Moving Historic Buildings

Roadway Identifications:

Franklin Road was formerly known as South Range Road and is still sometimes referred to as South Road. It follows Route 127 from Franklin to Salisbury.
At the junction of Hensmith and Route 127, South Range Road heads straight into the floodplain, while Route 127 leads to Webster. On the way to Webster, Route 127 is also known as Battle Street, which old maps called Mutton Road.
After the split at the junction with Hensmith Road, the range road continues through the floodplain and becomes known as Warner Road, before seemingly “splitting off” just after the bridge. In the early days, Range Roads were generally quite straight.
Warner Road continues through Warner and eventually becomes Pumpkin Hill Road.
South Range Road leads up to the “Watson District” of Salisbury, situated on the slopes of Mt. Kearsarge, and likely connects to Quimby Road off Mt. Kearsarge Road. This area once hosted a Salisbury settlement with a school, a graveyard, and the homesteads of the Watson and Quimby families, among others. Further research could shed more light on its history.
South Road Village is the spot where Route 127 meets Route 4, known as “The Crossroads.”

Historic buildings that were moved:

JOSIAH BEAN HOUSE, moved before 1760

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: In the earliest days, Rabbit Road near Calef Hill and Mutton Road were well-traveled paths. South Road Village, also known as The Crossroads, was beginning to show promise as a hub of activity and a less isolated spot.

Method: Probably taken apart and put back together.

MEETING HOUSE ON SEARLE’S HILL became SALISBURY CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH, moved 1790 & again in 1835

Date built: 1768

Locations: It was moved from atop Searles Hill on the Center Rangeway to Garland Hill near Whittemore Road, where it sat disassembled. Although it wasn’t rebuilt there, it remained in pieces while the townspeople struggled to agree on a new location. Eventually, it was moved to South Road Village anyway.

1791 Reconstructed at Franklin Road, South Road Village. The steeple.reading Old. reading When..The 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 first planned settlement of Salisbury, aside from the tiny Stevenstown settlement near the fort on the river in what is now Franklin, was located atop Searles Hill along the Center Rangeway. The land was cleared, and building began, but winter made the steep road nearly impassable with heavy snowdrifts and strong winds. This led to debates about moving the settlement to a more accessible spot on the Center Rangeway near Whittemore Road. Disagreements arose, especially as South Road Village was starting to grow more quickly.

Reasons in 1835: Why it was turned or moved back remains unclear. Figuring this out will mean taking a closer look at how the roads came together at the crossroads. More research is definitely needed.

Method: Taken apart at Searles Hill and moved to Garland Hill.

Method: Moved from Garland Hill to South Road Village and put back together.

Method: Slightly moved, by horse and capstan: a type of winch used to move large objects at a slow, steady pace.

ACADEMY HALL, shown in Salisbury Lost, moved Abt 1806

Date built: 1796 as a private school

Locations: Moved from Whittemore Road or Garland Hill to South Road Village

Reasons: By this time, it was clear that Center Road wouldn’t be home to a new town center or cluster, and that South Road Village would take on that role instead. The school district covered part of the moving expenses, and from 1806 to 1859, the first floor served as the South Road Public School. It was later used as a Grange Hall for a while and now houses the town office.

Method: Likely Disassembled and reconstructed

BAPTIST MEETING HOUSE, moved Abt 1839

Date built: 1790

Location: At Salisbury Heights, turned.

Reasons: Only clues;.reading Oldreading When…The John Kepper, a former owner of the Abel Elkins House across from the Historical Society, said the house was rotated 180 degrees to face its current direction. The church was also moved further back.

This is a bit of a puzzle, possibly tied to the location of Old College Road, believed to have originally run behind the Kepper house. Understanding this will require a closer look at how the roads developed in the Heights and how Old College Road connected to Rte 4, a toll road. It seems there was some interest in avoiding tolls, even though the fee wasn’t large. Early on, both roads may have been in use, linked by a lane that later became Lower Oak Hill Road, or perhaps the lane connected Old College Road with Lovering Hill Road and provided access to the Church. More research is needed.

The newer road, the Route 4 Toll Turnpike, built around 1806, is thought to be west of Old College Road. There are remnants of a small old road next to the Baptist Meeting House Graveyard, which may have connected Loverin Hill Road and Old College Road, possibly influencing the original orientation of the church. Interestingly, the church was moved around the time the tolls were discontinued, though it’s unclear how far it was relocated. The graveyard, however, was never moved.

Read more about College Road:

Old College Road

Method: There might have been a horse and cart since it was only a short distance.

