Media Library

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The New Hampshire State House is made out of granite that came from a quarry called Rattlesnake Hill in Concord, New Hampshire. This document is part of the stonecutting plan for building the state house. The workers had to know how large each block of granite should be and where to place each block to build the walls. Many of the workers were prisoners at the new state prison in Concord. First the granite was split into large, rough pieces at Rattlesnake Hill. Then the pieces were brought to the prison, where they were split more and hammered into blocks. Each block got a number that matched a number on this stonecutting plan. The blocks were then brought to the state house yard and hammered further into shape, and then put in place in the wall. The stonecutting plan was posted in the prison yard and the state house yard for the workers to see. The yards were very busy with lots of horses and oxen. Animals attract flies, and the little specks on the paper are from smushed flies!

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This is a receipt for part of the money the state of New Hampshire paid to Stuart Park to build the state house. Park was a master builder and an expert in stonecutting and constructing granite buildings. He built the New Hampshire State Prison in Concord in 1810–1812 and many other important projects. The state government hired him in 1816 to build the new state house. The entire project took more than two years and Park was paid a total of about $1,700. Park Street, which runs along the north side of the state house, is named after him.

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This is the first history book written about New Hampshire. It was written by a minister named Jeremy Belknap, who traveled all over New Hampshire for 20 years to research its history. He told the story of the state from the first English settlement all the way up to 1812, when the book was published. It took three volumes to tell the whole story! This is the title page from the second edition of the book. It was printed in 1813. It was owned by Charles Corning, who was a mayor of Concord, New Hampshire, and a member of the New Hampshire Historical Society.

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This song is the first time we know of that people called New Hampshire "the Granite State." It was written by a man named Philip Carrigain. He wrote it in 1825, when an important French general named Marquis de Lafayette visited New Hampshire. Lafayette had fought with George Washington in the American Revolution and helped America win its independence from England. Fifty years later, he visited the United States. Wherever he went, people had big celebrations for him. When he visited Concord, there was a fancy dinner on the State House lawn, with speeches and songs. This song, "the Granite State," was performed then. It was printed in the Concord Register on June 25, 1825.

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This poster warned Black people in Boston to be careful so that "slavecatchers" did not capture them. "Slavecatchers" traveled throughout the North to capture Black people who escaped from slavery and bring them back to their enslavers. Sometimes they kidnapped escaped slaves. Sometimes they kidnapped free Black people. Sometimes the local police helped them, like this poster says.

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This is an article from the Herald of Freedom, an abolitionist newspaper printed in Concord, New Hampshire. That means that the newspaper supported ending slavery in the United States and tried to persuade others to agree. This story was published on May 16, 1835. It explains that the ladies' anti-slavery society met each month to sew items that they then sold. They used the money they raised in the fight against slavery.

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This newspaper story is informing people about an annual meeting of the New Hampshire Anti-Slavery Society. It was printed in the Herald of Freedom on May 30, 1835. The Herald of Freedom was an abolitionist newspaper printed in Concord, New Hampshire. That means that the newspaper supported ending slavery in the United States and tried to persuade others to agree.

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This is a newspaper advertisement for a lecture given by Frederick Douglass in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, on March 15, 1862, during the Civil War. Douglass was born into slavery, but escaped to the North when he was about 21 years old. He became a writer, abolitionist, and civil rights activist. He was one of the most famous Americans of his time. He traveled all over the northern United States and Ireland and England, telling people about his experiences as a slave and speaking in favor of abolition, or the end, of slavery. He spoke in New Hampshire several times throughout his career. On this occasion, he spoke at the Portsmouth Lyceum, which was known as "the temple." (A lyceum is a building or hall for public lectures or discussions.) It was located where Portsmouth Music Hall is now.

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Starting in the 1870s, New Hampshire's Civil War veterans began to meet each year for a reunion at Weirs Beach on Lake Winnipesaukee. They would bring their families to camp, socialize with other veterans, sing songs and dance, and share stories of their experiences during the war. This poem about the history of the Third New Hampshire Regiment, a volunteer unit, was read out loud during one of the reunions.

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This poem was written by an abolitionist named George Kent who lived in Concord, New Hampshire. He was the treasurer of the New Hampshire Anti-Slavery Society. This poem and the illustration were reprinted in newspapers all over the country.