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Units of New Hampshire History
Unit 7: Building a State
Find It!

Find It! Building a State

All the resources that appear in this unit are gathered here for you—the photographs, maps, objects, audiovisuals, documents, videos, biographies, and vocabulary words. Click on the image below to see a larger view of each resource with more information about each one. On some of the resources you can even zoom in and get a closer look. So go ahead, dive in, and explore. Before you know it, you’ll be thinking like a historian.

Find It! Scavenger Hunt

Can you help Mason find these items on the page and answer the questions?

Scavenger Hunt

Click On An Icon To Find A Resource!

Photographs & Prints in this Unit:

Photograph/Print

Granite Quarry Workers

Keystone View Company

circa 1845-1930

Caption:

Quarrying for granite was hard physical work. Many immigrant men held this job, which involved digging deep into the ground to remove the granite. Quarry workers, like those at the Concord Granite Company in Concord, used hand tools to split the granite into smaller pieces. Then they hammered the pieces into different shapes and sizes so they could be used for building. Granite from New Hampshire was used as a building material in many cities across the United States, as well as for the New Hampshire State House and the New Hampshire Historical Society.

Image Credit: New Hampshire Historical Society

Photograph/Print

Crawford Notch

Charles H. Sawyer

1928

Caption:

This photographic print is of Crawford Notch in the White Mountains.

Image Credit: New Hampshire Historical Society

Photograph/Print

New Hampshire State House

Illustrated Postal Card Company

circa 1898–1952

Caption:

The New Hampshire State House in Concord opened in 1819 and is the oldest state capitol in the country where the lawmakers still meet in their original chambers. The State House was built with granite from the Swenson quarries in Concord, and the stone was cut by prisoners at the state prison. State buildings are often popular tourist stops.

Image Credit: New Hampshire Historical Society

Photograph/Print

Crawford House, Crawford Notch

John Badger Bachelder

circa 1858

Caption:

Early visitors to the White Mountains stayed in taverns or inns. Visitors relied on the beauty of the scenery for entertainment, and only returned to these taverns to eat and sleep.

Image Credit: New Hampshire Historical Society

Photograph/Print

Dover Factories

Thomas Edwards, Senefelder Lithographic Company

circa 1828–1830

Caption:

The town of Dover, NH, has used the water power of the Cocheco River for centuries. In the 1600s it powered a sawmill and in the 1800s it powered cotton mills. This picture shows textile factories along the Cocheco River in the early 1800s.

Image Credit: New Hampshire Historical Society

Photograph/Print

Sawyer Woolen Mills

Rollin Caughey, Strobridge Lithographing Company

1884

Caption:

The Sawyer Woolen Mills in Dover, NH, opened in the 1820s and was the largest wool textile factory in the country in the 1880s, until Amoskeag Mills got bigger. It is on the banks of the Bellamy River.

Image Credit: New Hampshire Historical Society

Photograph/Print

Amoskeag Mill Girls

circa 1855

Caption:

During the early part of the Industrial Revolution, many workers in New Hampshire's textile mills were young women and girls from nearby farm towns. They were called "mill girls." They usually worked for a few years until they got married. They often sent most of the money they earned home to their families and lived in boardinghouses run by the textile companies. These women all worked together in one part of the Amoskeag Manufacturing Company.

Image Credit: Courtesy of the Manchester (NH) Historic Association

Amoskeag Self-Propelled Steam Fire Engine

Photograph/Print

Amoskeag Self-Propelled Steam Fire Engine

Amoskeag Locomotive Works

circa 1867–1876

Caption:

The Amoskeag Manufacturing Company manufactured more than textiles. They also made locomotives, fire engines, sewing machines, and rifles. The Amoskeag Company had a big machine shop where they made all of their own machines for producing textiles. In the late 1850s, they decided to try to make the best steam-powered fire engine in the United States. At first they made fire engines with one or two large pumps that sprayed the water out. These could be pulled by horses or men. Then in 1867 they invented a fire engine that used steam power to move and to pump the water out, called self-propellers. These were some of the earliest motor vehicles. They could travel 10 or 12 miles per hour.

Image Credit: Wikimedia Commons

Photograph/Print

Mill at New Ipswich

Hannah D. Leslie

circa 1825

Caption:

The mill at New Ipswich, NH, opened in 1804 and was the first cotton spinning mill in New Hampshire. It used machines to spin cotton into yarn. The machines were powered by water. The river ran through a waterwheel, which was attached to a machine. When the waterwheel turned, it powered the machine.

