USA > New Hampshire > Merrimack County > Concord > History of Concord, New Hampshire, from the original grant in seventeen hundred and twenty-five to the opening of the twentieth century, Volume I > Part 6
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71 | Part 72 | Part 73
Along this street the great out-of-doors pageants have from time to time been displayed-martial, funereal, religious, and civic. A gen- eration ago, more or less of the New Hampshire regiments which departed for or returned from the Civil War marched up and down it. In earlier times, from 1784, when the legislature met for the first time under the new state constitution, down to 1831, the members of the General Court annually went in solemn procession up this street to the Old North church, to listen to the Election sermon delivered on the occasion. Most graphically has Dr. Andrew McFarland described one of these, as follows :
" But the grand occasion for the Old North was the annual elec- tion sermon. To those who can go back in memory to the time when there was at least a show of recognizing divine agency in the direction of state affairs this pulpit deliverance and the parade attending it must ever stand as an event of a lifetime. It is the state's one great holiday, and Concord swarms with the ingathered multitude. On Wednesday the General Court organizes ; but Thurs- day is the day of all days, for then the governor takes his seat. Main street, from the state house to the extreme North End, is lined
46
HISTORY OF CONCORD.
with booths (' tents' so called) active in traffic of sheet gingerbread, early apples, and ginger beer, not to speak of the plentiful array of decanters full of more heady liquors ; for temperance societies were of much later birth. From his perch on a maple limb close to the church door the writer awaits the coming pageant. It has already left the state house, for does not the cannon every minute proclaim the fact from the brow of Sand hill? Now, faintly on the air comes the low boom of the big drum, afar down the street in advance of all other sound. Nearer it comes every minute, but still alone, till at length the higher notes of the key-bugle can just occasionally be made out. There is an almost undefinable consciousness of other sounds, for the very winds seem to hold their breath. The more distinct strain of each musical piece announces the approach of the slow moving column at the head of the street, and a skirmish line of small boys heralds the grand advance. And now, with burst and swell of martial melody-big drum and little drums, bugles, clarion- ettes, fifes, cymbals, and triangles-every man of them at his best- Fisk's corner is turned, and the grand spectacle opens out with all of war's pride, pomp, and circumstance. What a test of stretched sheep-skin-what wind! Mark the cymbal-player, head thrown back and swaying from side to side, breast well forward, the glitter- ing disks waved high in air, with a flourish and a shake, as he brings the two together with a resonant clang, to the admiration of all small boys. The Concord Light Infantry leads the van; white pants, blue coats, most uncomfortably buttoned to the chin; felt- topped leather caps, and tall, stiff plumes of white, roofed with plumage of brilliant red. What martial mien in the captain ! (Seth Eastman, I think) head erect, eyes sternly fixed on nothing just in front, body stiff as a halberd, sword firmly to right shoulder, toes well turned out! Shades of heroes and warriors! How can mortal man descend to common week-day affairs from such a pinnacle of glory! This is but the escort and the grand central figures are now in sight. Governor Pierce (father of the President) and his aids, all showily mounted, the portly form of the bluff old governor in the centre of the platoon, continental cocked hat in hand, bowing right and left to the acclaiming thousands, with his aids in all the splendor of half-moon chapeaux, ostrich feathers, red and yellow sashes, buff breeches and most formidable, knee-high military boots. Now the sensation is at full height. Cannon are booming, martial strains fill the air, horses neigh, the welkin rends with the prolonged shoutings of the multitude, and billows of dust envelope every thing.
" When close to the tree, where this chronicler sits, the captain comes to a sudden halt; pivots round on the soles of his boots to
47
PHYSICAL DEVELOPMENT.
face his company, sword uplifted with the short, quick command : ' Right and left of sections file to the front! Halt! Inward face! Present arms!' Meanwhile the cavalcade has dismounted, and the chargers are given to the keeping of ready-to-hand boy, expectant of a pistareen when the sermon is over. The governor and his suite, the honorable council, senate and house of representatives, two and two, with heads uncovered, advance between the files of soldiery ; the band plays the salute; officers stand with sword-hilt to the eyes ; the flag waves; and the venerable sanctuary swallows up the long procession, when the services follow, in which the boy of the period takes, as I fear, but little interest." 1
It is a matter of some surprise that the colonists of the little plan- tation of Penacook, in the wilderness, should have given to their main street such generous breadth as they did, and that they made their second street no less than eight rods wide. It is more so that their successors, nearly a hundred years later, should have given to the extension of this latter street a width of but fifty.
