USA > New Hampshire > Grafton County > Plymouth > Twenty decades in Plymouth, New Hampsire : 1763-1963 > Part 13
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On either side of the wide lobby the two banks function in separate suites. The equipment consists of consultation rooms, offices, fire-proof vaults and safety boxes for individual patrons. In the basement are a directors' lounge, storage space and the heating plant. A drive-in window and ample parking space offer rapid service.
On the date that the doors were to swing wide to the visiting public, an exciting event was anticipated in New Hampshire. President Dwight D. Eisenhower had arranged to accept the invitation of his Administrative Assistant, Ex-Governor Sherman Adams, to visit the White Mountains and test the fishing in the lakes and streams.
173
President Eisenhower dedicated this Bank on June 24, 1955.
At the suggestion of the two senators, the President graciously consented to stop for ten minutes as he passed through Plymouth, to cut the ribbon across the doorway of the new bank.
Accompanied by Governor Lane Dwinell, Senator Styles Bridges, Senator Norris Cotton, Congressmen Chester Merrow and Perkins Bass and Mr. and Mrs. Adams, the entourage of automobiles circled the Village Green. The President stood in his car, wearing his well known smile, to wave at the welcome from hundreds of voices of the citizens that crowded the streets.
Within the bank the Directors and entire personnel were waiting at the entrance. The Directors expressed their gratification for the honor of this visit. Then the President cut the ribbon, responding to the welcome in informal, friendly words.
Thus, the date of June 24, 1955 will mark the records of the banks for an unprecedented honor in their doorway.
AYER INSURANCE AGENCY
A review of the business houses in the town establishes the fact that Ayer Insurance Agency is the oldest company and also one that the same family has maintained. Mr. Charles J. Ayer began to write insurance policies in 1880 at Pike while he managed a store there. In 1897, Mr. Ayer came to Plymouth to devote his entire time to the insurance business. He was suc- cessful in organizing group insurance for prominent companies in his later lifetime. He died in 1927.
A son, Mr. Percy M. Ayer and now a grandson, Mr. C. James Ayer,
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have succeeded the founder in carrying on the Agency with Mr. Oliver G. Cole and Mr. Merlin F. Connary as partners in 1963.
CLAY'S NEWS STAND
Another long-time business is Clay's News Stand, the successor of a newspaper and magazine business that was located in the old railroad station.
Young Gordon M. Clay came from New Hampton after graduation from the Academy, to play baseball on a team that Dr. Ernest L. Bell was promot- ing about 1905. After being employed at the Draper and Maynard factory, Mr. Clay purchased the newspaper business and established Clay's News Stand that was located for years in the Fox Block.
Mr. Clay died two years ago, leaving his two sons to continue the business: Mr. Sam B. Clay and Mr. John G. Clay. The stand has been moved to the Rand Block where a larger space permits a display of the many lines that they now carry in their stock.
THE HATCH DAIRY
Over fifty years ago, Mr. George A. Hatch began a milk route among the homes in the village. His herd of inspected cattle is housed in the barn that was the temporary meetinghouse in 1788, after the log sanctuary was destroyed by an incendiary before the new structure on Ward Hill was finished.
In time this became another father and son enterprise with son Cecil a partner in the Hatch Dairy. Pasteurizing equipment permitted the firm to take on the production of surrounding farms.
At present the Dairy carries on both a retail route and wholesale bottled milk and cream and other milk products for the grocery stores in town.
WALLACE C. CUSHING & SON
A fourth father and son firm is the Wallace C. Cushing and Son, Paint- ers. During the past five decades Mr. Wallace C. Cushing has painted the public buildings and scores of the homes in this area.
Now that years prevent this strenuous activity, Mr. Wallace C. Cushing, Jr. supervises this extensive business that employs numerous experienced workmen and apprentices with contracts booked far in advance of his daily schedule.
SPRAGUE ELECTRIC COMPANY
On Route 25, a factory seemed to spring up over night with the Sprague Electric Company coming to town in 1960. This business has many different factories scattered across the nation. In Plymouth, transistors are manu- factured, with many women being employed. As a gradual increase in trained workers fills the positions, this business promises growth for the population in the future.
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PERRY LAMP MANUFACTURE
The former railroad station has been purchased and equipped to manu- facture modern designs in electric lamps. Mr. and Mrs. Norman W. Perry are creating designs for homes, hotels and public buildings. Their original and artistic creations attract large orders over a wide territory.
