History

Peterborough, New Hampshire sits at the confluence of the Contoocook and Nubanusit Rivers west of Milford, east of Keene, north of Jaffrey and south of Antrim. Most of these towns sit in the shadow of Mount Monadnock in the southwestern corner of New Hampshire. In the 19th century, textile mills were rapidly being built along New England's rivers. There were many in Peterborough among them Samuel Mitchell’s grist mill on the Nubanusit River at the intersection of today’s Main and Elm Streets. Here the river flows into a mill pond which is bordered by River Street on one side and by woodsy Putnam Park on the other. A path at the top winds into the center of town along the southern side of the riverbank. The Bell Factory, the first cotton mill in New England, was built on River Street in 1810. The river uses the natural fall of water from the mill pond to generate energy. Another fall sits below as the river bends and flows into the town below. In 1813 the Phoenix Factory was built on the present-day site of the Guernsey Professional Building at the second set of falls and closer to town. While most of the mills have disappeared over the years the buildings around them have remained. One such building is my previous home, 84 Main Street, which overlooks the Bell Factory falls. This beautiful and unique home that I purchased in 2001, was built in 1865. It is situated across River Street, a one-way alley-type street, from the factory. It once housed the offices of the Baile Basket factory which took the place of the original Bell Factory. It may have also been home to a manager of the plant. On January 22, 1922 the Baile Basket Factory burned to the ground. The factory shell on the mill pond was later filled in and lovely gardens were commissioned by the owner of the home that sits on the Mill Pond. Fletcher Steele, renowned landscape architect designed the elaborate garden that is part of that River Street home and the gardens remain today, overgrown. It provides a lovely view and barrier across the small street, River Street, that separates the 84 Main Street property from the falls. After the fire, the Main Street home became a school and later was separated into two residences: 84 Main Street, a home of four floors including a garden apartment and sunroom on the second floor. Underneath is a first floor cellar with a walk-inentrance on River Street. The second residence is the carriage house apartment and original company garages (or stables) at 10 River Street. In 2002 I purchased the carriage house and the property was reunited once again.