Conclusion...and Questions

Dedication

About the Driving Tour

There are many ways to approach the social history of the railroad – how it expanded markets for farmers, increased tourism, expanded mobility for rural communities, and its affect on mills and factories along the Contoocook River.   However, too often when people think of the railroad today, it is a romanticized version of its history.  People reminisce about “simpler times” and quote from Thornton Wilder’s 'Our Town':  “If you hold your breath you can hear the train from the station all the way to Contoocook.”  This sentimentalized version sometimes ignores aspects of the railroad – the immigrant laborers, those displaced from their homes along the river, and the townspeople and other investors who purchased bonds that paid for the railroad – which we have tried to include in this driving tour.  We hope you enjoy this driving tour, that you learn something you didn’t know before, and perhaps gain a different perspective.   Thank you for joining us! Note:  Please be respectful of private property.  If you are driving, pull off the road completely and do not block driveways or roads.  If you get out of your car, make sure you are on public land or have the owner’s permission to be on it.  We suggest the tour be done during daylight hours. Sponsored in part by a grant from New Hampshire Humanities and the National Endowment for the Humanities.

Parking for this stop is on Penacook Rd. between Tyler Bridge and 833 Penacook Rd. We suggest you park along the fields below the sharp curve. Please be respectful of private property. If you are driving, pull off the road completely and do not block driveways or roads. If you get out of your car, make sure you have the owner’s permission to be on it. Tyler StationLittle evidence of Tyler Station remains today. These two maps are from the website New Hampshire Stone Wall Mapper, an interface based on LiDAR (light detection and ranging) visualizations of the NH landscape that enables interested individuals to identify and map stone walls.  We’ve used it here to help identify the old railroad bed that used to cross Penacook Road near Tyler Bridge. The first map is a bird’s eye view of the Tyler District. The Contoocook River runs from the top to the bottom of the image, and you can see Penacook Road going from NW to SE in the top photo. The second image, using LiDAR, also shows the river and Penacook Road, but what is also visible under the vegetation is the old railroad bed running from NE to SW. For more information on the New Hampshire Stone Wall Mapper, go the the links section below.. Dorothy Brockway OsborneAs an adult, Dorothy Brockway Osborne (1898-2001) remembered fondly her childhood visits to her grandparents’ home in Hopkinton. She would come for summers as a young girl with her older sister Marion (1896-1976), often taking the train to Tyler Station. Her grandparents, Amanda Carroll and John Griffin Brockway, were living on Penacook Road, having moved from the family farm on Brockway Road. It was the early 1900s, and the Brockway family was three generations deep in Hopkinton history. Dorothy’s great grandfather, John Brockway (1793-1874) had purchased a farm consisting of 156 acres from Aaron Smith in 1860. The hope of John Brockway was that the farm would remain in the family for generations, as was stated in his will. It remained in the family when bequeathed to his son John Griffin Brockway (1834-1914). It was there that the extended family had summer “picnics” at the homestead. Many photographs survive the years showing groups in wagons, near barns, among farm animals. But the farming way of life was not to extend another generation as Frederick John Brockway (1860-1901), John Griffin’s son, chose a career in medicine – becoming an outstanding doctor specializing in surgery and a medical professor at Columbia University. Frederick married Marion Turner and together had daughters, Marion and Dorothy. Frederick’s father, recognizing the large farm was no longer an asset, sold it and moved to a smaller farm on Penacook Road. By the time Dorothy and her sister could remember their summer visits to Hopkinton, their father had died and their mother was raising her daughters in New York City. The memories of visiting the grandparents were so pleasing to Dorothy, she retired to the area and became active in many organizations including the Hopkinton Historical Society, Hopkinton Town Library and the New Hampshire Audubon Society which manages the John Brockway Nature Preserve on land kept in the family since 1860.

As trains headed west from Concord, Tyler Station was the first stop in Hopkinton. It was a flag station, meaning that trains would stop only when a flag was displayed or when passengers were to be discharged. It was likely most often used to pick up agricultural products and lumber for transport elsewhere. Of interest is the station’s 471’ spur. It was likely built to accommodate lumber that would have come from Joseph Barnard’s property to supply building materials for the railroad and shipbuilding businesses.