MICRO-SONIC, INC.
On the Daniel Webster Highway at the top of Peg Mill Hill, a small factory was erected in 1957 for finishing machine tools, by Mr. Lewis L. Beauchemin. The business increased rapidly and a large addition was erected in 1962.
OCEANSIDE MACHINE SHOP
Another business on Route 25 developed several years ago to manufac- ture parts for airplanes. At times this firm employs a force of twenty men.
WATER SUPPLY
The problem of sufficient water for an increasing population presented itself about the beginning of this decade. The Water Commissioners of the Precinct decided that the driven wells on the meadow were not yielding a sufficient flow to provide fire protection. Mr. John Gadd explained this nationwide condition to the citizens.
Engineers were employed who recommended that the wells be driven deeper. a water tower be erected near the reservoirs and other renovations be approved. As a result, bonds were issued to spread the expenses over a term of years. The sum of $311,826.60 was invested in this project.
Flowing beneath the surface of our valley are underground streams into which. apparently, the drilling tapped. An unfailing supply of water is the greatest natural resource that Plymouth now possesses.
THE POLLUTION PROBLEM
With the "birth-rate explosion" in this generation, the increasing popu- lation presents problems of health that demand change in the methods of waste disposal. The rivers have become open sewers to carry wastes to the sea.
Pollution of the streams must be eliminated, beginning at the source of these brooks and rivers. Studies by engineers have been completed along the Baker River. At present, Plymouth has solved its problem by a lagoon near Langdon Park to contain the sewage from Ward Hill. The next decade will bring the demand to free the Pemigewasset Valley from pollution and more bond issues will be the result.
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FOX POND PARK
The name, Fox Pond Park, derives from the person who developed the area, Mr. Plummer Fox.
The story begins with the corner of Main and Highland streets in 1774 at the time that Captain David Webster sold this spot for a lot for the first courthouse, then moved the framework to the top of Webster street.
Some years after Benjamin Dearborn married Elizabeth, the grand- daughter of Captain Webster, he came to Plymouth from Campton and built his store on this same site facing Highland street. After Benjamin died, the building was destroyed by fire and his wife re-built it.
A young man, Plummer Fox, was a clerk in the Russell store, then he married Charlotte Dearborn and became a merchant in the Dearborn store. Mr. Fox purchased the house on Russell street that is now occupied by Mr. and Mrs. Harl Pease. Mrs. Pease is the daughter of Plummer Fox. Thus, by marriages of the Webster, Dearborn, Fox and Pease daughters we have the history of the corner of Highland and Main streets.
Mr. Fox wished a pasture for his own cows and those of his neighbor, so he bought the area that is now Fox Pond Park. The Hazeltine Brook ran through this pasture along a depression that Mr. Fox decided would fill for
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a pond if he dammed the brook. Mr. Everett Asa Keniston stated in a town meeting that his grandfather set the granite blocks for this dam. Mrs. Pease related that when she was a small girl she watched the men as they built this dam.
About seventy years ago, families began to use ice boxes, then refriger- ators. Although many built ice houses and filled them in the winter, burying the cakes of ice in sawdust that the mills were glad to give away, yet other families purchased ice during the summer. Large ice houses were erected beside Fox Pond and a thrifty business developed.
The water of the brook was pure and the ice was used by the Boston and Maine Railroad to cool the drinking water in the tanks of the passenger cars while the trains ran from Plymouth.
After electric refrigerators eliminated the demand for ice, the ice houses fell apart and children began to swim in the pond. Several years ago the town purchased thirteen acres, including the pond, for a park.
A commission was appointed to clear the pond for swimming and develop the acres for recreation. A Red Cross-licensed lifeguard is on duty during the summer months, a bath-house is to be erected soon, and fireplaces for cook outs and playgrounds are developing. The Boy Scouts are planning a camping site.
This area, within walking distance of the village, should become a park where old and young may enjoy its many advantages for all seasons of the year.
EDUCATIONAL OPPORTUNITIES
To provide educational opportunities for its youth, the citizens of Plymouth are generous. New equipment for changing curriculums is fur- nished annually.
Mechanized homes deny to boys and girls those tasks of yesterday that trained them to handle tools. Schools are teaching manual skills.
