FOCUS ON OLDER HISTORIC BUILDINGS
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Definitions:
- Franklin Road was once called the South Range Road and is sometimes still called South Road. It is Route 127 From Franklin to Salisbury.
- At the junction of Hensmith and Rte 127, the South Range Road continues straight into the floodplain while Rte 127 goes to Webster. Another name for Route 127, as it goes to Webster, is Battle Street. According to old maps, Battle Street was originally likely Mutton Road.
- As the range road continues in the floodplain after the split at the junction with Hensmith Road, it is referred to as the Warner Road before deceptively “splitting off” as it appears after the bridge. Range Roads were more or less straight early on.
- Warner Road proceeds to Warner, turning into Pumpkin Hill Road.
- The South Range Road proceeds up to the “Watson District” of Salisbury on the side of Mt Kearsarge and likely connects as Quimby Road off the Mt Kearsarge Road. There was once a Salisbury settlement with a school and a graveyard in this area, and homesteads of the Watson and Quimby families and perhaps others. More research is needed.
- South Road Village is the area where Rte 127 currently crosses Rte 4, “The Crossroads”.
- Horse and Capstan: a winch-type device by which large objects could be moved very slowly.
MOVING BUILDINGS
1-Moved Before 1760: JOSIAH BEAN HOUSE
Date built: ABT. 1745
Locations: Research by David Rapalyea indicates it was moved from Calef Hill Road to Franklin Road, east of South Road Village, south side. Changed from a half to a full Colonial when reconstructed. The addition was also added when built. Research by David Rapalyea: PAGE 1 PAGE 2 PAGE 3
Reasons: Rabbit Road near Calef Hill and Mutton Road were traveled roads in the earliest of days. South Road Village (The Crossroads area) was showing potential growth as a cluster/center of enterprise and a less remote location.
Method: likely disassembled and reconstructed.
2-Moved 1790 & again in 1835: MEETING HOUSE ON SEARLE’S HILL became SALISBURY CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH
Date built: 1768
Locations: Moved from atop Searles Hill on the Center Rangeway to where it sat disassembled on Garland Hill near Whittemore Road, then reconstructed at South Road Village.
It was not reconstructed there but laid apart at that location while the town’s people attempted to agree on a location without much success. It was moved anyway to South Road Village.
1791 Reconstructed at Franklin Road, South Road Village. Steeple was on the west end, and the building was about 60 x 48 with 20-foot posts. This was altered in 1835.
1835 It was moved again, described, turned slightly, and moved backwards.
Reasons in 1791: The original and earliest planned settlement of Salisbury (besides the very small Stevenstown settlement near the Fort on the river in what is now Franklin) was on the top of Searles Hill on the Center Rangeway. The land was cleared, and settlers began to build, but it became apparent that in the winter, the steep road was very difficult due to large snowdrifts and winds. It was argued to relocate it to an easier location on the Center Rangeway near Whittemore Road. There was much disagreement about the location as South Road Village was beginning to grow at a faster pace.
Reasons in 1835: It is not known why it was turned or moved back. To understand this will require studying more closely how the roads formed at the crossroads. More research is needed.
Method: Disassembled from Searles Hill and relocated to Garland Hill.
Method: Transported from Garland Hill to South Road Village and reassembled.
Method: slightly moved, by horse and capstan?
3- Moved Abt 1806: ACADEMY HALL, shown in Salisbury Lost
Date built: 1796 as a private school
Locations: Moved from Whittemore Road or Garland Hill to South Road Village,
Reasons: By this date, it was becoming apparent that the Center Road was not going to host a new town center or cluster and that the area that would be was South Road Village. The School district paid for part of the moving costs, and the first floor was the South Road Public School from 1806-1859. It was then used as a Grange Hall for a period and is now are town offices.
Method: Likely Disassembled and reconstructed
4- Moved Abt 1839: BAPTIST MEETING HOUSE
Date built: 1790
Locations: At Salisbury Heights, turned.
Reasons:
Clues: According to John Kepper, a previous owner of the Abel Elkins House (across from the Historical Society), his house had been rotated 180 degrees to its present orientation. The Church was also moved back.
This one is a bit of a puzzle, but it may have to do with the locations of Old College Road (original road), believed to have been behind the Kepper house. To understand this will require studying more closely how the roads formed at the Heights and the relationship between Old College Road and Rte 4, a toll road. Apparently at the was an interest in avoiding tolls, though it was not a large fee. Very early on, both roads might have been in operation with a lane connecting them, which later became Lower Oak Hill Road? OR the lane was a connector between Old College Road and Lovering Hill Road and the Church access. More research is needed.
