Z is for Zephyr Lake- Zephyr Lake in Greenfield was originally called Cragin Pond for Daniel Cragin who built Frye’s Measure Mill. In the 20th century two boys from the Varnum family found a dugout canoe filled with rocks on the bottom of the lake. They brought it to the surface but it disintegrated once […]
Y is for Yankee Siege- For several years in the early 2000s, an autumn trip to the Yankee Siege in Greenfield was a highlight of the season. The Yankee Siege was a replica medieval trebuchet. Trebuchets are siege warfare machines that use a swinging arm to hurl stones or other missiles. The Yankee Siege’s missile […]
X is for Xylanthrax- We bet you thought we couldn’t come up with something for X but we did! Xylanthrax is charcoal. In the days before coal was readily available, charcoal was used by blacksmiths to heat iron for crafting tools, hardware, and horseshoes. The Monadnock Region had abundant wood resources and some farmers took […]
W is for Wilton Winter Carnival- Several Monadnock Region towns hosted winter carnivals in the early 20th century but only one town’s carnival ended up in the pages of Ripely’s Believe It or Not! Winter carnivals brought in much needed tourist dollars during the winter months. Eighteen winter carnivals were held in New Hampshire in […]
V is for Veterans- Monuments to those who served in the Civil War are a common sight in our Monadnock Region towns but the region is also home to two very unusual veterans memorials. One commemorates those who served in World War I and the other grew out of one family’s loss in World War […]
U is for Upper Ashuelot- You have probably visited Upper Ashuelot and didn’t know it. Settlement in the Monadnock Region followed the rivers with the earliest settlement happening along the Connecticut River. In the early 1730s, the Province of Massachusetts (much of the region was in Massachusetts in the those days!) granted two townships: Upper […]
T is for Abbott Thayer- Artist and naturalist Abbott Thayer (b.1849) grew up in the Monadnock Region and returned to hisbeloved mountain after establishing himself as a painter. Like many artists of his day, Thayer made a living painting portraits but his favored subjects were Mt. Monadnock and the surrounding landscape and paintings of idealized […]
S is for Sargent Camp- In the 20th century, the Monadnock Region was home to dozens of summer camps that drew children from all over the U.S. Sargent Camp in Hancock was founded in 1912 by Dudley A. Sargent, an educator and proponent of physical education for young women. Sargent purchased the 25 acre Haywood […]
R is for Railroad- In the days before the railroad, people and goods moved in and out of the region by stagecoach and wagon. When the first railroads were built in the 1840s, the region was connected to the bigger world in new and exciting ways. Freight could move easily from rural factory to urban […]
Q is for Quig- Nelson painter, musician, and frame maker Albert “Quig” Quigley painted landscapes and portraits that captured life in the Monadnock Region. Mt. Monadnock and the Nelson Congregational Church (which he could see from his house) were favorite subjects. He painted portraits of locals, sometimes on commission but often because he found their […]
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