In 1958, a well lighted manual arts building was added to the High School plant, providing shop and domestic arts. A cafeteria serves hundreds of hot lunches that conform to recommendations by expert dietitians.
Health and physical fitness are taught by athletic programs that de- manded improved sanitary facilities that were installed on the level of the gymnasium in the Guy E. Speare building in 1961.
Crowding is the vocal complaint at present. Cooperative school districts are the most recent suggestions from a state wide survey. Plymouth answers to this centralized plan with tuition pupils converging from surrounding communities to account for fifty per cent of the enrollment in the High School.
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SHOPPING TO DATE
Village streets were not intended for automobile traffic that permits customers to step from car to stores. Since to please is the rule of trade, the First National Store purchased an area on South Main street for a modern grocery and parking lot.
The old "Plymouth House" disappeared, once a tavern on the early Jabez Hatch Weld property. The garden of the Dodge home is gone and the house may be razed. Summer residents from the lakes area appreciate these mar- keting improvements.
In 1962, Newberry's chain store enlarged its floor space to become the second in size in New Hampshire, after a survey had proved that Plymouth will grow as a shopping center.
BLAIR DORMITORY
Plymouth Teachers College is planning for the future. In 1962, a dormitory for men was named in honor of Senator Henry W. Blair, who pledged more than his resources to assure that the Normal School was located in Plymouth almost a century ago. A student body of 1,500 is anticipated.
ZONING LAWS
Population is invading the rural areas. Customers for houselots ask, "Does your town have zoning laws?" The use of land has become a question of protection of property values, especially in residential zones.
The Town of Plymouth adopted an experimental zoning ordinance in 1960, which experience will modify. The State of New Hampshire has devised regulations about zoning that specify how a zoning adjustment board must conduct its decisions.
Zoning may be defined as protection, not as restriction, for the property owners.
THE LIONS CLUB
The Lions Club was organized eleven years ago by a group of enthusiastic young professional and business men. Community betterment is their con- tinual purpose.
The health of school pupils, specifically care for their eyesight, receives constant attention. A scholarship is awarded every year.
Their contribution toward the bath house at Fox Pond Park is generous and largely responsible for the construction at present.
The members are assuming responsibilities for the arrangements for the Bi-centennial program with immediate plans to install new metal street signs throughout the town.
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SUMMARY
The twentieth decade was a period of unusual activity: loss of passenger trains, building the gymnasium for the College, improving Route 25 with the traffic circle at the Gate Post in West Plymouth, erecting the Armory at the site of the ancient Asquamchumauke Village, the new bank building, naming the Air Force Base at Portsmouth in honor of Captain Harl Pease, the Chris- tian Science Church, developing Fox Pond Park, and the Lions Club.
Mention was made of the four firms that are over fifty years of age: Ayer Insurance, Inc., Clay's News Stand, the Hatch Dairy and Wallace C. Cushing & Son, Painters and new industries: Sprague Electric Company, Perry Lamp Manufactory, Micro-Sonic, Inc., and Oceanside Machine Shop. There were problems for an increased water supply, to eradicate pollution, and zoning. Three recent additions: new First National Store, J. J. Newberry and Blair Hall at the College; also many modern ranch type homes indi- cated a growth in the town.
The Rural Electric Co-operative is enlarging the old bank building, and the New England Telephone Company has erected a central office building at the corner of Langdon and High streets, not yet fully equipped for a dial system.
At the close of this decade, Plymouth has a population of 3,100 that is increased by approximately a thousand students during the school and college year. Tourists find modern motels and inns, excellent restaurants, and all types of services for automobiles in over thirty stations.
Situated between the lakes region and the mountains, with new highways at all of the approaches, Plymouth is a busy community both summer and winter. New industries, up-to-date shopping centers, and a delightful four- season climate are features that are attracting increasing numbers of both seasonal and permanent residents.
