Published: 4/20/2018 7:13:05 PM
Industrial Drive in Concord is now officially named Ratification Way, in honor of New Hampshire being the state whose signature made ratification of the U.S. Constitution official.
The change to the road, which intersects South Fruit Street and cuts through the Hugh Gallen state office park, was signed into law Friday by Gov. Chris Sununu.
It comes as work is about to begin shifting the road 50 feet south, further away from the Division of Archives and Records Management building, in preparation for a two-story, 42,000-square-foot addition being put on that building.
The new road name is especially appropriate because New Hampshire’s copy of the U.S. Constitution is in the Archives building.
The move will also lead to a change for the Lafayette Posts, a pair of six-foot granite pillars that have long stood, largely neglected, on each side of Industrial Drive at its intersection with South Fruit Street.
The pillars were put up at the State House in 1825 when the Marquis de Lafayette, revered for his role helping win the Revolutionary War, passed between them during a visit to the United States.
The posts will be spruced up and shifted to a walkway that leads into the new parking lot for the Archives building, where people can see them better.