19 Grove St. ~ PO Box 58 ~ Peterborough, NH 03458 ~ 603-924-3235 

Face masks are recommended when visiting the Monadnock Center. Click here for current COVID Policy.

Archives Research is now by appointment only. Please contact us at (603) 924-3235 to schedule an appointment.

Loading Events

Past Events

Events Search and Views Navigation

Event Views Navigation

October 2022

Monadnock Art Members Exhibition- Tour Weekend

October 9, 2022 @ 10:00 am - 4:00 pm
Bass Hall: Monadnock Center for History and Culture, 19 Grove St
Peterborough, NH 03458 United States
+ Google Map
Monadnock Art Members Exhibition

Begin the 26th Annual Monadnock Art Open Studios Tour at the Monadnock Center! See works by participating artists, get your tour map and plan your itinerary. Enjoy a bonus exhibition, Emerging Artists, celebrating individuals from the region who are pursuing art for the first time or finding a new beginning in their artistic journey. On tour weekend, the Monadnock Center is open extended hours. Both the Emerging Artists and Member Exhibition will be open October 8-10, from 10 a.m. to…

Find out more »

Monadnock Art Members Exhibition- Tour Weekend

October 10, 2022 @ 10:00 am - 4:00 pm
Bass Hall: Monadnock Center for History and Culture, 19 Grove St
Peterborough, NH 03458 United States
+ Google Map
Monadnock Art Members Exhibition

Begin the 26th Annual Monadnock Art Open Studios Tour at the Monadnock Center! See works by participating artists, get your tour map and plan your itinerary. Enjoy a bonus exhibition, Emerging Artists, celebrating individuals from the region who are pursuing art for the first time or finding a new beginning in their artistic journey. On tour weekend, the Monadnock Center is open extended hours. Both the Emerging Artists and Member Exhibition will be open October 8-10, from 10 a.m. to…

Find out more »

Hearth Cooking: Harvest Time in the Phoenix Mill House

October 22, 2022 @ 10:00 am - 2:00 pm
Phoenix Mill House: Monadnock Center for History and Culture, 19 Grove St
Peterborough, NH 03458 United States
+ Google Map
Harvest Time Hearth Cooking

It is harvest time and we will be cooking up some of autumn's bounty in the Phoenix Mill House. At this open-house program, enjoy samples of dishes cooked over the open hearth and learn about life in the 1830s. Dishes are prepared from period recipes using the kitchen equipment of the time. Some of the ingredients will be harvested from the mill house garden. Our costumed interpreters will tell you about the Samuel and Nancy Prescott family who lived in…

Find out more »

Cancelled- Gravestone Art Cemetery Tour

October 22, 2022 @ 10:30 am - 12:00 pm
East Hill Cemetery, Peterborough NH, Old Street Road
Peterborough, NH 03458 United States
+ Google Map
Gravestone Art Cemetery Tour

Unfortunately, this tour is cancelled because the presenter is injured! We will reschedule for some time next spring. Gravestone art is the focus of this year's fall cemetery tour in the East Hill burying ground in Peterborough. This walk will introduce you to the symbolism found on New England gravestones in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. East Hill is filled with unusual and significant examples of the carver's art. And found among the stones are one-of-a-kind examples including…

Find out more »

Spooky Stories in the Phoenix Mill House

October 28, 2022 @ 7:00 pm - 8:30 pm
Phoenix Mill House: Monadnock Center for History and Culture, 19 Grove St
Peterborough, NH 03458 United States
+ Google Map
Spooky Stories in the Phoenix Mill House

Enjoy some hot cider and settle in for an evening of spooky storytelling around the fire in the Phoenix Mill House. On Friday, October 28, we gather for an evening featuring local stories of witches, ghosts, murder, and eerie happenings in the Monadnock region. All of the stories are taken from local history and lore. When the storytelling is done, you can share your own eerie tale. These tales of ghosts, murder, and things unexplained will have you looking over…

Find out more »

November 2022

Second Show Added- NH Fiddle Madness

November 5, 2022 @ 3:00 pm - 5:00 pm
Bass Hall: Monadnock Center for History and Culture, 19 Grove St
Peterborough, NH 03458 United States
+ Google Map
Fiddle Madness Band Photo

SOLD OUT !!! NH Fiddle Madness is also appearing at NOVA Arts on November 4. Click here for details. New Show Added for 3 p.m. on November 5! New Hampshire Fiddle Madness returns to Bass Hall this year with a bird theme: most of the concert repertoire will be tunes which contain bird names: Lark in the Morn, The Wild Goose Chase, for example. But rest assured, the band won’t be winging it! They’ve been rehearsing with revitalized energy, and…

Find out more »

New Hampshire Fiddle Madness- Music in Bass Hall

November 5, 2022 @ 7:30 pm - 9:30 pm
Bass Hall: Monadnock Center for History and Culture, 19 Grove St
Peterborough, NH 03458 United States
+ Google Map
Fiddle Madness Band Photo

