CLAREMONT

Claremont is the only city in Sullivan County, set along the Sugar River in western New Hampshire near the Connecticut River border with Vermont. Its downtown retains a 19th-century mill-town character with a restored opera house as the cultural anchor.

The Claremont Opera House is an Italian Renaissance Revival building designed in 1897 that was restored and reopened in 1979 after a lengthy community campaign. It programs concerts, theatrical performances, films, and community events in a 700-seat auditorium listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The Atrium Gallery displays work by regional artists.

Claremont has a small-city independence born of its geographic distance from the state's population centers. The Opera House is a point of civic pride, and the audience is made up of local residents and people from surrounding Sullivan County towns. The mill buildings along the Sugar River are slowly being repurposed into creative and business spaces.

Tip: The Opera House is at 58 Opera House Square in the center of downtown, adjacent to Broad Street Park. Parking is available nearby.

Neighborhoods: Downtown • Opera House Square • Lower Village • Pleasant Street