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 2008.

Society history.

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…

The village layout.

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…

Houses, barns, and outbuildings.

Houses, barns, and outbuildings.

Horse-drawn vehicles.

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…

Vehicle conservation.

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,…

Preserving & presenting our history...