USA > New Hampshire > Grafton County > Littleton > History of Littleton, New Hampshire, Vol. I > Part 57
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The Town Building, erected in 1895, was in more than one re- spect as great a surprise to the taxpayers as was the cost of
meeting this committee was to expend the proceeds of the sale of an issue of $30,000 of four per cent bonds to be issued by the district " for the purpose of constructing sewers, grading, macadamizing and improving streets and constructing sidewalks in said district and in the purchase of a park."
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the High School building to the preceding generation. Had the citizens been fully informed in regard to the character and cost of either, we may safely assume that years would have passed before their construction would have received the sanction of the voters.
At the time this enterprise was entered upon, the town, the Village Precinct and District were paying to various landlords a total annual rental of $625 for a hall for town and department meetings, for library, fire department, storage, and other purposes. There was a general concurrence in the opinion that the town should own the public utilities. There was, however, a wide divergence as to details.
The question was finally brought up in town meeting in 1893. The only action taken at the time was the appointment of a com- mittee consisting of George A. Bingham, Oscar C. Hatch, James R. Jackson, Daniel C. Remich, and Millard F. Young to investigate and report at the next meeting in regard to providing better ac- commmodations for the Town Library. A resolution to investi- gate the matter of providing offices and vaults for the town records was also referred to the same committee, with instructions to re- port at the same time. The next year Daniel C. Remich took the matter up, formulated a plan of action, and called a meeting of citizens which was held at the office of Bingham, Mitchell, & Batchellor on Saturday evening preceding the annual town meeting. Between thirty and forty persons were present. The project was considered at length, and the proposition of Mr. Remich to buy the Ladd and Bunker lot and erect a town build- ing to cost about $9,000, and in any event not above $15,000, for the lot and building, was negatived by a nearly unanimous vote. The meeting was decidedly of opinion that the question should be more fully considered.
This, however, was not to be the end. Mr. Remich, with his ac- customed energy and persuasiveness, set about reversing the action of the meeting of Saturday evening. He early convinced two in- fluential citizens that they should support his plan for several reasons, the chief of which was future public gifts and enterprises promised on the part of wealthy citizens in the event of the execution of the proposed public improvements.
The question came before the meeting on the following Tues- day upon a favorable report presented by Mr. Remich, in behalf of a majority of the committee appointed the year before,1 which
1 The majority report was as follows :-
TO THE TOWN OF LITTLETON :
The undersigned who, pursuant to a vote passed at the annual meeting for 1893, were appointed committee to investigate and report upon the question of providing
VIEW IN TOWN PARK.
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embodied, in substance, the proposition submitted by him at the meeting of citizens. In closing he moved its adoption.
better accommodations for the "Town Library, town officers and vaults for the town records," beg leave to state that they have attended to their duties and make this report : they find that the present library building is entirely inadequate in con-, struction, size, and convenience for the purposes for which it is used, and that new and snitable quarters must be obtained at once, or the growth of the library stop and its influence be seriously impaired. So far as the town offices are concerned, it is a well-known fact that we have none worthy of that name, and that our public records, whose loss would entail irreparable injury upon the town, are in constant jeopardy from fire.
In view of these facts and the further fact that the town and Village District are now paying as rent for insufficient and unsuitable accommodations for town and district office and business a sum much larger than would be required to pay the interest on any indebtedness which would be incurred in building a first-class wooden building with fire-proof vaults for town records suitable and convenient for all town and village purposes and which would be an ornament to the town, we recommend that the town vote to bond itself, for not exceeding $15,000.00, and instruct its Selectmen to purchase the Ladd and Bunker blacksmith shop lot, so called, situate on Union Street in Littleton village, provided it can be purchased at a reasonable price, and if not, cause the same to be condemned as a site for a town building, and to erect thereon, during the coming season, a handsome wooden building, containing a fire-proof vault for the town records, and finish therein a Town Hall, Selectmen's and town clerk's office, police court room and lobby, also for the temporary use of the town library until such time as a fire-proof library building and memorial hall can be constructed by gift or otherwise; also suitable rooms for the fire department of Littleton Village District and for storage of its tools and other property, provided the Selectmen can make satisfactory arrangements with said district to lease the same.
.
LITTLETON, N. H., Marclı, 1894.
