The Monadnock Center for History and Culture stewards four historic buildings on its campus at 19 Grove Street in Peterborough. The site, formerly part of the Phoenix Mill, was purchased for the historical society by Clara Foster Bass, a founding member of the society and descendant of the Smith family who were among the town’s earliest European settlers. The Monadnock Center’s main building, the Historical Building, is listed on the New Hampshire State Register of Historic Places.
 | The Historical Building, 1917 Clara Foster Bass commissioned the Boston architectural firm Little & Russell to design a building for the permanent home for the Peterborough Historical Society, “to house the records of the History of the town and of The Monadnock Region, to preserve memorials to the sons and daughters of Peterborough, and to provide meeting place for the intellectual and social advancement of future generations.” The Historical Building is the home of the Monadnock Center’s museum, archives, and Bass Hall, an elegant assembly room named to honor the society’s benefactress, Clara Foster Bass. |
 | The Phoenix Mill House, c.1800 The Phoenix Mill House was an overseer’s home for the Phoenix Mill, a large cotton mill at the corner of Grove Street and Main Street. Later, in the 20th century, the house served as Red Cross headquarters in WWI and WWII. In 1966, the Phoenix Mill House and the Brick Ends House were the only extant structures from the extensive Phoenix Mill complex and were slated to be torn down to make space for parking and a drive-through teller window for the First National Bank. The historical society led the effort to preserve the buildings and both structures were moved to the society’s grounds. Since that time, the Phoenix Mill House has served as a living history space where visitors learn about the life of a millworker and his family in the 1830s through demonstrations and hearth cooking presentations. |
 | The Brick Ends House, 1824 This two-story house served as worker housing for the Phoenix Mill. The house was part of a line of worker houses that once sat on the south side of Phoenix Mill Lane between the mill building and the Nubanusit River. The Brick Ends House was moved to its present location in 1966 to prevent its demolition. For 30 years, the historical society used the house as exhibition space with a toy room, tool room, and Victorian parlor. In 2001, the society converted the building to an office suite and leased it to supplement the society’s income. |
 | The District #8 Schoolhouse, 1824 This district school was one of 13 district schools in Peterborough and its original site was on Middle Hancock Road. In 1824, the town invested in a several brick school houses, an unusual investment for a time when schoolhouses were generally built of cheaper materials. After the Central School opened in the 1880s, the schoolhouse was abandoned and used as farm storage. In 2000, the building was given to the historical society, disassembled, and moved to the society’s grounds on Grove Street. The District #8 Schoolhouse is the only remaining intact brick schoolhouse in town. |