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INDEX
Abanaki Indians 7
Episcopal Church, 1933 151
Abbot Downing Stagecoach, 1827
62
Express Company, 1863-1900 102
Academy Building, 1835
56
Fairbanks, Rev. Drury, 1799 41
Advertising at Russell's Store
83
Families to Remember, 1773
12
Agricultural Fairs
87
First Coal Dealer
117
American Revolution, 1775
18
First Postmaster, 1783
27
Anti-Slavery Controversv, 1837
72
First Store, 1783
27
Armory-National Guard, 1957
169
Flood of 1927
147
Asquamchumauke Village
171
Flood of 1936
155
Fox Pond Park, 1960
177
Baker River Bridge, 1796
23
Batchelder, Moses
113
Blair Hall, 1960 179
93
Blair, Henry William, 1856
91
Blair, Mrs. Henry William, 1897
121
Gasoline Stations, 1938
158
Gate Post at the "Head"
168
Glove Hollow, 1853 86
Grade School 157
Boy Scout Fountain, 1933
153
Grafton County, 1774
18
Brick Yards
47-48
Grafton Journal, 1825
61
Bulfinch Band Stand, 1903
114
Growth of Normal School
146
Burleigh, Alvin, 1842-1930
110
Burnam, Denison R., 1841
76
Gymnasium, 1953
170
Burnham Trial, 1806
44
Hatch Dairy 175
Catholic Church, 1912
131
High School
126
Cemeteries
94
High School Fire, 1914
138
Chamber of Commerce
150
Highland Street Fire
103
Hobart, Col. David
18
Chase Lumber Company, 1917
139
Hospital, 1908
139
Christian Science Church, 1957
173
Civil War, 1861
89
Hospital, third, 1920
140
Clay's News Stand
175
Holderness Grant
8
Common in 1892
116 Holmes-Plymouth Academy, 1808
45
Constitution, New Hampshire, 1784
22
Hurricane of 1938 156
Constitution, United States
28
Coos Road, 1767
11
Keniston Band, 1902 113
Court House, 1774
18
Keniston, John, 1884
113
Keniston, Davis Baker Store
115
King, Rev. Thomas Starr
92
Kidder, Amos M.
106
Kidder Block Fire, 1943
161
Dartmouth College Road, 1771
11
Dearborn's Store, 1849
82
Langdon Family 102-108
District Schools, 1785
21
Lions Club, 1952
179
D. & M. Baseball Park. 1920
140
Livermore, Judge Arthur 142
Draper, Maynard Company, 1900
122
Lottery Bridge, 1786 23
Loizeaux, M. Suzanne, Legislator 164
Educational Opportunities
178
Main Street Changes, 1930 146
Electric Light Company, 1891
115 Mary Lyon Hall, 1916 138
Emily Balch Cottage Hospital, 1893
119 McLane, Mrs. Richard 142
End of Passenger Service, 1959
168 McQuesten, Alvah 68
Eisenhower's Visit, 1955
174 Meetinghouse, Second 25
163
Hospital Fire, 1916
139
Concord Stagecoach, 1827
62
Howe House Fire, 1932 149-161
Court House, 1823
54
Court House, 1889
106
Cushing, W. C. & Son, 1910
175
Franconia Notch Road, 1805
43
Fraternal Organizations 116
Frost, Robert, 1911 133
Funeral Customs
Borilla, Gaspar (Police), 1893 120
Boston, Concord & Montreal R.R., 1850 79
Chancel of Congregational Church, 1926
148
Honor Roll, 1945
Guaranty Savings Bank 117
Ayer Insurance Agency, 1895
174
Adams Market, 1940
158
Draper, Maynard Factory Fire 133
181
Meetinghouse Interior 39
Russell, Alfred 88
Meetinghouse Completed
45
Russell, Moor, 1783 34
Memorial Day, Legion, 1923 144
Russell Street, 1869 97
Methodist Church, 1823 53
Methodist Church, 1833
62
Saliba Family, 1905 129
Methodist Church, 1872
102
Samaha Family, 1908 128
Methodist Church, 1947
163
Sceva Speare Memorial Hospital, 1951
164
Shamrock Valley, 1869
98
Micro-Sonic Company, Inc., 1958 176
Silver, Dr. Ernest L., 1911
133
Military Affairs, 1790 52
Silver Hall, 1954
170
Miller Tree, O.A., Factory
158
Social Library, 1812
49
Smith Bridge
155
Musical Societies, 1888
112
Sprague Electric Company, 1961
175
National Bank
109
National Guard Armory, 1957
169
New Academy Building
70
Newberry's, 1962
179
Taverns in Plymouth