D. C. REMICH. M. F. YOUNG, per D. C. R. OSCAR C. HATCH.
The minority report, signed by Mr. Jackson alone, follows : -
The undersigned, a member of the committee authorized to consider and report upon the advisability of erecting a Memorial Hall and Library Building, dissents from the conclusions embraced in the report of the majority of said cominittee for the following reasons :
1. No plan or specifications have been formulated of a character sufficiently clear to enable the citizens of the town to form a just estimate of its probable cost.
2. A public building should be erected to furnish accommodations for many years, not for a day. Its first essential should be durability. The one contemplated by the majority of the committee is confessedly of a temporary character in sonie respects, and tlie sum involved is far too large to be drawn from the taxpayers to be thrown away on an experiment or invested in a speculation.
3. It is unwise to unite under the same roof rooms for the storage of tools, for the accommodation of a fire company, for the stabling of horses, for the shelter of liose, and for the uses of the public library. Such a union is incongruous, and will result in no inconsiderable damage to, if not the destruction of, the books in your library. For the above reasons I recommend the adoption of the following resolution : Re- solved, that the matter covered by the reports of your committee be postponed to the next annual meeting, and that the committee be instructed to procure a plan and such necessary specifications and estimates of the proposed building as will enable the citizens of the town to understand just what they are to have and its probable cost.
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History of Littleton.
Mr. Jackson, as a minority of the committee, offered a dissent- ing report, and moved that it be substituted for the report of the majority. After a brief debate the substitute was rejected.
Albert S. Batchellor then offered the following resolution : -
" Resolved that when this meeting adjourns, it be to meet at this place (Union Hall) at ten o'clock four weeks from to-day, in order to enable the committee appointed at the last meeting to procure plans and specifications to show definitely the cost and character of the pro- posed public building, and to obtain definite information as to what action the Village District takes in regard to the use or occupancy of the proposed building as to lessee, or as a contributor in some other way in aid of the enterprise, so that final action may be taken by the town on full information as to the subject."
Debate followed, in which many phases of the question were considered. The arguments in favor of the majority report were in substance these : economy, convenience, safety, and the cultivation of the public taste by the erection of a public building that should stand as an object lesson of the beautiful in architecture.
The opposition pleaded for delay, that the voters might be fur- nished with data that would enable them to act on the question understandingly. Neither the form, style, nor cost of the build- ing was given beyond the simple facts that it was to be of wood and its cost was not to exceed $15,000. It was urged, too, that all the purposes for which the building was to be used ought not to be placed under one roof. Exactness of information as to plan and cost was their demand.
When the vote on the motion to substitute the minority for the report of the majority was taken, it was apparent that a very large majority were in favor of the report of the committee and of pro- ceeding without delay with the work therein directed.
The report of the majority of the committee having been adopted, Daniel C. Remich moved
" That the Selectmen be instructed to purchase the Ladd and Bunker blacksmith shop lot, so called, situated on Union Street in Littleton Village, if it can be purchased at a reasonable price, and if not, cause the same to be condemned as a site for a town building, and to erect thereon during the ensuing season a handsome wooden building con- taining a fire-proof vault for the town records, and finish therein a Town Hall, Selectmen's and Town Clerk's office, Police Court room and lobby. Also provide therein suitable accommodations for the temporary use of the Town Library until such time as a fire-proof Library Build- ing and Memorial Hall can be obtained by gift or otherwise. Also
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suitable rooms for the Fire Department of Littleton Village District and for storage of its tools and other property, provided the Selectmen can make satisfactory arrangements with said district to lease the same and to pay for said land and erect said building. The Selectmen are authorized and instructed to issue in behalf of the town not exceeding $15,000, of bonds bearing four per cent interest, payable in thirty years from date, with a right reserved in said bonds to pay the whole or any portion of said bonds after ten years from their date. In con- structing the town building herein proposed local laborers shall be em- ployed provided they can be secured at reasonable American wages, which is on the basis of $1.50 per day for a good common day laborer, and provided further that sufficient numbers can be obtained."
It was suggested that the cost of the building be limited to $15,000. It was stated, in reply, that such an amendment might cause great inconvenience and delay, as operations of this kind might require an expenditure of a few hundred dollars beyond the anticipated cost. As this amendment was doomed to meet the fate of other propositions to safeguard extravagance, it was withdrawn. This ended town legislation in regard to this impor- tant improvement.
