Atkinson Historical Society

10/07/2020

A collection pictures from our scarecrow fundraiser. This is the 4th year totally over 400 scarecrows around town.

A collection pictures from our scarecrow fundraiser. This is the 4th year totally over 400 scarecrows around town.

10/07/2020

A collection pictures from our scarecrow fundraiser. This is the 4th year totally over 400 scarecrows around town.

A collection pictures from our scarecrow fundraiser. This is the 4th year totally over 400 scarecrows around town.

10/06/2020

If you are able please put a photo of your scarecrow in the comments and we will addit to our album called Scarecrows 2020. Thanks for your help. They are looking awesome!!!

10/06/2020

A collection of pictures from our scarecrow fundraiser. This is the 4th year totaling over 400 scarecrows around town.

09/29/2020

We are SOLD OUT of scarecrows for 2020. Now to get them out for all to see. Love all the ones so far!

09/23/2020

We have a few scarecrows left and we will be open TODAY wednesday 9/23 from 2-4. Let's give them all a home!! You know the drill cash or check, $25.00 and wear a mask!

09/22/2020

Hampstead Public Library

Hampstead Public Library shared this with us. Looks like it good be a good onel Please visit their website or facebook for more information!

You're invited to a live Zoom New Hampshire Humanities presentation on Thursday Sept 24 at 7pm. Brought to you by the Hampstead Public Library and Hampstead NH Historical Society.

09/18/2020

We have only a few scarecrows left come on down Saturday September 19th! $25.00 each cash or check!! Wear a mask. See you between 10-12 or sell out which ever comes first!!

09/15/2020

Tomorrow, Wednesday September 16th we will be open 2-4 to sell scarecrows. We have 8 left.
$25.00 each cash or check and please wear a mask. If there are any left we will be open on Saturday 10-12.

09/12/2020

We are open to sell scarecrows today until 12 or sold out ! Only 17 left!!🍂🍁

09/09/2020

We sincerely apologize for our delayed opening today, Wednesday.

09/08/2020

More scarecrow pick-up times:

Wednesdays 2-4
Saturdays 10-12
Remember cash or check and wear a mask!
$25.00 each, help us sell out again!!

We will keep these hours until they are sold out!

Be like Lew, get your scarecrow now!! Can't wait to see how you dress it up!!

09/05/2020

These happy, scary, kooky, and downright adorable friends need homes come on down here today, tomorrow and Monday 10-2!

09/04/2020

ATTENTION, ATTENTION, get your 2020 Scarecrows starting tomorrow Saturday September 5 thru Monday September 7th from 10-2 each day at the Kimball House, home of the Atkinson Historical Society!
Parking is at the House across from the firehouse. We are the white house next to the library.
Price is $25.00 each. This year we are accepting Cash and Checks
Hope to see you then. We will have more pick-up dates once we know how many we have left!!
Please wear your mask for everyone's safety.

******Get inspired!!******
This elf was last scene at Green Tree Farm, now gone and turning into Heritage Lane.

08/21/2020

Scarecrow update!
Here are the dates we have so far for Scarecrow pick-up and to place orders.
Labor Day weekend:
Saturday, 10-2, Sep 5
Sunday, 12-2, Sep 6
Monday, 10-2, Sep 7
Also they are $25.00 each and we would love them out on display for the whole month of October.
We are also asking that when you pick up your scarecrow please if you and your party would please wear your masks.
Also exact cash would be appreciated or check. We are trying to find another contactless payment system.
We are very excited to keep this tradition going for the 4th year in a row.
Thank you all for your support in helping us better preserve Atkinson's history.

08/11/2020

History tidbit:
With these warm days of summer the vegetables are growing like crazy and need to be harvested. The problem is you only have so many family members to share them with so, you open a canning factory. Yes, in 1907 Atkinson had a canning factory. It first started with apples, Atkinson was known for its apples and cider. They successfully moved onto corn, beans and other vegetables. Innovative farmer, Eugene F. Sawyer opened the factory in the summer of 1907. They employed teens to harvest the vegetables and women to work in the canning room. At the height of production there were some forty people employed by Sawyer’s Canning Company. With the onset of World War I, the government commandeered the stock of Sawyer’s canned goods and with that Sawyer closed down the business. We believe the factory was located somewhere on the property that is now being developed as Heritage Lane off Main St.
The photos are of the women of the factory and a corn label that the Society owns. (history from Atkinson then and now)

08/08/2020

People have been asking so, here is the order form for our 2020 scarecrows!

05/09/2020

History Tidbit for May as we are hoping to send our children to summer camp......DID YOU KNOW.........?

The current Atkinson Community Center was once a camp for underprivileged girls from Massachusetts and New Hampshire? Trinity House Camp was originally founded in 1933 in East Boston, MA by Mary Caroline (Carolyn) Orr. It was open to girls 6-15 from all ethnic, racial and religious backgrounds. The current property on Main Street was purchased in 1950. Ms. Orr served as its director for 44 years, replaced by Susan Noble in 1977. In later years the camp also admitted boys and day students. In the early years, campers used the pond with the dam as a swimming hole. Later an in ground pool was installed.

In 1989, Trinity House Camp Trustees approached the Town of Atkinson, offering the front 5.65 acres of land and building for $80,000. A stipulation was that the land surrounding the property would never be developed. Through the sale of land and buildings, and the sale of three house lots on Robie Lane, the Society for the Protection of New Hampshire Forests raised a $230,000 conservation education endowment in memory of former camp director Caroline (Carolyn) Orr. At the 1990 Town Meeting, residents confirmed the dedication by naming the 59.1 acre parcel the “Caroline (Carolyn) Orr Conservation Land”. Now there is a trail system through the conservation land behind the community center. Check it out! And the pool? At some point, because of liability concerns, it was filled in.

