New Hampshire, Newmarket Downtown Walking Tour Historical Markers
This 1˝-2-hour self-guided tour reaches back more than 200 years ago, when this sleepy village's transformation into a manufacturing juggernaut began. Some of the 50 stops are marked with plaques, but all have an audio narrative and more detailed information available online. Maps are $5 each and benefit the New Market Historical Society. More details available at: newmarketnhhistoricalsociety.org/the-walking-tour/
On Main Street (New Hampshire Route 108) at Willey Court, on the right when traveling south on Main Street.
An excellent example of 19th-century commercial
architecture, the J.W. Barnard Block replaced
E.P. Pinkham's wood-framed boot and shoe shop.
The original building was relocated to the rear of
the lot, and Pinkham moved his shop into the
north . . . — — Map (db m260742) HM
On New Hampshire 108 (New Hampshire Route 108) north of Central Street, on the right when traveling south.
Originally located on the old Main Street near the
river, this former inn was moved twice: first in the
1830s to the site of the current post office and then, in
1872, to this location to make way for the construction
of a Methodist church. . . . — — Map (db m260747) HM
On Main Street (New Hampshire Route 108) north of Central Street, on the left when traveling north.
Benjamin Brooks, a master mechanic in No. 1 Mill, built
the Brooks Block with shops on the ground level and his
residence upstairs. The Masonic Lodge held its first
meeting here in 1826, and the Newmarket Manufacturing
Co. moved its company . . . — — Map (db m260748) HM
On Main Street (New Hampshire Route 152) at South Street, on the right when traveling north on Main Street.
Originally located on South Street near the
Engine House, this building was owned by
Wentworth Cheswell (1746-1817), a town
selectman thought to be one of the first
African Americans in the country elected to
office. Moved in 1849, the building . . . — — Map (db m260826) HM
On Main Street (New Hampshire Route 108) south of Willey Court, on the right when traveling south.
The ground floor of this structure was
Frank H. Durgin's grocery store. Upper floors
housed the Pioneer Lodge No. 1, Knights of
Pythias and a meeting hall for the Grand Army
of the Republic, an organization for Union
veterans of the Civil War. . . . — — Map (db m260741) HM
On Main Street (New Hampshire Route 108) north of Willey Court, on the left when traveling north.
The earliest and only surviving example of the
brick Federal-style commercial structures on
Main Street, this building stands on a lot once
owned by Edward Smith. Originally the home
of Charlotte Murray's Millinery (hatmaker's shop),
the . . . — — Map (db m260745) HM
On Main Street (New Hampshire Route 152) at South Street, on the right when traveling south on Main Street.
Built against Zion's Hill, the first Newmarket
fire station is the home of Tiger No. 1, a
hand-pumped fire engine called a "handtub,"
purchased by the town in 1852. Both
Tiger No. 1 and Granite No. 2, owned by the
Newmarket Manufacturing Co., . . . — — Map (db m260814) HM
On Main Street (New Hampshire Route 152) at Exeter Road ( Route 108), on the right when traveling north on Main Street.
John S. Bennett moved his tin and hardware business
here in the 1840s. In 1850, his brother Edwin joined
him, and the firm employed about 50 men. The
business was later called Treadwell & Davis, and
then Treadwell & Folsom. In 1891, the building . . . — — Map (db m260737) HM
On Main Street (New Hampshire Route 108) at Willey Court, on the right when traveling west on Main Street.
One of the last surviving tavern-hotels, the A.W. Doe
House, as this building was originally called, was built
in the same year that the Newmarket Manufacturing
Co. was founded. The building became the Rundlett
Tavern and later the Washington . . . — — Map (db m260754) HM
Near Elm Street at Main Street ( Route 108), on the left when traveling west.
The town's first circulating library,
the Newmarket Social Library, had no formal
building patrons gathered in private homes
for literary events. The current library was
built for the town's mill workers with a gift
from sea captain John . . . — — Map (db m260811) HM
On Main Street (New Hampshire Route 108) at Central Street, on the right when traveling south on Main Street.