ALL...ABOARD!:  Tyler Station

Parking for Stop #2: This is a private home and we ask that you remain in your car. Please pull off the road completely and do not block driveways or roads. A more complete biography of Joseph Barnard from accessgenealogy.com:Joseph Barnard, third, a prominent agriculturalist, horticulturalist, stock-grower, and lumberman, of Hopkinton, Merrimack County, N.H., was born November 11, 1817, on the farm that he now owns and occupies, he being the third of the name to hold a title to it. His grandfather, Joseph Barnard, the first of the name, so far as known, a native of Amesbury, Mass., coming to New Hampshire in 1765 or 1766, purchased land in the south-east part of Hopkinton.  The land was bought of the Rev. James Scales, the first settled minister in Hopkinton, it having been granted to him by the original proprietors, John Jones and others. Grandfather Barnard lost his title to that land, as others did of their lands in the vicinity, by the claims of the “Bow Company,” so called, and was given in exchange by the proprietors the land, previously unallotted, on which he established his home, and which is now occupied by his grandson and namesake, as mentioned above. It may be added as a part of this historical reminiscence that some land in the north-west part of the town of Hopkinton, north of the Contoocook River, was laid out in lots and sold at auction, to pay the expenses of the controversy with the Bow Company, the price received from the buyers, who were the Whites of Portsmouth, being ten cents an acre. The Barnards of Hopkinton are probably descendants of Thomas Barnard, an early settler of Salisbury, Mass., who was one of the first Selectmen of that part of the old town that in 1668 was incorporated as Amesbury. Among his children were, it is said, a son Thomas, born in 1641, and Nathaniel, born in 1643. A Nathaniel Barnard, of Amesbury, evidently of a later generation, married Ruth French, of Kingston, N.H., and was the father of twelve children, including sons Joseph, Thomas, and Tristram, and a daughter, Mebitable (sic), who married a Currier, and lived to be one hundred and three years old. Joseph Barnard, first, son of Nathaniel and Ruth, was born in Amesbury, Mass., January 12, 1737. In 1766 he removed to Hopkinton, as stated above, and, establishing a home there, worked as a farmer and ship-carpenter until his death, November 13, 1815. His first wife, Rhoda Currier Barnard, whom he married in Amesbury, died on April 7, 1794, leaving one daughter, Rhoda Currier, who married Ezra Morrill, of Hopkinton, and lived to the venerable age of ninety-three years. Joseph Barnard, first, married for his second wife Mrs. Olive Blake Hale, widow of Captain John Hale, an officer in the Revolutionary War. They had two children, Joseph, second, born May 6, 1795; and Sarah Ann, born April 12, 1798. Sarah Ann Barnard became the wife of Joshua Pierce, of Warner, but spent her last years in Manchester, N.H., where her death occurred August 22, 1869. Joseph Barnard, second, father of the present Joseph, the special subject of this biographical sketch, was born, lived, and died on the old home farm, the date of his death being March 15, 1870. He did his full share of the pioneer work begun by his father, adding to the improvements already made on the original purchase of one hundred and fifty acres, clearing, fencing, and draining a large part of it. His father was somewhat assisted by slave labor, as is clearly shown by the copy of a deed now in the possession of Joseph Barnard, third, it being a bill of sale, dated March 29, 1777, given him by Ruth Currier, of Kingston, N.H., conveying unto him a negro man named Seeko. Mr. Barnard has likewise the indenture of a boy of thirteen years old, dated in 1769. This deed of sale proves conclusively that slavery once existed in the old Granite State, although the contrary has been persistently asserted by some high in authority. Joseph Barnard, second, was a man of far more than ordinary business ability. He invested largely in realty, and at his death owned several thousand acres in various townships, mostly timbered land, valued at seventy-five thousand dollars, one tract alone in Boscawen being appraised at fifty-two thousand dollars, while his entire estate amounted to about eighty thousand dollars. Naturally progressive, being quick to perceive the merits of anything new, he was the first to introduce Merino Sheep and also Saxony sheep into the town; and in 1838 he received the first prize for the finest exhibit of wool in New York. In June 1816, Joseph Barnard, second, married Miriam J. Eastman, who was born on Horse Hill, Concord, N.H., December 6, 1799, a daughter of William Eastman, a Revolutionary soldier. They reared the following children: Joseph, third, whose name appears at the head of this sketch; Sally Ann born April 3, 1819, who is now the widow of Daniel P. Dustin, late of Contoocook; Mary Jane, born August 29, 1821, now the wife of Charles N. Tuttle, of Contoocook; William E., born May 27, 1823, who died at Edgerton, Ohio, April 2, 1884; and Rhoda Currier, born February 19, 1827, who married Dr. Ephraim Wilson, and died August 4, 1852. Mrs. Miriam J Eastman Barnard died September 17, 1869.  