Hollis, New Hampshire

Hollis, New Hampshire, a bucolic small town located on the border of Massachusetts, has a population of just over 7,000 residents.  The Nashua River flows through the southern end of town out of Pepperell, Massachusetts and into Nashua.

As has happened with many New Hampshire border towns, Hollis is very quickly changing from mixed use farmland, such as apple orchards, cornfields, pumpkins and other vegetables, to a bedroom community for the many commuters who work in neighboring Massachusetts.

Central located 45 miles north of Boston, and less than an hour to the seacoast and to the Lakes Region of New Hampshire, Hollis still retains it’s ‘country’ feel, while being easily accessible to Boston, Nashua NH and Manchester NH.

The median income in Hollis is just under $100,000, one of the highest in New Hampshire.

There are four schools in Hollis, two of which are a part of the Hollis-Brookline Cooperative School District.  Hollis Primary Schools serves kindergarten through third grade and Hollis Upper Elementary Schools serves grade 4-6.

Hollis has numerous town traditions, festivals and celebrations reminiscent of old New England towns.  Because a number of farms in Hollis grow strawberries, every June, Hollis holds its annual Strawberry Festival on the Common, to celebrate a successful harvest.

Hundreds of locals as well as tourist fill the Common to enjoy games, music and plenty of strawberry pies, strawberry shortcake and many other strawberry desserts.

There are also numerous apple orchards in town, and the Annual Apple Festival, held every fall, finds a smorgasbord of apple desserts and festivities, along with the very popular Apple Pie Contest.

The most popular festival, by far, is Old Home Day, held every September.  There is usually a Hollis Old Home Day dance on the Friday night prior to the festival, as well as carnival rides and attractions set up the night of the dance in preparation for the following day.  You will find dozens of booths, pavillions and food vendors set up like a traditional New England fair, including old fashioned games and demonstrations, animal demonstrations, live music and lots and lots of food.  Many of these booths are sponsored by local schools, groups and sports teams.  Oftentimes, there are hot air balloon rides and an evening ‘balloon glow’ where the balloons, while tethered are lit up from the inside and glow like huge lanterns.  Hollis Old Home Days concludes with a fireworks display.