Pembroke

Pembroke blends New England grit with everyday grace. In Suncook Village, 19th-century brick mills, China, Webster, Pembroke, once driven by the Suncook River now hum as apartments and small businesses, giving the walkable center a lived-in, revival feel. At the town’s heart stands Pembroke Academy (1818), a regional anchor of academics and athletics where the Spartans rally neighbors and knit generations together.

Nature frames the rest. Bear Brook State Park spills across town with singletrack, hiking, and archery ranges, while the Merrimack’s western edge offers river views and a railroad echo of the industrial age. Beyond the village, fields and greenhouses keep the agrarian thread alive, led by Pleasant View Gardens, which roots local jobs in regional horticulture. The result is a community that honors its past, enjoys its present, and keeps a clear line of sight to what’s next.