25 Stories for 250 Years

Each month leading up to the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, the New Hampshire Heritage Museum Trail will share a story about the unique and interesting people, places, and events that Trail museums celebrate.

These stories weave together New Hampshire’s rich heritage and highlight the ways in which New Hampshire’s story is America’s story.

We invite you to learn more about the Granite State and everything that its cultural institutions have to offer.

The Mount – Icon of Lake Winnipesaukee

For over 150 years, the Mount Washington has been cruising the waters of Lake Winnipesaukee, embodying the linked histories of lake transportation and tourism in the Lakes Region.

A Most Extraordinary Man

In May of 1780, a young man named Peter Ayers met Shaker leader Ann Lee in the tiny community of Niskayuna, New York. Born in Voluntown, Connecticut in 1760, Ayers was 20 years old and a veteran of several Revolutionary War battles including Bunker Hill and Saratoga.

Coming Together to Preserve Local History

Sometimes it takes a community to decide that history is worth saving. In 1917, an iconic Georgian home at the corner of State and Middle Streets in Portsmouth—built in 1758 for merchant Gregory Purcell—was at risk of demolition.

In Luck Now at Last

After retiring in 1910, millionaire shoe industrialist Thomas G. Plant began developing his grand retirement estate in the Ossipee Mountains of New Hampshire. He purchased 6,300 acres of land in Moultonborough and Tuftonboro, and hired architect J. Williams Beal to design an Arts & Crafts mansion that harmonized with the majestic scenery of the Lakes Region.

Story of Two Flags

These flags, carried by the Second New Hampshire Continental Regiment, are the only known surviving stand, or set, of national and regimental flags from the Revolutionary War, but that is not the only remarkable thing about them. In fact they remained hidden for over a century and a half and crossed the Atlantic twice before they returned home to the Granite State.

John And Molly Stark

John and Molly Stark are New Hampshire’s most influential couple who served their country during the American Revolution.

General John Stark (1728-1822) was New Hampshire’s Revolutionary War hero. Born in Londonderry, his family moved to Derryfield (now Manchester) when he was eight years old. As a young man, he served with ‘Roger’s Rangers’ during the French & Indian War.

Scouting Pitches Camp in New Hampshire

In 1907, Lord Robert Stephenson Smyth Baden-Powell adapted his military training program as “a game with a purpose”. The program was discovered by Chicago Publisher William D. Boyce, after getting lost in the London fog and being helped by an “Unknown Scout”. Boyce brought the program idea back to America, and The Boy Scouts of America was founded in 1910.

Revolutionary Women

Hetchels were used to break down flax into silky fibers that were spun into thread. The thread was then woven into linen. In 1764, Parliament passed the Sugar Act, taxing imported textiles.

Raid on Fort William and Mary

On the afternoon of December 14, 1774, John Sullivan and John Langdon led patriotic supporters in a raid against Fort William and Mary, now Fort Constitution, in Portsmouth. At about three o’clock a few shots were exchanged between the patriots and the king’s soldiers, but no one was injured.

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