As our ancestors in Concord welcomed the year 1924 there were many events to read about in the local newspaper at the Main Street taverns. Some of the events were quite exciting and developed a following, while other events simply passed without notice. Calvin Coolidge defeated John W. Davis to become the president of the United States and a new organization called the Toastmasters Club was formed to help people become better public speakers. The very first Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade was held in New York City in 1924 just as the very last Rolls-Royce Silver Ghost was being sold in London, England. Our ancestors read intently about the National Hockey League expanding to the United States for the very first time, adding a team called the Boston Bruins.

With all of this activity the restaurants, taverns, Main Street shops and places of employment had much to talk about. There was one other activity that seemed to be making great strides too in the year 1924, people were suddenly becoming a little more interested in their health. From the earliest settler’s arrival in Concord for well over a century, the people of Concord worked their routine on a daily basis. For most people in the vicinity, this involved hard labor working on the farms, on Rattlesnake Hill at the quarries, on the railroad as well as many other occupations. Automation was not known as we know it today so the labor portion of a career was more times than not a strenuous day of work. Our ancestors always reaped the benefit of their hard labor and enjoyed the results without the thoughts of needing to exercise or participate in a structured form of recreation.

It was in 1924 that New Hampshire officially recognized the need for recreation for the residents. The politicians discovered that there was more to recreation than just the healthy air and beautiful scenery that surrounds people fortunate enough to live in the Granite State.

It was less than two decades prior to the year 1924 when Theodore Roosevelt planted the seed for recreation in the United States. In 1906, Roosevelt and his supporters officially formed an organization called the Recreation Association of America. The year after Roosevelt and his associates formed the Recreation Association of America the statistics tell us there were only 2,402 playgrounds for children in America, many cities not having a single location for the young to enjoy city managed recreation. As with most programs and policies, if the concept is a good one, the people will support the efforts and the numbers will grow.

Our ancestors were indeed interested in recreation and the statistics for a decade later in 1923 tell us that there were in fact 6,601 playgrounds and recreation centers, much more than twice the amount in a short decade. It is a fact that our ancestors in the United States spent $14,000,000 on recreation and playgrounds in the year 1924. New Hampshire heard the call, witnessed the national development spurred by the Recreation Association of America and launched efforts to participate in the popularity of building playgrounds and recreation centers in a more aggressive manner.

With the significant investment required the local towns and cities began to establish budgets and document both the need and the results of their investment on recreation. In 1913, New Hampshire only reported one official playground. In 1924, it saw 34 official playgrounds and five community centers under the supervision of 68 workers, seven being employed full time.

The average daily attendance at playgrounds in the year 1913 was just 300 children. By the year 1924, the average daily attendance at playgrounds and recreation centers in New Hampshire was up to 4,812. The bygone days of the late 1800s and early 1900s when local unsupported areas called “sand gardens” by many were used by children were now over.

The citizens of Concord have been most fortunate to enjoy benefactors that recognized the need for both recreation and relaxation. Armenia White donated her 25-acre parcel of land to build White Park in 1884, decades before the popularity of recreation was discussed. We are fortunate to have many wonderful parks around Concord. Rollins Park offered early recreation to those living in the south end of the city while Concord politicians continued to further develop outdoor opportunities for the young. It was just five years prior to the recreation efforts of 1924 that Concord established the Winter Carnival, which was a community event requiring little funding from the city budget and much participation from our ancestors and their employers. The young high school boys participating in woodworking shop classes at the Morrill Training School in Concord built two massive toboggan slides at a cost of $500 with the Concord Light Company providing electric lights on poles so that the toboggan slide could be enjoyed late into the night.

From a simple ball game at the park to a blustery ride down the ice-covered toboggan slide, our ancestors embraced the cold Concord winters as well as the recreation prompted by Theodore Roosevelt. When lean years arrived a short time after the explosion of recreation our community suffered the economic downward spiral with the rest of the country. The Great Depression devastated everyone and employment was not found easily. The government established the Works Progress Administration in 1935 and put people to work locally while providing income to sustain their families. Many of the projects here in Concord that were addressed by the WPA centered on the further development of recreation in Concord. The original concrete swimming pool at White Park was the result of the WPA Depression era work crews, many of the stone walls and roads constructed around the recreation areas were built and maintained by the WPA.

The young children of Concord that were victims of the Great Depression sought recreation to a far greater degree. To ride the grand toboggan slide with electric lights, skate across the frozen surface of the local pond or snowshoe the fields about our little town all provided recreation as well as more. The children of the Great Depression found a means of escape from poverty, if only for a brief time. When you were with your friends around the bonfire at the park or riding the toboggan beneath the stars you were in a better place and escaped reality for a short time. Peace and tranquility were known again and the pains of society lessened, if only for just moments.