historical

Guided History Hike

The Rollinsford Historical Committee

presents

A GUIDED HISTORY HIKE
OF SALMON FALLS VILLAGE

Sunday, April 22 at 2:00 pm

Come hear the story behind downtown Rollinsford, one of the best preserved mill villages in all of New England, as we take a walking tour of Historic Salmon Falls Village. You’ll never look at Rollinsford the same again! All ages are welcome.

The tour will take approximately 1 1/2 hours.
We will meet at:

The Gazebo at
Bicentennial Park

The event is free; donations are gratefully accepted!

View the event flyer »

The tour will be led by architectural historian Peter Michaud and is free and open to the public. The tour will start at the gazebo in Bicentennial Park located off of Front Street and adjacent to the Salmon Falls River. Parking in the park is limited and participants are encouraged to park on nearby Front Street. Participants should dress for the weather and wear shoes appropriate for walking. For more information, please call (603) 559-0284 or email [email protected].

Better-known today for its successful artist and craftsman studios, Salmon Falls village is well-known to the local preservation community as an integral model of a Boston-owned factory town. The tour will weave through one of the most intact 19th century mill villages in New England. Participants will visit the village of the Salmon Falls Manufacturing Company and explore its mill yard, related workers housing, and its religious and commercial buildings. The tour will explore the history and development of the village, how the mills functioned, and the communities of immigrants employed by the company.

Peter Michaud is an architectural historian at the New Hampshire Division of Historical Resources. He is the vice president of the New England chapter of the Vernacular Architectural Forum and serves on Strawbery Banke Museum’s National Council. He serves on the board of the Players’ Ring Theatre, is a founding board member of the Piscataqua Decorative Arts Society, and is the secretary for Portsmouth Advocates.

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April 12, 2018 in Community Group, Historical

Call for Volunteers

To: Residents of the Town of Rollinsford

From: Select Board

Date: March 20, 2018

Call for Volunteers

The Town of Rollinsford has several important boards, commission and committees peopled by interested and engaged volunteers who wish to serve the community.   If you are itching to become an interested and engaged public servant, please consider volunteering for one of the groups listed below by sending an email or by calling town hall.   (An asterisk signifies that there are no openings today but if you are interested we’d still like to hear from you so that we can keep you name on file).

If you would like to know more about a particular group, feel free to contact a Board member or our administrative assistant.

Please let us know by Monday, March 26th. We look forward to hearing from you!

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Commissions, Boards and Committees of the Town of Rollinsford

Ad Hoc Committee to Study Town Manager (authorized at Town Meeting)
Capital Improvement Plan Committee
Conservation Commission
Planning Board
Zoning Board of Adjustment
Strafford Regional Planning Commission
*Highway Safety Committee
*Historical Committee
*Recreation Committee
*Stormwater Committee

March 21, 2018 in Select Board

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

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

Historical Committee Meeting 4/6

Historical Committee Meeting

Thursday April 6, 2017

At 6:45pm the committee will gather outside the town hall and travel to see the Pump House from the mills. After their review, an official meeting will take place at town hall.

April 5, 2017 in Historical

Wentworth House Event: Winter Life in Colonial New England

Experience a colonial living history weekend with Captain John Harmon’s Snowshoe Company of Rangers at the historic Colonel Paul Wentworth House in Rollinsford, NH on Saturday and Sunday, January 14 and 15.

Reenactors portraying the winter rangers who patrolled the New England frontier during the 1740s and 1750s will demonstrate the use of flintlock muskets and traditional snowshoes, plus the clothing, equipment and tactics used by the frontier militia during conflicts with the French and their Native American allies in the mid-1700’s.

The public is invited to meet the snowshoe men on Saturday, January 14 from 10 am to 4 pm, and again on Sunday from 10 am to 4 pm.  Interpreters in colonial attire will be on hand to demonstrate 18th century hearth cooking, crafts, board games and other recreational activities, and other aspects of winter life in colonial New England. Tours of the house will also be offered. A donation of $5 is suggested for adults; the event is free to 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 on Facebook at The Colonel Paul Wentworth House.

Captain John Harmon’s Snowshoe Company of Rangers, French and Indian War era, at the Colonel Paul Wentworth House in Rollinsford, NH, January 17, 2015.
Photograph by Ralph Morang

January 7, 2017 in Community Group, Historical

Nesman to Receive Heritage Award

The story of a community is told through the documents and objects people leave behind but sadly, these are often dispersed over the years. In recognition of his efforts to bring these objects home and tell our story, the Association for Rollinsford Culture and History (ARCH) has chosen Robert Nesman as the recipient of the 2016 ARCH Heritage Award. Given annually to recognize significant contributions to the preservation of the history, heritage and culture of Rollinsford and the lower Salmon Falls Region, the award will be presented to Nesman this Saturday night, November 12, at the organization’s annual dinner and auction at Spring Hill in South Berwick, Maine.

Over the past twenty years Mr. Nesman has amassed a significant collection of ephemera and objects related to the history of Rollinsford. A lifelong resident of the town, he began collecting in the 1990s when he happened upon a piece from Salmon Falls and realized that more items could be found if he looked for them.

Today Nesman’s collection numbers over 500 pieces, much of it documents such as deeds, wills, letters from mill girls, advertising handbills from local businesses, and postcards but which also includes objects such as police and fire badges, items from fraternal organizations, and a bottle from Nutter’s Pharmacy. The oldest item in the collection is a deed for property in the Baer Road area dating to 1750 and bearing the name of Daniel Clements. His favorite object in his collection? “The one I haven’t found yet!” One of Nesman’s greatest pleasures is reuniting photographs and other items with families which still reside in the area, and he has also generously shared his collection with local historical societies.

A nonprofit organization dedicated to preserving the history and heritage of Rollinsford and the lower Salmon Falls region, ARCH maintains the historic Colonel Paul Wentworth House on Water Street in Rollinsford. For more information, please contact (603)742-4747 or consult the website at www.paulwentworthhouse.org.

November 10, 2016 in Community Group, Historical