The Monadnock Center proudly accepted an award as Non-Profit of the Year, presented by the Greater Peterborough Chamber of Commerce on Thursday, March 26, at a Gala Banquet at the Peterborough Town House. The Center was one of four non-profits nominated in this category; additional awards were presented to Woman of the Year, Man of […]
The products of Peterborough’s industrial past form an important part of the Monadnock Center’s collection. This screw- style piano stool was produced by the Brigg’s Piano Stool Company between 1870 and 1891. Joshua Briggs (b. 1825) began his career as a carpenter and soon produced piano stools as odd jobs for folks in town. In […]
The Monadnock Center has a large archive of military materials including letters and diaries of Peterborough Civil War soldiers. The following letter was written by John Addison Cummings (1838-1887), a young Army captain. He mailed this letter from Antietam Creek on September 28, 1862 “Dear Mother: We are lying in camp here on the bank […]
The Monadnock Center for History & Culture preserves four historic buildings at its downtown Peterborough campus including the District #8 Schoolhouse. This brick one-room schoolhouse was donated to the Center in the 1990’s. The school was built in 1824, one of several brick schoolhouses erected that year. Peterborough was unusual because the town chose to […]
After more than two years of planning, the celebration of Peterborough’s 275th anniversary is just around the corner! The big celebration will happen on October 11 but there are also concerts, programs and other activities happening from October 10 through October 18 throughout town. A schedule is available on the anniversary website at Peterborough275.org. Check […]
This wooden pulley is from The White Machine Shop that operated at the corner of Elm and River Streets in Peterborough from 1876 to 1942. The pulley was part of the power train that ran the shop’s equipment using water power from the Elm Street dam. Samuel G. White made pumps, governors, gas regulators and […]
In the 19th century Peterborough’s downtown was dominated by the various manufacturing facilities that were built to take advantage of the plentiful water power supplied by the Nubanusit and Contoocook rivers. This photograph from the Center’s archives shows the intersection of Main and Depot streets. The enormous five-story factory building behind the Baptist Church was […]
This ash wood lunch basket is an example of the long tradition of basket making in Peterborough. Beginning with Amzi Child’s basket shop in 1854, Peterborough has been manufacturing baskets continuously for 153 years. This basket dates from about 1910 and was probably made in Henry Needham’s basket shop on Depot Street. The foundation […]
This blue and white porcelain tea set is part of the Monadnock Center’s large collection of porcelains and is on display in our museum’s Robbe Family Kitchen. Dating from about 1800, the delicate set is tiny; the cups are only measure three inches high. It appears to be child size but its small size actually […]
Congratulations to the Contoocook Valley Regional High School class of 2014! Now, let’s take a look at some graduates from 100 years ago. The Peterborough High School class of 1911 stopped their sightseeing to pose for this group portrait on a Washington DC street. At the turn of the century, it was thought that a […]
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