Both shows at the Monadnock Center are SOLD OUT!!!! NH Fiddle Madness is also appearing at NOVA Arts on November 4. Click here for details. New Hampshire Fiddle Madness returns to Bass Hall this year with a bird theme: most of the concert repertoire will be tunes which contain bird names: Lark in the Morn, The Wild Goose Chase, for example. But rest assured, the band won’t be winging it! They’ve been rehearsing with revitalized energy, and are also looking…

Find out more »

Lunch and Learn- Gravestone Art and Artists

November 10, 2022 @ 12:00 pm - 1:00 pm
Bass Hall: Monadnock Center for History and Culture, 19 Grove St
Peterborough, NH 03458 United States
+ Google Map
Gravestone Art

Gravestone Art and Artists Explore the stones of Peterborough's East Hill burying ground in this Lunch & Learn program that examines this early American art form and identifies some of the artisans that made them. East Hill, an 18th century graveyard, is an outdoor museum featuring the works of more than seven different stone carvers. These markers reflect and express ideas about mortality, religion, and society more than 200 years ago. In this talk, you will see striking examples of…

Find out more »

Hearth Cooking: Thanksgiving Traditions

November 19, 2022 @ 10:00 am - 2:00 pm
Phoenix Mill House: Monadnock Center for History and Culture, 19 Grove St
Peterborough, NH 03458 United States
+ Google Map
Thanksgiving Traditions

Thanksgiving was THE holiday in 1830s New England. Stop by the Phoenix Mill House to learn about Thanksgiving traditions and sample some of the dishes that would have graced the Prescott's Thanksgiving table. The menu includes apple and gourd soup, roasted chicken, pork and apple pie, turnip sauce, applesauce, cranberry pie, and Marlboro pudding. All of the dishes are prepared over the open hearth using period recipes and equipment. Our costumed interpreters Samuel and Nancy Prescott will introduced you to…

Find out more »

Plaid Friday- Gift Shop Grand Opening

November 25, 2022 @ 10:00 am - 4:00 pm
Monadnock Center for History and Culture, 19 Grove St., P.O. Box 58
Peterborough, NH 03458 United States
+ Google Map
Christmas Elf in plaid ready for our gift shop grand opening

Kick off your Plaid Friday holiday shopping in the Monadnock Center's new gift shop! We will be open 10-4 with complimentary cocoa and coffee to sip while you browse our selection of local history books and prints, vintage toys, handmade wares, and items from local companies and makers. Monadnock Center members receive a 10% discount on most items! The new gift shop is located in the Monadnock Center's main building at 19 Grove Street. Regular shop hours are the same…

Find out more »

December 2022

Lunch and Learn: Peterborough’s Mill Girls

December 8, 2022 @ 12:00 pm - 1:00 pm
Bass Hall: Monadnock Center for History and Culture, 19 Grove St
Peterborough, NH 03458 United States
+ Google Map
Mill Girls

SOLD OUT! Learn the stories of Peterborough's Mill Girls at our December Lunch & Learn. You might be surprised to learn that 80% of the workforce in Peterborough’s early mills were young women. At this Lunch & Learn we will ‘meet’ some of these women and learn about their lives as mill girls in the 19th century. We will discuss the experiences of the Hill sisters, twins Elvira and Elmira Fife, and Eliza Gordon, women who worked in the Phoenix…

Find out more »

The Artisan Show

December 10, 2022 @ 9:00 am - 4:00 pm
Bass Hall: Monadnock Center for History and Culture, 19 Grove St
Peterborough, NH 03458 United States
+ Google Map
The Artisan Show

Locally and nationally recognized artisans will be in Bass Hall for a pop-up holiday show with special guest world renowned cellist David Gibson performing. Blizzard date: December 17! Susan Barker- Fine Silver Jewelry Miriam Carter- Fine Wearable Lulu Fichter- Porcelain Donlin Foreman- Leather Crafter Kimberly Kersey-Asbury - Mixed Media Sculpture Nina Brogna- Hammered Sterling Silver Rebecca Welsh- Fine Wearable The Monadnock Center is pleased to be the host venue for the Artisan Show. 

