USA > New Hampshire > Hillsborough County > Hudson > History of Hudson, N.H., formerly a part of Dunstable, Mass., 1673-1733, Nottingham, Mass., 1733-1741, District of Nottingham, 1741-1746, Nottingham West, N.H., 1746-1830, Hudson, N.H., 1830-1912 > Part 36
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This highway, with a few unimportant changes that have been made, is the same now traveled from Litchfield by the Wheeler place and by Charles W. Spalding's, the Derry road and Library street, and following the Bay State electric railway to Stewart's Corner and Tyngsborough line.
PROVINCE LINE TO PELHAM
June 15, 1749, a road was laid out three poles wide, beginning at the province line, leading from Captain Fletcher's to Daniel Merrill's; and running easterly by the north side of Daniel Merrill's house and to the north side of Thomas Brown's house, and near the Widow Spalding's house and to Pelham line. This is the same road that now
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HISTORY OF HUDSON
crosses Tyngsborough line east of the River road and runs easterly near the T. S. Ford house, and by Gowing's.
The Daniel Merrill place was probably the same as the Ford place, the Brown place the same as E. S. Gowing's, and the Spalding place now the George T. Gowing place.
NACOOK BROOK AND WIND-MILL HILL
June 23, 1749, a road was laid out three poles wide from near Thomas Brown's, and crossing Nacook brook, and over Wind-mill hill, and running to Seth Wyman's corner, and the south side of Hezekiah Hamblet's house. The greater part of this road has been discontinued.
WASON'S ROAD TO PELHAM
This road was changed in 1749, and again November 11, 1760, and also September 14, 1764, and again July 6, 1767.
ROAD OVER CORLISS HILL, AND HASELTON ROAD
In 1748, a road was laid out two poles wide, beginning on Corliss hill, near the house of Thomas Kenney, and running south-westerly and westerly, and crossing the Has- elton road a little south of A. W. Haselton's house, and it continued south-westerly into the Pelham road west of Chase hill. It has all been discontinued.
THE BACK LOWELL ROAD
Laid out October 15, 1749, three poles wide. This road began near the Rev. Mr. Merrill's orchard and ran northerly, and over the Burns hill to the Lowell road near the Blodgett cemetery. There has been very little change in this road.
From Photo by C. E. PAINE
HUDSON CENTER
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HIGHWAYS AND BYWAYS
BELKNAP PLACE EASTERLY
October 13, 1749, a road was laid out two poles wide from the County road near the Belknap place, northerly from the brook, and running easterly on Page's and Clark's land to land of Abraham Page, Jr.
October 13, 1749, a road from the last described road to the road leading to Hudson Center, was laid out two rods wide.
ROCKY HILL ROAD
This road was laid out two poles wide, October 13, 1749, and began near John Marshall's well (now Charles W. Spalding's). It ran easterly and over the Rocky hills, so called, into the Barrett's hill road, then called the Lon- donderry road. It has all been discontinued.
REV. MR. MERRILL'S ROAD
October 1, 1751, a road was laid out, partly for the ac- commodation of Mr. Merrill, from near his house to near Deacon Greeley's. This road was two rods wide, and a greater part of it has been discontinued.
FROM COUNTY ROAD TO PELHAM
This road began at what is now Library street, at Ferry street, and was laid out three rods wide, August 31, 1752. Its course was easterly, south-easterly and easterly, to Hudson Center, and south-easterly over Corliss hill, and to Pelham line. It is called the Pelham road, and has had but few minor changes since it was laid out in 1752, and was accepted March 19, 1753.
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HISTORY OF HUDSON
BOWMAN ROAD
The Bowman road, so called, was laid out two poles wide, January 19, 1754. It extended from the road formerly laid out, to Joseph Gould's house, at the south-east part of the town, and has all been discontinued.
OLD DANIEL SMITH ROAD
This road, which has all been discontinued, was laid out February 3, 1755, two poles wide. It was on Bush hill and extended to the Smith place, then owned by John Huey.
November 9, 1757, the selectmen laid out two roads, each two rods wide. One was on land of Seth Wyman, Henry Snow and Hezekiah Hamblet. The other began near Daniel Simond's house, and ran southerly, on land of Henry Snow and land of Joseph Butler to the road that leads from John Hamblet's to Hezekiah Hamblet's. Proba- bly both of these roads have all been discontinued.
September, 8, 1762, a road two rods wide was laid out which began at the Pelham road on the south side of Bush hill and ran westerly and south-westerly by the old Tim Fuller place, and southerly and south-westerly into the Back road near the old Elias Barron place, thence by the old Davenport road to Stewart's Corner. It has been largely discontinued.