The committee chosen to execute the will of the town in this regard consisted of Ira Parker, Oscar C. Hatch, William H. Mitchell, Charles C. Smith, and George W. McGregor, and the Selectmen.
Soon after they entered upon their duties they purchased the lot designated by vote of the town, engaged architects, let the contract for the foundation and superstructure, and had the work under way. The building was completed early the following spring, and occupied by the library, municipal court, the several town officers for whom provision had been made, and on the 15th of June, 1895, the beautiful auditorium of the public hall was filled with an enthusiastic audience assembled to dedicate the building.
William H. Mitchell called the meeting to order and announced the officers of the occasion. Harry Bingham presided. The vice- presidents were Capt. John Pierce, Cyrus Eastman, Col. Henry L. Tilton, Benjamin W. Kilburn, Major William J. Bellows, Judge Edgar Aldrich, Charles Eaton, Luther B. Hoskins, James E. Henry, Major Cephas Brackett, Henry C. Libby, Daniel J. Strain, Col. Francis A. Eastman, Samuel B. Page, John M. Mitchell,. Gen. George W. Gile, Charles F. Eastman, Ephraim Hinds, William Jackson, Luther B. Towne, Levi B. Dodge, Abijah Allen, John C. Quimby, Israel C. Richardson, Horace E. Chamberlain, Col. Benjamin H. Corning, George Carter, Col. Edward Woods, Isaac
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Calhoun, Henry Merrill, Major Frank T. Moffett, Benjamin F. Page, M. D., the Rev. J. B. Merrill, the Rev. J. H. Hoffman, the Rev. I. Fletcher Snapp, the Rev. Cyrille J. Paradis, the Rev. Edgar F. Davis, the Rev. Charles M. Howard, and the Rev. John Jaffrey. The secretaries were George C. Furber, Phineas R. Goold, and A. W. Emerson. Lieut. Chauncey H. Greene was marshal, and Capts. Benjamin F. Wells, Charles R. Blodgett, and Theron A. Farr, assistant marshals.
After music the president introduced George W. McGregor, M. D., chairman of the Building Committee, who in brief, appro- priate remarks presented the keys to Henry F. Green, chairman of the Board of Selectmen, who formally accepted them on behalf of the town. Daniel C. Remich, to whose ceaseless activity much of the success in securing the erection of the building was due, was introduced. He gave a succinct account of the public improve- ments inaugurated in the three years since 1893, when the village organizations were consolidated. Among these were the town building, iron bridge and its approaches, a sewerage system, stone crusher and many other implements, fire alarm system, equipment of the fire department with modern machinery; these with the previously existing property of the town and district he estimated to have cost not less than $150,000. He considered that in respect to the possession of these modern appliances for the safety, comfort, and health of the community Littleton could not be surpassed. His analysis showed that $150,000 had been expended within three years without imposing any hardship upon the taxpayers.
The principal address of the evening was delivered by the Rev. Joseph E. Robins. It was in the nature of an historical review, briefly sketching the events of prominence and the men who had parts in them. Nor did he forget the meed of praise due the living who had accomplished what has been termed the regener- ation of the town. Remarks pertinent to the occasion were also made by Col. Henry O. Kent, of Lancaster, and Samuel B. Page, of Woodsville, both of whom made happy allusions to the past and present prominence and prosperity of Littleton.
Marshal Sanders Post, G. A. R. was present, and participated in the proceedings.1 Letters were read from many sons and
1 The members of the post in line were the following : C., W. W. Lovejoy ; S. V. C., H. E. Currier; Adjt., A. C. Gaskill; Chapl., John T. Simpson; O. D., Silas Wheeler ; S. M., J. W. Gray ; Q. M. S., R. S. Simpson ; Q, M., H. B. Burnham. Past Commanders : Chester Simpson, Spencer Vandicar, True M. Stevens, S. L. Simonds, G. W. Cleasby. Comrades : C. H. Applebee, H. D. Bishop, Albert Carpenter, C. H. Greene, B. F. Heath, John F. Moulton, E. F. Sawyer, Zimri Stearns, B. F. Wells, W. W. Weller, C. P. Crouch, Amos S. Dow, Richard J. Huntoon, John M. Rowe,
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daughters of the town and other prominent citizens, expressing regret at their inability to accept invitations to be present at these ceremonies.1
It is decreed that few public enterprises shall be constructed for the sum named in the original estimates. With Littleton this has been true. The High School building was planned to cost $10,000, and the meeting authorizing its erection solemnly passed a vote that no larger sum should be expended upon that house. When it was ready for occupancy, the district had invested $38,000 in the structure. This fine Town Building, which makes an un- sightly lot a thing of beauty, the voters were assured, when they endorsed the project, was to be built for less than $15,000. Its direct cost, according to the auditor's report, was $33,836.68. It is anticipated that the Carnegie Library, now building, will cost the town $10,000, in addition to the gift of $15,000, which was once supposed would cover its cost.
