Peterborough in the Past

1737-1738

Investors from Concord, MA petition the Massachusetts

Provincial Legislature for a land grant. This part of southern

New Hampshire was part of the province of Massachusetts.

1739

Thomas Morison buys a lot and arrives to begin clearing

land. He makes his campsite near the Contoocook at the

spot that is now marked Settler’s Rock.

1750s

Settlers, most Scotch-Irish immigrants, buy lots and begin

building homes and farms.

1761

The New Hampshire Provincial Legislature grants a charter

to incorporate the Town of Peterborough.

Town inventory of 1780

Men over age 21 120

Male Slaves 1

Female Slaves 2

Orchard 14 acres

Cultivated Land 300 acres

Hay Fields 667 acres

Pasture 500 acres

Cunningham Pond

Life in Early Peterborough

By the 1790s, Peterborough’s population had grown to over 800 people living on 100 farms throughout

town. Community life was centered around the farm, the church and the tavern. The meetinghouse and

the tavern were on Old Street Road. Saw and grist mills were operating and the town had established

four district schools for elementary education.

The Davidson House, the

first framed house in town.

Torn down in the 1890s.

Farming in Early Peterborough

Products

Beef

Swine

Milk and Dairy Products

Potatoes

Pumpkins

Raspberries

Peas

Beans

Corn

Apples

Strawberries

Orchard 0%

Pasture 9%

Hay 4%

Culivated 2%

Wild 85%

Land Use in 1796

“…gradually farming became, in many cases, more of a specialty, than a way of life…” George Abbot Morison, History of Peterborough, NH, 1954

Agriculture – Growth & Decline

Year # of Farms

1796 106

1830 140

1850 116

1900 57

1950 9

The growth of industry

1810-1860

The Bell Factory- Elm Street

Cotton textiles

Incorporated 1808

1817 First Looms Installed

Burned 1922

South Village - Noone Mill

Wool textiles

Built 1813

Burned 1823

Rebuilt 1823, Overhauled in 1831

Production Discontinued 1980

West Peterborough- Union Manufacturing

Cotton textiles

Original Building Built 1824

Expansions in 1857, 1899

Burned 1964 , Original building now home to Green Grocer Union Mill, West Peterborough

The Phoenix Factory- Grove and Main Street

Cotton Textiles

Founded 1820

Burned 1828

Rebuilt a larger brick factory

Demolished 1922

North Village- North Cotton Factory & Wilder Factory

Cotton Textiles, later thermometers and barometers

North Cotton Factory incorporated 1813

Factory Building purchased by Charles Wilder 1860

Building demolished in 1930s

Phoenix Factory

Wilder Factory, North Peterborough

Industries

1820-1880

1820

Wool textiles (1 mill)

Cotton textiles (4 mills)

Grist Mills

Saw Mills

Paper making

1850

Wool textiles (1 mill)

Cotton textiles (4 mills)

Grist Mills

Saw Mills

Shoe peg manufacturing

Tanneries (4)

Tinware & Stoves (2)

Furniture

Machine parts & Iron castings

Printing

Granite quarrying

Marble & Granite Monuments

1880

Wool textiles (1 mill)

Cotton textiles (2 mills)

Grist Mills

Saw Mills

Machine parts & Iron castings

Printing

Granite quarrying

Marble & Granite Monuments

Thermometers & Barometers

Baskets

Paper making

Paper pulp

Piano stools

Shoes

Wheelwright & Carriage Maker

Industries

1900-1985

1900 Wool textiles (1 mill)

Cotton textiles (2 mills)

Grist Mills

Saw Mills

Machine parts & Iron castings

Printing

Granite quarrying

Marble & Granite Monuments

Thermometers & Barometers

Baskets

Pianos

Wheelwright & Carriage Maker

American Guernsey Cattle Club

1926 Wool textiles (2 mill)

Cotton textiles (2 mills)

Grist Mill

Saw Mills

Machine parts & Iron castings

Printing

Marble & Granite Monuments

Baskets

American Guernsey Cattle Club

1961 Wool textiles (1 mill)

Printing

Marble & Granite Monuments

Baskets

American Guernsey Cattle Club

Electronic components

Fire extinguishers

Ball bearings

1985 Printing (3)

Marble & Granite Monuments

Baskets

Electronic components

Ball bearings

Publishers (7)

Direct Mail List Broker

Retail Warehouse/ Distribution (2)

Computer accessories

Tools/ Machine parts

Cash registers

Education

By 1824, the four district schools built in the

1790s were inadequate to meet the needs of

the growing community. The town voted to

build nine district schools educating students

to the eighth grade.

