The society's collection. | New London Historical Society

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The society's collection.

Step back into the 1800s.

The Society’s village contains a farmhouse with attached English-style barn, herb garden, implement and carriage sheds, a blacksmith shop, a school house and privy, a country store, a violin-making & carriage painting shop, a fire house, hearse house, and meeting house.

During special events, you can participate in hearthside cooking demonstrations, sample baked goods in the country store, and learn lessons or songs in the school house. In the new Transportation Building museum, you will find a collection of horse-drawn vehicles and exhibits describing the growth of tourism in the Lake Sunapee region.

▶ See also Special Exhibits for 2010.

Society history.

After the Civil War, most New Hampshire communities celebrated their town and family histories by holding Old Home Day celebrations. The New London Historical Society was conceived during the August 1952 Old Home Day festivities as an appropriate way to mark the upcoming 175th anniversary of New London's incorporation. Old Home Day president Seth Lamson appointed a committee of Dr. J. Duane Squires, Maude Fellows Swift, and Helen Kidder Greenaway to develop the concept.

New London's 175th anniversary was observed over the weekend of July 31, 1954, and an organizational meeting of the New London Historical Society was held at the Town Hall. The purpose of this new organization was to develop interest in the history of the area, to collect and preserve memorabilia and historically significant objects, and to educate and inform a growing population of the importance of our past to present day life.

With no facilities at the outset, the society held meetings in places like the Parish Hall at the Baptist Church, and it stored its nascent collection in the basement of Tracy Library. Within a decade, that would all begin to change as the first donors of land and buildings stepped forward to realize the ambitious vision of the society's founders. Those donations would be restored and assembled into exhibits by many, many volunteers—but none more dedicated than Bud Lauridsen.

For more information, copies of the society's 50th Anniversary Retrospective (a color booklet published in 2006) are still available upon request.

The village layout.

In 1963, Walter Bucklin donated farmland on which the society could build its Old New London village, which has evolved over the years as buildings were moved to the site. Sixteen buildings host exhibits that depict aspects of 19th century life in the New London area. Most of the structures date from the early or mid-1800s. The Meetinghouse, Hearse House, and Violin Shop are modern reproductions. The Transportation Building is a climate-controlled museum opened in 2001.

Houses, barns, and outbuildings.

The following buildings are located on the grounds of the New London Historical Society. All have been moved or erected on the site since the property was first donated for the "Old New London" project in 1963. After careful preparation, sometimes spanning years, each building now provides a proper setting for its related artifacts and demonstrations.

Horse-drawn vehicles.

Opened in 2001, the Transportation Building is a state-of-the-art exhibit space designed to showcase our horse-drawn vehicles.

The centerpiece of the collection is Concord Coach #425, which operated locally until 1911. The collection also includes the Governor Colby chaise, a former Gray Line sightseeing stage, three gigs, several buggies and sleighs, and three fire pumpers (two hand-pumpers and one steam-powered). Four of these carriages were bequeathed by long-time Deerfield Academy headmaster Frank Boyden.

In 2008, the society was pleased to unveil the Abbot-Downing Mountain Wagon, on loan from the Mount Washington Auto Road. Operated until 1913, these wagons played an important role in the development of the White Mountains tourism industry.

Altogether, the Society’s vehicle collection includes nearly thirty carriages and sleighs.

► More about our vehicle conservation projects.

Vehicle conservation.

Thanks to the generosity of many donors, all of the largest horse-drawn vehicles in our care have been professionally conserved for future generations.

The process is painstaking and expensive. Since carriages were frequently repainted, the original paint scheme is often buried under many others, which must be analyzed and removed—sometimes by careful and tedious dry scraping, sometimes by applying chemicals that penetrate only to a desired depth.

Once the entire vehicle has been treated, areas of paint loss are filled with matching paint. This is called inpainting—also painstaking and expensive! Finally, the entire piece receives a protective coating. The painting, coating, and repairs applied during the conservation process can be easily removed by future conservators. The finished piece is museum-quality, and its historical value has been enhanced rather than diminished by the effort.

Here are examples of some past projects.