Historical

2018 Old House and Barn Expo

The Rollinsford Historical Committee would like residents to know that the NH Preservation Alliance is holding their 2018 Old House and Barn Expo on the weekend of March 24 & 25. This event is for people with houses and barns that date from 1750 to 1950 and is an excellent opportunity to learn from the experts while watching craftspeople give hands-on demonstrations.

Topics will include: 21st century comfort in old homes • Barn repair • Energy efficiency • Financing and insurance • Old house maintenance • Home buying strategies • Interior finishes • Lead paint • Masonry and plaster repair • Mid-century architecture • Researching house history • Solar • Stone wall building • Timber framing •Window repair • Wood turning and more

Go to the Old House and Barn Expo event page »

The Rollinsford Historical Committee also has a page on the town website where you can learn about resources available for barn preservation.

View the Historic Barns of Rollinsford page »

Two of the most beautiful things about Rollinsford are our barns and our open spaces. If you attend, please consider coming to a Historical Committee meeting and sharing what you learned with us!

If you have any questions, or would like to attend a meeting, you can email the Historical Committee at [email protected]

(We’ll also be announcing our next history hike soon!)

 

March 5, 2018 in Historical

Snowshoe Rangers at the Wentworth House

Step back in time at Rollinsford’s historic Colonel Paul Wentworth House on Saturday and Sunday, January 13 and 14, and meet Captain John Harmon’s Snowshoe Company of Rangers, a group of historical reenactors who portray the soldiers who patrolled the New England frontier during the 1740s and 1750s.

Snowshoe companies were formed to patrol the colonial frontier during the long winters and protect the northern settlements from attack by the French and their Native American allies.  Members of Harmon’s Company will be in residence at the Wentworth House and will demonstrate the use of flintlock muskets and traditional snowshoes, plus the clothing, equipment and tactics used by the frontier militia.

Visitors may also take a tour of the house; observe gunsmith Steve Woodman and horner Chuck Walker as they practice their trades; warm up by the hearth and watch food being prepared in 18th century fashion; and learn about other aspects of winter life in colonial New England.

The public is invited to visit the Wentworth House on Saturday from 10 am to 4 pm, and again on Sunday from 9 am to 2 pm.   Admission is $5 for adults; the event is free for children and ARCH members.

The circa 1701 Wentworth House is located on Water Street in Rollinsford and is maintained by the Association for Rollinsford Culture and History (ARCH).  For more information about this and other events at the Wentworth House, consult the ARCH website at paulwentworthhouse.org or Facebook at The Colonel Paul Wentworth House.

January 2, 2018 in Historical

Guided History Hike – DATE CHANGE

The date of the Historical Committee’s guided history hike to the Rollins Farm Bridge was changed to SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 5, 2017.

We will also be stopping to view the location of the old Pest House. Don’t know what the Pest House is? Come find out!

Here’s the updated information for the event:

Date: Sunday, November 5
Time: 1:30 pm
Location: Perry Barn, 380 Rollins Road Rollinsford, NH

Join us for a short hike (roughly 1 mile roundtrip) and come see one of only seven standing boxed pony timber bridges in North America today. Learn the history of this historic structure that dates back to 1917.

The Perry family has offered parking at their home for the event. We will be meeting in front of their barn located at 380 Rollins Road.

All ages are welcome and the event is free!
View the updated event flyer »

Learn more about the Rollinsford Historical Committee and find our contact information online at: rollinsford.nh.us/history

October 27, 2017 in Historical

Guided History Hike – UPDATED

The Rollinsford Historical Committee

presents

A GUIDED HISTORY HIKE
TO THE ROLLINS FARM BRIDGE

Sunday, November 5 at 1:30 pm

Join us for a short hike (roughly 1 mile roundtrip) and come see one of only seven standing boxed pony timber bridges in North America today. Learn the history of this historic structure that dates back to 1917, and get to know the historical committee!

The Perry family has offered parking at their home for the event. We will be meeting in front of their barn located at:

380 Rollins Road
Rollinsford, NH

All ages are welcome.The event is free; donations are gratefully accepted!
View the updated event flyer »

Learn more about the Rollinsford Historical Committee and
find our contact information online at: rollinsford.nh.us/history

October 24, 2017 in Historical

Colonial Militia Muster and Market Fair at the Wentworth House

Travel back in time to the American Revolution at the historic Colonel Paul Wentworth House in Rollinsford, NH. On Saturday and Sunday, October 14 and 15 from 10 am to 4 pm, the sights and sounds of the Revolutionary era will come to life at a colonial market fair with 18th century craftspeople and artisans at work, while the militia gathers to train in preparation for joining General Washington’s forces against the British.
At this two-day living history encampment, artisans in period attire will demonstrate crafts such as joinery, coopering, printing, and gun smithing, along with hearth cooking and other aspects of everyday life in the 18th century. At the same time, the militia men will perform musket firings and military drills, display and explain their equipment, and raise a Liberty Pole and flag as they muster to join General Washington’s army for the next campaign.