Find out more »

Hearth Cooking: Christmas Fare

December 17, 2022 @ 10:00 am - 2:00 pm
Phoenix Mill House: Monadnock Center for History and Culture, 19 Grove St
Peterborough, NH 03458 United States
+ Google Map
Christmas Fare

Christmas Fare is on the menu for our December Phoenix Mill House hearth cooking day. Visit the house between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. to sample traditional Christmas dishes and learn about Christmas history in New England. The Christmas Fare menu includes chicken pie, carrot soup, root vegetable hash, Pudding in Haste, molasses candy and, of course, gingerbread cookies. Guests are welcome to sample these period dishes made using historic recipes and cookware over the open fire. The Phoenix Mill…

Find out more »

January 2023

Ring in the New Year- Candlelight Open House

January 6 @ 5:00 pm - 7:00 pm
Phoenix Mill House: Monadnock Center for History and Culture, 19 Grove St
Peterborough, NH 03458 United States
+ Google Map
Playing the Mills Game by candlelight

Join us on the First Friday of the new year  for a candlelight open house evening in the Phoenix Mill House. Learn how the Prescott family welcomed the new year and experience their candlelit home as it would have been on a cold January evening in the 1830s. Our costumed interpreters will share the traditions and folklore surrounding the new year and discuss the ways the Prescott family stayed warm and lighted their home in the dark winter months. The…

Find out more »

Lunch & Learn- William Preston Phelps

January 19 @ 12:00 pm - 1:00 pm
Bass Hall: Monadnock Center for History and Culture, 19 Grove St
Peterborough, NH 03458 United States
+ Google Map
Phelps Landscape with cows

William Preston Phelps (1848-1923) is known as the Painter of Monadnock. Born in Chesham, Phelps started his working career as a sign painter in Lowell, MA and painted landscapes as a sideline. His fine art so impressed a group of local patrons, they funded his studies in Europe and he left behind his sign painting business to pursue the fine arts. After many years in Europe, Phelps bought his family's Chesham farm and began to paint the Monadnock landscape en…

Find out more »

February 2023

What’s for Breakfast- Hearth Cooking

February 11 @ 10:00 am - 2:00 pm
Phoenix Mill House: Monadnock Center for History and Culture, 19 Grove St
Peterborough, NH 03458 United States
+ Google Map
What's for Breakfast

Find out what's for breakfast at our February Hearth Cooking Saturday. Join Mrs. Prescott in the Phoenix Mill House kitchen to see what she is making for a hearty breakfast to feed Samuel and the children before a long day at the mill and at school. Enjoy a taste of the dishes and learn about what life was like for this mill family in the early days of the Industrial revolution. Hearth Cooking Saturdays are open house programs. Stop by…

Find out more »

Lunch and Learn: Flirt with the Past

February 16 @ 12:00 pm - 1:00 pm
Bass Hall: Monadnock Center for History and Culture, 19 Grove St
Peterborough, NH 03458 United States
+ Google Map
Flirt with the past

Flirt with the past at our Valentine's Day edition of Lunch & Learn when we will be exploring the customs and practices of romance, courtship and marriage in the 18th and 19th centuries. Learn about the practice of bundling, the ways weddings were celebrated (firearms were involved!), and more at this lunch talk devoted to love. Lunch & Learn begins at noon with a delicious light lunch of wrap pinwheel sandwiches, salad, chips and a pickle. After lunch, nibble a…

Find out more »

An Artful Life- Film Premiere

February 17 @ 7:00 pm - 8:00 pm
Bass Hall: Monadnock Center for History and Culture, 19 Grove St
Peterborough, NH 03458 United States
+ Google Map
An Artful Life: Joseph Lindon Smith

Joseph Lindon Smith: An Artful Life is a short documentary film which focuses on the amazing life of artist and theatrical producer Joseph Lindon Smith. Born in 1863, Smith spent fifty years recording the artwork on the walls of Egyptian tombs as they were being discovered. He also staged elaborate outdoor pageants at his home in Dublin, NH and around the country in the early 1900s. His life comes into focus through interviews with his three daughters and archival film…

Find out more »

March 2023

Maple Sugaring Time: Hearth Cooking Saturday

March 11 @ 10:00 am - 2:00 pm
Phoenix Mill House: Monadnock Center for History and Culture, 19 Grove St
Peterborough, NH 03458 United States
+ Google Map
Maple Sugaring Time

March is maple sugaring time! Join the Prescott family in the Phoenix Mill House for a day devoted to treats both sweet and savory featuring maple syrup and maple sugar. Our costumed interpreters will be cooking over the open fire using period recipes and authentic cooking equipment and sharing the history of maple sugaring in New England. Hearth Cooking Saturdays are open house programs drop by for a few minutes or stay longer enjoying samples of the dishes cooked over…

Find out more »

Lunch and Learn: Sargent Camp

March 16 @ 12:00 pm - 1:00 pm
Bass Hall: Monadnock Center for History and Culture, 19 Grove St
Peterborough, NH 03458 United States
+ Google Map
Archers at Sargent Camp

SOLD OUT!!! Sargent Camp founder Dudley Allen Sargent thought the Victorian notion that girls and young women should avoid physical activity because it would destroy their health was just silly. A pioneer in the development of physical education, Sargent established a camp for young women on an old farm near Halfmoon Pond in 1912. There, young women spent summers horseback riding, playing field hockey and basketball, canoeing, swimming, and more. For years, young people came for the vigorous activity, fresh…

Find out more »
+ Export Events