Joseph Barnard, third, remained with his parents until twenty-two years old, the last part of the time receiving ten dollars a month for his work on the farm; and while still in his minority he served four years as Quartermaster in the Old Fortieth New Hampshire Regiment. After leaving home he spent two years as clerk in a store at Contoocook, and then went to Lowell, Mass., where he learned the stone-cutter’s trade, working at first for one dollar and a half per day, and boarding President Tyler, it will be remembered, made a tour of the Lowell mills and factories, interesting himself in the industries of the city; and on the second day of his stay, after large parades of civil and military companies, and ten thousand patriot girls dressed in white, he made and excellent speech of two hours’ duration, in which he acknowledged the benefits of the tariff. In the following session of Congress, it may be added, he signed the tariff bill. The epidemic which broke out two weeks after his visit in Lowell was given his name. While recuperating, Mr. Barnard returned to his boyhood home; and when there he purchased from his father a tract of timber land for eight hundred dollars, buying it, however, in opposition to his father’s advice. Establishing himself then in the lumber business, he carried it on for thirty-five years, meeting with good success from the start. He supplied timber of all kinds for use in ship-building, his operations extending over several townships, in which he erected or hired mills, employing at different times forty men. The tallest mast timber in the State is found in the valleys of the Contoocook, Blackwater, and Warner Rivers, the regions in which he carried on his lumbering. During the late Rebellion he furnished much of the timber for naval supplies, and all the large timbers of “Ironsides,” and most of the material for the “Kearsarge”, which has recently been destroyed. In the Granite Monthly of May, 1893, is an article written by Mr. Barnard concerning the “Timbers of the Kearsarge,” in which it is stated that Mr. Barnard and the Hon. J.H. Butler, of Nottingham, were associated in 1860 in Newburyport, Mass., in handling oak timber for ship-building, and in 1861 were called upon to furnish timber for gunboats, said timber to be of first quality. White oak is in its best state when from eighty-five to one hundred years old; and this they found in large quantities on a hill near Tyler Station in Hopkinton, N.H.; and soon had a large force of men at work getting out white oak and yellow pine, sending to the Portsmouth Navy Yard a large part of the white oak of seven hundred and fifty thousand feet of timber for the building of the famous boat the received its name from the Kearsarge Mountain, which stands in plain view of the spot whereon its timbers were hewed. Mr. Barnard resided in Contoocook twenty-five years of this time, and while there built in 1849 the Contoocook Valley Railway, extending from Contoocook to Hillsborough, fourteen and one-half miles, he being superintendent of construction, and furnishing much of the timber used. For several years he was officially connected with the road. He has also been Fire Claim Adjuster of the Concord Division of the Boston &amp; Maine Railway for some years, an office that takes him quite often over the two hundred miles under his charge. Four years after the death of his father Mr. Barnard removed to the parental homestead, which he inherited; and he has since devoted much of his time to farming pursuits. He settled this estate, and has also settled many others in Merrimack County, usually by request, sometimes on commissions to appraise for tax purposes; and he is often called upon to estimate the timber on large tracts of land. For several years Mr. Barnard had charge of the waterpower at Contoocook; and in 1870 and 1871 he represented that town in the State legislature, where he was one of the Committee on Towns and Parishes, 1889. At the time of the war for the Union he was the enrolling officer in the Twentieth District, and the mainstay of the widows and fatherless, who trusted him implicitly, and whose confidence was not misplaced. As a stock-raiser and dairyman Mr. Barnard breeds the Guernsey Cattle, which he exhibits at the various fairs in this section of the State, invariably securing prizes, both on cattle and dairy products. It was largely through the exhibitions of stock that he has made that the Deerfoot Creamery was located at Contoocook, and his herd of Guernsey has stocked many of the large New England dairy farms. In the culture of fruit of all kinds he takes great interest; and at a horticultural fair in Concord, when over a hundred exhibits were entered, he took thirteen prizes and sweepstakes for the finest fruits. He is a member of various agricultural and horticultural societies and a contributor to many of the journals. In politics he was in early manhood a Democrat, and voted for Franklin Pierce for President, but since that time has supported the principles of the Republican party. On October 26, 1849, Mr. Barnard married Maria Gerrish, who was born April 15, 1831, a daughter of Abiel and Eliza (Dodge) Gerrish. Her father was born on the present site of the county farm in Boscawen, and her mother in that part of Merrimack County now included in the town of Webster. Mr. and Mrs. Barnard are the parents of eight children, the following being their record: Ellen Maria born March 1, 1851, died January 6, 1886; Joseph Henry, born October 12, 1852, died July 9, 1855; Abiel Gerrish, born January 8, 1855, was a lawyer in California; Joseph B., born March 17, 1857, died October 23, 1863; Mary Eliza, born January 11, 1859, is the wife of Jonathan Fowler, of South Sioux City, Neb.; George Edgar, born November 1, 1864, married Miss Bertha S. Tyler of Hopkinton, and now carries on the home farm; Rhoda Frances was born June 28, 1867; and Charles Lewis, born March 28, 1870, died December 29, 1895.

