Henniker church joins state list of historic places

By DAVID BROOKS

Monitor staff

Published: 06-05-2023 6:57 AM

The 189-year-old Congregational Church of Henniker is one of several buildings just added to the New Hampshire State Register of Historic Places, a move that could make it easier to pay for upkeep.

“Bring on a register … is one of the application requirements for a lot of renovation grants,” said Henniker Historical Society Board Member Sue Fetzer.  She gave a talk on the building’s history on Sunday at the historical society’s Academy Hall, which is near the church.

The church, on one acre between Maple and Gould streets, was built in 1834 by Col. William Abbott of Boscawen, whom the historical society described as the best-known builder of churches in New Hampshire. It has been used continuously ever since.

The Greek Revival building rests on a split stone foundation with squared hammered granite blocks and includes clock faces on all four sides of the steeple’s first stage. A second-stage belfry contains an original Paul Revere bell. The roof is slate, which replaced wooden shakes a century ago.

The property also has a parish house and carriage shed.

The state register of Historic Places is maintained by the Hampshire Division of Historical Resources.

It has hundreds of structures as well as a few locations on its list, including 10 in Concord.

Other locations added recently include:

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■Pinkerton Hall in Derry, part of Pinkerton Academy. Robert Frost taught in its second-floor classrooms from 1906-1911 and Alan Shepard, the first American in space, graduated from it in 1940.

■Ladd Block in Meredith, a section of Meredith Village that is more than 200 years old. It has been home to Meredith Village Savings Bank, the post office, public library, an elementary school classroom, retail operations and housing, along with other services.

■Canaan’s Knights of Pythias Hall, which was built in 1924. It could fit the entire town in its 1,300-seat auditorium, which was used for movie screenings and dances and is now the town library.

■The Hillsborough Mills building on the Souhegan River in Milford. It began manufacturing woolen carpets just after the end of the Civil War, it later produced carpet yarns, bed and horse blankets, and continued manufacturing yarn and thread until after World War II, and is now used for apartments.

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