The building is eighty-nine feet on Union Street by seventy-seven on Cottage. Erected upon a high bank of the river, it was neces- sary to build a strong and high foundation of granite on the south side. On this rests a basement of brick in which are rooms for the Fire Department, storage for their engine, hose, hook, and ladder carriage, and other appliances for the use of the company in the ex- tinguishment of fire ; a place of temporary confinement for offenders against the laws ; a town team and implements, wagons, rollers, and road machines of the Street Department. The entrance to this part of the building is on Cottage Street. The story above,
C. W. Lovejoy, Horace Shute, Theron A. Farr, Frank E. Burnham, C. R. Coburn, Curtis Bedelle, William Martineau, Milo S. Pollard, Cyrus R. Blodgett, James M. Merrill, I. F. Dodge, J. B. Bean, A. J. Morgan, D. M. Clough, Benjamin F. Much- more, John A. Miller, B. W. Kilburn, C. W. Cowing.
1 From Gov. Chas. A. Busiel; Gen. Geo. W. Gile, of Philadelphia ; Dr. Chas. D. Tarbell, of Southern Pines ; Rev. Jolin A. Bellows, Portland ; Jolin Pierce ; Josiah Bellows, Washington ; Clias. W. Millen, Alexandria ; Abby Merrill Rockwell, Phila- delphia ; John Pierce, Jr., Bethlehem ; Frances B. Sanborn, Concord ; Alvin Bur- leigli, Plymouth ; Mrs. F. J. Eastnian, Tilton ; Joseph L. Whittaker, Bradford, Mass. ; Edwin A. Charlton, Brodhead, Wis .; John G. Sinclair, Florida ; C. B. Jor- dan, Lancaster ; Edward F. Bingham, Washington; Edmund Carleton, M. D., New York ; Jas. W. Moore, M. D., New York; E. P. Bullard, New York ; Prof. Dana P. Dow, Greenfield, Mass .; Geo. F. Batchelder ; W. G. Edwards, West Chelms- ford; Wm. E. Chandler, Concord; Pres. W. J. Tucker, Dartmouth College; Ida Farr Miller, Wakefield, Mass .; Andrew Rankin, Cookshire, P. Q .; H. H. Metcalf, Concord ; John M. Mitchell, Concord; Rev. Lucius Waterman, D. D., Laconia ; Bishop Anson R. Glover, Kearney, Neb .; Col. Salınon H. Rowell, Peacham, Vt. ; Richard W. Peabody, St. Johnsbury, Vt. ; Rev. G. C. Waterman, Providence ; Rev. J. B. Morrison, Laconia ; Isabel M. Parks, Canıbridge ; Ruel W. Poor, New York City ; Wm. R. Brackett, Boston; Rev. Daniel Wise, D. D., Englewood, N. J .; Geo. A. Clark, Boston; and Lou M. Wilson, Chicago.
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History of Littleton.
which is entered from Union Street, has in its west end offices for the town clerk and Selectmen, with a fire-proof vault for the use of these officers; an ample room for the Police Court, which is also used by School and Village District meetings and for party caucuses. The second story is devoted to the use of the public library and reading-room.
