New Hampshire

New England is home to abandoned towns and forgotten main streets that once bustled with life and commerce. From villages sunk underwater to cities undone by the rise and fall of mill life, madness or just plain bad luck, these ghost towns offer a unique look into the rich history of the past. Get a glimpse into what early life was really like through historical accounts of abandoned villages. Discover the history behind the ruins of towns like Connecticut’s religious community Gay City, the former New Hampshire resort town of Unity Springs and Massachusetts’s famed Dogtown—before nature reclaims them entirely. Join local author Renee Mallett as she uncovers the heydays of some of New England’s most fascinating lost towns.

This fascinating and moving book brings to life the industrial and immigrant experience which gave birth to Manchester in the nineteenth century and continued to shape the city's destiny well into the twentieth century. More than a hundred years ago, thousands of immigrants from Europe and Canada were drawn to the mills of Manchester by the promise of a better life. In stirring photographs and text, Manchester: The Mill and the Immigrant Experience examines the aspirations, the struggles, and the everyday adventures of Manchester's immigrant families. Reaffirming the power of photography to move and inform us, Manchester: The Mills and the Immigrant Experience creates a vivid picture of life during nearly a century of rapid industrial change. We join the bustle of Elm and Hanover Streets in the 1880s, witness children working at the mighty Amoskeag Manufacturing Company, enter a Greek coffeehouse in the early 1900s, get caught up in the bitter labor strikes of the 1920s, and meet unusual local figures such as the Hermit of Mosquito Pond.

Known as New Hampshire's Queen City, Manchester could be called Change City. Throughout its history, it has reinvented itself many times. From a Native American fishing and gathering place called Amoskeag to a Yankee colonial town known as Derryfield, it became a multiethnic industrial center, the Manchester of America, home of the world-famous Amoskeag Manufacturing Company (1831–1936). When Amoskeag Manufacturing closed during the Depression, the city that would not die was reborn through more diversified industries that carried it through the post–World War II era. Several decades of urban renewal saw the demolition of many older buildings and entire neighborhoods. Lamenting the loss of Boston & Maine Railroad's Union Station and St. Mary's Bank's marble building, Manchester residents drew inspiration from the US bicentennial in 1976 to create a renaissance of interest in history and architecture, which brought about the adaptation to modern use of several remaining older structures. Yet more major losses came in 1978 and 1989 with the destruction of the State Theatre and Manchester's beloved Notre Dame Bridge.

Laconia's Belknap Mill thrived in the boom of the Industrial Revolution. The historic mill swiftly rose to the forefront of the city's hosiery industry in the nineteenth century. Lakes Region historian Carol Lee Anderson reveals the mill's unique history, including its inventive, entrepreneurial owners, their climb to industrial success and the challenges they overcame. This fascinating story encompasses the saga of countless French-Canadian immigrants whose arrival in the Lakes Region influenced the course of industry and daily life in the city of Laconia. The mill's story continues, and the preservation of this historic textile mill includes a fierce struggle of historic values versus urban renewal. Learn how this early symbol of the Industrial Revolution fought to become the pride of Laconia's industrial heritage.

From the moment in 1770 when Reverend Eleazar Wheelock located Dartmouth College in Hanover, the "College on the Hill" and the "Village at the College" have been inseparably linked as one. And from the time when the first log hut was constructed to the present, the built and natural environments have evolved as part of an organic evolutionary process. Due to changing architectural tastes, neglect and growth, many of the historic buildings that once flourished are no longer standing. Bygone landmarks like the beautiful entry porte-cochere at the Mary Hitchcock Memorial Hospital and the handful of handsome buildings that marked the start of the University of New Hampshire are now lost to history. Join architect and historian Jay Barrett as he uncovers the stories behind the forgotten treasures of Hanover.