Image Credit: New Hampshire Historical Society

Photograph/Print

Grazing Sheep

circa 1880–1985

Caption:

Have you ever noticed old stone walls in your town or along country roads in New Hampshire? Many of them were built in the early 19th century to keep sheep penned in. There was so much sheep farming in New Hampshire that farmers were said to have "sheep fever." Many trees were cut down to provide land for sheep to graze on. By 1840 there were more than 600,000 sheep in New Hampshire. That's more sheep than people!

Image Credit: New Hampshire Historical Society

Photograph/Print

The Bobbin Girl

Winslow Homer

circa 1860s–1880s

Caption:

"Bobbin girls" were young women who worked in textile mills. Their job was to wrap the thread around empty bobbins, which were wooden cylinders or cones. The full bobbins were then loaded onto shuttles. The shuttles were then put onto power looms and the thread was woven into cloth. Although the young woman in this drawing is working in a mill in Lowell, Massachusetts, many "bobbin girls" worked in mills in New Hampshire.

Image Credit: Courtesy of the Lowell National Historical Park, National Park Service

Photograph/Print

Gundalow Fanny M

Caption:

A gundalow is a shallow wooden barge that was used from the mid 1600s to the early 1900s. They carried freight between the port in Portsmouth and the growing towns along the Piscataqua River. Gundalows could be over 70 feet long and could carry up to 50 tons at a time. They brought trade goods such as cotton, spices, and molasses to the towns upriver. They then brought items like farm produce, fish, and lumber downriver to be loaded onto ocean-going ships and sold around the world. The Fanny M set sail from Adam's Point in Durham, NH, in 1886. It was the last gundalow to be in business in the seacoast region. It eventually wrecked off of Dover Point in Dover, NH.

Image Credit: Courtesy of the Woodman Museum, Dover, NH

Photograph/Print

New Hampshire Coat of Arms

Engraving by Henry Mitchell in State Arms of the Union, Boston: Louis Prang and Company, 1876

Caption:

A coat of arms is a visual symbol used to identify an individual, family, state, or organization. New Hampshire's coat of arms is similar to its state seal, but not quite the same. They both have a ship, because Portsmouth has always been an important shipbuilding center. They both show a harbor and a rising sun. The coat of arms also shows people.

Image Credit: Wikimedia Commons user Godot13

Photograph/Print

New Hampshire State House

Caption:

The executive branch and legislative branch of the New Hampshire government are based at the State House in Concord. Concord is New Hampshire's state capital. The New Hampshire State House opened in 1819. It is the oldest state capital building in the country where the legislature still meets in its original meeting space.

Image Credit: Image by Alexius Horatius at Wikimedia Commons

Photograph/Print

State House Dome

2012

Caption:

The New Hampshire State House in Concord, NH, is where the New Hampshire legislature and Executive Council meet. It is also where the governor's office is located. It opened in 1819. This large wooden dome was added in the 1860s, when the building was enlarged. Originally the dome was covered in tiles made out of a type of stone called slate. In 1964, the slate tiles were removed and replaced with copper. The copper was then covered with gold leaf.

Image Credit: Wikimedia Commons user Alexius Horatius

Photograph/Print

State House Murals

Murals by Barry Faulkner

2014

Caption:

This image shows murals in the Senate chamber of the New Hampshire State House. These murals were painted and installed by Barry Faulkner, an artist from Keene, NH. They show important events in the state's history. From left to right, they show: (1) the first graduation ceremony at Dartmouth College in Hanover, NH; (2) Daniel Webster reading the U.S. Constitution; (3) Abbott Thayer, a famous artist who lived in Keene and Dublin, NH, teaching an art class; and (4) John Stark, a famous soldier from Manchester, NH, preparing for battle during the American Revolution.

Image Credit: Photo by Wikimedia Commons user Ser Amantio di Nicolao

Photograph/Print

Representatives' Hall

2014

Caption:

The New Hampshire legislature has been meeting in this room since the State House opened in 1819. This makes it the oldest State House in the United States where the legislature is still meeting in its original space.

Image Credit: Wikimedia Commons user Royalbroil

Photograph/Print

State House Anniversary Inscription

2006

Caption:

The New Hampshire State House in Concord, NH, is the oldest state house in the country where the legislature still meets in the original rooms. This stone was carved to marked the 150th anniversary of the State House opening. The building opened in 1819 and the 150th anniversary was in 1969.