Indeed, those fathers of ancient Penacook did better than they knew. Little dreamed they, when establishing the lines of their main street upon which most of their dwellings were to stand, that it was to form a section of one of the great highways of travel from the Canadas to the sea, and become, in time, the chief avenue of the capital of a sovereign state, over which busy throngs and imposing pageants were to move; or that, within a few generations, science, coupled with inventive skill, would harness the lightning to palatial carriages to be moved thereby upon it continually and, quite likely, perpetually.
It is impossible, at this late day, to ascertain all the changes of buildings and their occupants on this street during the one hundred and seventy-five years it has been in use. Some of these, however, have been preserved, and, a short time before his decease, the late Lewis Downing, Jr., a native and constant resident of Concord for more than eighty years, prepared for this history the following plan of the buildings upon it in 1827, and attached to these the names of their occupants at that time.
1 One Hundredth Anniversary of First Cong. Ch., pp. 67, 68.
48
EAST SIDE OF MAIN ST.
WEST SIDE OF MAIN ST.
I ASAPH EVANS STORE.
25. SARAH DEARBORN HOUSE.
26. TOWN HOUSE & COURTROOM.
27 JOHN STICKNEY. TAVERN.
28 NATHAN STICKNEY HOUSE
3. BENJAMIN GALE. TAVERN.
29. ISAAC SWEETSER.
6. CONCORD BANK
7. WILLIAM VIRGIN. SHOP.
8. JAMES SANBORN. SHOP.
32. JAMES MOORE. HOUSE
9. JAMES SANBORN HOUSE.
33. NATHANIEL G UPHAM "
34 DR. EZRA CARTER.
35 IVORY HALL
36 JOHN TITCOMB. SHOP.
31 JAMES HOOK. HOUSE
38 NATHANIEL ABBOT .
39. CHARLES WALKER. OFFICE
40. CHARLES WALKER HOUSE
41. ROBERT DAVIS. SHOP
42. TYLER ROBINSON
43. JOHN GEORGE HAT SHOP
44. JOHN GEORGE. HOUSE
45. BENJAMIN KIMBALL. SHOP
+6. BENJAMIN KIMBALL. HOUSE
$7. FRANCIS N. FISK. STORE & HOUSE
48. TIMOTHY WALKER. BRICK HOUSE. STANDING.
1. JOSEPH S. ABBOT.
27. JOHN WHIPPLE HOUSE.
2. HOSEA FESSENDEN. HOUSE 3. SHERBURNE WIGGIN
4. SAMPSON BULLARD'S DISTILLERY
5 LEACH BUILDING
6. SAMUEL CLARK. RESTAURANT.
7. HUTCHINS & TALLANT: STORE.
33. JOSEPH CARTER WEST STORE.
8. PHENIX HOTEL
9. GEORGE HUTCHINS. STORE
10. CURRIER & HALL. BOOK BINDERS.
11. JOHN TENNEY. STORE.
12. ISAAC HILL. SHOP. HOUSE IN REAR.
13. JOSEPH LOW. HOUSE.
14. JONATHAN WILKINS. HOUSE
15. STEPHEN BROWN. SHOP
16. WILLIAMS BLOCK. STORES.
17. EAGLE COFFEE HOUSE.
la BARTLETT HOUSE & STORE.
13 STICKNEY BLOCK. STORES.
20. HODGDONS RESTAURANT
21. LONG WOODEN BUILDING STORES.
22. JOSEPH P. STICKNEY. HOUSE.
23 GOY. STEARNS HOUSE. STANDING
29. IVORY HALL
25 JOHN ODLIN. SHOP
24. JOHN ODLIN. HOUSE.
52 JUDGE TIMOTHY WALKER HOUSE 53. JUDGE TIMOTHY WALKER. BARN.
OLO NORTH CHURCH
48
46
47
41 42 43 44
53
52
51
50
35
36 -
45
STATE HOUSE
1001
1
5 6 7 8 9 10 110
12 13 14
IS
16
17
18
2/ 22 23 24 - 26
STREET
40
39
MAIN
الاسـ
DEPOT ST.
9
10 11 12 73 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21
22 23 24
25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38
PORTION OF CONCORD, N.H. ABOUT 1827 FROM DATA FURNISHED BY LEWIS DOWNING. VR.
PENACOOK ST.
PLEASANT ST.
SCHOOL ST.
CENTRE ST.
27 28 29 30 31 32
3||3
41 42 43 44 46 47 48 49
FERRY ST.