JOSIAH ROGERS HOUSE shown in Salisbury Lost, moved: 1890s

Date built: 1745

Locations: From Mutton Road to the crossroads of Rte 4 and Rte 127, NW corner

Method: Horse and Capstan

Reason: We know this building was moved by horse and cart thanks to an interview with Liza Buzzell by Paul Shaw, featured in the 1994 book “They Said It in Salisbury.”

Referring to the house: “It was moved from down on Mutton Road and used to sit across the street from Vira Taylor’s. Theobold of Concord moved it using a horse that went round and round, shifting it just a few inches at a time. We kids had a great time watching and wanted to climb in while it was moving slowly. It really did move, but it took a long time.”

This is just some information about moving buildings to other locations. Interestingly, the capstan, invented in the 14th century, was used by mariners and others to move heavy objects.

Amazing Photo. An example (not in Salisbury) of one horse and a capstan. Not only is the house being moved by one horse, but so goes the laundry hung on the porch!

When People Moved Entire Houses by Horses: Old Photos from 1890-1910

SUNNYSIDE FARM BARN, moved abt 1893

Date built: unknown

Locations: West Salisbury Road, from Fifield Farm (once home to Mary and John Phillips) to Franklin Road (Route 127 South/South Range Road), directly across from Academy Hall.

Method: George Beauly once told David Rapalyea that the barn had been moved by oxen in the winter, pulled right over the stone wall. David remembered seeing a photo of a barn being hauled by 20 to 30 teams of oxen, though he wasn’t sure who had shown it to him—maybe it was George.

SECOND MILL SCHOOL, shown in Salisbury Lost, moved 1920s

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 relocated to Fred Prince’s property, where it became part of a shed and barn. Unfortunately, a fire in 1948-1949 destroyed the entire structure.

Method: Unknown, either operated by horse and capstan or disassembled and rebuilt.

Eunice Dunlap Colby, Jane Colby Sanborn, and Rebecca Sanborn standing in front of the Dunlap/Colby House in West Salisbury, NH – photo donated by Ron Reed of Canterbury, NH

SAMUEL DUNLAP/COLBY HOUSE, shown in Salisbury Lost, moved 1925-1930

Date built: 1784

Location: Mountain Road, just past the Pingree Bridge on the right in West Salisbury, moved to New Boston, NH.

Reasons: The home, not the land, was deeded, so the owner chose to move it to New Boston.

Method: It was taken apart and put back together in New Boston, on Hopper Hill.

We are grateful to Ron Reed for sharing this wonderful piece of local history with the Society. Photographs such as this help preserve the people, places, and stories that connect us to our community’s past. The original location of the Samuel Dunlap/John Colby House was on Mountain Road, first house on right. Samuel Elkins moved from Salisbury in 1781 and built this house in 1784. Samuel Dunlap, Sr., moved to Salisbury in 1797, purchasing the Elkins property. Dunlap’s son, Samuel, Jr., later to become famous as a furniture maker, was fourteen years old at the time. The house was in the Dunlap family for a number of years. Samuel’s brothers, first John, then James, owned the house before the latter sold it to John Colby. Colby had married Dunlap’s daughter, Eunice. After John Colby died in 1892, his estate deeded the property to his daughter, Jane Sanborn. She sold it to William Dunlap, thus incorporating it into the large Hodges farm of which it is part today. In 1926 William Dunlap deeded the house, but no land, to Katherine Howe. “The certain old house, known as the John Colby House. Land is not sold or conveyed, but the purchaser is given the right for two years from this date in which to remove said house or so much of it as she may desire, and until so moved to have such house occupy the land on which it stands.” She had it taken down, moved to New Boston, and reassembled where it is still today.

ALPHEUS HUNTOON HOUSE, shown in Salisbury Lost, moved 1925-1930

Date built: built abt 1858

Locations: Corner of Mountain Road and Beech Hill Road, West Salisbury to South Concord

Reasons: It’s believed that during this time, Salisbury’s population dropped to fewer than 400 people. This part of town was remote then and still feels just as secluded today.

Method: Disassembled and reconstructed in South Concord. More research is needed for the exact location.

UNION MEETING HOUSE, shown in Salisbury Lost, moved 1929

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 wasn’t heavily attended, likely due to the town’s small population in the 1920s and the presence of two other churches nearby. From time to time, it hosted Bean family reunions and similar gatherings. Meanwhile, discussions about building the Blackwater Dam had already begun in Boston nearly a decade before the U.S. government, in 1941, slated other buildings for removal from the floodplain. In 1926, Boston philanthropist Hellen Storrow envisioned the Union Meeting House representing New Hampshire at the Storrowton Village Museum, an Early American Village at the New England Expo in Springfield, Massachusetts.