The newer road, the Rte 4 Toll Turnpike, built about 1806, is believed to be west of Old College Road. There are the remnants of an old small road that exists next to the Baptist Meeting House Graveyard that may have been the connector between Loverin Hill Rd and Old College, which played a part in orienting the church originally. The interesting thing is that the church was moved about the time the tolls were discontinued. How far it was moved is not clear, though the graveyard was never moved.
To read about College Road:
Method: Possible horses & canton, as it was just a short distance
5- Moved: 1890s: JOSIAH ROGERS HOUSEnearby, shown in Salisbury Lost
Date built: 1745
Locations: From Mutton Road to the.Crossroads of Rte 4 and Rte 127, NW corner
Method: Horse and Capstan
We know this building was moved by a horse and cart because of the interview with Liza Buzzell, by Paul Shaw in the book “They Said it in Salisbury,” 1994.
Referring to the house: “That was moved from down on Mutton Road. It used to be across the street from Vira Taylor’s. Theobold of Concord moved it with a horse that went round and round. It would move just a few inches at a time. We kids used to have a great time. We wanted to get in it when it was moving slowly. And it was moved. It took a lot of time.”
The following is included as information on moving buildings elsewhere, just for information. The invention of the capstone, however, dates back to the 14th century and was used by mariners and others to move heavy objects.
6- abt 1893 Sunnyside Farm Barn
Date built: unknown
Locations: West Salisbury Road, Fifield Farm (Mary & John Phillip’s at one time ) to Franklin Road (Rte 127 South Road/ South Range Road) opposite Academy Hall.
Method: Disassembled and reconstructed.
7- Moved 1920s: Second Mill’s School, shown in Salisbury, Lost
Date built: abt 1893 Mills’ School
Locations: West Salisbury Road along the River, but on the opposite side.
Reason: The school closed in the 1920s and was moved to the property of Fred Prince, where it was incorporated into a shed and barn; however, it was destroyed in a fire in 1948-1949 that destroyed the entire building.
Method: unknown, either horse and capstan or disassembled and reconstructed.
8-Moved 1925-1930: The Samuel Dunlap/ Colby House, shown in Salisbury, was lost
Date built: 1784
Locations: Mountain Road just over the Pingree Bridge on the right (West Salisbury) to New Boston,0 Comments NH
Reasons: The Home, not the land, was deeded, so it was moved by the owner’s preference to New Boston
Method: Disassembled and reconstructed in New Boston. More research is needed for the exact location.
9- Moved 1925-1930: The Alpheus Huntoon House, shown in Salisbury, Lost
Date built: built abt 1858
Locations: Corner of Mountain Road and Beech Hill Road, West Salisbury to South Concord
Reasons: Unknown. Speculation: During this era, the population of Salisbury dwindled to under 400. This is a remote part of town and remains remote today.
Method: Disassembled and reconstructed in South Concord. More research is needed for the exact location.
10- Moved: 1929 Union Meeting House, shown in Salisbury, Lost
Date built: 1845
Locations: Crossroads of the South Rangeway (Warner Road) and Mills/Couchtown road in S. West Salisbury to Eastern States Exposition, Storrowton Village.
Reasons: The shared denominational church was not being largely attended, perhaps due to a very low town population in the 1920s and the existence of two other churches in town. Occasionally, it was used for the Bean family reunions, etc. Discussions of plans regarding the construction of the Blackwater Dam were beginning in Boston at least a decade before other buildings were slated by the US Government in 1941 for removal from the flood plain.
In 1926, Philanthropist Hellen Storrow of Boston had a vision, and the Union Meeting House was selected to represent New Hampshire at the Storrowton Village Museum, an Early American Village at the New England Expo, Springfield, Mass.
www.salisburyhistoricalsociety.org/the-union-meeting-house-research-questions/
Method: Disassembled and transported by truck. Reconstructed in Springfield, Mass., with exterior alterations.
11-Moved: Before 1760, approximately c1758, the Joseph Bean House, shown in Salisbury, was lost
Date built:1780
Locations: Rabbit Road near the Webster Line to Canterbury
Reasons: unknown
Method: Disassembled and reconstructed in Canterbury. More research is needed for the exact location.
12- Moved: Est. pre 1935 ED Sawyer Barn, 80” long
Date built: unknown.
Locations: Mill Yard in Franklin to Ed Sawyer’s land
Reasons: Salvaged for reuse
Method: Disassembled and reconstructed.
13- Moved: After 1958, J. Fifield House/H.E. Webster House, shown in Salisbury, Lost
Date built: built abt 1776-1778
Locations: North Road just north of North Road Bridge moved to Maine
Reasons: unknown
Method: Disassembled and reconstructed.