NEWS
AND NOTES 2015
Historical
Association Display at 2015 Old Home Day
[August
8, 2015] The Epsom Historical Association
held its annual booth at the town's 2015
Old Home Day. On display were three swords,
including one that belonged to Capt. Arthur
C. Locke, and the Association's series of
books and publication. The Association also
sold raffle tickets as a fundraiser for
the organization. A slide show of 1000 photos
was run all day on a large screen TV in
the gazebo. Thanks to Brett, Carleton, Harvey
and Bill Meagher for setting up. Also thanks
to Nancy, Judy, Emmy, Charlie, John, Penny,
Jpyce and Carole for helping attend the
booth throughout the day.
Historical
Garden Completed
[July
2015] Kudo's and thanks to Master Gardener
Nancy Heath for the completion of the Circa
1900 Period Sitting Garden at the old library,
home of the Epsom Historical Association.
The garden contains Wentworth lilacs whose
lineage can be traced back to England. A
refurbished bench is centered in the garden
area which is on the east side of the library
building. Thanks again to Nancy and her
many friends and volunteers who assisted
with the planning and implementing this
wonderful historic garden.
New
Publication - "Center Hill"
Center
Hill NEW
The
road from the Deerfield line to the old
Epsom Meetinghouse was named East Street
by the proprietors. In later years it was
also called Elm Street after residents planted
Elms along the road near the McClary Cemetery.
The area was where the first twenty families
settled the original 20 home lots, and built
their meetinghouse, school and parsonage.
The area also included a town pound and
town common. The area had several stores
and taverns that accommodated travelers
that where heading inland from the coast.
It became of lesser importance when the
First New Hampshire came through town, which
was on less hilly ground north of the old
town center. The most notable family was
the McClary's, who owned much of the land
and did well by their mill operation. Later,
Joseph Lawrence established himself as a
large land owner and store operator, preceded
by Thomas D. Merrill. Among other prominent
families were Blake's, Locke's and Wallace's.
135 photos & images....148 pages....PREVIEW
(2015)
New
Publication - "Marden's Corner"
Marden's
Corner (traffic circle) NEW
Marden's
Corner was the crossroad where the First
New Hampshire Turnpike met the old Gilmanton
Road, running from Pembroke to Pittsfield.
For nearly 150 years it was populated by
primarily three branches of Marden's, and
the corner was eventually replaced by a
traffic circle located to the east. Based
on the families shown in the county maps
of 1858 and 1892 on the roads leading to
Marden's Corner. The book includes information
on most of the families and photos from
the archives of the Epsom Historical Association.
97 photos and images...104 pages....PREVIEW
(2015)
New
Publication - "Short Falls"
Short
Falls & River Road
The
town of Epsom voted in 1778 to lay out two
roads from Short Falls, one to Allenstown
(River Road) and one, including a bridge,
near the short falls (Short Falls Road).
River Road would be populated primarily
by Bickfords, and the Short Falls Road by
Tripps. Short Falls was a close knit community
and had a country store, creamery, function
hall, railroad, grist mill, school, cemetery,
blacksmith and shoe shops. The opportunities
for employment saw the number of houses
increase over the years, but many of them
began to disappear after 1900. The area
included parts of lot No. 7 in the second
division owned by Thomas Critchett, and
from the third range, lots 83 to 74. One
of the earliest settlers was Nathaniel Kinneson
at the four corners. 124 photos and images...112
pages....PREVIEW
(2015)
New
Publication - "Fowler District &
Jug City" now available
Fowler
District & Jug City
The
first and second ranges in the second division
of lots in Epsom ran from the Pembroke line
north and included the Fowler District,
Jug City Road, part of Route 28 and a portion
of Mill House Road. It was divided into
two ranges containing 20 lots, with the
westerly side the first range second division,
and the easterly side the second range,
second division. Among the families that
resided in the area were Martin, Lovejoy,
Fowler, Dolloff, Gordon and Burnham..74
images...73 pages....PREVIEW
(2015)
Association
holds 'March Madness' Musical Meeting
The
Epsom Historical Association held its March
meeting at the Epsom Library on Sunday the
22nd at 2:pm with over 50 memebrs attending.
Following the successful musical porgrams
of the past few years, Broadway was chosen
as the theme for local artists to perform.
The over an hour of entertainment was enjoyed
by everyone present and was followed by
refreshments. On display for the afternoon
were the numberous publications that the
Historical Association now has available.
The event was hosted by Bruce Graham. [view
photos]
Thanks
to all those who participated and the officers
of the Association who put the wonderful
program together. The next meeting will
be a cemetery tour in the spring. Watch
for details..
New
Publication - "Sanborn Hill" book
2nd of 2015
Sanborn
Hill NEW
At
the time Charles McCoy was living in Epsom
there was a 'Suncook Road' leading over
the hill from Center Hill to Allenstown.
This road is mentioned in deeds as early
as 1752, and it was in 1768 that the town
laid out the current road from Center
Hill to New Rye. It was extended in 1772
'partly on the old way' through land of
Levi Cass. Early deeds refer to this road
as simply 'the Hill Road' and later as
Sanborn Hill Road. The families that settled
on the hill were the McCoy's, Sanborn's
and Sander's. Along with these families
were Daniel Goss and Charles Quimby, and
at the foot of the hill, Samuel Blake.
Samuel Blake sold a couple small lots
at the base of the road occupied by families
of Chesley, Weeks and Hall. The road is
no longer a through road, ending as it
approaches New Rye.61 images...84
pages....PREVIEW
(2015)
New
Publication of 2015 - "North Road
to 107"
North
Road to 107 NEW
North
Road to 107 covers the families that
occupied the northeastern part of Epsom
from Pittsfield south to Deerfield. This
includes North Road to the area of Lords
Mill, down Route 107. The area was also
home to several lesser known Epsom families,
including the Pettingills, Emersons and
McDaniels. The North Road was also where
the First New Hampshire Turnpike crossed
through Epsom from Northwood to Chichester
and where toll gate number 4 stood. The
Yeaton Tavern accommodated travelers for
many years. Other families later included
several lines of Brown's, and several families
who were Quakers and associated with the
Friend's Meetinghouse in South Pittsfield.
44 images...66 pages....PREVIEW
(2015)
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