“For any American who had the great privilege of being raised in a small town there always remains with him nostalgic memories…. And the older he grows the more he senses what he owed to the simple honesty and neighborliness, the integrity that he saw all around him in those days.” ~ Dwight D. Eisenhower

As a child growing up in Concord, I often marveled at the stories I heard relating to the past. My next-door neighbor was an elderly gentleman perhaps 80 years older than me. We would sit on the bench together at White’s Park near the baseball field or pond and he would share the most interesting events with me. His gold rimmed glasses would sparkle under the summer sunlight as he related story after story to me. My father would also tell of his childhood adventures around Concord while sharing stories his father told him. My uncles would always share an event or two each time I saw them, adventurous stories that were perhaps embellished somewhat but stories they were. These stories so deep rooted in the Concord that existed a century before now were exciting for a young boy, they were entertaining and they were inspiring too. As I sit at my keyboard writing my two hundred and ninety eighth edition of Vintage Views for the Concord Monitor, I reflect upon these stories that are an intricately woven piece of my life. Events that allowed me to transition from a young boy with a good memory to a mature adult with a keen interest in what once was.

The stories of my youth are very many, too many to share today, but fascinating stories one and all. As I ponder, I will share a few of these stories this day.

I recall hearing about ancient roads that no longer exist, many not even recorded in Concord history. Roads such as the one that traveled along the current Auburn Street, up Little Pond Road and then north to Rattlesnake Hill. It traveled from Rattlesnake Hill down the northeast end of Long Pond then across Hutchins Street and Bog Road to Penacook. This would be a road that our very earliest settlers carved out of the forest three hundred years ago and used as a common road. Most likely the origin travels even further back to a trail used by the local Native Americans. It was about eighty years ago when the Concord Planning Board officially endorsed the Concord Water Works request to bar this ancient highway. Certainly, an earnest request since about thirteen hundred feet of this ancient road lies beneath Long Pond today, our city water supply.

It was back in 1947 when work commenced on Durgin Lane in Concord. Rogers Brothers Garage wished to install a hydraulic lift for automobiles. The old building used by the automobile garage once served as a blacksmith shop for Lewis Downing, the builder of the Concord Coaches and was erected in 1847 as part of the coach factory. Lewis Downing and his sons Lewis Jr and Alonzo conducted business in this location as L. Downing and Sons until 1865. A series of brick buildings were constructed and used by Downing to build his carriages. These buildings concluded at the northwest corner of the intersection of Main and Pleasant Streets. In this area was an alley leading behind the brick buildings facing Main Street, this alley led to the back of the Durgin Silversmith Factory. Both the J.R. Hill Harness Building and Morrill Shop were part of these early carriage buildings. In 1947 as excavation began for the hydraulic life for the Rogers Garage the excavator struck a solid object buried a few feet beneath the surface and halted. Local historians were consulted as a large circular object was removed. It was a stone seven feet in circumference with a thickness of eight inches. This unearthed stone from a century before was the blacksmith stone used by Lewis Downing to make carriage wheels for his coaches.

As I travel back to the north end I visit my favorite boyhood park. My old friend told me about the history of White’s Park, the generosity of the White family and the attention to detail when the park was planned. Today we see one pond graced with a beautiful stone bridge. That stone bridge actually has a sister bridge, a bridge identical in design and appearance and located in Central Park in New York. The pond we view today was originally referred to as the lower pond, the area where the current swimming or wading pool is now located was home to the upper pond. The upper pond was spring fed and frequented by children swimming while the lower pond was larger and home to beautiful white swans, swans that were a gift from Amelia White. As time passed and the Great Depression arrived the upper pond was converted into a concrete swimming pool while the lower pond continued as a gathering place hosting wildlife. The spring that fed the upper pond travels a great distance from the north west before arriving at White’s Park. The spring water then flowed from the upper pond into the lower pond exiting near the stone bridge to a buried culvert. In early Concord history this spring fed stream traveled along Washington Street prior to the buried culvert. It then crossed Main Street and emptied into the Merrimack River.

When I was a very young child, I would spend time traveling around Concord on my bicycle with my friends. The granite quarries on Rattlesnake Hill were frequented, especially on hot summer days. I learned from my elders the original names of the quarry owners and the stories about their origin. As a child all I knew was the fact that they provided a wonderful place to swim. I soon learned a thousand men worked on Rattlesnake Hill each day, hard labor that was very dangerous. Quarries were named after the men that worked the quarries and extracted granite that would be transported down the hill by ox and cart or ox and sled in the winter. The harvested granite was transported to the east side of North State Street for processing. It would be cut to order for special projects, gravestones, curbing, building blocks and more. Once processed it was loaded onto a railroad flatcar and transported to points far away. The quarries had names like New England, Swenson, Perry, Lapierre and even Spain. I was fascinated as a child to learn that my very own Great Grandfather Martin Spain owned and operated Spain Quarry on Rattlesnake Hill. The city of Concord even had their very own city quarry further up North State Street near the present-day Hood Plant. They operated a stone crusher near Dillon and Grappone Baseball Fields.

Another welcoming Saturday adventure for Concord youth was digging for old bottles. We all seemed to have our favorite locations and we would excavate until the sun settled. We found many bottles blown a century before from colorful glass. Bubbles were found in the old bottles and they were heavy and thick boasting names of local businesses and druggist. As I conducted my excavation one particular day over fifty years ago, I struck a buried object that intrigued me. I rode my Schwinn to the New Hampshire Historical Society with my find and presented it to an older gentleman that seemed pleased. He confirmed I had discovered a Revolutionary War Brown Bess Socket Bayonet. A possession that I have kept all of these years.

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As summer concluded each year I would venture further with the cooler approaching temperatures. The Mast Yard Forest just west of Penacook was a favorite place to hike. The forest is aptly named the Mast Yard because it was an old growth forest full of mature pine trees. These trees were used as masts on old sailing ships, in particular old sailing ships in the Royal Navy. During the early period of time when Concord was named Rumford we were under British rule. A gentleman living locally was appointed by the King of England to manage this forest. He would select only the finest pine trees for masts, strip the bark off the base and strike the tree with a marker leaving the Royal Crown visible. Once marked with the Royal Crown all were forbidden from cutting that tree, it now belonged to England. The tree would be cut in time and transported by oxen to the Merrimack River. The masts would float down the river until they reached the Atlantic Ocean where they were loaded onto ships destined for the ship building yards used by the Royal Navy.

We have rambled together from White’s Park along an ancient road to Long Pond. We have visited Durgin Lane and both the upper and lower ponds at White’s Park. We have excavated old bottles and spent some time with the pine trees destined for Royal War Ships. I hope you have enjoyed your ramble about Concord. As you travel locally remember to look once, look twice, you never know what you might find hidden in plain view.