76
Normal School, 1870
100
Tin Shop, Charles J. Gould, 1880 108
52
Oceanside Machine Shop
176
Toll Bridge 37-44
Officials of the Railroad, 1850
80
Town Hall, 1798
98
One Hundred Fifty Years, 1913
136
Tucker, Dr. William Jewett 91
Old Brick, 1822
53
Tufts Block Fire, 1930 149
Old White Church, 1836
70
Turkey Jim's Bridge
78
Paul Revere Bell, 1827
57
Universalist Church 114
Pease, Capt. Harl, 1957
172
Peg and Bobbin Mill, 1903
125
Pemigewasset Bank, 1825
61
Veneer Company 115
Pemigewasset Hotel, 1841
76
Pemigewasset Hotel, 1863
92-96
Pemigewasset Hotel, 1912
134
Pemigewasset Woman's Club, 1897
122
Volpe Family, 1893
121
Perry Lamp Factory
176
Pont Fayette, 1825 & 1844
57-78
Pont Fayette Replaced
154
Potteries, 1830
65
War, World I, 1917 139
158
Plymouth Guaranty Savings Bank
117
Plymouth High School
126
Plymouth Record, 1887 115-161
109
Webster, Col. David, 1763
13
Plymouth Theater, 1932 150
Webster, Mrs. Loren
143
Punchard, Rev. George, 1827 63
Quincy, Josiah
80
Quincy Station
80
Webster, Stephen 15
Webster Tavern, 1764 38
Railroad Square
82
Wells, Jabez Hatch, 1783 27
83
Religious Dissension
24
Rogers, Dr. John, 1785
27
Rogers, Nathaniel Peabody, 1785
73
Rogers Residence, 1825
59
Young Ladies Library Association,
Rollins Block, 1893
120
1870
104
Rose Lawn, 1853 88
Rotary Club 150
Zoning, 1960 179
9
Ward, Rev. Nathan 9
War of 1812
46
Pollution Problems 176
Plymouth Buck Gloves, 1830
67
War, Memorial, 1926
147
Water Works, 1888
108-176
Webster, Abel
12
Webster, Daniel, 1806
44
Plymouth Telephone Company
Webster, Samuel Cummings, Jr., 1853 85
Rand Block 144
White Mountain Bugle, 1848
Woman Legislator, 1949 164
Women's Social Circle, 1858 88
50
New Stores along the Square
97
Telephone Company, 1881 109
U. S. Post Office, 1936 157
Pemigewasset National Bank, 1881 109
Village Common, 1892
116
Village Green, 1933 153
Village Improvement Society, 1815 96
Stagecoach Road 42
Methodist Preachers, 1793 41
Merrill's Gazeteer, 1820 51
Model School, 1910 132
Stagecoach Lines, 1813 50
Starving Year, 1816
Toleration Act, 1819
Ward, Enoch
War, World II, 1941
182
SOURCES
Congregational Church Records D.A.R. Records
Granite Monthly Magazines
History of Plymouth by Ezra S. Stearns
"Plymouth Record" Files
Sceva Speare Memorial Hospital Files
State Papers of New Hampshire "White Mountain Bugle."
George G. Clark*
Mrs. Emma M. Foss*
Mrs. Marie A. Hodge*
Miss Caroline W. Mudgett*
Mrs. John E. Smith*
Mrs. Joseph H. Trow*
Mr. and Mrs. Guy H. Allen
Miss Ruth O. Bozarth
Mrs. E. A. Chase
Mrs. Roger Champney
Miss M. Alice Eastman
Harold C. Freeman
G. Allen Foster
Miss Alice M. Hunt (Ward)
Mrs. John Johnson
Miss Miriam E. Keniston
Miss M. Suzanne Loizeaux
Mrs. J. Edward Maynard Thomas P. McCarthy
Miss Ivanetta Morrison
Miss Katherine L. Palmer
Mr. and Mrs. Harl Pease
Glea L. Rand
Mrs. Aria C. Roberts
Mrs. Louis A. Spencer
Mrs. Elwin M. Smith
Mr. and Mrs. Angelo Volpe
Wendell A. Smith
Miss Ellen A. Webster
Mrs. Doris W. Wherland
Mr. and Mrs. Loys A. Wiles
Deceased
The author gratefully acknowledges the assistance of the above Sources.
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MAP OF PLYMOUTH
On the inside of the front cover is a map of Plymouth, dated 1905.
This map has been brought up to date, 1963, with the numbers of the State Highways and names of the surrounding towns.
The old school districts are numbered, and the cemeteries are marked by a square containing a cross.
The hills and many of the brooks bear the names of early settlers.
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