Image Credit: Wikimedia Commons user Hossen27

Photograph/Print

Early State House Drawing

Samuel Leonard Pitkin

1822

Caption:

This drawing is the oldest known image of the New Hampshire State House. It was made by a Vermont student who visited New Hampshire with his teacher and classmates in June of 1822. Notice the letters written on the building. They mark specific locations in the State House. The letters G, E, and F are on the second floor and are shown from left to right. G shows the governor's office and Executive Council chamber, E shows where Representatives' Hall is, and F shows the location of the Senate chamber. The letter C is on the lower right and shows a meeting room on the first floor.

Image Credit: Letter from Samuel Pitkin to Sarah Pitkin, 13 July 1822. Samuel Leonard Pitkin Papers, Norwich University Archives, Kreitzberg Library, Northfield, Vt.

Photograph/Print

State House in Concord Engraving

From the American Magazine of Useful and Entertaining Knowledge

1836

Caption:

This engraving of the New Hampshire State House in Concord shows the way it looked in 1836, about 15 years after it opened.

Image Credit: New Hampshire Historical Society

Photograph/Print

State House Expanded and Remodeled

William A. Wright

1895

Caption:

The New Hampshire State House was expanded and remodeled from 1864 to 1866. This photograph, taken about 30 years later, shows some of the new features, such as new roofs and columns. If you compare this photograph to the photograph from circa 1859–1864, what else do you notice?

Image Credit: New Hampshire Historical Society

Photograph/Print

Original State House Photo

circa 1859–1864

Caption:

This is the only known photograph of the New Hampshire state house in its original form. It looked like this from 1819, when it opened, to 1864, when the first remodeling project began. The State House was remodeled and expanded again in 1910.

Image Credit: New Hampshire Historical Society

Photograph/Print

Storrowton New England Village

Tichnor Brothers postcard circa 1930–1945

Caption:

This postcard shows a typical colonial New England village. Notice that the main public buildings, like the meeting house or church, were centered around the town commons. A commons is a public area, usually flat and grassy, that is used by all members of a community. Storrowton Village Museum is a recreated village of 18th and 19th century buildings from Massachusetts and New Hampshire. All of the buildings were originally located in different places, but they were moved to Springfield, Massachusetts, and set up like a colonial village. That way modern visitors can see what it would have looked like in the 1700s and 1800s.

Image Credit: Boston Public Library, Digital Commonwealth

Photograph/Print

Frost Farm

Vincent Rojo

Caption:

This picture shows a connected farm. This type of housing style was popular on New England farms in the late 1700s and 1800s. Most farms started off with a small house but then added to it as the farm produced more goods. Farm families who were doing well built a bigger house onto the small house. Sometimes they also built a room that linked the house to the barn. This was called a connected farm because the different parts of the house are connected together. This was known as "big house, little house, back house, barn." This connected farm in Derry, New Hampshire, was built in the 1880s and later owned by the Frost family. A famous writer, Robert Frost, lived there with his family from 1900 to 1911.

Image Credit: Courtesy Nutfield Genealogy Blog

Photograph/Print

Woodland Road

Meyndert Hobbema

circa 1670

Caption:

This painting shows what a typical road looked like during the 1600s, 1700s, and early 1800s. Roads had to be cut through the forest, field, or marshland by hand. They were rough and not always straight. But they were very important! Roads were used to transport people, animals, and products from place to place.

Image Credit: Metropolitan Museum of Art, Bequest of Mary Stillman Harkness, 1950

Photograph/Print

Wooded Landscape with a Wagon Train

Jan Brueghel the Elder

circa early 1600s

Caption:

Roads in the 17th and 18th centuries were very rough, but important. People, animals, and products traveled from place to place on roads. The people in each town were responsible for taking care of their roads. They decided where the roads would go and they built them. They kept them clear of rocks and tree branches. It was hard but important work.

Image Credit: Wikimedia Commons

Photograph/Print

Galloping Through the Turnpike Gate

Randolph Caldecott

Caption:

A turnpike is a road built for heavy travel where travelers pay a toll. The toll pays for the supplies and labor to build and maintain the road. Tolls were collected at toll gates built across the roadways. Travelers could not go through the gates until they paid the toll. The state of New Hampshire started building turnpikes in the late 1700s. This picture is an illustration from a children's book printed in 1912, but it tells the story of a man who lived in the 18th century. He must have been in a hurry!