The entire easterly end of the building is occupied by an Opera House, which has a seating capacity of seven hundred and fifty .. The gallery circles an end and both sides, while the stage and dressing-rooms are at the southerly end. In equipment and elegance of decorations the auditorium is all that is necessary or could be desired. The stage, too, is finely furnished with scenery, but is not sufficiently large for purposes for which its use is some- times desired.1'
The bridge that spanned the Ammonoosuc in 1894 was the successor, several times removed, of the first bridge over this river in Littleton. It was a covered truss with "rainbow " supports in each side. The upper half of the bridge was open to the air and sunshine, and on each side, attached to the structure, were sidewalks of ample width. It had stood for more than fifty years, and while in fair condition the requirements for the founda- tion and convenient use of the Town Building rendered it necessary that it be supplanted by an open structure resting upon foundations higher than the abutments upon which the old wooden bridge stood. Accordingly, at the same time the work on the building was pro- gressing an iron bridge which was in process of construction on the site of the original bridge (built of trees growing on the river's banks where it crossed the stream more than a century before) was soon completed. The present bridge is twenty-three feet above the river and one hundred and fifty-one feet long, forty feet wide, with two sidewalks. It is an unusually satisfactory structure, wide, firm, and lasting, and promises to endure many years.
On the north end of the bridge, near the Town Building, the grade was raised five feet ; at the south end not much change in the height of the bridge was made. The abutments were laid by Smith & Getchell, of Plymouth, at a cost of $8,983.66. The iron superstructure was built by the Shuttz Bridge and Iron
1 The structure was designed and its erection supervised by Howard & Austin, architects of Brockton, Mass .; William C. Edwards, of Chelmsford, Mass., was the contractor for building the superstructure ; Ward & Douglass, of Barre, Vt., con- tractors for laying the foundation ; the plumbing and heating apparatus was by Lynch & Richardson ; the decorating and frescoing by B. F. McDonnell, and the painting by Jackson & Elkins.
INTAKE OF THE WATER COMPANY ON MT. GARFIELD.
一
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Company of Pittsburg, Pa. The cost to the town was $7,668.82, making the total cost of the work $16,652.48.1
The supply of water for domestic use for many years was taken from the hills running parallel with the river. On the north side the springs were but a short distance from the street, and an abundance of pure water was easily obtained until the opening up of High Street and the streets connecting it with Main Street. The springs near the base of the hill were then brought within the drainage zone of a large residential district. It is doubtful if even then this water supply was seriously affected, but the possibilities of the situation were such that people began to seek for water the purity of which could not be questioned. On the south side of the river water was drawn from the slopes of Mt. Eustis, which seemed to be a vast reservoir with a capacity that would exceed the demand of residents there for many years. The quality of this water could not be excelled.
A corporation chartered in 1879 as the Apthorp Reservoir Company to furnish the village with water was in operation the following year. Among the active promoters of the company were Harry Bingliam, Col. Cyrus Eastman, Henry L. Tilton, John M. Mitchell, Charles F. Eastman, Albert S. Batchellor, and Taft & Greenleaf. The charter contained the usual provision granted similar corporations, and one that was new, at least to this State. It was in substance that the property of the corporation should be exempt from taxation to an amount equal to any indebtedness in- curred in the construction or administration of its plant. As the funds for its establishment were principally raised by the sale of bonds, the corporation was, by this provision, exempt from taxation. The capital of the company was fixed by the charter at $30,000.
The company commenced operations by obtaining a right to take its water supply from springs that were the source of the Palmer Brook on Black Mountain. A storage basin was built on the Goodall farm, and a pipe connection with the distributing reser- voir on Pine Hill, built at the Noble place, 200 feet above the level of Main Street. Pipes were laid on Main and High Streets, and the streets intersecting these avenues. Hydrants for the ex- tinguishment of fire were located at convenient points, rented to the town and placed under the control of the Fire Wards. The contract price for the use of the hydrants was $25 per annum. The original members of the corporation conducted its affairs for seven years without making any important enlargement of the water supply or extension of mains.
1 Reports of Town Auditor, 1895-1896, pp. 122, 253.
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The promotion of public utilities in 1887 as a special branch of business was in its infancy, but lusty and full of promise. Among the pioneer promoters of water plants one of the most daring in its speculative tendencies was the Wall Street firm of Stanton & Coffin. They sought to purchase this property, and it passed into their possession in 1887 at a loss to the men who built it. They however preferred to sell rather than advance the funds necessary to put the plant in condition to meet the requirements of the town.
Stanton & Coffin at the same time took over the franchise of the Ammonoosuc Electric Light Company, an undeveloped property of which John M. Mitchell, Albert S. Batchellor, William A. Has- kins, George W. Barrett, and others were the corporate members. The new owners obtained the passage of an act from the Legisla- ture then in session (1887), consolidating these companies under the name of the Littleton Water and Electric Light Company. It was soon after organized with Benjamin H. Corning as president
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