Pelham News : history

Pelham building added to state Register of Historic Places

Salem Editor — Wed, 13 Aug 2008 19:04:00 GMT

The New Hampshire Historic Resource Council has added the Pelham Library and Memorial Building in Pelham to the New Hampshire State Register of Historic Places.

The register is part of the state’s efforts to recognize and encourage public and private efforts to identify and protect historically significant properties throughout the state.

In order to be eligible for the register, properties must be at least 50 years old and retain the unique qualities that make them irreplaceable.

In 1896, citizens committed tax money for the construction of the Pelham Library and Memorial Building, which was erected to house town functions, serve as a memorial to Civil War soldiers and honor the 150th anniversary of the town’s incorporation.

This was Pelham’s first and only library until 2003. It has served an important role in the town’s development.

“These communities and individuals have done a terrific job of understanding and valuing their historical resources,” said Elizabeth H. Muzzey, New Hampshire’s state historic preservation officer. “These listings represent a great deal of dedication of citizens to protect our state’s heritage and special places.”

Pelham landmark to be demolished, farewell party planned

Salem Editor — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 19:40:00 GMT

BY DARRELL HALEN

It is considered by some to be a historic landmark, a reminder of a once-thriving transportation system. But soon, the old trolley barn in Pelham’s town center will be torn down.

It’s not going to be demolished, however, without a farewell.

St. Patrick’s Parish, which owns the building, is holding a movie night fundraiser – dubbed the “Trolley Barn’s Last Hurrah” – to say goodbye to the building and raise money to remove it.

“It’s a chapter in history that will be closed,” said Selectman William McDevitt, who is disappointed the building will be demolished but understands why it must come down.

The white brick building, according to Bill Scanzani, a member of the church’s capital improvement committee, is suffering from structural problems, including a wall that is separating from the roof. The building is about 106 years old.

About two years ago, an engineering review of church property determined that it would cost about $1.5 million to fix the trolley building, according to the Rev. Robert Guillemette, the church’s pastor. The parish doesn’t have the money to save it, he said.

The building, known as St. Patrick’s Hall, had been used by the church’s parochial school for physical education classes and was made available to outside groups for use. But the Diocese of Manchester, concerned about safety and liability, closed the building.

Although the building is commonly referred to today as the trolley barn, it is not the barn’s entire original structure. The car house portion was razed during World War II.

The building that stands today is actually the barn’s power station, according to McDevitt. A 50,000-gallon water tank that supplied water for steam-powered generators once stood next to it.

The building is slated to be demolished in July at a cost of roughly $40,000. McDevitt is disappointed that a part of the town’s history will be lost.

“That is a remnant of what once was a thriving transportation system that ran through Southern New Hampshire,” he said.

According to the book, “Reflections,” a pictorial history of Pelham, the advent of mass transportation around the beginning of the 20th century brought trolley cars into small towns in the area, including Pelham, Hudson and Salem.

Electric cars transported workers to textile mills and shoe shops in Nashua and in the Massachusetts cities of Lowell and Haverhill.

To encourage people to travel on weekends, trolley car owners built amusement parks at Canobie Lake in Salem and Glen Forest in Methuen, Mass., according to Reflections.

Eventually, however, trolley routes were abandoned as automobile use became more prevalent during the 1920s.

Seven years ago, a local Boy Scout established a plaque outside the trolley barn to honor the memory of six people who died and 40 people who were injured when two trolley cars collided in Pelham in 1903.

That plaque will be saved when the building is demolished, Scanzani said.

Trolley Barn’s Last Hurrah St. Patrick’s Parish is inviting the public to a Movie Night to say “farewell” to this historic landmark. The movie “Monsters, Inc.” will be shown on the wall of the old trolley barn on Wednesday, July 2. Gates open at 7 p.m., and the movie starts at 8:30 p.m. Bring blankets and lawn chairs.

Popcorn, candy, other snacks, soda and water will be sold. And there will be a chance to win a one-of-a-kind “Monster’s Inc.” door. Tickets cost $10 per car. Cars will be parked in the lower lots at the church. Ticket proceeds will be used toward the building’s demolition.

Modern search for past – Pelham historians have new online library

Salem Editor — Wed, 28 Feb 2007 17:48:00 GMT

BY DARRELL HALEN

In the comfort of your home, sitting in front of your computer, you can access a variety of historical and genealogical information related to Pelham.

It’s contained in an online library whose collection, its founders expect, will grow over time.

Although the Hayes-Genoter History and Genealogy On Line Library is relatively new, the research members of the Pelham Historical Society have access to more than 35,000 pages of material.

“Our goal is to have the most comprehensive local history library,” said William “Spike” Hayes, who teamed up with fellow resident Karen Genoter to create the library.

They plan to add 10,000 pages of material annually as time and funding permit.

Membership in the Pelham Historical Society is available to anyone who is interested in Pelham history and genealogy. A regular membership costs $5 annually, while a research membership is $20 per year.

Every new member who joins enables 300 additional pages of material to be added.

Among the information currently available in the library are town clerk vital records from 1743 to 1865; census lists; town report vital records from 1888 to 1951; lists of Pelham soldiers, going as far back as the French and Indian Wars; Congregational Church records from 1751 to 1885; maps, family histories and other materials.

Hayes has a list of materials to be added in the future.

“We try to get up what may be of most interest to the most people ... We have lots and lots of information,” he said.

Hayes brings to the project a long-held interest in history and a collection of thousands of pages of materials that he wants to make available to society members through its Web site. Genoter, the society’s director of computer services, created the library’s Web site.

They are working to get information from the town’s early years that was stored in microfilm converted to digital format. After being converted, it will be added to the library.

Financial support for the nonprofit library has come from John Hardy and Judge J. Albert Lynch.

Hardy, of Long Island, N.Y., is funding the Family History Program. He and his wife both have Pelham family connections dating back to Colonial times.

Lynch, one of the historical society’s founding members, is funding the town records preservation project.

Additional benefactors are expected to support the library as it grows, according to Hayes.

People can learn more about the library by clicking on a link on the society’s Web site, pelhamnhhistory.org.

There, they can see a list of materials that are currently available and those that are expected to be added in the future. They can also become a member or make a donation.