September 14, 1764, a road was laid out two rods wide, from the road at the south side of Bush hill to Pelham line.
SMITH ROAD
In 1765, a road two rods wide was laid out from Sam- uel Smith's land, westerly by land of Lieut. Joseph Butler, and southerly by the James Marsh heirs' land to the town road. This was near the Dustin B. Smith place.
In 1765, a road was laid out from Thomas Brown's house to the province line.
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HIGHWAYS AND BYWAYS
September 26, 1773, a road was laid out from the town road near Moses Johnson's, south-westerly, to the province line. This road was three rods wide.
Also another road, three rods wide, beginning at said last road near a small brook, and running westerly to the County road. This last has long been known as the Burse road.
June 29, 1773, a road was laid out from the London- derry road and town line, near Lieut. Hugh Smith's, to the Londonderry road which leads by Thomas Smith's. This was in the Smith district.
November 1, 1774, a piece of road was laid out on the south side of Bush hill, running westerly and south-westerly, which has since been discontinued.
1780, the road at the east part of Hudson by the McCann place, southerly, to Pelham line, was laid out two rods wide. 1781, a road, two rods wide was laid out from John Smith's house to the Hugh Smith road, and by Thomas Smith's cider mill to Samuel Smith's house. This road was in the Smith district. A piece of this road was to be exchanged for a piece of road laid out in 1765.
April 19, 1789, a road was laid out from the place now known as the Donahue place, northerly to the Windham road near the Patrick Donahue place. This road was dis- continued November 4, 1844.
October 22, 1791, a road two rods wide was laid out from the County road, east of the house of Eleazer Cum- mings, thence easterly to the Ferry road. This has some- times been called the Haverhill road.
November 20, 1791, a road two rods wide was laid out from near the house of David Tarbell, southerly, to near the north end of Otternick pond, and south-westerly to the road leading to Kelley's ferry. This was a part of Barrett's hill road.
December 20, 1792, a road was laid out from the Derry road, two rods wide, southerly, to what is now the Chase place, and continuing southerly and south-westerly to the
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Barrett's hill road and still southerly to Henry Hale's, now Hudson Center.
April 3, 1793, the Tiger road, so called, was laid out two poles wide. It began at the Robinson road, near the house of Benjamin Kidder, now the Wood, or Batchelder place, and ran southerly to Barrett's hill near the house of Elijah Marshall. It has all been discontinued.
February 19, 1797, a road two rods wide was laid out from the town road near David Tarbell's house, thence running northerly and westerly, and by various bearings, by Jonathan Marsh's and Amos Davis' to the Derry road. This is known as the Hiram Marsh road.
March 3, 1800, a piece of road two rods wide was laid out near Lawrence Corner.
BRIDLE ROAD
An act was passed by the Legislature, June 16, 1801, authorizing the towns of Nottingham West and Windham to establish a bridle road over Beaver brook, from Law- rence Corner to Windham road in Windham. The road was laid out and built, subject to gates and bars. April 12, 1880, this was laid out as an open road, fifty feet wide.
In 1801, a road two rods wide was laid out near Law- rence Corner.
March 11, 1806, the Haselton road was laid out two rods wide from the Pelham road, southerly, to the Bush hill road, near Daniel Chase's barn.
September 28, 1807, a road two rods wide was accept- ed from near Ens. David Lawrence's, and running west- erly and south-westerly to land of Jonathan Lawrence. (From Lawrence Corner towards Hudson Center.)
August 27, 1810, a short piece of highway was laid out near the North meeting-house, through land of John Tal- lant. This was probably the road east of the cemetery and common.
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HIGHWAYS AND BYWAYS
WASON ROAD
March 12, 1816, "Voted to open a road from the road leading to Pawtucket bridge to the house of Thomas B. Wason." Mr. Wason then lived on the south side of Bush hill where George H. Davis now lives. The road was not constructed at that time.
The above described road, formerly known as the "Wason Road," was laid out by a court's committee about 1821, and constructed about one year later.
November 28, 1822, a road was laid out two and one- half rods wide, from Stewart's Corner, as now known, south-easterly, until it forms a junction with the Back Lowell road. This is a part of the Lowell road.
May 15, 1820, a road one and one-half rods wide was laid out from the County road near Otternick brook, west- terly, about one hundred rods to the carding mill of Capt. Joseph and Oliver Pollard. This road was discontinued March 14, 1837.