Image Credit: New York Public Library Digital Collections

Travel by Stagecoach Near Trenton, New Jersey

Photograph/Print

Travel by Stagecoach Near Trenton, New Jersey

Pavel Petrovich Svinin

circa 1811–1813

Caption:

Stagecoaches were the first form of public transportation in New Hampshire. A stagecoach is a large horse-drawn carriage that carries many people. People who didn't have their own wagons or horses could buy a ticket on a stagecoach to travel from place to place. It was much faster than walking, although coaches were usually crowded and the roads were bumpy. This painting shows a scene in New Jersey, but these types of stagecoach roads were used all over the northeastern United States.

Image Credit: Metropolitan Museum of Art, Rogers Fund, 1942

Photograph/Print

The Pemigewasset Coach

Print by Artistic Picture Publishing Company, Inc., circa 1946, after a painting by Enoch Wood Perry, 1899

Caption:

This painting shows a Concord coach heading off on a journey. A stagecoach is a large horse-drawn carriage that carries many people. The Concord coach is a specific type of stagecoach. It was designed by two men in New Hampshire, Lewis Downing and Stephen Abbot. They designed their coach so that the cab, where passengers rode, swung gently back and forth instead of bouncing up and down on the rough roads. Concord coaches were manufactured in Concord, New Hampshire, and became the most popular stagecoaches in the world.

Image Credit: New Hampshire Historical Society

Photograph/Print

King's Road, Chelsea

William Pengree Sherlock

circa 1800–1820

Caption:

More and more roads were built across New Hampshire in the early 19th century. People were able to travel from town to town more often. This helped people feel connected to other towns besides their own. Although this drawing shows a road in England in the early 1800s, the type of road and the type of travel at that time were very similar in New Hampshire.

Image Credit: ©The Trustees of the British Museum

Photograph/Print

View Near Passaconaway Club House

Josiah Wolcott

1847

Caption:

New Hampshire is full of rivers. In fact, there are over 40,000 miles of rivers in the state! This painting shows a section of the Merrimack River just south of Concord.

Image Credit: New Hampshire Historical Society

Photograph/Print

Concord, New Hampshire

Lithograph printed by M. and N. Hanhard, London, after a painting by George Harvey

1853

Caption:

Before trains and highways, rivers were an important form of transportation in New Hampshire. People and products moved from place to place on barges or rafts like those shown in this painting. They were made out of logs fastened together, and steered by men using long oars. Several rafts could be linked together to make one long raft. The scene in this painting is the Merrimack River in Concord, New Hampshire.

Image Credit: New Hampshire Historical Society

Photograph/Print

Erie Canal, 1825

Carl Rakeman for the Bureau of Public Roads, circa 1920s–1950s

Caption:

A canal is a manmade waterway. During the early 19th century, America had "canal fever." Canals were built all over the place to connect rivers and ports. This helped people and products move from place to place more quickly. The most famous canal was the Erie Canal, which connected the Great Lakes with the Hudson River and New York City.

Image Credit: Federal Highway Administration, U.S. Department of Transportation

Photograph/Print

First Train of Cars in America

Warren S. Parker

1831

Caption:

The first steam-powered train to carry passengers in the United States ran in 1831. It took people between two towns in New York state. The first passenger cars were based on stagecoaches, but because they were running on tracks instead of rough roads, they were more comfortable than coaches. As railroads grew and the technology improved, trains became more and more comfortable for passengers.

Image Credit: Thomas Crane Public Library, Quincy, Massachusetts, via Digital Commonwealth

Photograph/Print

New England Homestead

Samuel Lancaster Gerry

1839

Caption:

Farming has a long and important history in New Hampshire. In the woodland period, the Abenaki planted crops. The early English settlers had to grow food to eat. Until the early 1800s, nearly everyone in New Hampshire was a farmer! Granite Staters grew all sorts of crops, including grains like wheat and corn, vegetables like squash and carrots, and they had orchards of apples and pears. They also raised livestock, like sheep, cows, and chickens, to provide milk, eggs, and meat. Agriculture continues to be important in New Hampshire today. This painting shows a very typical farmstead in New Hampshire in the early 1800s.

