First known as Chester Woods and Rowe's Corner, this town was called Hooksett for nearly fifty years before being incorporated. The name may have come from a hook-shaped island in the Merrimack or from early fishermen, who called the area Hookline Falls. Rocky ledges flank the Merrimack River, and there were several cross-river ferries located here, as well as lumber mills and a brick-making establishment powered by the falls. In 1794, the lottery-funded Hooksett Canal became part of the transportation facilities of the Amoskeag cotton mills in Manchester.