August 14, 1824, it was voted to accept the report of the committee, which was that there should be a road "be- ginning at Hamblet's Ferry; thence easterly to the road leading from the North meeting house to Litchfield." This is now a part of Ferry street.
February 10, 1827, the Howe road at the north-east part of the town was laid out.
February 10, 1827, the Derry road was straightened between Elijah Hills' (the Alfred K. Hills place) and Wil- lard Spalding's. The old road was discontinued March 11, 1828, and March, 1855.
March 13, 1827, "The selectmen were authorized to lay out a highway from Hamblet's Ferry to the South meeting house."
June 8, 1827, "Voted to authorize the selectmen to lay out a highway from Hamblet's Ferry, by Moses Had- ley's, to the North meeting house." This is the road from the bridge to Hudson Center.
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HISTORY OF HUDSON
In 1828, the County road was straightened in several places between Taylor's Falls bridge and Stewart's Corner.
A part of the Hardy's ferry road was discontinued March 13, 1832.
February 9, 1835, the selectmen were authorized to lay out a road from near Elbridge Dow's to James Smith's, 3d. This is a part of the Windham road, from a little east of Hudson Center to the Eaton place.
March 31, 1837, "Voted to authorize the selectmen to lay out a new highway from James Smith's to the road near Lawrence Corner." This was also a part of the Windham road. March 8, 1842, the road between the Bar- rett's hill road and Hudson Center was straightened. The road over Swan hill was discontinued by a vote, November 4, 1844. March 9, 1844, the Back Lowell road was straight- ened, south of the Timothy Ford place to the new Lowell road, as laid out November 28, 1822. March 10, 1844, the road on Barrett's hill, near the house of William T. Bald- win, (now William A. Andrews) was straightened. April 5, 1845, the road was straightened from the "Senter" bury- ing ground, to near the house of Thomas Senter, Jr., two and one-half rods wide.
September 30, 1852, the highway from the "Senter" burying ground, northerly, to Londonderry line, was laid out by the county commissioners, but was not constructed until 1854.
BRIDGE ROAD
A highway over Taylor's Falls bridge was laid out by the county commissioners, in 1854. This began at a point in the center of the highway, in the city of Nashua, at the railroad crossing, northerly of the passenger depot of the Concord railroad in said city, running south-easterly along the center line of the existing highway to Taylor's Falls bridge; thence easterly in the center line of said bridge, through said bridge, and to a point in said highway in
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HIGHWAYS AND BYWAYS
Hudson, S. 30° 49' E. of an elm tree, and thirty feet from it; said tree being about three hundred and forty feet from the easterly end of said Taylor's Falls bridge.
"The above described, is to be the center line of said new highway." It was laid out "three rods wide the whole distance, with an addition of seventy feet on the north side of said center line, through the bed of said Merrimack River; and with an addition of fifteen feet on the south side."
The boundary line between the town of Hudson and the city of Nashua was determined to be in the center of the bridge, an equal distance between the two abutments.
May 26, 1857, the selectmen, authorized by a vote of the town, made a change in the road north of the Barrett's hill road and leading to the Derry road.
May 27, 1857, a road two rods wide was laid out from near the Congregational church, south-easterly, to near the pound. It was widened one-half a rod in 1902.
WEBSTER STREET
May 6, 1859, the county commissioners laid out the highway, now called Webster street, three rods wide. This highway extends from near Taylor's Falls bridge, in a northerly direction, to the former Litchfield road, near the house formerly of Josiah K. Wheeler. It is some more than one mile in length. It was constructed in 1861.
SEAVEY ROAD
This road was laid out by the selectmen, September 27, 1862. It began southerly of the house of Simeon Rob- inson, near the brook; thence running northerly and north- easterly to near the school house in district number seven; thence north-easterly and easterly, partly by roads formerly laid out, to the road leading to Steele's. It was laid out two and one-half rods wide.
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HISTORY OF HUDSON
BARRETT'S HILL ROAD
September 5, 1873, this road was widened and straight- ened from the William H. Chase house, (now C. E. Walch's) south-westerly and westerly, to the Derry road, near Library street. The easterly part remained two rods wide and the westerly part was laid out three rods wide.
PART OF LIBRARY STREET
December 12, 1874, a part of what is now Library street was laid out by the selectmen three rods wide. It began at the junction of the Barrett's hill road with the Derry road, and extended southerly to the corner of land of A. G. Hutchins.
PART OF DERRY ROAD
August 26, 1876, a piece of the Derry road, by land of George O. Sanders, from the junction of Library street to the junction of Ferry street, was laid out three rods wide.