Image Credit: Brooklyn Museum, Dick S. Ramsay Fund

Leete Farm, West Claremont, New Hampshire

Photograph/Print

Leete Farm, West Claremont, New Hampshire

Attributed to Francis Alexander

circa 1822

Caption:

Image Credit: Metropolitan Museum of Art, Gift of Edgar William and Bernice Chrysler Garbisch, 1972

Photograph/Print

Old Slater Mill

Postcard of a painting by Alfred Carufel, published by Berger Brothers, Providence, RI

Caption:

The Slater Mill was built in Rhode Island in 1793. It was the first textile mill in America. It was named after Samuel Slater. Slater was a young British man who had worked for a British textile factory. He memorized the design of this new technology before he left Great Britain. When he got to the United States, he helped Americans recreate this technology and build their first textile mills.

Image Credit: Boston Public Library Tichnor Brothers Collection via Digital Commonwealth

Photograph/Print

Merino Sheep

From Sheep, Breeds and Management by John Wrightson

1893

Caption:

In the early 1800s, many farmers in Vermont and New Hampshire started raising sheep. They could sell the wool from the sheep to the new textile factories. There were more sheep than people in New Hampshire! This is known as the Great Sheep Boom. Merino sheep were a popular breed of sheep to raise during this time. Merino sheep were known for being very sturdy and for producing fine wool.

Image Credit: Internet Archive

Photograph/Print

Zig-Zag Passenger and Freight Train

Forbes Albertype Company, Printmaker

1885

Caption:

The first railroad in New Hampshire started running in 1838. Railroads had a huge impact on the way people lived in New Hampshire and all over the country. People and products could travel more quickly and cheaply from town to town. Trains brought tourists to the seacoast, Lakes Region, and White Mountains. And the railroads also helped New Hampshire's industry grow. They brought raw materials like cotton from the South to New Hampshire's factories, and then they brought the finished products to all sorts of places to be sold. They also brought workers to the factories, like immigrants who came from Canada or people from small towns who came to work in factories in the big cities.

Image Credit: Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division

Photograph/Print

Bartering

F. S. Church in Harper's Weekly

1874

Caption:

Before industrialization, most people in New Hampshire did not use money to buy things. Instead, they bartered with their neighbors. Bartering means to exchange goods and services you have for the goods and services you need. In this newspaper illustration from the 1870s, a man is paying a newspaper editor for his yearly subscription. He is exchanging his farm goods, like apples, a pumpkin, and chickens, for the newspaper.

Image Credit: Wikimedia Commons

Photograph/Print

C. F. Pettengill Store

circa 1800s

Caption:

This photograph shows a dry goods store somewhere in New Hampshire. (We don't know which town it was in!) A dry goods store sold textiles, like fabric and ready-made items made out of fabric, like napkins, tablecloths, and clothing. Sometimes they also sold boots and shoes or grocery items, such as coffee, tea, flour, and sugar. Customers used cash to pay for the items in the store, which was a big change from bartering.

Image Credit: New Hampshire Historical Society

Photograph/Print

Poster No. 5—Boots and Shoes

Gibson and Company

circa 1878

Caption:

This illustration is an advertisement for a shoe store. Notice that the store says "one price cash." This means that the store has set the same price for every customer, and they will only accept cash as payment. This was a new way for people to get the goods they needed. Before industrialization, people would usually barter with their neighbors for goods. For example, someone might trade some eggs and butter from their farm for some shoes made by a neighbor. Now that people were working in factories and getting paid in cash, they could buy goods in stores with money.

Image Credit: Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division

Photograph/Print

Boot and Shoe Card

Gibson and Company

Caption:

This cartoon shows how important railroads were to industrialization. Trains brought raw materials to factories, and shipped the finished products out to markets. The train in this cartoon is bringing all sorts of shoes and boots to a town. The artist imagined that the train actually looked like a boot!

Image Credit: Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division

Bird's Eye View of the Village of Farmington

Photograph/Print

Bird's Eye View of the Village of Farmington

1877

Caption:

"Bird's eye" views of towns and villages like this one were very popular in the late 1800s. These illustrations showed what a community looked like from above. New Hampshire's population grew and grew from the late 1700s through the 1800s, so communities were getting bigger and bigger. This bird's eye view shows Farmington, New Hampshire.

Image Credit: Library of Congress, Geography and Map Division

Photograph/Print

Daniel Webster

Albert Gallatin Hoit

circa 1850

Caption:

Daniel Webster was a famous American politician who was born in New Hampshire. He went to Dartmouth College, and served as New Hampshire's representative to the U.S. Congress. He later moved to Massachusetts and was elected a U.S. Senator. He was also a U.S. Secretary of State! One of the projects he did while secretary of state was to settle the border between Canada and the United States. This finalized the northern border of New Hampshire.

