USA > New Hampshire > Grafton County > Hanover > Hanover, New Hampshire, a bicentennial book : essays in celebration of the town's 200th anniversary > Part 6
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It was not until December of 1912 that the New England Tele- phone and Telegraph Company installed in Hanover the present type of switchboard, and as the town grew additional positions were added.
The Post Office Department, meanwhile, had been keeping pace with telephone and telegraph. Within recent memory Horace E. Hurlbutt received his first commission as postmaster, signed by Theodore Roosevelt in 1908; and four years later his second com- mission from William H. Taft. This appointment followed that of the hapless Leon Sampson who, unable to keep his hand out of the post office till, claimed he had been held up and robbed. Un- fortunately, the glass of the broken window was discovered to have fallen outward instead of in. Local sympathy, however, favored Mr. Sampson, since his wife was known to be flighty and extrav- agant.
Except for this contretemps, post office affairs in Hanover have moved steadily toward the swift completion of their appointed rounds. Elmer T. Ford (who owned the hardware store known as T. E. Ward's) succeeded Horace Hurlbutt as postmaster. He in turn was followed by James Farnham, Roland Lewin, and John Gould. Today's mail operates smoothly and efficiently under the sterling guidance of Mr. Ives Atherton.
Just as the oxcart gave way to the stagecoach, the coach to the rail- road, today the locomotive bows its Diesel head to the airplane.
Perhaps more than any other two people in Hanover, Joe and Bea D'Esopo have watched the world grow smaller as the planes grow larger. In 1934, in a small upstairs office in what is now the
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Campion block, their Dartmouth Travel Bureau opened formally for business. Almost from the onset, the D'Esopos found them- selves caught up in the first of what would become many emer- gency cries for help-in this particular case a Dartmouth freshman from Cuba who had received word of his mother's serious illness. Nowadays arranging such a flight would be a routine matter of minutes. At that time, however, it meant securing on short notice a Pullman reservation to New York, another to Florida, then a Pan American Seaplane to complete the journey-a major feat of accomplishment for those days.
Airlines reached the fringe of the Hanover area with the ad- vent of the Boston & Maine Central Vermont Airways. The origi- nal airport was in White River Junction, where the Drive-In Theater now stands. The B & M began service with ten-passenger, twin-engine Cessnas, making one flight daily to and from Boston. But it wasn't long before the demands of the Air Age made im- perative a larger airport. The present one is located in Lebanon, five miles from Hanover-a site ringed with handsome mountains which sometimes pose the question of whether or not the flights will take place at all.
During the great spring flood of 1936, roads were washed out, telephone service at a standstill, bridges gone-while nearly two thousand students clamored to get to their respective homes. As soon as the roads were cleared to White River, via Norwich, the Airways started sending in planes; and as each fresh plane landed, the office would call the D'Esopos and bark: "You've got just ten minutes to get fifteen boys over here!"
Shortly after World War II the Dartmouth Travel Bureau moved to its present location on Allen Street. Originally the two D'Esopos comprised its entire staff; now it has six full-time em- ployees as well as several people working part-time. A business which started with such modest beginnings, making only steam- ship reservations, now encompasses all phases of travel.
In the light of present-day miracles of performance in the air, it seems incredible that night flying from the local airport was un- known before 1947. Here, in part, is the Hanover Gazette's report of the event:
Night flying was inaugurated in spectacular fashion on Monday eve- ning when, for the first time since the field's establishment, a plane took off under lights on an emergency mission to Boston. Since local
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planes are not equipped for night flying, a BT13 was flown down from Laconia to do the job.
In the ten years of its young life, the Lebanon Regional Air- port has enjoyed a phenomenal increase in passenger traffic. Flying less than half the passengers who ask for space, LRA ranks consist- ently first as the major air terminal of New Hampshire. But time has caught up with it. Nowadays it is economically impossible for any airline profitably to run twin-engine, 24-passenger planes. To do business on a nationwide or worldwide scale, to meet today's demanding deadlines, air travel and air freight are imperative. Without access to larger planes and increased operating schedules, the entire Hanover-Lebanon region could soon be without trans- portation except by highway.
The answer, of course, lay in a larger runway. The new 5500- runway accommodates 4-engine aircraft, including Northeast Air- lines DC-6B equipment, and it is hoped to increase operating effi- ciency from a present average of 80% of scheduled flights to over 90%. The present ceiling of 1500 feet may be reduced to 1000; and with more navigational aids in the future it might be further reduced to only 600 feet.
