I is for Ice

I is for Ice– In the days before electric refrigeration, ice harvested from lakes kept food cool in the summer months. Often called the first harvest of the year, ice harvesting happened in January and February. While some harvested ice for their own use, ice became a huge business in the 19th century. By 1890, the […]

H is for Hancock and Harrisville

H is for Hancock and Harrisville- Hancock and Harrisville are two of the region’s most picturesque and well-preserved villages. Both are listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Their historic character and state of preservation are the result of decades of effort undertaken by local residents. Yet each village is very different. Harrisville, a […]

G is for Glass

G is for Glass- In 1780 Bostonian Robert Hewes came to Temple and selected a site to build a glass factory, the first glassworks in Northern New England. No one really knows why Hewes was drawn to the remote village but the easy access of fuel, sand and potash made the spot ideal for glassmaking. […]

F is for Flood of 1936

F is for Flood of 1936- The winter of 1935-1936 was one of those winters- lots of snow and cold temperatures. As the calendar turned to March, the Monadnock Region and much of the Northeast was under a deep snow cover. Our lakes and rivers were thick with ice. From March 9 to March 11, […]

E is for Elms

E is for Elms If you were walking along a street in the Monadnock Region a hundred years ago, chances are your path would have been shaded by the many elm trees that graced our towns. The American Elm grew tall and elegant with an arching crown. It tolerated poor and compacted soil along roadsides- […]