West Salisbury or “Mill VIllage”

This now serene part of Salisbury with its idyllic scenery, was once a bustling part of town.

This part of town has seen 2 blacksmith shops, a general store with a post office, two schools over the years, about 5 mills (grist mills and saw mills), a swimming hole, had at least one lovely home in service as an Inn for tourists and summer boarders and as a boarding house for mill millworkers, was home to extraordinary cabinetmakers, has a large cemetery, small graveyard but never had a church.

 

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Grist Mills

A series of water powered mills existed utilizing the  power of the Blackwater River.

From Salisbury Lost by Paul S. Shaw Md. pg 45 regarding the Grist Mill and Saw Mill located opposite the site of the old Dunlap Store where West Salisbury Road connects with the Bay road by the Blackwater River in West Salisbury

An excerpt from the good read Halfway Up the Hill by Paul J. Fenton Jr. regarding the tenpin alley in the old mill.

“The tenpin alley in the attic was a great rendezvous on stormy days and many a hard fought match was rolled there. The croquet balls would go rolling down the hemlock boards, bumpity bump, and strikes were scarce. The balls were rather light and would bounce the pins frequently, but they served our purpose.”

In the 1800’s there were enough farmers growing grains to support a grist mill. Shaw’s Grist Mill closed in 1921 a few years before John Shaw died.  In 1935 the dam washed out and mill collapsed.

From an interview with Paul Shaw born 1918 in Warner  and published in “They Said it in Salisbury” dated 1992.

“My grandfather (John Shaw) operated a grist mill for many years in West Salisbury and my father (Lewis Shaw) went into business with him. With the decline in farming in Salisbury and throughout New Hampshire it was the obvious the mill could not support two families so my dad moved to Warner where he purchased another mill, large and powered by electricity. Warner was a larger town and served by the railroad. With less grain grown locally it was necessary to buy grain from the west, store it, grind it and mix it to serve local farmers with grain for their animals. The last of the operation of the Salisbury mill, grain came to the siding at the “switch” in Andover, near where the present State Highway Sheds are located, bagged and hauled by oxen or house to the mill in West Salisbury to be ground and rebagged. This was a hard and time-consuming process, and no longer profitable by the 1900’s. Closed in 1921 a few years before John Shaw died.  Dam washed out and mill collapsed in 1935.

Double Bridges: At this area there were twin bridges that went over the blackwater Rivers two channels. One flood destroyed them and they were rebuilt but lost in the 1936 or 1939 hurricane.

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Sawmills

“A series of mills utilized the water power near the site of the Pingree Bridge. Early mills were on both sides of the river but in more recent times, Princes mill was located on the east side of the river. This was powered by a dam just below the bridge. It has been moved to another location in West Salisbury where it operates with deisel power”. p 29. Salisbury Lost by Dr. Paul Shaw 1995

 

 

Understanding the mechanics of water powered mills:

The Power of Water

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Inn & Boarding House, & Residence

Large home built 1813, near Pingree Bridge  became the inn “Riverside” for a time. Built in 1813 by the son of the famous cabinet maker, Samuel Dunlap, it remained in the hands of the Dunlap-Prince family for 110 years. “Riverside” became a popular spot for summer boarders. Later mill workers boarded there.

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West Salisbury Store & Post Office

Built by Cyrus Gookin in 1858 as a store and post office and operated by himself in partnership with William Dunlap. His son Frank operated the store and post office until his death in 1920’s.

According to Marion Childs Shaw in an interview with Dr. Paul Shaw dated 1988,  in “They Said It In Salisbury” p. 254, she remembers

“They sold yard good, pickles out of barrels. They sold Tripe out barrels. They sold penny candy from the jar, and they had those big jars like the have now, with a round top and little knob on the top, several rows of those, all penny candy. As s you went in the door the post office was on the right hand side, and all the yard goods were on the left hand side. Then you went into the back and there were general groceries and what have you.  They didn’t sell fresh meat. There used to be a truck-not a truck, a man with a horse and buggy that used to come around with meat. There was also a fish man that came around once a week and sold fish”. In addition she describes a bakery cart that used to come around a couple of days a week, Pauline’s Bakery from Warner.

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Dunlap Funiture

In 1797 Samuel Dunlap moved from Henniker to West Salisbury with his family including his son Samuel, 14 years of age, who continued his fathers trade and became a very prominent furniture maker. Both Dunlaps also had over time been owners of the several mills in their area. They resided in a home near the Pingree Bridge on Mountain Road, first house on the right (westside) which has since been moved to New Boston.

To learn more about  Dunlap furniture, the following book is suggested:

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Schoolhouses:

School #1  -1816 Mountain Road across Pingree Bridge.

School #2  -1890- mid 1926 when it closed and students were sent to the school at Salisbury Heights. located near the bottom of Dunlap Rd

School in operation 1890- mid 1920’s when it closed and students were sent to the school at Salisbury

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Black smith Shop, Bay Road existed possibly as early as 1858 and only up until the early 1920’s. Not much else is known.

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Mills or Pingry Cemetery

Sitting opposite the deep ravine where the Blackwater River flows through is this fairly large and beautiful cemetery with metal fencing. It is the final resting place of the early and more recent settlers in this part of town.

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Peter’s Bridge