4
WASHINGTON ST.
FRANKLIN ST.
43. WILLIAM WEST. HOUSE 44 PHILIP CARRAGAN. HOUSE
18 PORTER BLANCHARD. .
19 PORTER BLANCHARD. SHOP.
20. OLD GARRISON HOUSE.
21. DR THOMAS CHADBOURN.
22. MUNROE BROS. SHOP.
23 SUSAN S. KNEELAND HOUSE.
24. JOHN TEEL. SHOP
30. JOHN WEST.
3/. LEWIS DOWNING SHOP 1813.
34 JOSEPH CARTER WEST. HOUSE.
3S. N.H. SAVING S & MERRIMACK CO. BANKS.
J6. REV. NATHANIEL BOUTON. HOUSE
10. LOW & DAMON. SHOP.
II. BENJAMIN DAMON. HOUSE.
12 WILLIAM LOW. HOUSE.
13 COLUMBIAN HOTEL
14 HILL'S BUILDING
40. HERBERT STORE, STANDING
41. HERBERT HOUSE.
42. DR. PETER RENTON.
45. FRANCIS. BARBER SHOP
46. WASHINGTON HOTEL.
47. PETER ELKINS. SHOP.
48. ALICE FLANDERS. HOUSE. 49. SAMUEL A. KIMBALL, HOUSE & OFFICE SA SAMUEL A. KIMBALL. HOUSE. SI JOSEPH WALKER HOUSE.
HISTORY OF CONCORD.
2. WILLIAM KENT. STORE
3. MORRILL & SILSBY. STORE
29 MRS. R.B. PRESTON. HOUSE & SCHOOL
4. N.H.OSGOOD. STORE
30. ASA. MCFARLAND. HOUSE. 31. DR. SAMUEL MORRILL HOUSE.
32. GOV. DAVID L. MORRILL. HOUSE.
37. CHARLOTTE HERBERT. HOUSE.
38. RICHARD HERBERT. TAVERN J. SAMUEL HERBERT. HOUSE
15 DR. BROWN. DRUGS
16 JOHN EMMONS HOUSE
17. RICHARD H AYER
28. OR PETER GREEN. HOUSE.
37 38 39 40
49
PHYSICAL DEVELOPMENT.
I. N.EVANS STORE
21. WO SAFFORD
2. GEORGE WILKINS HOUSE
22 MILLS HOUSE
J. ISAAC SHUTE
23. COOPER SHOP
4. LEWIS DOWNING SHOP
24 ARTHUR ROGERS
S LEWIS DOWNING HOUSE
25 CHAS WHITMARSH
6. CHAS HUTCHINS
26. SAMUEL BLAKE
7 THOS, THORNDIKE
27 WOOL HOUSE
8. ABRAHAM PRESCOTT
20 JOHN A GAULT
9. MRS HARRIS
29 NATHAN FARLEY
10. SAMPSON BULLARD
30. THOMAS THORNDIKE SHOP
1. CLARKSON HOAG
SAMUEL EVANS
12. LAWYERS OFFICE
J2. FRYE WILLIAMS
13 MR SAWYER
33 FLETCHERS LAW OFFICE
14 TIMOTHY CHANDLER
34. HENRY FARLEY
15 CARTER & DUREN
J5 DOCTOR LEACH
IL APPLE TREES
JG. ALBE CADY
17. HOUSE FACING MAIN ST
37. WILLIAM A, KENT
IS BUTTERS TAVERN
JA DEACON FLETCHER
19 HUTCHINS STORE
39 ASAPH EVANS STORE
20. SMALL HOUSE
20.
HOUSE
+1. HULDA EVANS.
1757
42. WILLIAM KENT
+J. OLD HOUSE
44 DEACON WILLEY
AS. JOHN SCALES
46. JOHN MILLS
47
. 53
4
T
48 SCHOOL HOUSE
49 BUTTERS HOUSE
46
JI. WILLIAM SHUTE.
SZ. JOHN SHUTE.
53 DANIEL ROGERS
54 SAMUEL SIMPSON
SP
45 ৳
S
FARM
FARM
FARM
FARM
FARM
>
0.52
SHUTE
DOWNING
THORNDIKE
HARRIS
BULLARD
CHANDLER
38 -16
1 .50
1
0 49
44
48
14
2
3
4
5
6
V
8
9
12
11
MAIN
STREET
36
40
118
·
· 20
21 22 23
24
25 26 27
16 CHAPOS
54
30
PORTION OF CONCORD, N.H. ABOUT 1827.
