[5] After World War II, many textile manufacturing jobs left Manchester, but new industries and companies were introduced to the city, such as DEKA.

The native Pennacook people called Amoskeag Falls on the Merrimack River—the area that became the heart of Manchester—Namaoskeag, meaning "good fishing place".

[6] In 1722, John Goffe III settled beside Cohas Brook, later building a dam and sawmill at what was dubbed "Old Harry's Town".

It was granted by Massachusetts in 1727 as "Tyngstown" to veterans of Queen Anne's War who served in 1703 under Captain William Tyng.

[7] In 1807, Samuel Blodget opened a canal and lock system to allow vessels passage around the falls, part of a network developing to link the area with Boston.

Apparently following Blodgett's suggestion, Derryfield was renamed "Manchester" in 1810, the year the mill was incorporated as the Amoskeag Cotton & Woolen Manufacturing Company.

[7][8]: 13–18 Amoskeag engineers and architects planned a model company town on the eastern bank, founded in 1838 with Elm Street as its main thoroughfare.

The rapid growth of the mills demanded a large influx of workers, resulting in a flood of immigrants, particularly French Canadians.

In 1871, the arch dam was built on the Merrimack River, enhancing the mill's water power delivery system.

[11] Manchester's economy benefitted from World War II, as the city was already well-positioned and equipped with industry to handle war-time production.

The University of New Hampshire at Manchester opened a campus in the Millyard during this time, and Segway inventor Dean Kamen purchased two old mill buildings which became the headquarters for DEKA.

John Madden, a local developer, and Kamen worked with the city to implement capital improvements to the Millyard in the 1980s and early 1990s.

[13] City Hall Plaza was built in downtown Manchester in 1992, to this day the tallest building in New Hampshire and northern New England.

[17] Since 2018, the death rate has declined through the efforts of the New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services and local outreach organizations, hitting a 10-year low in 2023.

The mill town's 19th-century affluence left behind some of the finest Victorian commercial, municipal, and residential architecture in the state.

The city began the program with street-scape and infrastructure improvements in the Rimmon Heights neighborhood of the West Side, which has spurred growth and investment in and by the community.

[1] The Mall of New Hampshire, on Manchester's southern fringe near the intersection of Interstates 93 and 293, is the city's main retail center.

It has also hosted major recording artists and comedians, national touring theatrical productions, family-oriented shows, and fairs since it opened in 2001.

The increasing popularity of downtown living has caused many properties originally built as tenement housing for mill workers in the 19th century to be converted to stylish, eclectic residential condominiums.

Many new retail stores and higher education institutions, including the University of New Hampshire at Manchester, have been uniquely retro-fitted into properties along Commercial and Canal Street.

"[44] By 2005, an article in Manchester's Hippo (a local alternative weekly) said that then-Mayor Robert A. Baines "is pushing to replace the nickname ManchVegas with Manchhattan" (meaning Manchester+Manhattan).

[45] In 2009, the film Monsters, Marriage and Murder in ManchVegas was released referencing Manchester's popular nickname and using much of the city as its backdrop.

[48] At a public meeting on December 6, 2022, comedian Nick Lavallee suggested that Mayor Joyce Craig and the Board of Aldermen declare Manchester "The Chicken Tender Capital of the World".

Lavallee read the city's official resolution on field at Delta Dental Stadium before the New Hampshire Fisher Cats played as "The Manchester Chicken Tenders".

The three-time Eastern League champion New Hampshire Fisher Cats play at Delta Dental Stadium.

Manchester is incorporated as a city under the laws of the state of New Hampshire, and operates under a strong mayoral form of government.

These include: The Manchester Transit Authority runs several local bus routes throughout the city and surrounding areas, and operates three regional bus routes called the Zip Line service, which offers express service from Manchester to Concord, Nashua, and Salem, New Hampshire.

A study currently being carried out by AECOM and the State of New Hampshire to design and make a financial plan for the project is due to be completed by 2023.

[73] With the expansion of Interstate 93 to eight lanes from Salem to Manchester under construction, space is being reserved in the median for potential future commuter or light rail service along this corridor.

Several meetings have been held with area business and property owners, city officials and local developers, but the idea is in the early conceptual stages.