Image Credit: New Hampshire Historical Society

Photograph/Print

Patent Office

circa 1907

Caption:

The way that people worked changed with the Industrial Revolution. Many people were still farmers, but others went to work in factories. The factories needed workers who made the products. They also needed workers to manage the factories, so more people started working in offices. For example, factories needed workers to order the raw materials and arrange for the finished products to be shipped to market. They also needed workers to hire and train other workers, and keep track of everyone's wages. This picture from the early 20th century shows a government office.

Image Credit: National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution

Photograph/Print

New Hampshire Historical Society Museum

circa 1910

Caption:

The New Hampshire Historical Society was founded in 1823. It collects objects and documents from New Hampshire's past to save, preserve, and share New Hampshire's history. This photograph shows its museum on State Street in Concord, New Hampshire. What kinds of objects do you notice? In 1911, the Society moved to a special new building on Park Street in Concord. Have you ever visited it on a field trip?

Image Credit: New Hampshire Historical Society

Photograph/Print

Railroad and Steamboat Station

John Badger Bachelder

1858

Caption:

There were so many new developments in transportation in the 19th century—turnpike roads, canals, steamboats, railroads. These improvements in transportation meant that Granite Staters were more and more connected with people outside their towns and outside their state. This is a picture of Alton Bay, New Hampshire, in the middle of the 19th century. How many forms of transportation do you notice?

Image Credit: New Hampshire Historical Society

Photograph/Print

Mount Washington and the White Hills

William Henry Bartlett

1838

Caption:

The Tenth New Hampshire Turnpike opened in 1806. Its route went through Crawford Notch in the White Mountains. This allowed people to travel to the northern part of New Hampshire much more easily. This picture shows a stagecoach traveling on a road over the Saco River in Crawford Notch. Do you think that would have been a comfortable journey?

Image Credit: New Hampshire Historical Society

Photograph/Print

Old Man of the Mountain Photograph

Charles H. Sawyer

1928

Caption:

The Old Man of the Mountain was an important New Hampshire landmark. It was a series of five layers of granite that looked like the profile, or side, of a man's face. It became well-known starting in the 1930s and people came from all over the country to see it. It became a symbol of New Hampshire. Unfortunately the granite that made up the Old Man fell to the ground in 2003.

Image Credit: New Hampshire Historical Society

Maps & Charts in this Unit:

Maps & Charts

Carrigain Map of New Hampshire

Philip Carrigain

1816

Caption:

This is the first map made of the entire state of New Hampshire. It took 13 years to make.

Image Credit: New Hampshire Historical Society

Maps & Charts

Railroad Map of New Hampshire 1857

J. R. Dodge

1857

Caption:

Railroads first came to New Hampshire in 1838 and came to the White Mountains by 1851. This map shows county and town lines, as well as railroad routes, in New Hampshire in 1857.

Image Credit: New Hampshire Historical Society

Maps & Charts

Transportation Map of New England

David H. Burr and John Arrowsmith

1839

Caption:

This is a map of the New England states—Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut. It was made in 1839. It shows all of the post offices, post roads, canals, and railroads in the region. A post road was a road that was used by mail carriers, who used coaches or rode on horseback. It meant that the road was particularly important. For example, the Boston Post Road connected Boston and New York City.

Image Credit: Library of Congress, Geography and Map Division

Plan of the First New Hampshire Turnpike (detail)

Maps & Charts

Plan of the First New Hampshire Turnpike (detail)

Phinehas Merrill

1802

Caption:

This is a detail, or small part, of a map of the First New Hampshire Turnpike. A turnpike is a road built for heavy travel on which travelers pay a toll. The First NH Turnpike was completed in 1801. It ran 36 miles, east to west, connecting Portsmouth to Concord. Portsmouth is New Hampshire's only seaport, and Concord was becoming more and more important at that time. It would be named the new state capital a few years later. The turnpike was an important way to link these two towns, and all of the towns between them, for mail delivery and trade. A big part of modern-day Route 4 is the First NH Turnpike. What do you notice about this map? What did the mapmaker think it was important to show people in 1802? Don't forget to look at the compass rose!

Image Credit: Courtesy of the New Hampshire State Archives

Maps & Charts

Colton's Map of New Hampshire

G. Woolworth Colton

1866

Caption:

This map shows New Hampshire in 1866. The state had grown so much in the last one hundred years! Originally there were just five counties. By 1866, the population had grown so much that there were ten counties, which are all shown on this map. The map also shows all the towns, as well as New Hampshire's borders with Canada, Maine, Massachusetts, and Vermont.

