Discover
Gilmanton’s First Village, Saturday, August 13
The Kelley Corner School, Gilmanton’s first one room
school and the only one still in public ownership, is featured in
the Gilmanton Historical Society’s field trip. Saturday. August 13,
at 10 am.
The Gilmanton
Historical Society will host a tour of two buildings, essential to
Gilmanton’s first village, Lower Gilmanton. The tour will
begin with a visit to the Kelley Corner School, Gilmanton’s first
school and the only one still owned by the school district.
Meet at the Kelley Corner School, just off Route 129 about 1/4 mile
south of the junction with 107, at 10 am. The tour will
proceed from the school house to the Baptist Church on Route 107.
Along the way tour guides will point out some of the oldest homes
remaining in Gilmanton.
The first settlers in Town, Benjamin and Hannah Bean Mudgett,
arrived in the winter of 1761 and established a homestead on Pancake
Hill Road. Others soon followed, and a thriving village
developed. The school at Kelley Corner was authorized in 1778
by Town meeting vote. It was the first of as many as 18
throughout the Town. The Baptist Church was organized in 1778
and the present building was constructed in 1842.
This program is a field trip, part of the Gilmanton Historical
Society’s 2016 summer series. Evening programs are offered on
the 4th Tuesday of each month, May through September. In
August Pat Clarke, Society vice president, tells us about Gilmanton
in World War II. The final program in September brings a
tribute to Sarah Josepha Hale.
The programs are free and open to the public. The hall is
handicapped accessible. The Society’s Museum is open at 7 pm before
the program, and Saturdays during the summer from 10 am until noon.
Donations to support the work of the Society are always welcome.
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