Monadnock Moments

Era 7: 1890-1933

Monadnock Moments No. 89: The Dream of Shinbone Shack

Shortly before 1920 a New York woman discovered a remote valley alongside a small stream in the southwest corner of Stoddard, New Hampshire.  She fell in love with the site and dreamed of building a woodland estate in the area.  Florence Brooks-Aten, a very wealthy...

Monadnock Moments No. 85: The Bank in the Jewelry Store

In March of 1897, the Mayor and board of aldermen approved electricity as the motive power for the proposed city trolley, Bullard & Shedd advertised Bromo Quinine Tablets at 25¢ a box as a “sure cure for a cold,” and the Elliot Hospital admitted ten patients...

Monadnock Moments No. 81: Traffic Regulations of 1914

It was in June of 1914 that the first driving and traffic regulations were enacted in the city of Keene.  Automobiles had become so numerous by that time that some rules were needed to regulate the drivers of the vehicles. There were regulations concerning vehicles in...

Monadnock Moments No. 75: The Apollo Exerciser

We might indeed be surprised, however, to find that the business directory in question was dated 1893, more than 100 years ago.  The 1893 advertisement in the Keene city directory showed a picture of a machine that looks much the same as today’s wall mounted exercise...

Monadnock Moments No. 69: Poison in the Sugar

During the summer of 1901, the Joseph Byron family, consisting of himself, his wife and mother, lived on the Branch Road in Roxbury, New Hampshire.  On Sunday evening, August 4, Byron’s wife and his mother became dizzy and weak soon after eating supper.  Both women...

Monadnock Moments No. 63: The Leffingwell Hotel

Dublin’s famous Leffingwell Hotel was recognized as one of New Hampshire’s outstanding summer hotels in its day.  For more than thirty years the hotel prospered, entertaining many famous individuals.  The Leffingwell was a centerpiece for Dublin, overlooking the town...

Monadnock Moments No. 56: Tiffin’s Business Institute

For twenty-six years at the beginning at the 20th century Keene was the home of a business college.  The Bliss Business College opened on September 20, 1897 in the Cheshire House Block in Keene.  Forty-four students were enrolled at that time.  Keene’s Bliss Business...

Monadnock Moments No. 37: “Watch the Wear” Overalls

Did you know that in the mid-1920s the largest plant in New England for the manufacture of overalls and work pants was located in Keene?  The Watch the Wear Overall Company was established in Brattleboro as the Brattleboro Overall Company in 1900.  In 1905 the company...

Monadnock Moments No. 36: The Butternut Bakery

During the 1920s and 30s much of the bread used in Keene and the surrounding area was baked in a small bakery on Cottage Street in Keene. Thomas Duchesneau opened his Butternut Bakery in 1908.  At that time he and one assistant were baking 100 loaves of bread daily. ...

Monadnock Moments No. 19: The Newburyport Silver Company

Did you know that Keene used to be the home of a silver company that produced sterling silver here for several years?  The Newburyport Silver Company opened its doors in Keene in 1904.  Seven Massachusetts men founded the company in Newburyport, Mass. in about 1902,...

Monadnock Moments No. 16: The Steammobile Company of America

In the early days of the auto industry it was not unusual for small firms to produce cars in small towns throughout the country.  Keene was the home of one such company. Reynold Janney built an experimental auto in the Trinity Cycle Manufacturing Company plant on...

Monadnock Moments No. 14: Dr. Emerson of Fitzwilliam

The new Fitzwilliam history, entitled “Fitzwilliam, the Profile of a New Hampshire Town, 1884-1984,” tells us of the town’s well known physician Dr. George S. Emerson. George Emerson was born in Hampstead, New Hampshire in 1871.  He graduated from Baltimore Medical...

Monadnock Moments No. 11: The Murder of Asahel Dunton

  On September 22, 1903, Asahel Dunton died at the Elliot Hospital in Keene from the result of murderous blows that he had received while at the home of Malachi Barnes in Sullivan three days earlier.  Dunton worked at a mill in Sullivan and boarded at the Barnes home....

Monadnock Moments No. 10: Thayer Portable Houses

In this day of pre-fab homes and log cabin kits, it is interesting to note that a Keene firm was advertising portable houses more than seventy years ago.  The Springfield Manufacturing Company, makers of the Springfield Portable House, first came to Keene in 1913.  By...

Monadnock Moments No. 9: Marlow Fire of 1916

On the morning of August 20, 1916 the town center of Marlow, New Hampshire was devastated by one of the worst fires in the history of Cheshire County. The fire consumed the entire north side of Marlow’s Main Street, completely destroying eight homes and businesses and...

Monadnock Moments No. 3: Carleton Ellis, Margarine Inventor

Did you know that the margarine which you use daily was invented by a Keene native? Carleton Ellis was born in Keene in 1876, the son of the florist Marcus Ellis and his wife Katherine.  Carleton Ellis was the valedictorian of his Keene High School class of 1896; he...