Image Credit: New Hampshire Historical Society

Maps & Charts

Indian Stream Republic

English Wikipedia user Citynoise

Caption:

Have you ever heard of the Indian Stream Republic? In the 1830s, this town in the northernmost part of New Hampshire tried to become its own country! Back then, no one was quite sure whether the land belonged to Canada or the United States. So in 1832 the town decided to create their own republic. After three years the state of New Hampshire claimed the land and forced the town to become the town of Pittsburg, New Hampshire.

Image Credit: Wikimedia Commons

Objects in this Unit:

Object

Original State House Eagle

Leonard Morse

1818

Caption:

This wooden sculpture of an eagle was placed on top of the New Hampshire State House dome in 1818, a year before the building was completed. It is covered in gold leaf. The eagle is an important symbol of patriotism, and is the national bird. The state house eagle was carved by a young man named Leonard Morse, who was paid $50. After years and years of being exposed to rain, ice, and snow, the eagle had a lot of damage and decay. So in 1957 a replica, or copy, of the eagle was put on top of the state house dome. The replica is made out of a metal called copper, which is more weatherproof. This original eagle is now at the New Hampshire Historical Society in Concord. You can see it if you visit us on a field trip!

Image Credit: New Hampshire Historical Society

Object

Coins

Caption:

Before industrialization, farming families in New Hampshire didn't have to use currency, like coins and bills, very often. They produced many of the things they needed on their own farms, and could usually barter for other goods and services. When people went to work in factories, though, they were paid with money. They used the money to buy things that they needed, like food, clothing, or a place to live. This is one example of how industrialization changed people's daily lives.

Image Credit: sharpner on Adobe Stock

Documents in this Unit:

Document

Live Free or Die

Green-Mountain Farmer, Bennington, Vermont, August 21, 1809

1809

Caption:

In 1809, John Stark was invited to an anniversary celebration for the Battle of Bennington. Unfortunately, he was too old and sick to travel. Instead he sent a letter to be read out loud at the celebration. He wrote about his great respect for the soldiers who fought with him for liberty and independence. At the end of the letter, Stark wrote, “Live free or die, death is not the greatest of evils.” These words became an important symbol of New Hampshire and later, the state motto. Stark’s original letter does not seem to have survived, but it was reprinted in this newspaper.

Image Credit:

Document

State House Stonecutting Plan

Stuart J. Park

1816

Caption:

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!

Image Credit: New Hampshire Historical Society

Document

Receipt for State House Builder

State of New Hampshire

1817

Caption:

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.

Image Credit: Courtesy of the New Hampshire State Archives

Document

The History of New Hampshire

Jeremy Belknap

1813

Caption:

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.

Image Credit: New Hampshire Historical Society

Document

The Granite State

Philip Carrigain

1825

Caption:

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.

Image Credit: New Hampshire Historical Society

Videos in this Unit:

Video

Mason Asks: What Was the Old Man of the Mountain?

Caption:

Image Credit: New Hampshire Historical Society

Video

Mason Asks: What Is Mount Washington?

Caption:

Image Credit: New Hampshire Historical Society

Video

Mason Explains: From Farm to City

Caption:

Image Credit: New Hampshire Historical Society

Video

Mason Explains: Factory Work

Caption:

Image Credit: New Hampshire Historical Society

Video

Mason Explains: Railroads in New Hampshire

Caption:

Image Credit: New Hampshire Historical Society

Video

Mason Explains: The New Hampshire State House

2022

Caption:

Image Credit: New Hampshire Historical Society

Video

Mason Explains: Turnpikes in New Hampshire

2022

Caption:

Image Credit: New Hampshire Historical Society

Video

Mason Explains: From Homemade to Machine-Made

2022

Caption:

Image Credit: New Hampshire Historical Society

Video

Virtual Field Trip: The Concord Coach

2023

Caption:

Image Credit: New Hampshire Historical Society

Video

Virtual Field Trip: New Hampshire Historical Society

2023

Caption:

Image Credit: New Hampshire Historical Society

Biographies in this Unit:

Biography

John Stark

1728–1822

Caption:

John Stark is one of New Hampshire’s most famous military leaders. He was born in Londonderry. He was a farmer, hunter, and trapper. As a young man he was captured by Native Americans and spent about a year living with an Abenaki family in Canada, until he was sent back to New Hampshire. When fighting broke out between the patriots and the British in 1775, he raced to Massachusetts to defend the colonies. He fought in important battles like the Battle of Bunker Hill and the Battle of Trenton, where he helped George Washington. Stark was eventually promoted to general and in 1777 he led New Hampshire troops to victory at the Battle of Bennington. This victory helped save New England from a British invasion. Stark is still known as the “Hero of Bennington.” In 1809 he wrote a letter to some of the soldiers he had served with and used the phrase: “Live free or die; death is not the greatest of evils.” Those words, “Live free or die,” later became the state motto.

