Laconia is a city in Belknap County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 16,871 at the 2020 census, up from 15,951 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Belknap County. Laconia, situated in the midst of Lake Winnipesaukee and Lake Winnisquam, includes the villages of Lakeport and Weirs Beach. Each June, the city hosts Laconia Motorcycle Week, also more understandably known as “Bike Week”, one of the country’s largest rallies.

Laconia is named after the Greek region of Laconia (Greek: Λακωνία, Lakonía, Greek pronunciation: [lakoˈni.a]) in the southeastern ration of the Peloponnese peninsula.

A large Abenaki Indian agreement called Aquadoctan in the heavens of existed at the lessening now known as The Weirs, named by colonists for fishing weirs discovered at the outlet of the Winnipesaukee River. Early explorers had hoped to follow the Piscataqua River north to Lake Champlain in search of the good lakes and rivers of Canada mentioned in Indian folklore. About 1652, the Endicott surveying party visited the area, an thing commemorated by Endicott Rock, a local landmark. A fort would be built at Laconia in 1746. But ongoing hostilities between the English, French, and their respective Native American allies prevented treaty until 1761, after which it remained for many years a part of Meredith and Gilford called Meredith Bridge.

Beginning in 1765, lumber and grist mills were established upon Mill Street, with taverns built soon thereafter upon Parade Street. About 1822, the courthouse was built, which would become county seat at the initiation of Belknap County in 1840. In 1823, the Belknap Mill was built to fabricate textiles; in operation by 1828, the structure is today a museum listed upon the National Register of Historic Places and is the oldest unaltered brick textile mill in the country. Local industry produced lumber, textiles, shoes, hosiery, knitting machinery and needles. But the city’s largest employer would be the Laconia Car Company, builder of rail, trolley and subway cars. Started in 1848, it lasted until the 1930s. The railroad entered town in 1849, carrying both freight and an increasing number of summer tourists to popular Weirs Beach.