Merrymeeting Lake
lake in New Hampshire, United States
Merrymeeting Lake is a 1,233-acre (4.99 km2) water body located in Strafford County in eastern New Hampshire, United States, in the town of New Durham. Its outlet is the Merrymeeting River, flowing south and then northwest to Lake Winnipesaukee.
The shores of Merrymeeting Lake are moderately to heavily developed. The lake has a busy recreational character rather than a wilderness character. Only a few small segments of shoreline remain undeveloped. The undeveloped areas are the western side of Sawtooth Cove, because the land is extremely steep there and difficult to build on, and the far eastern shore of the lake which is not easily accessible by road.
In the 1980s, most buildings along the lake were simple summer camps. During the 1990s, most of these structures were replaced by higher end summer homes, some worth millions of dollars. The town of New Durham maintains two paved roads, North Shore Road and South Shore Road, which almost encircle the lake, allowing for year-round residence. However, the winter population is small.
Begin with the source’s own compact description: “Merrymeeting Lake” is lake in New Hampshire, United States. The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through Merrymeeting, Lake and lake, not as a finished interpretation.
Why this record matters
The phrase “lake in New Hampshire, United States” supplies a clear boundary for inquiry. It also exposes the unanswered questions: who defined that boundary, when it became stable and which sources sit outside it.
Place names and jurisdictional language are key evidence: both can reveal earlier catalogue descriptions and overlooked record series. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jul 28, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q6820513. VIAF identifies the subject as 315528323. The Library of Congress control number is sh98000369. Authority coordinates are 43.490, -71.155. 1 of 3 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank.
A single description cannot reconcile every naming convention, rebuilding phase or administrative transfer associated with a place. The source lead contains qualifying language; that uncertainty should survive quotation, summary and reuse. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Treat names, boundaries and functions as historically changeable. Maps, plans, inventories and administrative records can clarify what the place meant at different dates.
- Historic place names
- Jurisdictional context
- Routes into maps and plans
Contemporary maps, plans, listed-building records, estate papers and the responsible local or national archive.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Merrymeeting Lake”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Merrymeeting Lake primary sources, Merrymeeting Lake archive and Merrymeeting research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
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Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Merrymeeting Lake” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.