LITCHFIELD ROAD
August 21, 1877, the selectmen widened and straight- ened the Litchfield road, from a stone bound on the west side of the highway, standing on a line between Hudson and Litchfield, thence southerly to the house of Josiah K. Wheeler. The road was laid out three rods wide.
BREAKNECK HILL ROAD
A road at Breakneck hill, in the north-east part of the town, was laid out three rods wide, December 13, 1877.
FERRY STREET
Ferry street was widened and straightened December 1, 1886, from land of John E. Hanscom easterly to the Cutter road. It was laid out fifty feet wide.
JOHN J. BAKER
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HIGHWAYS AND BYWAYS
BAKER STREET
This street was laid out July 23, 1889. It extended from the Derry road, northerly to land of the Methodist parsonage, thence easterly to the Derry road. The first part was laid out fifty feet wide and the last part was laid out forty feet wide.
CUTLER ROAD
In June, 1889, the county commissioners laid out a road from the Londonderry road north of the John Barrett place, and running south-westerly to the Putnam road, and westerly over the Putnam road to John D. Marshall's; thence south-westerly to the Litchfield line, and through a corner of Litchfield, and partly by the old Cutler road to Litchfield line, and south-westerly to the Derry road near Justin E. Hills'. This road was laid out three rods wide.
DERRY ROAD
July 3, 1889, this street was widened and straightened from the junction of Baker street and the Derry road at the land of George G. Andrews, westerly, to a stone bound ten feet south of the Sherman wheelwright shop. It was laid out fifty feet wide.
GROVES' ROAD
December 1, 1889, the selectmen laid out a highway two rods wide from near the house of Robert Groves, west- erly to the Lowell road.
LOWELL ROAD
In 1895, at the time of the building of the electric street railway from Hudson bridge to the Tyngsborough line, through Hudson, the selectmen widened and straight-
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ened the highway the whole distance. It was laid out three rods wide and substantial granite bounds were set on the west line at each angle and curve.
LIBRARY STREET
August 10, 1896, a part of Library street was widened and straightened from the south side of Ferry street to the north side of Central street, formerly the Lowell road. The street was laid out three rods wide and was bounded on the west side.
SCHOOL STREET
This street was laid out November 10, 1897, from Li- brary street on the south side of the Webster school build- ing, westerly three hundred feet and was made fifty feet wide.
June 18, 1899, the highway westerly from the Congre- gational church was straightened by making an addition to the northerly side of said highway, for a distance of three hundred and eighty-one feet.
WATER STREET
June 26, 1899, Water street was laid out by the select- men from Library street, easterly, to the north-west corner of land of William G. Wood. The street was laid out thirty-three feet wide.
This chapter contains a brief sketch or description of almost one hundred highways, or streets, that have been laid out, either by authority of the town or county, from the date of the incorporation of Nottingham in 1733, to 1900, a period of one hundred and sixty-seven years. These comprise nearly all of which any record can be found, and a considerable percentage of this number have been discontinued. A great part of the highways in the north-east part of the town, or so much as was annexed
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from Londonderry in 1778, were laid out by that town be- fore the annexation.
STATE HIGHWAYS
By the provisions of Chapter XXXV, of the laws of 1905, the state highway law became sufficiently matured in this state so that some of the towns began to raise and ap- propriate money for the permanent repairs of some of their main highways.
To entitle a town of the size of Hudson to receive state aid in these permanent improvements, the town was required to raise and appropriate for that purpose one dollar and fifty cents on every one thousand dollars of its valuation.
At the annual town meeting in March, 1905, Hudson voted to raise and appropriate for the permanent repairs of its main highways the sum of $1,077.
This entitled the town to state aid, which was forty per cent of the amount appropriated, or $430.80. The sum total of these two amounts was a little more than fifteen hundred dollars. This was the joint amount to be ex- pended for permanent improvements of its highways in the town of Hudson for 1905 by the selectmen, with the con- sent and advice of the governor and council, and under the supervision of the state engineer.
Through some misunderstanding or failure to agree between some members of the governor's council and the selectmen as to what roads the betterments should be ap- plied, the permanent improvements of the highways in Hudson were not commenced, and the appropriation made for that purpose was held over until the next year.
In March, 1906, substantially the same amount was raised for state roads as in 1905, which for the two years, including the state aid, made a little more than $3,000 to be expended.