The uneconomical DC3 is being replaced by 4-engine aircraft that will carry twice or more the number of passengers, as well as their baggage. There will be ample space for air freight, express and mail. Already Northeast Airlines has added new equipment to its fleet-the last word in transportation and communication, carrying many passengers and clipping the flying time to New York from two hours to one.
But even with the bright future of ever-expanding air travel, it is not uncommon to hear a Hanover resident (stranded at the mercy of foul weather and uncertain flight) mourn the passing of the "good old days" of Pullman service, club cars and diners, aseptic lavatories, drinking-water actually iced and not tasting as if scraped from the bottom of a rainbarrel, and a "redcap" at journey's end to shoulder the luggage. Like the Indian and the oxcart, these phantoms of another time linger more fondly in the afterglow of memory than they do in the noonday glare of fact.
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5 Roads and Runnels, Hills and Hollows by Charlotte Ford Morrison
T HE old histories of Hanover are full of enigmatic place names, never explained, that have a certain fascination. Whoever invented "Vale of Tempe" and why is the runnel in it called "Girl Brook"? Where did "Weatherby Road" come from, and even more, the stream called "Committee Meadow Brook"? This is an attempt, not always blessed with success, to ferret out the occasions and people whose names and doings are memorialized in Hanover's streets, roads, hills, brooks, ponds and even "hollows." Hanover's place names seem now to be endowed with a certain degree of permanence, so that we might expect them to last at least until our Tercentenary, but the most casual research leads to suspicions as to permanence. Few among us, doubtless, could identify "Trescott Road" as one of our major thoroughfares, yet it was named only three-quarters of a century ago.
Let us begin in the middle of the village on the plain and then fan out into the town, and proceed in orderly course in an attempt to identify the origins of our varied topographical nomenclature.
Unlike most New England villages, Hanover did not immedi- ately start life as a one-street town-and that street Main Street. In the very beginning the village at the College had no streets at all. The village was laid out in 1771, probably by Jonathan Freeman, with the lots abutting on the Green.
The first real street, Main Street, was laid out in 1775 from the southwest corner of the Green to Mink Brook Meadow. Originally it was called Lebanon Road, as the road led to Lebanon City (now West Lebanon). A county road, coming from Plainfield and Leba- non, soon ran over the same path to the Green, then diagonally across the Green from the southwest to the northeast corner, and thence on toward Lyme. For many years this extension was called "Lime Street" and later the River Road.
Main Street became almost immediately a dividing line of the village. Gradually, business enterprises developed to the south while the northern part of Main Street acquired beautiful homes
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belonging to members of the College faculty, leading to the name "Faculty Row," which North Main Street was called for many years. As the village gradually expanded, there was a tendency for members of the college community to build to the north and east, and the street names took on significance from College history. In the areas to the west and south, developed largely by the business- men of the village, the streets at first assumed rather unimagina- tive names, but later as farms were subdivided and homes built, they received the names of some of the old families who had con- tributed so much to the community.
There was an abortive attempt to name the streets in 1858, but this was not formally accomplished until 1875. In 1874 the Pre- cinct had made a contract with the gas company for twelve street lamps. With New England thrift, the street names in common use at the time were painted in red on the lamp posts.
As Main Street had become the north-south dividing line, Wheelock Street gradually became the east-west one but it took many years for it to become almost our only monument to Eleazar, founder and first president of Dartmouth. For many years West Wheelock Street was called River Street and East Wheelock, Han- over Street. By 1879, however, the whole street had become Wheelock.
Of the various roads leading into the village, Rope Ferry Road was one of the oldest. In February 1795 a road was "trod" from the northwest corner of the Green "to the rope ferry so called." In 1831 the College removed from the Green the huge white pine stumps that had remained there since the forest was first cut down in 1770, and carried them to Rope Ferry Road where they were used to form fences for a long distance on both sides of the high- way; parts of them lasted for seventy years. Consequently, through much of the nineteenth century, this road was familiarly, if not officially, called Stump Lane.
From Lebanon came a road with an interesting name. On March 13, 1770, proprietors of the Town of Lebanon voted 1441 acres "for the support of Dr. Wheelock's school, on condition that it be erected in Hanover." The road over the rocky eminence thus donated to the College acquired the name "Mount Support Road."