FROM DATA FURNISHED BY LEWIS DOWNING JR
SHADE TREES.
Concord abounds in shade trees, mostly elms and rock maples. The former are indigenous to the interval, where they grow in great perfection, attaining large dimensions, and, under favorable condi- tions, ages of from an hundred to an hundred and fifty years. They also flourish equally well on that part of the plain upon which the compact part of the city stands. The latter are natives of the uplands, and when transplanted grow well for a time, but their lives are much shorter than those of their associates, shorter, probably, by one half.
Shade trees began to be planted along the streets of Concord at 5
OLD RIVER ROAD
29
.
IPLEASANT STREET
lo
A
57
1
W
FARM
1
STREET
SO 0,
47. 7. GLOVER HOUSE
SO J. ROBINSON.
37
50
HISTORY OF CONCORD.
quite early dates. The earliest recorded planting was nearly syn- chronous with the collapse of the attempt of the proprietors of Bow to capture the township. Its citizens then felt that the title to their homesteads had been rendered secure, and that any improvements of them which they might make would be for their own enjoyment and not for that of unjust claimants.
The oldest shade trees yet standing of which an authentic record has been preserved are the five elms at the north end of Main street, near the house of the writer of this chapter. They were set out by the Rev. Timothy Walker the next spring after his third return from London, whither he had gone as agent of his people to prosecute an appeal to the king in council from a judgment of the superior court of New Hampshire in favor of the proprietors of Bow. Upon his majesty's reversal of that judgment, December 29, 1762, the inhabi- tants of Concord were quieted in the titles to their landed estates, and felt encouraged to improve and adorn them.1
In his diary for 1764, against the date of May 2d, Mr. Walker makes this brief entry, "Sat out 8 elm trees about my house." Five of these still survive, one hundred and thirty-seven years after their removal from the interval at ages, probably, of a dozen to fifteen years.
Three of these are yet in vigorous health. Two are gradually approaching the limits of their respective careers, while the lives of the other three have sunk into oblivion for the want of a timely his- torian.
The finest tree in the city is the graceful elm at the north end of Fisk street, often called the Webster elm. It was set out by Capt. Enoch Coffin and his brother, Col. John Coffin, about 1782, the year in which Daniel Webster was born (January 18, 1782). Hence, doubtless, the name sometimes given to it.
The trees on the west side of Main street, between the residence of William P. Fiske and the east end of Church street, were planted in 1818 by the late Samuel A. Kimball, who also planted the sturdy wil- lows on the north side of the East Concord road, near the buildings of the Page Belting Company, in 1831. There are ten of the latter, and their respective circumferences at three feet from the ground are : 1st (westernmost), thirteen feet and five inches; 2d, thirteen feet and four inches ; 3d, ten feet and ten inches ; 4th, ten feet and five inches ; 5th, twelve feet; 6th, thirteen feet and one inch ; 7th, eleven feet and four inches ; 8th, ten feet and six inches ; 9th, twelve feet ; 10th, eleven feet and one inch.
The ten have an aggregate of circumference amounting to one hundred and eighteen feet, an average of nearly twelve to a tree, at
1 Moore's Annals of Concord, p. 99.
51
PHYSICAL DEVELOPMENT.
their present age of about eighty years. The smaller willows stand- ing eastward were set out by the writer in 1895-99.
The elms in front of the lot of Dr. George M. Kimball were planted by his great uncle, Hazen Kimball, at a date unknown, but somewhat earlier, evidently, than that of the planting of those on the opposite side of the street.
The noble row of elms in front of the ancient building once known as the Washington hotel were set out by Dr. Ebenezer H. Goss in 1774, and those in front of the house of Henry Robinson are believed to have been placed in their present position soon after the close of the Revolutionary War. Those which line the west side of Main street between Franklin and Pearl streets were planted by Charles Walker, about 1802, in front of his house, erected about that time.
The stalwart elms on Main street, near the east end of Thorndike street, were planted at an early day by Timothy Walker, a relative of the first minister. Many others of advanced ages might be men- tioned, notably those in front of the Rolfe and Rumford asylum, planted, doubtless, by Col. Benjamin Rolfe about the time he built the main structure of this house, in 1764; the great elm near the corner of South and Clinton streets ; and the tough old veteran on Pleasant street opposite the house of Dr. F. A. Stillings.
