hampshire also has complete fitness and sports facilities with programs in which local residents not affiliated with the college may participate.

Hopkins Center
     In Hanover, Dartmouth College's Hopkins Center is the cultural center for the college and surrounding communities. Plays, operas, musicals, and special programs and events are plentiful throughout the year.

     Serious movie buffs may join the Dartmouth Film Series, a selection of movies, both well-known and unfamiliar, American and foreign, recent and ancient, following a specific theme.

Museums
     Across the river in Norwich, Vermont, The Montshire Museum of Science is a great place for children and fun-loving adults who still enjoy learning. Enfield is home to the Shaker Museum and LaSalette Shrine.

     Lebanon's own AVA (Alliance for the Visual Arts) Gallery, located just off Colburn Park, is currently affiliated with over 150 artists. The Hood Museum of Dartmouth College displays paintings, sculptures, and artifacts from college collections and traveling exhibits.

     The mission of The Lebanon Recreation Department is "to provide a variety of quality recreation programs and special events, and to effectively develop and maintain recreation facilities for the community's use and enjoyment, which together enhance the quality of life for all the residents of the City of Lebanon." The Lebanon Recreation Department provides over 100 special events and programs each year.

     For fun in the sun in the summer, ponds, lakes, and golf courses are plentiful. Storrs Pond is 15 minutes north in Hanover, Mascoma Lake is approximately 10 minutes east in Enfield, with Crystal Lake just beyond. The Mascoma River meanders from Mascoma Lake through Enfield and Lebanon, and empties into the Connecticut River, offering a peaceful, scenic waterway for canoeing or kayaking. Lebanon has its own Carter Country Club for golf; several other golf courses providing all levels of challenge can be found within a 20 mile radius. Two hours by car to the southeast will bring you to New Hampshire's 13 miles of rugged seacoast and beaches, and the beauty of the Atlantic Ocean.

     The non-winter months are also great for hiking, camping, and fishing, all of which are plentiful in the surrounding area.

     Skiing, snowboarding, and tubing are the popular sports for the winter months. Just a mile from downtown Lebanon is the Storrs Hill Ski Area that offers not only fine alpine skiing and a snowboard park, but also the area's only ski jumps. Dartmouth Skiway sits 30 minutes north in Lyme, New Hampshire. Driving one or two hours in any direction towards the north will provide a plethora of skiing choices for both alpine and cross country aficionados, and every ability.

     No matter what the season, families can enjoy roller skating in Enfield, ice skating in Hanover, or taking ballet, taekwondo, or karate lessons just minutes from Colburn Park. There are also bowling, pool, and other indoor games available in Lebanon and the surrounding area.

     Lebanon offers an incredible range of housing to appeal to all tastes, family sizes, and budgets. Individually constructed homes are plentiful and varied, from historic New England or 18th century farmhouses to contemporary ranches or pre-constructed modular homes. There are also many other housing choices available: housing developments with covenants, apartment complexes, condominiums (both stacked and townhouse style), mobile home parks, and retirement communities.

Prices
     According to the most recent census, the average owner-occupied home falls within the $215,000 to $265,000 range. Three percent of the owner-occupied homes costs less than $150,000. Just over one-third of the housing units in Lebanon are rented, with the median rental agreement charging approximately $700 per month. As of the last census, there were just over 2,500 single-family homes, just under 3,000 multi-family homes, and almost exactly 300 mobile homes.

Alice Peck Day Memorial Hospital
     Lebanon is blessed to have not one, but two exceptional health care facilities residing within the city limits.

     Alice Peck Day Memorial Hospital (APD) began as a ‘cottage hospital', a gift of Alice Peck Day upon her death in 1927. By 1931 the new hospital opened its doors with one superintendent, one day nurse, one night nurse, and nine beds. APD has grown and prospered since then, now employing 67 physicians and housing 85 beds, but its original mission remains the same – to accomplish patient-focused health care, to promote well-ness, and to continually improve the quality of health care services in the area.

Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center
     Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center (DHMC) includes the Dartmouth Medical School, founded in1797, and Mary Hitchcock Memorial Hospital, founded in 1893. Originally located in Hanover, DHMC relocated to Lebanon on a 225-acre lot just off Route 120, at a cost of over $200 million. DHMC employs 336 physicians, and features 396 licensed beds, a birthing pavilion, extensive research facilities, and a Trauma Center. The new structure also includes a center atrium mall with small retail stores and restaurants.

Public Schools
     Five elementary schools, one junior high school, and one senior high school serve the children of Lebanon, West Lebanon, Grantham (7-12 only), and Plainfield (9-12 only) under the leadership of School Administrative Union 88.

     The total budget for the public schools of Lebanon is approximately $18.6 million, 8 percent provided by the state and federal governments, leaving 92 percent provided by local resources. Per pupil expenditure is roughly $8,600 and the average teacher salary is just under $42,000. With 175 teachers currently employed, the student to teacher ratio comes out to about one teacher for every 12.5 students. Of the high school graduating class of 1999, 65 percent continued on to college

Private Schools and colleges
     Private schooling is also an option for parents with the means. Cardigan Mountain School in Canaan and the Crossroads Academy in Lyme, New Hampshire, are two of the better-known private schools for boys and girls of elementary school age. Kimball Union Academy (KUA) is a private high school located in nearby Meriden. Other smaller, private schools may be found throughout Lebanon and the surrounding communities, gearing their curriculum around religious beliefs, or featuring new teaching techniques such as the Montessori Method.

     Dartmouth College, one of the more famous Ivy League Schools, is just 15 minutes away in the next town of Hanover. Colby Sawyer College, 30 minutes south in New London, New Hampshire, is an independent, coeducational, residential, undergraduate college.

     Lebanon College, located on the mall in downtown Lebanon, is a non-profit community college offering courses designed to benefit the entire community. The College of Lifelong Learning offers accredited courses through the University of New Hampshire.

    Visit our Upper Valley Exhibitions page for more information on Upper Valley Exhibitions hosted by: The Greater Lebanon Chamber of Commerce and The Hanover Area Chamber of Commerce

Upper Valley Exhibitions

For more photos of Lebanon, visit our Photo Gallery page.