Traces still exist of the Wolfeboro Road, which Governor Wentworth ordered built, over hill and dale, and which he trav- ersed himself to attend the Commencement of 1772. Trescott
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Road, now East Wheelock or Balch Hill Road, meanders south of the reservoir to Etna Village. It was opened in 1787 and ran from Trescott's farm (now owned by Allen C. Adams) to Dartmouth College. In 1775 the town had voted a road for Jeremiah Trescott "to accommodate him for meeting" at the Center. The road from Hill's Mills (Etna) to Hanover later became the Greensboro Road. A potash, a wash-house and a brickyard, with other industries, de- veloped on the street which we know now as Lebanon Street.
Slowly, as the town grew, streets were opened leading to Main or Wheelock Streets. In 1835, Allen Lane was opened to give ac- cess to a livery stable, built by Amos Dudley and later acquired by Ira B. Allen. As the stable faced east the lane led only to the stable. In 1869 the stable was enlarged and faced north and Allen Lane was opened to School Street. In 1877 when the new schoolhouse was built, Allen Lane became Allen Street and was extended to Maple Street. Some years later, when five houses were built to the west, Mrs. Ford, Mrs. Rand and Mrs. Haskell decided they wished to have a name of their own rather than Allen Street, so the short street from Allen to Maple became Prospect Street, over the protests of the town fathers. Today's Allen Lane bears no re- semblance to the original lane of the name!
In 1843, after the brick schoolhouse in District I, the College District, had been built, which the Christian Science Society now owns, School Street was formally "dedicated" to public use as a highway. A short street, leading West from School Street bore the name of "Back Street" for some time, but was soon dignified with the name of Maple Street. Maples were planted early in the town but, as they were considered short-lived, they were soon replaced by elms-and today there are no maples on Maple Street. This street was extended to West Wheelock in 1879 to accommodate a creamery where the Evans house now is. In 1903 Eben Sargent, a builder from Norwich, started construction on a group of houses on a street leading north from Maple, which was soon to bear his name. In 1904, with houses being built on Sargent Street, Maple Street was extended westward and the street from Maple to Wheelock became West Street. In 1878 Pleasant Street, rightly named for its view toward Ascutney, was opened and in 1910 School Street was extended southward. History does not say why the short street connecting Main and School was named West South instead of Maple.
Northward on Main Street the side streets begin to take on
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names closely identified with College history. Sanborn Lane, origi- nally called Cemetery Lane and perhaps because of its name the first street to boast of a street light, was named for Edwin D. San- born, professor of belles lettres, whose home was for many years on the lot on the south corner of the lane. Wentworth Street, originally called Church Street for the College Church which stood where now is the lawn in front of Sanborn House, was named for Sir John Wentworth, governor of the Royal Province of New Hampshire, 1766-1775, and ex-officio trustee of the College. Elm Street, originally called Cross Street, reflects the efforts of the "Hanover Ornamental Tree Association" which, from 1843, was responsible for many of the old elms now so rapidly disappearing from the village.
Tuck Drive was opened in 1914 and named for its donor, Ed- ward Tuck, also the donor of the Tuck School. In early years this was known as Webster's Vale, from having been Daniel's favorite walk. Webster Avenue, opened in 1896, was named for Daniel Webster, Member of Congress, Senator, Secretary of State, but best known to us for his "It is, sir, a small college" speech. Choate Road, opened in 1917, was named for Daniel's distinguished con- temporary, Rufus Choate, also a Member of Congress and Senator. Clement Road, opened in 1916, was named for Phineas Clement, a farmer on what later became the Clark School property. May- nard Street was opened in 1892 to give access to the Mary Hitch- cock Hospital which was then under construction. The street, originally called Hospital Street, was named for Mary Maynard Hitchcock in whose memory her husband, Hiram Hitchcock, had erected the hospital.
Occom Ridge, widened and extended in 1900, was named for Samson Occom, a Mohegan Indian born in 1723 and educated in Connecticut by Eleazar Wheelock. An ordained minister, he was sent to England by Wheelock on a successful mission to raise money for the College. Occom, incidentally, never saw the town which memorializes him in so many ways! Hilton Field Lane is named for Henry H. Hilton, a trustee of the College who, in 1915, provided the funds for the purchase of the Hanover Country Club golf course called Hilton Field.