04/17/2020

Just can't help but share the beauty that is around us. Back in 2016 the Atkinson Garden Club had an idea to sell daffodil bulbs and have them planted along the major roads in Town. This was done to get ready for the 250th Anniversary in 2017. Well, jump ahead 4 years and after 1,000's of bulbs sold Atkinson is just looking so beautiful. Thank you everyone for making the Town look ready for Spring. Kudos to the Garden Club for sponsoring it!! If you can, get out and see the beauty around town!!

04/12/2020

Happy Passover, Easter, and Spring to all our friends and members. We hope to see you all real soon until then be safe, stay strong and this time will be a FB post one day marking a time in our history!
The photo is of our contribution to the town wide egg hunt!

03/31/2020

Squeaking this one in at the very end of Women's History Month.
March is Women’s History Month. In recognition of that, this entry will introduce you to an accomplished woman who grew up in Atkinson. The eldest of 8 Nye children, she was the first female student to enter college from Atkinson Academy, graduating in 1925. She taught school for a number of years before heading to Bolivia in 1942 to chair the English Department at the American Institute. Later she returned to the US to earn her Master’s and Doctorate in Linguistics at the University Of Michigan. In 1955, Gertrude moved to Iran upon marrying Mohammad Dorry, a fellow student she met at the University of Michigan. She and “Mo” spent 45 years in Iran, where she served as a project manager with the Peace Corps, was a Fulbright professor, head of the Language Department at Tehran Polytechnic Institute and was Vice President of the Association of University Professors of English in Iran. Gertrude was also the author of a number of books - Games for Second Language Teachers, 45 Years in Iran, My Years in Bolivia, and The Tale of a Yankee Girl and How she Grew. The Historical Society is privileged to have copies of many of her books plus numerous letters written home of her adventures. Gertrude made a point of returning to Atkinson yearly, which shows that even if one becomes a world traveler, home is truly where the heart is. Her childhood home was on Westside Dr. It burnt down a number of years ago!

03/21/2020

We are going to try and post a history tidbit every week or so, here is the first one. Hope you enjoy!
History Tidbit of the week:
The Atkinson Soldier’s Monument pictured here was moved in 1891 to make room for the widening of Academy Ave. In this picture is one of the many old farm houses that burnt down in Atkinson to the right of it is the Kimball House the current home of Atkinson Historical and the former library.
Here is a brief history of the Monument:
40 Atkinson men who went into the War of the Rebellion are listed on the Dow Common. The most distinguished being George Parsons Dow, Congressional Medal of Honor for his meritorious service. The monument was given to the town by William C. Todd. The dedication was held on a cold and snowy December 4, 1888.
The monument is a plain Rockport granite obelisk, resting on a base about 5 ft. square and weighing 5 tons. The height of the monument is 16 feet.
It must have been quite the undertaking to move the monument to its current place on the common.
The acceptance speech of Edward Greenough, the chair of the Atkinson Board of Selectman is very fitting and helps us remember why we come out every Memorial Day and meet at the Dow Common to remember our fallen countrymen.
“May it impress upon the rising generation a spirit of patriotism and love of country for which the former inhabitants of this town were so much renowned. And on each Memorial Day may their surviving comrades gather around this monument and show by the deeds that they are held in grateful remembrance, until the last survivor is laid in yonder cemetery.”
This information was gather from AHS book Atkinson Then and Now. Copies available through the Historical Society.
Maybe on an outing one can stop and read the names and visit the other memorials on the Common and in that area.

03/17/2020

The Atkinson Historical Society will remained closed as long as all Town buildings are shutdown. Please send your inquiries here or through our website. We will try to be posting bits of local history here. Stay safe and see you soon.

03/10/2020

A bit of local history as we prepare for our Town elections. "The Federal" Ballot box was used in Atkinson for many years. It was patented July 30, 1889- August 19, 1890. Atkinson had roughly a population of 483 residents in 1890. Remember get out and vote and meet our modern ballot machine!
See this and more local history at AHS!

03/01/2020

Attention High School Class of 2020, applications for the Fred and Martha MacDonald Scholarship are now being taken. See flyer below for more details and good luck!

12/25/2019

Wishing all our members and friends a joyous holiday season; Merry Christmas and Happy Hanukkah

12/05/2019

Join us Thursday December 12, 2019 @6:30 PM at the Kimball Library meeting room for an interesting and lighthearted evening all about us crazy Yankees and the unique things we make and do! See flyer for more details and be sure to register at the www.kimballlibary.com

11/28/2019

Wishing all our friends and members a very Happy Thanksgiving!

10/27/2019

We will be open today Sunday 10/27 2-4 PM for children's crafts, snacks and enjoying the Museum. Come on down before the Pat's came for a bit of fun. For those hardy folks try the Cemetery hunt!!

10/16/2019

Come one come all and join the FUN! Great for all ages!

09/28/2019

Out on Commerce Dr. Thank you for your support.

Come check out our dancing girls!
We are still accepting registrations until Nov 1st
Dancewithjeanne.com

09/26/2019

The scarecrows are all SOLD OUT!
Thanks for the support now to get them all up!
It should be a good display!

09/14/2019

Come meet the author, Terry Nelson and hear about some of the hidden history of NH Seacoast region, including the greater Atkinson area. Thursday September 19th, 6:30 PM at the Kimball Library. Register through the library at http://www.kimballlibrary.com.

09/14/2019

We will be open tomorrow, Saturday 9/14 for scarecrow sales from 9-12. Come on down only about 35 left! $25.00 each cash or check accepted! Get in on the fun! Photo from 2018 paying homage to former Town Manager Alan Phair!

09/07/2019

Only 45 scarecrows left come on down until noon to get yours!