The history of New London, New Hampshire, has been well documented in three sequential town histories: Myra Lord's A History of the Town of New London (1899), J. Duane Squires's Mirror to America (1950), and Ann Page Stecker's Our Voices, Our Town (2000). Selected photographs have also been reproduced in Images of America: New London, compiled by Leanne Keary. These are excellent references for town history and family genealogy. Additional questions about families and town events may be directed to the Town Archives, the repository for all such information in New London.
SETTLEMENT
Trekking north from Hopkinton, NH, Moses Trussell made his first attempt to settle in New London in 1774. He built a shelter, cleared land, and planted corn the next spring. At the end of the summer, he returned to harvest his crop, already taken by bears and other animals. He left disappointed, served in the Revolutionary War, and did not return to New London until 1804.
Meanwhile, others came and stayed. By the time of its incorporation in June, 1779, New London was home to 16 families, residing on a small portion of the town’s 137 survey lots (of 150 acres each). The land was granted in 1773 by the Masonian Proprietors to Jonas Minot of Concord (MA) and a small group from the Londonderry (NH) area. They would attract settlers by giving them land and later profit by selling the remaining land, made more valuable by the new roads, mills, schools, and meeting-house constructed by the earlier settlers.
At the first town meeting on August 3, 1779, selectmen were chosen and the town government organized. The settlers built farms and roads and mills. By 1786 a school had been built. Their labor needed elsewhere, children attended school for just three months of the year.
SCYTHEVILLE
The area around present day Elkins, NH, was frequented by the Penacook tribe of Algonquin some 3,000 years ago. Artifacts found around Pleasant Lake relate to pottery-making, fishing, and hunting. The first white settlers were clustered at the north end of the lake in the late 1700s.
Elkins is named for Dr. John Elkins, a physician who served the community from 1875 to 1888. In appreciation for his work and his wife's generosity, the village was named for him posthumously in 1896.
Earlier, this section of New London appeared on maps as "Scythe Factory Village" or "Scytheville", taking its name from the scythe blade manufacturer founded in 1835 by Richard Messer, Joseph Phillips and Anthony Colby. Still in their twenties, Messer and Phillips had learned the business in Fitchburg, MA, while Colby provided the water rights but no capital.
All of the necessary iron, steel, and coal had to be hauled by oxen from the nearest railhead at Concord, NH. In 1845, the Northern Railroad arrived in Potter Place, shortening the teamsters' trip by twenty-five miles.
OTTERVILLE
For many decades the settlement along the outlet of Little Lake Sunapee, between that body of water and Otter Pond, has been called "Otterville." Portions of the area were annexed by the town of New London in 1804 and 1817.
In 1812, Amasa Sargent "removed to Goosehole... where he built a saw-and-grist mill over the brook." This was the first industrial enterprise along this stream. Nine years later the mill was sold to Jacob Harvey of Sutton. Ownership changed hands many times in later years, ending with Hiram A. Eastman. This particular mill operated continuously for more than 125 years.
In 1823 there was also a carding mill in Otterville run by J.P. Sabin and John Page, Jr. Under their management the mill prospered so much that a large boarding house and general store were established. The cloth mill was purchased by John W. Taylor in 1848, and for the next 50 years he dressed cloth and carded rolls there. He also ran the general store.
Otterville also had a long series of blacksmiths, shoemakers, and other small businesses. Among the those keeping store "at the bridge" were John W. Taylor, Moses A. Fellows, and Fred Farwell. The latter owned the store until well into the 20th century.
SCHOOLHOUSES
The Kearsarge Regional School District, to which New London belongs, opened a new Middle School in March, 2008. This $25 million facility in Sutton, NH, replaces the New London Central School, which had been expanded to create the regional middle school. The fate of its New London campus is uncertain.
On October 12, 1942, the $80,000 New London Central School was dedicated after a year of construction. It replaced a smaller school at the Four Corners (Main & Pleasant intersection). Facing Ervin Edmunds's IGA store, Bill Kidder's Garage, and Tracy Memorial Library, the old building sat vacant. Paint peeled. Windows broke.
The first one-room schoolhouse at the Four Corners was built in 1804 at a cost of $140. By 1854, the Superintendent reported that "the schoolhouses in some of the districts are bad beyond endurance," and in 1862 the original District #3 schoolhouse was finally sold and moved down South Pleasant Street. A larger, one-room schoolhouse was built in its place. This served the neighborhood until 1906, when a four-room building was needed to accommodate the consolidation of three district schools—made possible by improved transportation over New London's hills. In 1932, when local high school students could no longer attend Colby Academy, they were moved into the two upper-story classrooms in this building, which was at once overcrowded.
Time Series Study: Taking shape.
Like many towns in New Hampshire, New London's borders underwent several adjustments as pockets of settlement petitioned to join with nearby New London. In 1807, nearly half of New London's original grant was separated when the town of Wilmot was formed. For this reason, New London today has a much smaller land area than most of its neighbors. The township lines first drawn on a Masonian Proprietor's map in Portsmouth often proved impractical once the actual topography of the region became known.
Time Series Study: Development patterns.
Historic residence maps have been used to plot the development patterns within New London's borders. Each point plotted on the map marks a residence or commercial building. By observing where new structures appear, we can see the impact of population growth and see the shift in land use from agricultural to shoreline recreational to cluster retirement.