Joseph Barnard (1817-1899) was a lumberman with numerous wood lots (oak and pine) in the northeastern quadrant of Hopkinton at the time the railroad was coming to Hopkinton.  One source says, “he became interested in the Boston and Maine Railroad and negotiated the deal whereby he furnished all the lumber for the railroad tracks when the railroad was put through from Concord to Warner.”  He was also one of the original incorporators of the Contoocook Valley Railroad in 1849.  Much of the family property went from Broad Cove Rd. north toward the town border with Webster. 

Barnard had lived most all his life in Hopkinton at the family homestead on Briar Hill Road. Besides the lumber industry (he would also provide lumber for ships used during the Civil War, including the USS Kearsarge), Barnard was a prominent dairyman and farmer, winning awards for Guernsey cattle and for fruit production. He was the third generation of Joseph Barnards in Hopkinton; his grandfather, also named Joseph Barnard (1737-1815), came from Amesbury, Massachusetts, in the 1760s. A descendant wrote about this ancestor, he “was somewhat assisted by slave labor, as is clearly shown by the copy of a deed now in the possession of Joseph Barnard (the grandson), it being a bill of sale, dated March 29, 1777, given him by Ruth Currier, of Kingston, NH, conveying unto him a negro man named Seeko. Mr. Barnard has likewise the indenture of a boy of 13, dated in 1769. This deed of sale proves conclusively that slavery once existed in the old Granite State, although the contrary has been persistently asserted by some high in authority.“ 

Seeko Barnard’s story – including service in the American Revolution – is explored in the Hopkinton Historical Society’s 2019 Putney Hill Cemetery Walk which constructs an inclusive multi-vocal narrative of Hopkinton past and present, and is a recent recipient of a national “Leadership in History” award from the American Association of State and Local History. Copies of the Cemetery Walk are available for purchase at the Society.

