Two distinct cemeteries among five properties named to the NH State Register of Historic Places

The New Hampshire Division of Historical Resources is pleased to announce that the State Historical Resources Council has added five properties to the New Hampshire State Register of Historic Places, including two cemeteries founded in the nineteenth century that have distinctly different characteristics.

Center Harbor’s Lake View Cemetery was part of Meredith until the town line was adjusted in 1873. Also known as Pleasant View Cemetery, it is a well-preserved example of a rural cemetery established during the early nineteenth century. Located on the side of a hill and overlooking Lake Winnipesaukee’s Center Harbor Bay, its monuments exhibit the wide variety of styles and materials that represent the changing tastes of funerary art from 1809 to 1964.

Union Cemetery in Portsmouth is a small urban cemetery whose lots were sold within a decade of its being established in 1844. An excellent example of rectilinear cemetery planning for privately owned family lots, it has regular and permanent borders both around its perimeter as well as around each private lot. The consistency of its design and the relatively brief period of its development and use make it an artifact of rare importance.

Three additional properties were also recently added to the New Hampshire State Register of Historic Places:

Boscawen Academy and “Much-I-Do” Hose House were named to the National Register of Historic Places in 1980. Built in the Late Federal style in 1827-28, the Academy is both one of the earliest brick academy structures remaining in New Hampshire and one of the best-preserved survivors of the age of academy building in New England (1790-1850). The clapboarded Hose House was built in 1893 to shelter the town’s fire-fighting equipment and was expanded in 1922. 

The circa 1720s John Gregg House is considered the one of the oldest houses in Derry and is the only remaining home of one of the original 20 Scotch Irish families that settled in what was then called Nutfield. Its original Colonial-style section is two stories and retains five fireplaces, exposed wooden beams and a stone foundation. Former New Hampshire governor, U.S. Congressman and Senator Judd Gregg is a direct descendant of John Gregg.

Located in the outskirts of Hopkinton’s Contoocook Village, the gambrel-roofed Houston Barn (circa 1912) was once part of a 115-acre farm that originally had chickens, sheep and Angus beef but focused on dairy production starting in the mid-twentieth century; T.C. Houston milk was the first in town to be delivered door-to-door. Today, the farm’s former hay and corn fields have been converted to sports playing fields, hiking trails, a playground and a dog park.

Anyone wishing to nominate a property to the New Hampshire State Register of Historic Places must research the history of the nominated property and document it on an individual inventory form from the New Hampshire Division of Historical Resources. Having a property listed in the Register does not impose restrictions on property owners. For more information, visit nhdhr.dncr.nh.gov.

New Hampshire's Division of Historical Resources, the State Historic Preservation Office, was established in 1974 and is part of the NH Department of Natural and Cultural Resources. NHDHR’s mission is to preserve and celebrate New Hampshire’s irreplaceable historic resources through programs and services that provide education, stewardship, and protection. For more information, visit us online at nhdhr.dncr.nh.gov or by calling 603-271-3483.

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