Most of the elms on the lot of the Walker schoolhouse were set out in 1832 by John D. Abbot and paid for by subscription. The largest of those in the yard of John H. Stewart were probably planted by Capt. Benjamin Emery. The younger elms at the north end of Main street were for the most part set out by the writer of this chapter about 1850. The flourishing elms on the south avenue of Blossom Hill cemetery were planted by the cemetery committee about twelve years later.
The trees thus far mentioned are mostly elms. But, as before intimated, rock maples have been the favorite shade trces of many. Hazen Kimball planted a fine row of these just north of the elms before alluded to as set out by him, but only one of these survives. In his History of Concord, published in 1856, Dr. Bouton says that the rock maples on Centre street, between State and Main streets, were at that time about twenty years old, making their present age about sixty-six, and that both the maples and elms in the state house yard are older by some ten years.
Besides elms and maples, trees of other species have been planted for ornament and shade. There were formerly standing on State and Main streets five sycamores, three of which still remain,-one in the front yard of George H. Marston, one near the foot of Mont- gomery street, and the majestic one near the house of Dr. George M.
52
HISTORY OF CONCORD.
. Kimball. Various other kinds have also been planted from time to time, but in no great numbers. In the southeast section of the State Hospital grounds may be seen a magnificent grove of large white oaks, some thirty in number, evidently of great age and pre- sumably remains of the great primeval forest which once covered Concord's whole territory.
Since the publication of Dr. Bouton's history, forty-five years ago, many magnificent elms have, for various causes, been removed. Among these were the six he mentions as standing near his house, the large ones on the west side of State street, near the east end of Walker street, the monster on Stickney hill, one of the largest, and perhaps the largest, Concord has produced, and the Downing elm, near the residence of the late Lewis Downing.
The growth of the five venerable elms before mentioned, which have shaded a section of the north end of Main street for one hun- dred and thirty-seven years, is shown by the following comparison of circumference measurements at heights of three and six feet from the ground in 1764, 1856, 1864, 1871, and 1901:
CIRCUMFERENCES. 1764-1901. ·
1764.
1856.
1864.
1871.
1901.
Trees.
3 ft. from ground.
3 ft. from 6 ft. from ground.
ground.
3 ft. from 6 ft. from ground. ground.
3 ft. from 6 ft. from ground. ground.
3 ft. from 6 ft. from ground.
Ft. In.
Ft. In.
Ft. In.
Ft. In.
Ft. In.
Ft. In.
Ft. In.
Ft. In.
Ft. In.
1st ..
0
9
16
0
14
0
16
4
14
10
16
10
15
3
18
5
16
4
2d ..
0
9
12
4
12
3
13
5
12
10
14
1
13
5
15
10
15
3d ..
0
9
9
0
9
3
9
2
9
4
9
4
9
6
9
9
9
10
4th ..
0
9
13
0
12
0
13
2
12
3
13
3
12
7
14
0
13
0
5th ..
0
9*
12
9
12
2
13
6
13
0
14
4
13
5
15
4
14
6
* The 1st is the southernmost tree and the 5th is on west side of the street. The size of the first measurement at the time of their setting out has been assumed.
INCREASE OF CIRCUMFERENCES.
1764-1901.
1764.
Inc. in 92 years. 1764-1856.
Inc. in 8 years. 1856-'64.
Inc. in 7 years. 1864-'71.
Inc. in 30 years. 1871-1901.
Trees.
3 ft. from ground.
3 ft. from 6 ft. from ground. ground.
3 ft. from 6 ft. from ground.
ground.
3 ft. from 6 ft. from ground. ground.
3ft. from 6ft. from ground. ground.
Ft. In.
Ft. In
Ft. In.
Ft. In.
Ft. In.
Ft. In.
Ft. In.
Ft. In.
Ft. In.
1st ..
0
15
3
13
3
0
4
0
10
0
6
0
5
1
7
1
3
2d ..
0
9
11
7
11
6
1
1
0
7
0
7
0
7
1
9
1
9
3d ..
0
9
8
3
8
6
0
2
0
1
0
2
0
2
0
5
0
4
4th ..
0
9
12
3
11
3
0
2
0
3
0
1
0
4
0
9
0
5
5th ..
0
9
12
0
11
7
0
9
0
10
0
10
0
5
2
0
1
1
It will be observed that the first, second, and fifth have surpassed in growth the third and fourth, a fact due largely to their standing
ground.
53
PHYSICAL DEVELOPMENT.
farther away from neighboring trees than the other two. To this circumstance the first owes its far-extending crown, which has an east and west diameter of seventy-four feet.