ALL...ABOARD!:  Home of Joseph Barnard

One such hotel was the Perkins Inn, located on the Village Green of Hopkinton Village. Its advertising highlighted the easy accessibility by rail, as did other inns in town. Unfortunately, the Perkins Inn was leveled by fire in 1907. In 1914, the Contoocook Board of Trade published, "Contoocook Its Business Advantage and Natural Beauties," a booklet describing the many advantages of visiting or relocating to Hopkinton. One section, titled "Hopkinton as a Summer Resort," reads as follows: There is not another place in all New England that can offer as much to the vacationist as Contoocook. Nor is there one as accessible or centrally located. ...Remarkable views may be had from many of the roads leading over the surrounding hills. From the summit of Mount Lookout and Putney Hill an uninterrupted view of valleys, distant hills and mountains can be obtained... Several summer Hotels and many farm houses accommodate guests at very reasonable rates." Camp Merrimack, located in the area formerly known as Cloughville, was established as a summer camp for Jewish boys in the early 20th century. It changed ownership in the mid-1950s and operated for a number of years as a general summer camp. Today the property is owned by the Greek Orthodox Metropolis of Boston and is operated as a year-round camp and retreat center. Ken Smart of Hopkinton, who worked for the railroad from 1947-1952, remembers the hectic summer months at the Contoocook Freight House: The summer months were the busiest as we dealt with the coming and going of the campers of Camp Merrimack and the additional summer boarders that came to town by train. It seems like the freight house [located where TD Bank is today at 884 Main St, Contoocook, NH] would be filled with trunks and duffle bags that all had to be weighed and tagged around July 1 and again the end of August.

Throughout the second half of the 19th century, New Hampshire’s farming towns lost population as its residents relocated to cities for better paying factory jobs or out West or South for easier farming opportunities.  The contents of the abandoned homesteads were auctioned off, while the homes remained vacant and the fields unplowed.  Many of these abandoned homes eventually collapsed into cellar holes, and brush reclaimed the fields.

To encourage New Hampshire’s native born to return to their birthplace, New Hampshire Governor Frank Rollins in 1897 called upon the New Hampshire Board of Agriculture to coordinate a new event to be called Old Home Week.  He had specific goals in mind: he wanted native born to return and buy the many abandoned farms in the state for summer homes, and he wanted them to donate money to spruce up the village commons, libraries, and meeting houses.  

Locally, beginning in the mid-1880s, the natural beauty of Hopkinton began to be recognized.  Taverns became summer boarding houses, grand homes were bought as summer residences or leased to summer visitors, and farm houses took in borders for periods of days, weeks or months. In the mid-1900s, young people spent time at overnight camps in Hopkinton.  The trains helped make the appealing lifestyle of the small town accessible to city dwellers.





ALL...ABOARD!:  Inns, Summer Homes, and Camps

The Contoocook Railroad Depot was completed in 1849 as the first substantial railroad passenger station west of Concord on the Concord & Claremont Railroad (which later became the Boston & Maine Railroad in 1887).  The building is one of the best preserved of a small number of gable-roofed railroad stations surviving from the first decade of rail development in New Hampshire.  The station exemplifies the pioneering period of rail development in the state and is one of the earliest and least altered depots of the 1850 period.  Displaying the Greek Revival style, with modifications that proclaim its identity as a new building type, the depot is an important artifact in the history and evolution of railroad architecture in New Hampshire.

At first, rail connections from Contoocook largely focused on Concord. Travelers going east from Contoocook were able to connect to the Concord Railroad, thereby gaining rail access to Manchester, Nashua, Lowell, and Boston; or to the Northern Railroad, providing access to all towns on the route from Concord to West Lebanon on the Connecticut River and to White River Junction, Vermont; or to the Boston, Concord, and Montreal Railroad, thereby gaining access to Woodsville on the Connecticut River and to Wells River, Vermont.

Trains traveling northwesterly on the Concord and Claremont Railroad's tracks were limited at first by the tracks' termination in Bradford, which was reached in July 1850. Not until the Newbury Cut was completed in 1871 were trains at last able to travel to Newport and finally, in 1872, to make contact with the Connecticut River at Claremont. Similarly, the Contoocook Valley Railroad, which connected with the Concord and Claremont in Contoocook, was initially completed only as far south as Hillsborough Bridge where it would connect with other railroad lines.


