Named for Colonel Theodore Atkinson, whose farm once covered nearly all of the area set aside from Plaistow that became the town.  He was brother-in-law to Governor Benning Wentworth, and served as secretary of the colony until the Revolution.

Main Street is quintessential New England with stone walls, a white steeple church, the Atkinson Village Store and the town cemetery.

A brand new Library just opened in October 2008 and the town also has a recently newly built Fire Department building.  In addition to these two buildings, the Town Hall and Police Department are also located on Academy Avenue.

The expansion of the Atkinson Country Club from a 9-hole to 18-hole championship golf course with a 70,000 square feet restaurant, hotel and function facility has made Atkinson a desired destination to visit and live.   The facility continues to expand with a new 9,000 square foot indoor state-of-art golf training center and an additional 9-hole golf course which just opened in January 2009.   A 55+ housing community is also planned.

Atkinson is home to Atkinson Academy, the oldest standing co-ed building in the country founded in 1787,  and is the towns elementary school for grades K through 5.   The Middle School and High School are part of the Timberlane Regional School District serving the towns of Atkinson, Danville, Plaistow and Sandown, NH.

Atkinson is a bedroom community nestled between Salem and Plaistow, NH and Haverhill, MA and easily accessible via Rts 93, 495 or 213 and approximately 45-60 minutes from Boston.  Its claim to fame is that there is not a traffic light in town!