Meriden Grange, Langdon church named to NH State Register of Historic Places

The New Hampshire Division of Historical Resources announces that the State Historical Resources Council has added nine properties to the New Hampshire State Register of Historic Places. Two local properties named to the state register are the Meriden Grange and the Langdon Congregational Church.

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:

— Acknowledgment of a property’s historical significance in the community.

— Special consideration and relief from some building codes and regulations; and

— 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.

The Langdon Congregational Church was funded and constructed in 1842 by the same congregational organization that owns it today. Its prominent bell tower and windows topped with blind lancet-shaped arches are Gothic Revival elements of a predominantly Greek Revival building.

The Meriden Grange is simple in design, but has several features unusual for a grange building, including a gambrel roof and a fire escape chute that was repurposed from a nearby elementary school. It has served as a social gathering place for the village from the time it was built in 1910.

The other properties named to the New Hampshire State Register of Historic Places are the St. Joseph’s Roman Catholic Church in Bartlett, the Gilsum Engine Company No. 1 Engine House, the Lee Toolshed, Lee Town Hall, the Nashua YMCA, St. Matthew’s Church in Sugar Hill and Rixford Place in the Westport Village of Swanzey.

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 on an individual inventory form from the New Hampshire Division of Historical Resources. Having a property listed in the register does not impose restrictions on property owners. For more information, visit nh.gov/nhdhr.