ALL...ABOARD!:  Contoocook Depot

Businesses and the RailroadBy 1858, less than 10 years following the arrival of the railroad, there were a number of manufacturers and shops in Contoocook, including carpenter shops, cooper shop, woolen mill, mackerel kit manufactory, sawmill, grist mill, shingle mill, carriage shop, and others. Below are three businesses that were in operation in the early 20th century.  <ul><li>Kingsbury &amp; Davis: In the 1890s, Kingsbury &amp; Davis built a three-story wooden building on Cedar Street in Contoocook to build machines which folded all kinds of paperboard boxes. The company employed more than 100 people and the machines they manufactured were shipped by freight all over the country. The building, which was torn down in the 1960s, was located where the Cedar Street municipal parking lot is located today.</li><li>Contoocook Dairy: With the introduction of the railroad to town, farms could have their dairy products shipped by freight train. In 1890, Deerfoot Farm ran a creamery which was located on Cedar Street in Contoocook Village with easy access to the freight depot, thus opening access to new markets. The creamery changed hands several times over the next several decades. But by the 1930s, with changes in the dairy industry, both regulatory and technological, milk was being collected by truck, instead of transported by train – one of many signs of the waning importance of the railroad in town.</li><li>Nelson Grain Mill: The Lewis A. Nelson Grain Mill sat on the slip of land between the Contoocook River and the point where the railroad lines split off to either Warner or West Hopkinton.  The proximity to these two features, the river and the railroad, was not coincidental.  Water power and the ability to move product by rail helped ensure business success. A mill operated at this location from the early 1900s to 1937, when a fire destroyed it. Today it is the site of the Hopkinton Fire Department.</li></ul> DisastersAlthough flooding in Contoocook Village was not uncommon, the two successive storms of 1936 and 1938 caused so much damage to businesses and homes that state and federal authorities began to look for solutions to control the Contoocook River from breaching its banks. Locally, areas along the Contoocook River were the hardest hit during the flood of 1936. The rushing water and ice pushed the covered railroad bridge off of its abutments, countless homes and businesses were damaged, and Fountain Square was under two feet of water. The flood of 1936 and the hurricane of 1938 led to the building of the Hopkinton-Everett Dam. Several homes and nearly 4,000 acres of land in Hopkinton were taken for the dam and the accompanying flood control areas.  RAILROAD OWNERSThe 1840s saw an explosion of railroads in New Hampshire as multiple lines competed to be the first to connect new markets. Many Hopkinton residents were opposed. In 1844, several years before there was any prospect of a railroad going through the town, Hopkinton’s elected representatives to the General Court were opposed to the railroad and its use of eminent domain (the right of the government to take private property, or allow it to be taken, for public uses). Less than five years later, opinions in Hopkinton had changed. Townspeople were caught up in “railroad fever” and had invested heavily in railroad companies. Yet when assessments were placed upon the original stock for the completion of the enterprise, many investors merely wanted to be rid of their obligations. In his book, Life &amp; Times in Hopkinton, N.H., C.C. Lord states, “…many people made heavy sacrifices. The aggregate loss to Hopkinton residents was very large. Many thousands of dollars were the cost of a blind zeal…” In addition, local people who supplied furnishings for the road and labor suffered losses when they were paid in stock, which later became worthless. For some investors, such as Hamilton Eliot Perkins, the railroad may have seemed like a perfect solution to a business problem. As a mill owner and a shipper, trains would provide a way of getting products of his trade to markets.Among the Society’s rarely examined documents is the incorporation document for the Contoocook Valley Railroad. A small booklet, it starts with an enactment by the New Hampshire Senate and House, that Hamilton Perkins and 17 other men are made the “body corporate by the name of the Contoocook Valley Railroad.” It authorizes them to “locate, build, and maintain a railroad not exceeding six rods in width, with necessary additions for cuttings ….”Hamilton Eliot Perkins (1806-1880) lived at what we call Perkins Manor, in that part of Contoocook Village center that forms the V between Park Ave. and Kearsarge Ave. (Hamilton’s father, Roger Eliot Perkins, came to Contoocook from Salem, Mass.; he built Perkins Manor around 1825.) Hamilton also resided in Boston, where he owned several ships and was engaged in the Africa trade. In Contoocook, Hamilton owned several mills along the river; he was also postmaster, a well-respected Concord lawyer, and had considerable wealth and real estate.  For Perkins, the railroad may have seemed like a perfect solution to a business problem. As a mill owner and a shipper, trains would provide a way of getting products of his trade to markets. The train project was funded by bonds; local citizens purchased $100 bonds expecting a return on their investments. Eminent domain laws – the expropriation of private property for public use – were being tested in the acquisition of land for tracks. Hamilton Perkins didn’t stay on the Board of Directors for long, but the rail line was built and opened in 1849 (the section from Contoocook Station to Hillsborough Bridge; later leased to the Concord &amp; Claremont Railroad). Perkins Manor would remain visible to riders, as described in The Bay State Monthly in April 1884, “In passing up the Concord and Claremont Railroad from Concord, the observant traveler has doubtless noticed the substantial and comfortable-looking homestead with large and trim front yard, shaded by thickly planted and generous topped maples, on the right-hand side of the road after crossing the bridge that spans 'Contoocook's bright and brimming river' at the pleasant-looking village of Contoocookville in the northern part of Hopkinton."

The coming of the railroad reinforced Contoocook Village as the business hub for Hopkinton.  By the 1880s, there were numerous stores doing thriving business, including the Curtice & Co. department store; the W.S. Rand dry goods store; a boots and shoes establishment; Miss Julia Johnson's ladies' hats and small wares shop; the Dexter Ladd store selling hardware, stoves and plumbing fixtures; the F.H. Reed drug and stationary store; Reddy's Meat Market; and Marshall's general store.  In addition, there were two doctors' offices, a barber shop, a photographer's studio, the justice of peace, and the town clerk's office.  There were also a number of mills utilizing the available water power of the Contoocook River, including a grist mill; a lumber and saw mill making wooden box parts; and a manufacturer of oak handles.  The largest mill was located where the Cedar Street municipal parking lot is today, next to 44 Cedar St.  In 1899 a three-story wooden mill was built by Henry C. and Walter Scott Davis to make machines which turned out paperboard boxes.  

