The town was granted by the authorities of New Hampshire, to Jonathan Wiggin and others, in 1727, and was originally square, and covered nearly all the territory granted to Ebenezer Eastman and others, by the authorities of Massachusetts, two years previous, under the name of Pennacook. Massachusetts claimed to hold authority over a large portion of the territory of New Hampshire for many years, till the final boundary line was established, in 1741, giving New Hampshire more territory than it had ever claimed. These complicated lines of the two towns coming from two different authorities, were not settled decisively till after the final separation of the two colonial provinces. The government of New Hampshire gave Bow the preference in its grant of 1727, and did not recognize the title of the Pennacook grantees, and in the bill giving a charter for the parish of Concord, it was worded as "taking a part of the town of Bow," etc. Although Concord was granted and surveyed before Bow, its final organization was 38 years after it. Bow gained a victory over Concord in its original title; still it was obliged to yield over two-thirds of its territory to Concord, Pembroke and Hopkinton, establishing their final boundary lines at different times, from 1759 to 1765. The town's name comes from its establishment along a bend, or "bow", in the Merrimack River. The first census, taken in 1790, reported 568 residents. In 1874, the Concord Railroad passed along the eastern border of Bow. It is now the New England Southern Railroad. On September 28, 2019, hundreds of climate activists protested in Bow against Merrimack Station, one of the last remaining coal-fired power plants in New England. 67 people, who carried buckets signifying their intent to physically remove coal from the site, were arrested by state police.
At the 2000 census there were 7,138 people in 2,304 households, including 2,045 families, in the town. The population density was 254.3 people per square mile. There were 2,330 housing units at an average density of 83.0 per square mile. The racial makeup of the town was 97.79% White, 0.13% African American, 0.10% Native American, 1.04% Asian, 0.29% from other races, and 0.66% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 0.49%. Of the 2,304 households 49.1% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 81.0% were married couples living together, 5.9% had a female householder with no husband present, and 11.2% were non-families. 8.6% of households were one person and 3.6% were one person aged 65 or older. The average household size was 3.10 and the average family size was 3.28. The age distribution was 32.6% under the age of 18, 4.4% from 18 to 24, 27.3% from 25 to 44, 27.2% from 45 to 64, and 8.4% 65 or older. The median age was 39 years. For every 100 females, there were 99.5 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 93.7 males. The median household income was $79,329 and the median family income was $83,567. Males had a median income of $60,375 versus $30,929 for females. The per capita income for the town was $29,557. About 2.0% of families and 1.8% of the population were below the poverty line, including 0.6% of those under age 18 and 4.2% of those age 65 or over.
Education
In 1997, Bow built its first high school, Bow High School, along Turee Pond. Bow Memorial School and Bow Elementary School are located on Bow Center Road, less than a mile from the high school.
