Pelham, NH Historical Society
Pelham Center
By the 1900's, Pelham Center was recognized as the area surrounding the intersection of Old Bridge Street, Nashua Road, Windham Road, and Main Street.
The district includes the original Town Hall and Library, Town Common with the Butler Monument, old site of the Police and Fire Station (Now Meetinghouse Park), Parsonage, First Congregational Church, and St. Patrick Church, along with its rectory and school building.
The center also includes the Town Hall (formerly E. G. Sherburne School), current Police and Fire Stations, and the Library, which are located around the Village Green.
The Hobb's Community Center and Gibson & Center Cemetery are also commonly considered part of Pelham Center.
A photo of the town center from the early 1900's.
The Beginnings of Pelham Center
In colonial New England, the church and the town were at the heart of community life. However, after the long-running boundary dispute between Massachusetts and New Hampshire was settled in 1741, the institutions that supported civic and religious life in the area that would become Pelham were weak and largely unorganized.
Following Pelham's incorporation on July 5, 1746, residents immediately began working to establish a strong local government and a permanent place of worship.
Shortly after the town was chartered, Zacheus Lovewell returned from Portsmouth with Pelham's official charter and instructions to convene the first Town Meeting. That meeting took place on July 21, 1746, when the town's first elected officials were chosen.
Creating a permanent church and ministry required the construction of a meetinghouse. Before that could happen, the town first needed to determine the location of its center. At the Town Meeting on September 3, 1746, residents appointed a committee to establish the boundary between Pelham and Nottingham West and identify the geographic center of town. To assist with the work, surveyor James Ingalls of Andover, Massachusetts, was hired to help determine the boundary and locate what would become the center of Pelham.
Constructing a meetinghouse and supporting a minister required a reliable source of funding. In 1747, Henry Baldwin petitioned the New Hampshire Provincial Legislature to allow the town to tax non-resident landowners, who owned a significant portion of Pelham's land but were not contributing to its development. The legislature approved the request, authorizing a five-year tax on non-resident property owners equal to that paid by resident landowners. The revenue generated was designated specifically to complete the meetinghouse and provide compensation for the town's minister.
The land that became the Pelham Town Common was donated on October 9, 1751, by John Ferguson. The deed was presented to Selectmen William Richardson, Amos Gage, and Eleazar Whiting, establishing a permanent public gathering place at the center of town.
More than 80 years later, on October 19, 1836, John Ferguson of Bedford, New Hampshire, the grandson of the original donor, deeded an additional half-acre to expand the Common. In exchange, the Town agreed to cancel debts he owed.
1842 Town Common Sketch. This map was drawn to delineate the boundaries of the Town Common. (Click to enlarge)
As the Common grew, town officials recognized the need to clearly define its boundaries. At the Town Meeting on March 8, 1842, residents voted to appoint a committee to permanently establish the limits of the Town Common. The committee, consisting of Moody Hobbs, Edward Wyman, and Jesse Gibson, completed a detailed survey and map documenting the Common's official boundaries, creating a record that has helped preserve this important historic landmark.
The Town Hall and the Evolution of the Common
The original Pelham Town Hall, which once stood on the site of today's Meetinghouse Park, was destroyed by fire on Thanksgiving morning, November 29, 1906.
Construction of the building began around 1785, and it was ready for regular use by 1795.
For nearly a century, it served as the center of civic and community life in Pelham. The building hosted public worship services for the Congregational Church and other Protestant denominations, town meetings, and a variety of community gatherings and social events.
In 1842, the Congregational congregation moved to its newly constructed First Congregational Church, but the Town Hall continued to serve the community until it was lost in the 1906 fire.
Following the fire, the Town Common remained largely unchanged for more than six decades. In 1972, the Town approved the construction of the Police and Fire Station on the west side of the Common, marking the first major change to the area since the destruction of the original Town Hall.
After the renovation to E.G. Sherburne school in 2002-2003, to turn it into the current Town Hall and Police Station, the Fire station remained in the building.
The Pelham, NH Central Fire Station, located at 36 Village Green, was officially built and opened in the spring of 2013. Voters approved the $3.9 million project in March 2012, and department personnel quietly moved their apparatus into the new facility on April 27, 2013.
Above Left: The original Town Hall that burned down in 1906.