ALL...ABOARD!:  Contoocook Village

Directions: Park at Houston Fields behind the Library (61 Houston Drive). After parking, follow the gravel road next to the playground towards the back athletic fields. Just after reaching the field, turn right on another gravel path and follow it through the woods to Spring Street. The trail starts on the north side of Spring Street at the beginning of Krzyzaniak Lane. As you walk or ride along the Stevens Rail Trail, there are a number of interesting things to see. One is the mile post marker CJ 44, indicating the Claremont Junction is 44 miles away. Nearby this mile post marker is a rail rest, which was used to store spare rails in case repairs were needed. Just beyond the power lines which cross over the trail are several rocks. If you look closely, you can see letters and numbers. We're not sure if these rocks were part of the railroad. If you have any information or guesses about them, we'd love to hear from you. Finally, if you happen to be on the trail in late spring, you will find an abundance of lady's slippers blooming. The Railroad from Contoocook to ClaremontThe first train arrived in Contoocook from Concord in 1849 amid great fanfare; however, it would take more than 20 years for trains to Claremont. Trains did not reach Bradford until July 1950. And not until the Newbury Cut was completed in 1871 were trains able to travel to Newport and finally, in 1872, to reach the Connecticut River at the Claremont railroad tracks. From the Newbury Historical Society Winter 2011 newsletter:CONQUERING THE NEWBURY CUTThe mid-1800s was a time of railroad fever in New Hampshire. Train transportation was recognized as a flagship of progress, opening lines of communication and commercial opportunity between the metropolitan areas of New York, Boston, and up through central New Hampshire to Canada. As railroads linked major communities and business expanded, the builders and investors reaped high rewards. By the 1840s, lines reaching west and east of the Merrimack River were being chartered, including the Concord &amp; Claremont (C&amp;C) Railroad in 1848. While many of the short lines fell victim to financial problems and political wrangling, the C&amp;C was financed largely by subscriptions from local investors and managed to survive. By the summer of 1850, the C&amp;C owned two locomotives, 60-odd freight cars, three passenger and two baggage cars. The Claremont, a 23-ton, 4-4-0 engine, ran between Concord and Bradford. Profits came not only from passengers but more importantly the ever-expanding freight which included lumber, bobbins, powder kegs, woolen textiles, harness hames, scythe stones, livestock, and, later, milk and ice. Postal cars were added to carry mail. The railroad brought prosperity to Bradford but the line stopped there. Travelers wanting to go to Newbury or points west had to resort to stage. The problem facing C&amp;C's intent to carry the line to Claremont was the formidable Newbury summit, a granite barrier climbing at a grade of 100 feet per mile. The story of creating the Newbury Cut is a well-known chapter in local history, but the delay in completing the line to Claremont involved more than conquering a physical obstacle. In the ensuing 20 years, the C&amp;C, like many other branch lines, fell victim to a depressed economy and scrambles for money and political power. The controlling Northern Railroad employed "hostile takeover" powers to check its smaller competing lines. Scandals reaching as far as the governor's office abounded, but as anti-railroad sentiment built, so did the determination of several individuals to complete the C&amp;C line to Claremont. Dexter Richards of Newport, owner of the Sugar River Mills, contributed $20,000 of his own money on top of Newport's investment of $45,000 to extend the line. Other towns along the route pledged financial support to meet the construction costs of $20,000 per mile. Despite lack of full funding, the Sugar River Railroad extension was activated in May of 1870 in Newport. The Newport Argus described the ground-breaking ceremony:  "Seth Richards [father of Dexter] was fitly chosen to seize the shovel and break the first sod. He went to work with all the energy of a much younger man and made the dirt fly merrily... the barrow was filled in less than 25 minutes. About this time, the cannon began to speak and our church bells began to furnish music for [the] occasion which was continued until the work ceased."  During the summer preparations were made to attack the Newbury summit. In August, blasting contractor August Floyd, using a steam drill and tenpound charges of Black powder, began blasting away at the 10,000 cubic feet of granite. A 2 1/2 inch bit drove forward at a rate of nine feet in 50 minutes, shaping holes for the explosive powder. Work went on until February of 1871, when the contractor went bankrupt. The Railroad Corporation stepped in and work continued under the management of Moses Gould, an early railroad conductor and, before that, a stage driver. During the summer of 1871 a crew of 50 men worked 'round the clock, seven days a week. The project was a great local attraction and drew a steady stream of onlookers. Entire families would make an outing to the site after Sunday services. Such kibitzing was not without its hazards. In May, the Argus reported that a Mr. Bard was "injured by a blast with a battery at Newbury Ledge." In July, Mr. A. Smith fell from a stone-filled dump car and "miraculously escaped the wheels of the cars, having received but a few slight bruises." The next day, Joseph Harvey, described as "an elderly gentleman," was asked to move back when the blasting horn sounded a warning. He refused to retire more than a few feet, and "a shower of stone fell about him and ... hit him in the thigh. He fainted away from the shock, but his injuries were not serious."  In August, a more serious incident involved three workmen who were "blown up" by a blast half a mile below the summit. According to the Concord Monitor, "they had made a blast and opened a seam into which they were turning about half a keg of powder...when the latter exploded. Dr. Fitch ... represents them as being very seriously burned, although hopes are being entertained for their recovery." In another incident, a flat car loaded with iron rails broke away and began rolling downhill toward Bradford -- three miles away. Just before the station it collided with a gravel train, wrecking some cars and damaging the rest. Two people were killed and several injured.  The work continued; the Cut was widened and framework and tie was laid along the line in either direction from the summit. In late summer, the Concord Monitor reported, "a big blast was made at Newbury Summit...breaking up more rock than any previous blast...The very foundation of the Summit was shaken."  On September 11, 1871 the summit was conquered. Reporters, railroad men and state and local dignitaries turned out to celebrate. The Concord Monitor reported on a party traveling from Concord to Bradford, with the Cut as their destination:  After an excellent dinner at the Presby House, [we] started at two o'clock for the summit, it being the first passenger train which ever passed over the road. The engine was driven by George Wright with Hiram Gillingham for Brakeman." The train stopped near the Cut as the final explosive was fired, shattering the last of the granite. The party "returned to Bradford for tea...highly delighted with their excursion over so pleasant a road."  A passenger train went into immediate service between Bradford and Lake Sunapee, although it would be another year before the 58-mile C&amp;C line was completed in Claremont, connecting with the Sullivan Railroad.  The completion of the C&amp;C line ushered in an era of vitality and prosperity to the towns it served. For Newbury and Sunapee it was the beginning of a thriving summer trade in tourists and visitors, met at the train stations by steamboats ready to ferry them to their boarding house or grand lake-side hotel. It was an idyllic time, key to promoting the character and growth of Newbury. But other, less happy realities were at play. The Newbury Cut remained a trouble spot for the C&amp;C, especially in winter. While Concord was 228 feet above sea level, the summit at Lake Sunapee was 1,126 feet. A moderate snow storm in Concord usually meant a white-out at Newbury Cut. Despite the efforts of wooden snowplows on the lead locomotives and crews shoveling the drifts, snow in the Cut could be a serious impediment. Brutal snowstorms that filled the Cut to the brim, requiring neighbors' teams and sleds to haul away the snow, became local legend.  On a Friday evening in February, 1873, it was snowing heavily in Concord when the snowplow car led out three eight-wheeled engines, followed by baggage cars and coaches carrying weekend travelers. When they reached Bradford three hours later, Conductor Perry urged the passengers to disembark, and all but 18 men did so. The train continued, climbing slowly through drifts that reached six feet, then ten. When the train stalled, the crew jumped out to shovel, but very little progress could be made. There was no food on board, and with a dwindling supply of wood and dropping temperatures, Conductor Perry deemed it the "rashest folly" to attempt to go on. The engines were kept hot during the night to keep the water pumps going. As the snow let up toward morning, the crew backed the train downhill to Bradford, shoveling as they went.  In the end, it was not storms or accidents that brought down the C&amp;C Railroad. Far more serious were the financial problems that resulted in ongoing mergers. The C&amp;C was swallowed up by the Boston &amp; Maine. Equipment, rails and bridges suffered from neglect, and while there was a brief resurgence of service and maintenance during World War II, the end of an era was at hand. Excerpted from SooNipi Magazine, July 1997, article by Shelly Candidus