Commemorating 240 years since the Battles of Saratoga, a turning point in the war in the fall of 1777, the event will highlight the local history of those who signed on with the three New Hampshire Continental Army regiments which were in the thick of the fight and the thousands who served in the militia to support them. 

The circa 1701 Wentworth House is located on Water Street in Rollinsford, and is maintained by the Association for Rollinsford Culture and History (ARCH) as an educational and cultural center. Admission to the event is $5 for the general public; free for children and ARCH members. For more information, visit the ARCH website at www.paulwentworthhouse.org or on Facebook at The Colonel Paul Wentworth House.

October 4, 2017 in Historical

Fashionable Folks at the Wentworth House

From the corsets and crinolines of the Victorian age to the streamlined styles of the Roaring Twenties, women’s fashions were dramatically transformed. “Fashionable Folks: What New Englanders Wore,” a new exhibit at Rollinsford’s historic Colonel Paul Wentworth House, tracks the many changes in taking place in women’s clothing over the course of a century.

Featuring over 40 garments dating from the 1830s through the 1920s, the exhibit is open for visitors from 1 to 4 pm on Sundays until mid-October. Guided tours of the house are also available. Admission is by donation ($5 is suggested), and is free for ARCH members and children under 16.

Maintained by the Association for Rollinsford Culture and History (ARCH), the circa 1701 Wentworth House is located on Water Street in Rollinsford, NH and hosts living history events, exhibits, and school and youth programs. For more information about this and other events at the Wentworth House, consult the ARCH website at paulwentworthhouse.org or on Facebook at The Colonel Paul Wentworth House.

July 14, 2017 in Historical

Gatsby Garden Party at the Wentworth House

Nearly a century ago in the 1920s, the historic Colonel Paul Wentworth House in Rollinsford, NH hosted formal garden parties, concerts and teas, along with exhibits of colonial-era artifacts. The Roaring Twenties will return to the Wentworth House on Sunday, July 16 with a 1920s Gatsby Garden Party from 1 to 4 pm.

The public is invited to enjoy an afternoon of croquet on the lawn, other vintage indoor and outdoor pastimes, music, and exhibits of local artifacts from the 1920s. Guests may also tour the house and view “Fashionable Folks: What New Englanders Wore,” an exhibit of clothing from the 1830s to the 1920s. Light refreshments will be served but guests are welcome to bring a picnic lunch to enjoy in the garden. Jazz Age attire is encouraged but not required.

This event is hosted by the nonprofit Association for Rollinsford Culture and History (ARCH). Admission to the Gatsby Garden Party is $5 for the general public; ARCH members and children under 16 are free. For reservations or more information, call (603) 742-4747 or send an email to [email protected].

Maintained by ARCH as an educational and cultural center for the community, the circa 1701 Wentworth House is located on Water Street in Rollinsford and hosts living history events, exhibits, and school and youth programs. For more information about this and other events at the Wentworth House, consult the ARCH website at paulwentworthhouse.org or on Facebook at The Colonel Paul Wentworth House.

July 3, 2017 in Community Group, Historical

Defending the Frontier at the Wentworth House 

In March 1690, a sudden attack by French and Native American raiders devastated the English settlement along the Salmon Falls River in what is now South Berwick, Maine. As the English, French and Native Americans all struggled for control of New England in the late 1600s, English colonists in the Piscataqua region lived under constant threat of attack. To demonstrate how English colonists defended their homes, historical re-enactors portraying Benjamin Church’s Company of rangers will be encamped at Rollinsford’s historic Colonel Paul Wentworth House on Saturday and Sunday, June 17 and 18.

Considered by some to be the forerunner of today’s US Army Rangers, Benjamin Church’s Company was organized to defend English frontier settlements and used fighting tactics learned from Native Americans to carry out offensive strikes against the French and hostile Indians. In addition to displays and demonstrations of military equipment and tactics, demonstrations of early American home life and crafts will be offered from 10 am to 4 pm on both days, along with tours of the house. A donation of $5 is suggested for adults; the event is free to children and ARCH members.

To understand the conflict from the opposing side, on Saturday visitors may cross the river into South Berwick, where the company of “Les Mousquets du Roi,” French re-enactors from Montreal, along with Penobscot interpreter Ken Hamilton, will be encamped next to the Counting House Museum on Liberty Street.

The circa 1701 Wentworth House is located on Water Street in Rollinsford and is maintained by the Association for Rollinsford Culture and History (ARCH).  For more information about this and other events at the Wentworth House, consult the ARCH website at paulwentworthhouse.org or on Facebook at The Colonel Paul Wentworth House.

 

June 8, 2017 in Historical