Most of what were once the large farms on the Hanover plain have been developed into residential areas in which many of the streets bear the family names of the original owners. One might well ask his friends "Whose farm do you live on?" Bradley P.
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Tillotson's farm extended from East Wheelock to the Lyme Road, and from Park Street to Smith Road, but no street bears his name. Park Street appeared on maps in 1870 and Parkway was opened in 1913, both reflecting the proximity of College Park. Balch Street, opened in 1915, was named for Adna P. Balch, a wealthy resident and director of the gas company, who, in 1875, built the most elaborate house in town where College Hall now stands. He was also owner of the stone house on Balch Hill which too was named for him. Dana Road, opened in 1922, was named for President Dana, fourth president of the College. Brewster Road was named for General Ebenezer Brewster, the college steward in 1778 and afterward a leading citizen, tavern keeper, colonel in the militia, fireward and selectman. Smith Road was named for Samuel W. Smith, a dairy farmer on the Lyme Road for many years, who moved into town to the house now on the corner of Smith Road and East Wheelock.
Henry Foster, once owner of the stone house on Balch Hill, sold a part of his farm to an outside builder who developed the Pros- pect Park area and named the streets-Fairview, Highland and Verona Avenues. Because of their location, Fairview and High- land are understandable, but no one seems to know where Verona got its name. Rip Road, running along the side of Balch Hill was named for Harry R. Heneage, a later owner of the stone house. Director of athletics at Dartmouth, 1927-1936, "Rip" Heneage acquired his name as an athlete while a student at Dartmouth.
On the side of Balch Hill, a part of the Garipay farm was de- veloped into what became Hemlock and Ledge Roads.
The largest tract of land to be developed was Chase farm, part of the property of the Agricultural College and owned at one time by Stephen Chase, Dartmouth 1832, a member of one of Han- over's most distinguished families. Developed by the College, the streets in this area are closely related to College history. Burton Road is named for Harry E. Burton, professor of Latin, 1903-45; town moderator for eighteen years and justice of municipal court for twenty-seven years. Chase Road was named for Charles P. Chase, treasurer of the College, 1890-1916, and president of the Dartmouth National Bank. Conant Road was named for John Conant of Jaffrey, N. H., a farmer who accumulated considerable wealth and made substantial contributions to the Agricultural College for the purchase of land for the experimental farm.
The name of Freeman Road commemorates Jonathan Freeman,
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one of Hanover's most distinguished early citizens. Kingsford Road was named for Howard N. Kingsford, affectionately known as "Doc" or "Bush," who graduated from the Medical School in 1898, was professor of histology, pathology and hygiene, 1898- 1941, medical director, 1902-41, and state bacteriologist.
Rayton Road was named for Willis N. Rayton, member of the faculty for eighteen years until his death in 1957, and widely known for his teaching and research in the fields of radio, elec- tronics and nuclear physics. Tyler Road carries the name of Ben- net Tyler, president of the College 1822-28. Valley Road seemed an obvious name for the street winding between the hills of the Chase Farm. Austin Avenue was named for Frank E. Austin, a professor in the Thayer School who owned the house on the cor- ner of Austin Avenue and Park Street.
To the south and west several large farms were developed into residential areas and their streets reflect the names of old families. In 1879 Byron E. Lewin began a meat business in Hanover and operated a large farm from his home on Pleasant Street where his son Roland now lives. The Lewin fields ran to the ridge overlook- ing the river and the first street in the development became River Ridge Road. Lewin Road was, of course, named for the family, while Read Road was named for Mrs. Lewin who was Katharine Read of Plainfield. Weatherby Road, with some license in spell- ing, was named for Warren Wetherbee who at one time operated a bowling alley about where Bissell Hall later stood. The College got a law passed that no bowling alley could be within two hun- dred feet of an occupied house so Wetherbee moved his alleys to the vicinity of the present Village Apartments.
North of the Lewin farm lay "Deacon" Downing's cow pasture. Lucien B. Downing (father of Mrs. Bessie Ward) owned a drug- store in Hanover from 1868 to 1918. Many of the old shade trees in the village, particularly on the west side, we owe to Mr. Down- ing. The street overlooking the river was opened in the Downing pasture in 1925 and given the name of Downing Road.