The Stevens Rail Trail is a former railroad bed now used as a multi-purpose trail. It starts on the north side of Spring Street near Krzyzaniak Lane and continues for approximately two miles, ending at Kearsarge Avenue near Interstate 89 Exit 7 and the entrance to Knoxland Equipment. In 2019 this trail was improved in cooperation with Friends of the Concord-Lake Sunapee Rail Trail.

Besides the Stevens Rail Trail, Hopkinton has several other portions of the Rail Trail, including the Rollins Property and Mast Yard State Forest.  All are managed as a joint project of the Hopkinton Conservation Commission and the Hopkinton Open Space Committee.


ALL...ABOARD!:  Stevens Rail Trail

Davis Paper Company	The area along the Contoocook River at West Hopkinton has been the site for several mills since early in Hopkinton’s settlement. The bend in the river and the drop in elevation adds to the power the river provides to turn the wheels to saw lumber and grind grain. With the introduction of the railroad through this area in 1849, transporting goods beyond the Town’s borders to new and larger markets became feasible. But the mill that had the biggest impact on the area was the paper board and leather board manufacturer – Davis Paper Company. In 1906 Henry C. Davis and his brother Horace J. Davis, having recently sold their mills in Davisville, bought the Rowell family farm and the water rights from Frank H. Carr, with the intention of building new mills. The mill buildings would contain state-of-the-art manufacturing machinery; a new dam was constructed; tenement housing for workers was built; and electricity and telephone were brought in. In addition to these buildings, the Davis’s built a warehouse on the opposite side of the river, next to the railroad station. The railroad company, by then owned by Boston &amp; Maine Railroad, added new side tracks to accommodate the shipping of finished goods and the receiving of raw materials. Taking more than two years to complete, it was such an accomplishment that the Davis’s opened the mills to the public for a night of dancing and music. A special train was hired to carry people to and from the festivities. By several accounts, it was a most exciting celebration with between 500 and 600 people in attendance from several towns. The Davis Paper Company changed the character of West Hopkinton, bringing in a new population of workers with their families, who needed groceries and sundries which they could buy at the Davis General Store. The West Hopkinton Post Office moved into the store too. And the children attended school in the one-room school house across the covered bridge, near the railroad station. West Hopkinton was a busy community in the early 20th-century.  In 1947 the Davis Paper Company was purchased by Hoague and Sprague which produced cardboard. Hopkinton-Everett DamMuch of the landscape has changed in West Hopkinton since the building of the Hopkinton-Everett dam project by the Army Corps of Engineers, which began in the late 1950s. Many family farms were lost due to the construction of the dam and related reservoir and spillways. Portions of roads connecting neighborhoods, such as Bassett Mill Road, were removed. Others, such as routes 9 and 202, were rerouted, while sections of railroad track towards Henniker were removed. Additionally, the Stumpfield Cemetery had to be relocated. The justification for such upheaval was that the Contoocook River, which had caused major flooding many times over the centuries, had again caused significant flooding twice in the 1930s. In 1936 flooding was caused by severe storms and in 1938 by a hurricane. The floods left roads washed out and much of Contoocook Village flooded, with the covered railroad bridge suffering significant, though repairable, damage. The floods also wiped out the railroad bridge to Henniker, ending rail service from West Hopkinton to Henniker. By the time the dam project was started, twenty years later, the only train service to West Hopkinton was freight, bringing in coal, via Contoocook, to power the remaining mill, until it converted to oil. By 1962, the dam construction was completed and the last railroad delivery to West Hopkinton had been made.  In Conclusion...The history of Hopkinton’s railroad covers a little more than 100 years – from the first passenger train arriving in Contoocook in 1849 to the last freight train delivering coal to the paper mill in West Hopkinton in 1962. It brought tremendous change to our area – to the physical landscape, the markets for our agricultural products, and our ability to get from one place to another.  It also brought changes to wealth distribution, land ownership (eminent domain), and transient populations. Some of the changes were positive; others were less so. Below are several questions to think about and discuss. There are not right or wrong answers to them. They are starting points to spark discussion about current experiences and lessons learned, if any, from history.<ul><li>Land needed to be acquired before construction of the railroad began, some of which was done using eminent domain. Do you support the use of eminent domain? What other examples of the use of eminent domain are there (Hopkinton-Everett Dam, construction of Interstate 89)? Are there parallels with the colonists taking of land from the Native Americans?</li><li>The railroad lobby had undue influence in New Hampshire (and other states), contributing to political campaigns and offering free passes to legislators.  Should businesses be allowed to lobby? How can people help ensure that more voices – not just those with the biggest budgets – are heard?</li><li>Many of us are familiar with the fate of the Concord, NH, railroad depot which was torn down in 1968 to make room for a shopping plaza. Do you think it is important to try and save such landmarks? Why or why not?</li><li>N.H. Senator Maggie Hassan has recently sponsored a bill (Railroad Rehabilitation and Financing Innovation Act, or RRFIA) to beef up and streamline a federal program that provides loans to help develop passenger and short line rail projects, such as the Capitol Corridor Project that would connect Manchester and Nashua to Boston via commuter rail. Are you in favor of this project? What concerns might you have? What benefits might there be?</li></ul> We hope you have enjoyed our driving tour. We would love to hear your memories of train trips, or watching trains go through town. If you have images or stories you would like to share, or would like more information about Hopkinton Historical Society, please contact us at 603-746-3825, nhas@tds.net, or www.HopkintonHistory.org. Would you please complete a brief evaluation of the driving tour? Please click <a href="https://www.hopkintonhistory.org/driving-tour-evaluation.html" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">here</a> to go to the evaluation.This event was sponsored in part by a Community Project Grant from New Hampshire Humanities, an independent nonprofit organization dedicated to connecting people with ideas. Your evaluation of this program assists your host and New Hampshire Humanities in ensuring future high-quality humanities programming.  We appreciate your thoughts.

In 1849, having departed from the train station in Contoocookville (as the village was then called) heading west, the first stop on the new Contoocook Valley Railroad was West Hopkinton. This line, having been built with the lumber provided by Hopkinton’s own citizen, Joseph Barnard, followed much of the Contoocook River. From the passenger car a rider could see farms, and fields, woods and homes. The river was an integral feature for the residents of the community. It was the Contoocook River which provided the energy to power the saw mills, grist mills and other industrial mills which could also be seen along the railroad. 

At a bend in the river, near the western border of the Town of Hopkinton, a small station was built to provide access to the railroad for passengers and freight. The West Hopkinton station was positioned on the north side of the river, just at the junction of the Rowell Bridge which provided access to the opposite side of the river where many of the mills were built. West of the station, on the river, a dam had been built to better harness the water power for industries. 

Continuing west, the railroad passed into the next town, Henniker, stopping, then continuing on, making its final stop at Hillsborough Bridge. It was at Hillsborough passengers and freight would soon be able to make connections to Peterborough and beyond. The return trains, those heading east to Contoocookville, allowed passengers and freight a connection to the, also new, Concord and Claremont Rail Road providing access to markets well beyond the confines of Hopkinton, or even Merrimack County. 


ALL...ABOARD! A History of the Railroad in Hopkinton and Contoocook, New Hampshire