The entire length of Main street is seventy-six hundred and eighty-three feet. Between Centre and Pleasant streets, for a dis- tance of thirteen hundred and twenty feet, no trees now remain. Along the remaining sixty-three hundred and sixty-three feet trees to the number of two hundred and eighty-nine shade the sidewalks, one hundred and fifty-nine on the street's east side and one hundred and thirty on the opposite. These stand at average distances from each other of forty feet on the former side and forty-nine on the lat- ter.
Under such circumstances proper trunk developments and comely crowns cannot be attained. A well-developed elm, of an hundred years, requires as many linear feet along the street, and a well- formed maple of seventy-five years, three fourths as many.
The history of Concord's shade trees may, possibly, throw some light upon the question as to the allotted age of the American elm ( Ulmus Americana). As before stated, the Rev. Mr. Walker planted elms before his house in 1764, one hundred and thirty-seven years ago, five of which now remain. If it be assumed that they were fifteen years old at that time, their present age is one hundred and fifty-two. Three of them are in vigorous health and seem good for another half century. The other two will probably end their careers ere half that period has elapsed. While it is by no means safe to generalize from single facts, the history of these trees, so far as it goes, suggests some one hundred and seventy-five to two hun- dred years as, under favorable circumstances, the allotted age, in Concord, of the American elm.
And just here another question arises. Whence came to Concord this custom of lining a street with shade trees? Doubtless from the older Massachusetts towns in which its earliest settlers had been reared. Whence to the latter came this custom? Doubtless from the parks and villages of the old English fatherland.
The attractiveness of Concord's streets is not wholly due to their smoothness as highways of travel and the comely houses which adorn them, but in a good measure also to the graceful lines of trees which overshadow them.
HOUSES.
Some ten to a dozen types of houses have been erected in Concord during the period following its settlement as a plantation down to the present time.
54
HISTORY OF CONCORD.
1. The Log House. The first, intended for temporary use, was necessarily built of logs, as no sawmill was erected until 1729, three years af- ter the settlement of the town had com- menced. The build- ing first erected was the block house, to be used as a meeting- house, town house, schoolhouse, and, if need be, as a fortress for protection against
The Framed Cottage.
and that a large part of these were framed structures. The type of many of these was doubtless that of the simple one-story cottage, whose rooms -surrounding a single central chimney-were easily warnicd. . As this arrangement met the wants of the frugal life then prevailing in this remote com- munity, it was very generally adopted.
The Log House.
attacks of the Indians. Its construc- tion, commenced in 1726, was com- pleted the next year. Its site was the north corner of Main and Chapel streets.
2. The Framed Cottage of One Story. How many of the early houses of Coneord were of logs there is no means of determining. From a state- ment of the condition of the planta- tion, bearing date October 20, 1731, it appears that no less than eighty- five dwelling-houses were at that time wholly or partially finished,
The Gambrel Roof House.
55
PHYSICAL DEVELOPMENT.
The Box Trap House.
3. The Gambrel Roof House. A third type of dwelling introduced to Concord very soon after its settlement was the gambrel roof house, a type brought from the older towns of Massachusetts where its peo- ple had been born, and whence they had recently emigrated. Houses of this description were usually of two stories, about forty feet long and half as wide. They were covered by a roof known as a "gambrel roof," which de- scended on both sides from the ridge line in two unlike slopes to the eaves. To this was sometimes attached a rear addition of one story of like construction. While its outlines were not particularly pleasing and its form suggested a ship turned upside down, it was roomy, and, owing to its capacious attic, came near being a three-story house.
4. The Box Trap House. Another style of house erected quite early in Concord was a house of a somewhat greater depth than length, which generally faced the south, re- gardless of location and surroundings. It was of two stories in front, and of one in the rear. From the eaves of the front side the roof rose by a pretty sharp pitch to the ridge line, and descended thence on the other in a more gentle slope to the top of the back wall. While no technical name may have attached to houses of this model, their end elevations so forcibly suggest an ordi- nary box trap set for game, that this desig- nation has been assumed for the want of a better one.
Mr. Wilson Flagg appropriately remarked, in 1872, of this style of house and of the elm which so often shaded it: "In my own mind, the elm is intimately allied with those old dwelling-houses which were built in the early part of the last century. Not many of these venerable houses are now ex- tant; but wherever we see one it is almost invariably accompanied by its elm, standing upon the open space which slopes down from its front, waving its branches in melancholy grandeur above the old homestead, and droop- ing as with sorrow over the infirmities of its old companion of a cen- tury." 1
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.