A contract was made to construct a first-class macadam road, beginning at the end of Taylor's Falls bridge, thence
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HISTORY OF HUDSON
through Postoffice square to Derry road, and by the Derry road as far as the joint fund would pay for its construction.
The construction of the road was finished during the fall of 1906, from the bridge to near the house of Alden E. Cummings, some more than one-half a mile. This road was well constructed and has given good satisfaction, and after having had six years of constant wear is still a good macadam road.
In 1907 the amount of $1,134 was raised by the town for state roads, which together with the state aid made the joint amount to be expended $1,587.60. The macadam road was extended on the Derry road as far as the gate at the Catholic cemetery.
In 1908 the required amount was raised to entitle the town to receive state aid, and was expended.
As the valuation of the town increased a little from year to year, so the appropriation for state roads became proportionately a little greater. For 1908 a macadam road was constructed, beginning at Postoffice square and follow- ing Central street as far as the house of Charles E. Cum- mings.
The appropriation for 1909, together with the state aid, was about $1,610. This was applied to Central street and the Lowell road. The macadam road was extended from the point where it was left in 1908, as far as Otternick brook, southerly of the overhead bridge. Up to this time for four years, the state roads in Hudson had been con- structed by contract each year.
In 1910, a macadam road was constructed from the Catholic cemetery, where it was left in 1907, following the Derry road to near the house of Charles W. Spalding.
This year for the first time the construction was done by the town, through its selectmen under the direction and supervision of the state engineer.
In 1911, the macadam road was continued from Charles W. Spalding's, by the Derry road to the Marsh corner, so called. This was also done, as in 1910, by the selectmen.
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Towards the accomplishment of the construction of so long a piece of state road in 1911, Dr. Alfred K. Hills gener- ously contributed the amount of $2,000, and Walter H. Marsh, another very generous citizen, gave the amount of $600 for the same worthy object.
In 1912, the state road was extended from the Marsh corner, by the Derry road, to the house of Dr. Alfred K. Hills. Dr. Hills again contributed very liberally towards good roads in Hudson. He paid $1,500 in cash and gave all the material of which the road was constructed. It was built by the town, as in 1910 and 1911.
This road was constructed of different material from that of the macadam roads heretofore made in this town. It was taken from a gravel bank on the farm of Dr. Hills, very convenient to the road which was being improved. The town bought a heavy road roller in 1912. The gravel was screened and applied in different grades-the coarser at the bottom and thoroughly rolled, all being done under the supervision of an experienced road builder.
At this time, September, 1912, the road appears to be a very good one.
Hudson has now a little more than three miles of state roads.
CHAPTER XXXVI
STEAM AND ELECTRIC RAILROADS
At the June session of the New Hampshire Legislature of 1868, the Portland and Rochester Railroad Company and the Nashua and Epping Railroad Company-both of which had been previously incorporated, but neither of which had done any construction work-were united into one corpor- ation under the name of the Nashua and Rochester Rail- road, which road now forms a part of the Boston and Maine Railroad system.
This, the only steam railroad passing through Hudson, was constructed, and put into operation in the fall of 1874. It crosses the Merrimack River at Nashua about sixty rods below Taylor's Falls bridge, and pursues a north-easterly course through Hudson Center to Beaver brook, a distance of some four miles, and enters Windham.
There is but one railroad station in this town, and that is at Hudson Center, where Henry C. Brown is station agent.
By an act of the Legislature passed at the June session, 1883, the Worcester and Nashua Railroad Company and the Nashua and Rochester Railroad Company were author- ized to unite upon certain specified conditions, the united corporations to be known as the Worcester, Nashua and Rochester Railroad Company. This road forms a contin- uous line from Worcester, Mass., to Rochester, N. H., a distance of ninety-five miles, where it connects with the Portland and Rochester Railroad, making a direct line to Portland, Maine.
This is a single track road east of Nashua, and has, in addition to its passenger traffic, numerous freight trains passing over it daily, which condition has resulted in many serious and fatal accidents from collisions occurring be- tween Nashua and Rochester.
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STEAM AND ELECTRIC RAILROADS
STREET RAILWAYS
The Nashua Street Railway Company was incorpor- ated August 14, 1885, with an authorized capital stock of $50,000, to be operated by horse or other power.
This road, which was of the narrow gauge type, as originally laid out, passed over Kinsley, Main and Canal streets to the Concord (now Union) railroad station, and its motive power was furnished by horses. Quincy A. Woodward was its superintendent.
Frequent efforts were made by Hudson citizens to in- duce the management of this street railway to extend its tracks to the west end of Taylor's Falls bridge, but with- out success.
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