Samuel H. Greene, who constructed this
building during the height of Newmarket's
manufacturing era, ran a drugstore on
the ground floor. The third floor housed
the Masonic Rising Star Lodge No. 47,
chartered in 1826. The drugstore was . . . — — Map (db m260746) HM
On Main Street (New Hampshire Route 108) at Exeter Road ( Route 108), on the right when traveling south on Main Street.
Once the site of Widow Mead's small house,
this brick and stone building at Tenney's Corner
was constructed by Benjamin Mathes. His
sisters, Maud and Mabel, opened a millinery
shop here, which was followed by a grocery and
dry goods store run . . . — — Map (db m260736) HM
On Main Street (New Hampshire Route 108) at Weaver Street, on the right when traveling north on Main Street.
No. 1 Mill | 1824
In 1823, businessmen from Salem, Mass., bought property along the Lamprey River to build Newmarket's first mill. They chose granite for its durability. The No. 1 Mill of the Newmarket Mfg. Co. was completed at a cost of . . . — — Map (db m260786) HM
On Main Street (New Hampshire Route 108) at Chapel Street, on the right when traveling south on Main Street.
The bank once housed in this building
was first chartered in 1855 as a
state bank and reorganized in 1865
as the Newmarket National Bank.
After 1879, the Newmarket Savings Bank
also moved to this site, with S. A. Haley
as cashier. On his death . . . — — Map (db m260740) HM
On Penstock Way south of Main Street ( Route 108), on the left when traveling south.
In 1823, businessmen from Salem, Mass., bought
property along the Lamprey River, and Ebenezer Smith's
sawmill disappeared, replaced by great blocks of granite,
rising stone by stone along the riverbank. Although the
builders considered using . . . — — Map (db m260804) HM
On Penstock Way south of Main Street ( Route 108), on the left when traveling south.
Built a year after No. 1 Mill, this mill building contained
over 4,000 spindles, and today still retains its original
tower and weathervane. Based on practices developed
in the early 1800s by the Boston Manufacturing Co., these
early mills used . . . — — Map (db m260805) HM
On Main Street (New Hampshire Route 108) near Central Street, on the right when traveling north.
Unlike the town's first three mills, which
were built with granite blocks quarried from
Durham Point, No. 4 Mill was constructed
from local trap rock. By 1869, when the
building was completed, Newmarket's mills
were running 39,000 spindles . . . — — Map (db m260751) HM
On Main Street (New Hampshire Route 108) north of Water Street, on the right when traveling north.
Originally only two stories high, No. 5 Mill
started with a few looms making a soft, thin
silk called “pongee.” Silk goods production
was introduced by mill agent Ambrose Nichols
due to a depression in the cotton market and
ultimately was . . . — — Map (db m260773) HM
On Main Street (New Hampshire Route 108) at Church Street, on the right when traveling south on Main Street.
Built in 1842 as an elementary school and
was continually used as a school until 1965.
Unique in early American Architecture and
masonry.
On display are heirlooms, crafts and tools
of early American life in Newmarket.
Home of the New Market . . . — — Map (db m260739) HM
On Main Street (New Hampshire Route 108) at Exeter Road ( Route 108), on the right when traveling south on Main Street.
In the early 1800s, William M. Tenney
built a law office on this site and a
house across the street. Long known as
Tenney's Corner, both buildings were
sold to B W. Mathes, who rebuilt the
old wooden structures in stone
between 1835 and 1840. . . . — — Map (db m260731) HM
On Main Street north of South Street, on the left when traveling north.
This monument honors all 290 townsmen who volunteered for
the Union cause. At the war's end, the town lost 22 men killed
in action, 9 dead from disease, 40 severely wounded, 86 disabled
and 12 POWs. This resulted in a costly toll for local . . . — — Map (db m260816) HM