On the east side of South Main Street running through to Leba- non Street and from East South Street to Buell Street stretched the large Currier farm. Dorrance B. Currier, whose family owned the houses that are now Al's Supermarket and the Green Lantern, was born in Hanover in 1846, and became one of the most pic- turesque and prominent figures in the business and political life of Hanover. He was one of the owners of the famous "Tontine,"
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editor of the Hanover Gazette, and precinct commissioner. When the Currier estate was developed, Currier Place and Dorrance Place were named for Dorrance Currier. Hovey Lane was named for Richard Hovey, Dartmouth's poet laureate. Ledyard Lane was named for John Ledyard of early fame. Ledyard entered Dart- mouth in 1772 and spent much of his time wandering among the Indian tribes. He left college in a dudgeon and, hollowing out a dugout canoe, travelled down the river to Hartford, Connecticut. He went to sea with Captain Cook, wandered in Russia and Si- beria, and died in Africa. No one can be found who knows why Buell Street is so called.
To the west of South Main Street were the pastures where Mr. Newton Huntington's cows were kept. Ripley Road, opened in this area in 1922, was named for Sylvanus Ripley, one of the first four graduates of the College in 1771. He was a missionary to the Indians, minister of the College Church, professor of theology and a trustee of the College. Huntley Road to the south was opened in 1921. Eben Sargent, who built most of the houses on Sargent Street, erected several of the first houses on this street and named it for his wife, Della Huntley Sargent.
At the foot of the South Main Street hill and to the east were two large farms, the Charles Benton farm and the Charles W. Stone farm. This area was purchased and developed in 1948 by Alfred T. Granger, a Hanover architect, Joseph S. Ransmeier, then a member of the Dartmouth faculty, and Frank J. Barrett, also an architect. The road along Mink Brook became Brook Road. Granger Circle was named for Mr. Granger, while Dayton Drive was named for his mother, the daughter of a planter in Charleston, South Carolina. Thompson Terrace was named for Denman Thompson, the actor of "Old Homestead" fame, who was a great-uncle of Mr. Granger. Mitchell Lane was named for Mr. Ransmeier's wife, Margaret Mitchell Ransmeier. Barrett Road was named for Mr. Barrett.
South of Mink Brook and to the west of the highway lay the large dairy farm of Frank I. Spencer who was born in Norwich in 1857 and farmed in Hanover until his death in 1930. The Spencer farm was purchased by Dr. George A. Wyeth who retired there to what he called Faraway Farm. The Wyeth farm was developed about 1947 and Spencer Road was named for the original farmer and Wyeth Road for the Wyeth family. Edgar H. Hunter, a builder in Hanover, laid out the plans for this subdivision. He
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was town moderator for sixteen years, chairman of the hospital corporation and chairman of the Public Service Commission and it was quite fitting that Mrs. Wyeth should name the street, Hunter Lane, for him.
Across the West Lebanon Road from the Spencer farm stood a house occupied for some years by employees on the Spencer farm and later owned by Seymour H. Smith, a retired Methodist Episco- pal minister. Mourlyn Road was developed on the Smith property and Mr. Smith gave the road its name from the Mour of his name, Seymour, and the lyn from the name of his son Lynwood.
Going back to the center of the village and east on Lebanon Street, we find College Street which had developed on the east side of the Green and was gradually extended to the Lyme Road and to Lebanon Street. Crosby Street was named for one of Han- over's famous old families. Sanborn Road was named for Henry Sanborn who owned a poolroom for many years and who built several of the houses on the street. Summer Street, presumably named for the season, seems to have no other explanation.
The area further out Lebanon Street as the road gradually rises was for many years called Sand Hill. The fields and sand bank on the right were purchased and developed by William H. Brock, who was a barber and real estate man in Hanover from 1915 to 1953 and owned the Eastman block, recently torn down to make room for the new addition to the bank. Mr. Brock gave his own name to Brockway Road, and Ridge Road seemed a logical desig- nation for the highest part of the development. Mr. Brock, a great admirer of the Barrymores, who never missed an opportunity to see a show in which one of them was playing, gave the name of his idols to Barrymore Road. Another of Mr. Brock's idols was Wood- row Wilson and for him Woodrow Road was named. Storrs has been a prominent name in Hanover history since 1771 but Storrs Road was probably named for Edward P. Storrs, early proprietor of the bookstore, who had owned land in the neighborhood.
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