NEWBURY — The New Hampshire Division of Historical Resources has announced that the State Historical Resources Council has added eight properties to 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:
– 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.
Three community buildings in Newbury named to the register all sit on the same plot of land in the village center and represent a variety of civic uses over the past 150 years.
A front-gable Greek Revival building with a handsome bracketed entry hood, Newbury Town Hall, was the town’s primary meeting place from the time it was built in 1876 until 1986 when it became home to the local historical society.
When the town hall became too small to host town and school board meetings, Newbury voted to build a Selectmen’s Office in March 1916. Notable for its gambrel roof, the building is an excellent and intact example of an early twentieth century Colonial Revival town office building.
Sunapee Lake Grange No. 112 was built in 1902, when New Hampshire had more granges than towns. The grange sold the two-and-a-half story wood-framed building to the town in 2004 but retains the right to use the first floor.
Other properties recently named to the New Hampshire State Register of Historic Place are:
Built in 1871 on land donated by logging magnate Ithiel Clay, Chatham Congregational Church is the only religious building in Chatham and was featured in a short film for a 1980s Johnny Carson Christmas special. Its unaltered state provides the opportunity to study construction methods in northern Carroll County.
The Oblates of Mary Immaculate Seminary and Shrine of Our Lady of Grace in Columbia has been a farm, an inn and a seminary. Together, its 19th century hand-hewn timber frame barn, ca. 1843 farmhouse that later served as a dormitory, a 1964 concrete block workshop, paths, amphitheater and landscaping form a unique property in New Hampshire, particularly in the state’s northern region.
Homewood in Gilford is one of the few remaining seasonal cottages built as part of the Governor Estates Club properties in the 1930s on what came to known as Governor’s Island. The original design of the house, which includes both Craftsman and Stick-style features, remains uncompromised both on the interior and exterior.
The First Congregational Church of Kensington, built at the end of the Civil War, differs from other rural New Hampshire churches of the period for its localized interpretation of the Italianate style. Well-preserved details include molded corner pilasters, tall paired windows with rounded tops, and entry porches with recessed entries topped with paired arches.
Currently the sole church in town, the First Congregational Church of Sullivan combines two popular styles from the mid-1800s: Greek Revival and Gothic Revival. Its fourteen-stall horse shed is a reminder of a time when carriages and wagons were the major form of transportation for those attending services.
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
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