Above Right: The original Town Hall and the horsesheds can be seen in the background of this unidentified man and his dogs.
An aerial view of Pelham Center, circa late 1940s
(Click to enlarge)
The former Police/Fire Station was located in the large, open triangle at the left side of the photograph.
The old Parsonage, torn down in the late 1940s, appears in the lower center of the photo.
All the west side of Windham Road was a blacksmith shop.
Other landmarks in this photo are:
1. Atwood's Store.
2. First Congregational Church.
3. Pelham Public Library.
4. A private residence (now the Beauty Cottage)
& Town Hall/Pilgrim Hall.
5. The first Fire Station.
6. The Butler Monument.
7. No.1 School (now the American Legion).
8. Lyon's Field (formerly Sherburne School) parking lot.
At the time of this photograph, an addition was being built on what was then the Fire Station for use by the Police Department (#5).
An aerial shot of the Town Center in 2002, prior to the construction/renovation of the current Town Hall and Police & Fire Stations.
After a fire destroyed the Old Town Hall, and after several years of discussion at Town Meeting, the Town finally voted to purchase Pilgrim Hall in March of 1917, to serve as Pelham's Town Hall. The building is now the home of the Pelham VFW Post 10722.
Frank M. Woodbury owned the land upon which Pilgrim Hall was built. He deeded this land to General Stark Colony #3 0, U.O.P.F. (United Order of Pilgrim Fathers) in September, 1897. The history of the Grange indicates that it first used the hall for meetings in early 1898.
According to the Pelham VFW Website:
During WWII a small paper called the "The Broadcast" was published by the Grange to be distributed mainly to military personnel from Pelham.
From its beginnings, the building held musical performances, dances, dinners and many community functions. Later, it became the Pelham Town Hall and the upstairs was used to hear court proceedings and hold town board meetings which were open to the public.
In March of 2005, the people of the Town of Pelham, NH voted to give the old Town Hall to the Veterans of Foreign Wars of the United States of Pelham, NH, Memorial Post 10722. On July 19th, 2005 the property deed was officially signed by the Selectmen. The Post members later that year renamed the Post to the John H. Hargreaves Memorial Post 10722 in honor of the past Commander who put his heart and soul into the Post and in supporting veterans.
Woodbury's Store and Atwood's Store
For more than a century, two general stores served as the heart of commerce and community life in Pelham Center.
Woodbury's Store
Woodbury's Store operated throughout the second half of the 19th century and into the early 20th century.
Originally owned by John Woodbury, a prominent citizen who served as Pelham's Town Clerk for many years, and also served on the Board of Selectmen, the business was later passed to his son, Frank M. Woodbury, during the 1870s.
The town's post office was housed in Woodbury's Store until 1905. The building later became a private residence on the north side of Main Street, near the north end of Woodbury Avenue, directly across from the parking lot of St. Patrick's Church.
The Woodbury-Sutton house circa 1995
The historic home remained standing until 2020, when it was replaced by an almost identical replica. The new structure was carefully designed to preserve the historic character and appearance of Pelham Center.
The store and original Town Hall are both shown in this sketch, prepared by Amos Batchelder in 1876.
Atwood's Store
In June 1905, Harry H. Atwood purchased a portion of the Woodbury property to the west of the Congregational Church, and established what became known as Atwood's Store. For the next six decades, the store was a familiar landmark and gathering place in Pelham Center, appearing in many historic photographs of the area.
When Atwood acquired the property, the post office also relocated to the store. Pelham's postmasters served there for more than a century:
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Frank M. Woodbury (1869–1905)
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Harry H. Atwood (1905–1947)
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Marion J. Atwood (1947–1972)
The Pelham Post Office moved to its current location on Bridge Street in 1965, and Atwood's Store and the adjoining residence were demolished the following year, in 1966. Atwood's store can be seen in this video from 1937 and the album below.
Preserving Pelham's History
Today, several original pieces from Atwood's (Or Perhaps Woodbury's) Store are preserved and displayed at the museum, including the original post office service window, mail sorting bench, and grain bin.
The museum continues its search for the original Atwood's Store sign and hopes to one day display it alongside these historic artifacts as part of Pelham's rich commercial history.
Town Common Reports
We have been lucky to have been given permission to share the following PDF's about the Pelham Town Common.