In 1836, a group of citizens formed the

Peterborough Academy, a private academy for

secondary school education that prepared

students for college. The Academy became

the first public high school in town in 1870.

This district schoolhouse was located in Depot Square and gave School

Street its name.

Central School, Vine Street

In 1887, the town adopted a centralized

system for the schools and built a new

school on Vine Street housing grades 1-12.

In 1927, the town built a new high school

on High Street and the Central School

housed grades 1-6.

In 1955, the town created an addition to

the high school building to house the

elementary grades and renamed it

Peterborough Consolidated School. The

Central School building was torn down in

1958.

The Conval School District

• The Contoocook Valley School District formed July 1968

• Contoocook Valley Regional High School opens

September 1970

• Christmas 1970 Consolidated School burns, elementary

wing salvaged but no space for junior high

• ConVal district purchased Electropac plant and opens

Peterborough Middle School, now South Meadow School

Opening day at the new ConVal High School in 1970

transportation

Wilton- Peterborough Road

looking west, about 1910

• Stage coach lines established in 1828

• First railroad line opened in 1871

• Daily passenger and freight service connecting town to

Concord and Boston

• Last passenger train left town on March 7, 1953

• Freight service ended in 1969

Noone Station in South Peterborough

Peterborough Station in Depot Square

Town Roads

Year Built

Old Street Road 1760

Old Dublin Road 1761

Sand Hill Road 1762

Windy Row 1764

Old Jaffrey Road 1768

High Street 1768

Old Greenfield Rd 1760, 1773

Middle Hancock Rd 1768, 1770

Hancock Rd (Rte 202) 1768, 1811

Grove Street 1826

Concord Street 1795, 1835

Main Street 1760, 1834

Pine Street 1760, 1842

Wilton Road 1811

Grove Street, September 1886

Grove Street, c. 1960

Main Street, 1860

Main Street, 1973

Route 101

Downtown Peterborough

bypass constructed in 1959

Route 202 North

Built in two phases in 1969 and

1975 along the Hancock Road

established in the 19th century

Route 202 South

From 1952-59, the state made

improvements and straightened

sections of the 19th century

Jaffrey Road

Intersection of Routes 101 and 202 about 1980

Community Life

View from East Hill

circa 1900

Today’s community life

has its roots in the 19th

and early 20th centuries

Main Street Bridge in the 1830s

Peterborough Town Library founded 1833

Peterborough Lyceum 1828-1856

The Peterborough Transcript 1849

Putnam Park 1862

Peterborough Grange 1874

Peterborough Woman’s Club 1897

Peterborough Golf Club 1901 (Monadnock Country Club)

Peterborough Historical Society 1902 (Monadnock Center for History and Culture)

Board of Trade 1904 (precursor of the Chamber of Commerce)

Handicraft Workers Society 1904-c.1930

MacDowell Colony 1907

Scott-Farrar Home 1909

Boy Scouts 1911

Adams Playground 1915

Girl Scouts 1919

Mariarden Theatre-in-the-Woods 1919-1934

Community Groups posed in front of the new Town House on

Armistice Day, November 1918

Peterborough Hospital 1923 (Monadnock Community Hospital)

Peterborough Rotary Club 1925

Peterborough Players 1933

Thornton Wilder and cast members

consult the script of Our Town at the

Peterborough Players

Population growth

Year

1767

1790

1800

1810

1820

1830

1840

1850

1860

1870

1880

1890

Year

1900

1910

1920

1930

1940

1950

1960

1970

1980

1990

2000

2010

Population

443

861

1,333

1,537

1,500

1,983

2,163

2,222

2,265

2,236

2,206

2,507

Population

2,527

2,277

2,615

2,521

2,470

2,556

2,963

3,807

4,895

5,239

5,883

6,284

What is your vision for

Peterborough’s future?

Postcard published in 1910