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Artwork by Peg Sutcliffe |
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| Artwork by Caroline "Ann" Cross |
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Historic Langdon Town Hall Meetinghouse. Home of the most consecutive town meetings
held in all of New Hampshire. Built in 1801-03 when Thomas Jefferson was president. Langdon, New Hampshire has held two hundred and seven Town Meetings here.
Contact: Dennis McClary or Carole-Anne Centre info@langdonheritage.org .
Six properties added to N.H. State Register
of Historic Places |
2008 Designated one of the Seven to Save 2012 placement on the New Hampshire State Register of Historic Places
|
The State Register has helped to promote the significance of many historic properties across New Hampshire. Benefits of being listed on the State Register include:
Special consideration and relief from some building codes and regulations;
Designation of a property as historical, which is a pre-qualification for many
grant programs, including Conservation License Plate grants and New Hampshire
Land and Community Heritage Investment Program (LCHIP) grants; and
Acknowledgment of a property’s historical significance in the community.
The most recent additions to the New Hampshire State Register of Historic Places
are:
Built in 1901 to house the town’s large road-grading equipment, Freedom’s
Roller Shed is an unusual and practical building. The equipment made travel
in all seasons more possible for citizens – a boon in the early days of the
twentieth century – and the shed provided year-round protection of this
important investment. Part of a historic core of town buildings in Freedom
village, the shed still serves as storage for the town.
The Langdon Town Hall and Meeting House was first used for town meeting
in 1803 and has hosted all 210 town meetings since then. It took the town of
Langdon 21 17 years – from its incorporation in 1787 until 1808 1803– to site
and complete the building, which has also served as church and meeting house for
civic affairs.
The Jackson Road Railroad Trestle in Mason was part of the Peterborough
and Shirley Railroad line, which contributed to the town’s prosperity in the
mid-nineteenth century by opening new markets for agricultural products, denim
and granite produced in town. The trestle is the only grade-separated crossing
in Mason and was built to be tall enough to allow hay wagons to pass on the road
underneath. It is now part of the town’s rail trail.
Three buildings have also been added to the Enfield Village Historic District,
which was recognized by the State Register in April 2011: Woodbury House,
J.P. Washburn House and the North Enfield Universalist Meeting House,
all on Main Street.
Anyone wishing to nominate a property to the New Hampshire State Register of
Historic Places must research the history of the nominated property and document
it fully on individual inventory forms from the New Hampshire Division of
Historical Resources. Having a property listed in the Register does not impose
restrictions on private property owners. For more information, visit
www.nh.gov/nhdhr.
New Hampshire's Division of Historical Resources, the “State Historic
Preservation Office,” was established in 1974. The historical, archeological,
architectural, engineering and cultural resources of New Hampshire are among the
most important environmental assets of the state. Historic preservation promotes
the use, understanding and conservation of such resources for the education,
inspiration, pleasure and enrichment of New Hampshire’s citizens.
Langdon Heritage Commission 2012 Annual Town Report
Welcome to the 210th Town Meeting held in this building, a state record and
perhaps a national record.
In 2007 the citizens of Langdon established the Heritage Commission according to
“RSA 674:44 for the proper recognition, use, and protection of resources,
tangible or intangible, primarily man-made, that are valued for their historic,
cultural, aesthetic, or community significance within their natural, built, or
cultural contexts.”
This year Andrea Cheeney of our Commission got the meetinghouse listed on the
New Hampshire Registry of Historic Places. This important recognition will give
us special consideration by grantors and relief on some state codes that would
adversely affect the historic features of the building if strictly applied. We
are grateful to Andrea for her hard work and to Helen Koss who years before
gathered documentation on the building. A celebration of this recognition was
held on September 7 and was attended by many of you as well as our State Senator
Bob Odell, State Representative Steve Smith and a representative from
Congressman Bass’s office. Senator Odell read a congratulatory letter sent from
U.S. Senator Kelly Ayotte.
