Hampton Beach is a village district, census-designated place, and beach resort in the town of Hampton, New Hampshire, United States, along the Atlantic Ocean. Its population at the 2020 census was 2,598. Hampton Beach is in Rockingham County, about south of Portsmouth. The community is a popular tourist destination and the busiest beach community in New Hampshire. Ocean Boulevard, the main street along the beach, includes a boardwalk, many shops and businesses, several seasonal hotels, and the Hampton Beach Casino Ballroom, which hosts national acts in the summer. Hampton Beach State Park was named one of four "Superstar" beaches in the United States in 2011, for having had perfect water-quality testing results in each of the previous three years. History The Hampton Beach Village District was established on June 26, 1907, to provide electric power and water to the summer tourist community. In 1923, the village's first fire station was built, after two fires destroyed a large section of the beach settlement in 1919 and 1922. The original fire station was razed and replaced in 2014. On February 26, 2010, a windstorm-fueled fire burned down all the buildings in a block at Hampton Beach, including the Surf Hotel, Happy Hampton Arcade, and Mrs. Mitchell's Gift Shop. The fire started in the Surf Hotel and was spread to the other buildings by high winds. The cause of this fire is unknown. The area has been rebuilt, with a larger hotel and a new Mrs. Mitchell's. Geography Most of the resort village lies on a barrier spit separated from the mainland by a large estuary system known as Hampton Harbor. The estuary serves as the mouth of several rivers, the largest being the Hampton River from the northwest. New Hampshire Route 1A serves as the main north-south route through the beach area, connecting the village to Seabrook Beach to the south (across the Hampton Bridge traversing the Hampton Harbor Inlet) and Little Boar's Head in North Hampton to the north. Access from the west is provided by three roads: New Hampshire Route 101 is the main access point to the densely populated southern resort area from most points west, while Winnacunnet Road (officially New Hampshire Route 101E) provides access to the less developed areas in the northern part of the village near a large salt marsh conservation area. Winnacunnet Road marks the northern edge of the census-designated place, but New Hampshire Route