Image Credit: Portrait of John Stark by Ulysses Dow Tenney, 1876, Courtesy of the State of New Hampshire

Biography

Abel Crawford

circa 1766–1851

Caption:

Abel Crawford moved to the White Mountains in 1790 and spent the rest of his life promoting the mountain region. At the time, very few people lived there, but he and his father-in-law, Eleazer Rosebrook, both opened inns near a pass in the mountains where travelers could cross the mountains. The pass was originally called the Notch, but now it is known as Crawford Notch after the Crawford family. Abel loved the mountains and explored them more than anyone else had done at that point. He was known for telling wild stories about what he found in the White Mountains, including tales of encountering bears and other animals. With his son Ethan Allen Crawford and other family members, Abel built taverns and inns where tourists could stay, cut hiking trails through the mountains, and led guided tours to interesting noteworthy places.

Image Credit: Photo by Mr. Spring from an 1846 portrait by Chester Harding, New Hampshire Historical Society

Biography

Ethan Allen Crawford

circa 1792–1846

Caption:

The son of White Mountain explorer Abel Crawford, Ethan Allen Crawford helped develop the White Mountains as a tourist destination. Ethan Allen ran a hotel named the Crawford House, which offered tourists a nice place to stay when they visited the White Mountains. He also cut the first hiking trail to the summit of Mount Washington, naming it the Crawford Path. He helped write guidebooks about the mountains and placed advertisements in newspapers encouraging people to visit. An experienced mountain man, Ethan Allen loved to tell tall tales about life in the White Mountains, just like his father did. Many things in the White Mountains are named after Ethan Allen and his family, since they played such a big role in bringing tourists to the region.

Image Credit:

Biography

Philip Carrigain

1772–1842

Caption:

Philip Carrigain was an important person in New Hampshire in the early 1800s. He founded a newspaper, was a secretary of state, and wrote a poem called “The Granite State” that gave New Hampshire its nickname. He is most known for creating the “Carrigain map.” No maps of New Hampshire had been made since the American Revolution. There was a lot of land in the North Country that had never been mapped. And there were new towns popping up everywhere as more and more people moved to the state. Philip Carrigain convinced the state government that it was time for a new map. The state put him in charge of it. It was a long and complicated project, because each town’s map had to be drawn by hand. Then the maps had to be put all together into a single map. It took 13 years! Eventually, in 1816, it was finished, and a copy was given to each town in the state.

Image Credit:

Biography

Daniel Webster

1782–1852

Caption:

Daniel Webster was one of the most important American politicians of the 19th century. He was known as “the Great Orator,” because he was a talented public speaker. He was very good at convincing people of his point of view. Webster grew up in Salisbury, New Hampshire, in a part of the town that is now the city of Franklin. He graduated from Dartmouth College and became a lawyer. In 1819, he won a very important court case for Dartmouth College. He also represented New Hampshire in the U.S. House of Representatives. Later he moved to Massachusetts, and was elected a U.S. Senator. He was also the U.S. Secretary of State, a very important job. As the country became more and more divided over the issue of slavery, Webster tried to keep the union together by suggesting compromises. His statue is in front of the New Hampshire State House.

Image Credit: Portrait of Daniel Webster by Albert Gallatin Hoit, circa 1850, New Hampshire Historical Society

Biography

Jeremy Belknap

1744–1798

Caption:

Jeremy Belknap wrote the first history of New Hampshire. He was born in Boston and studied at Harvard College. As a young man, he moved to New Hampshire and became a minister. He also loved to research and write about history. He traveled all over New Hampshire and studied its past. In 1784 he published the first part of the History of New Hampshire. He had done so much research and learned so much that it took two more books to tell the whole story! This was the very first history book written by an American. New Hampshire’s Belknap county is named after him.

Image Credit: Portrait of Jeremy Belknap attributed to Nathaniel C. Nelson, after Henry Sargent, circa 1873, New Hampshire Historical Society

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