In 2012 we installed in the Town Hall a bathroom, a well and a full septic
system including a septic field not a pump tank which we, at this time last
year, assumed would be the case. We have also installed an alarm system that
will notify authorities of smoke, low temperature in the basement or water on
the floor from a broken pipe. The system can be expanded to include intrusion
alarms. No Town money was used to complete this project. LCHIP granted the
Heritage Commission $10,725. Two anonymous Langdon citizens contributed $4000
each. A third anonymous donor contributed $1000 toward the alarm system, more
than half its cost. Thousands of dollars of digging, dirt removal and
preparatory work were donated by Landscapes by Jay Grant. Griffin Dussault,
owner of Griffin Construction, donated many hours of work towards the project.
The balance needed for the project was provided by many generous townspeople
through donations, raffles, and sales. It would not have been possible to do
these renovations without the scores of Langdonians who have supported this
work. We also thank those who have supported all of our efforts by becoming a
member of the "Friends of Langdon Heritage".
Comments received during recent events at the town hall were very positive but
perhaps the most gratifying was, “It looks like it has been there all along.”
The building is now better able play host to its citizens.
Our next renovation project is the removal of the old furnace on the first floor
and installation of a new furnace in the basement. We are raising funds for this
now. Your tax deductible donation under IRS Code 170 C (1) can be sent to the
Langdon Heritage Commission, 122 NH Rte 12A, Unit 4, Langdon, NH 03602 or you
can visit www.langdonheritage.org and donate on-line. Checks can be made to
“Langdon Heritage Commission”.
The Town Hall is available for your use. The town’s Administrative Assistant has
all the information needed to request the use the building for your function.
This past year the building has been used for meetings, talks, community and
family events including birthday parties with music, dancing and catered food.
It has also been used for the Sarah Porter Christmas pageant and other school
events.
On November 17 the Heritage Commission hosted and a generous Landon resident
sponsored, the appearance of humorist Fred Marple, resident of the fictitious
town of Frost Heaves. It was a well attended function complete with hot coffee,
cider and many desserts.
On February 11 we hosted another appearance of Rebecca Rule, NH author and
humorist. She honored us by including Langdon in her new book. This was the
first “book party” for her new work Moved and Seconded.
Of course the old Meetinghouse was the center of attention during the town’s
Fall Festival. There was the gratifying spectacle of appreciative women waiting
in line to see the new bathroom.
Our archival work will now be enhanced through our newly established
relationship with the Keene State College History Department. Working with the
professors and student interns we will soon take on the task of cataloging,
storing and hopefully displaying historic artifacts. Take a look into the "old
police office" in the Town Hall. It has been set up as an historic exhibit room.
The interns will also energize our earlier work in oral history taking.
We are very grateful for the support of the people of Langdon and their elected
officials. We look forward to many years of steady progress and the sense of
community all this working together is creating.
Dennis McClary, Chairman Carole-Anne Centre, Secretary Kathryn Gallagher, Treas.
Ron Batchelder ex officio, Andrea Cheeney, Caroline Cross, Cliff Oster, Mike
Sweeney, John Gulardo, Rita Gulardo, George “Bud” Ross, Nate Chaffee, Michael
Kmiec
An LHC archival team is cataloging items in our new
archival storage area which is located at the Municipal Building. Town treasures
continue to be found or donated to the LHC. Old photographs of people and places
in Langdon are welcomed. We are able to scan photos into our archives while you
wait. If you are interested please contact us. We also need volunteers to help
us with preserving Langdon’s heritage. All are welcome to join us every first
Wednesday of the month, at 7:00 PM at the Langdon Town Hall.
The Langdon Heritage Commission was formed in 2007
to properly recognize, use, preserve and protect our significant, historic,
cultural, natural and aesthetic assets. In so doing we not only preserve our
buildings and land, we build community connections, establish trust among
diverse groups, encourage volunteerism, develop community leaders and enhance
the livability of our community.
In March 2010, for the two hundred and eighth consecutive time
,
citizens walked through the same Meetinghouse doors for another official
Town Meeting. No other building in the State of New Hampshire has held as many
consecutive New England style annual Town
Meetings.
This historic structure needs extensive rehabilitation to remain a viable place
for citizens to meet.
We ask for your support.
The Langdon Heritage Commission is charged with preserving, protecting and promoting Langdon’s historic, cultural and natural assets.