HISTORIC PROPERTIES IN KENSINGTON, NEW HAMPSHIRE

Kensington Townwide Area Form (Area K)

Surveyed 1997 Preservation Company Sunny Knoll 5 Hobbs Road Kensington, NH 03833

HISTORIC PROPERTIES IN KENSINGTON, NEW HAMPSHIRE

Kensington Townwide Area Form (Area K)

Surveyed 1997

Preservation Company Sunny Knoll 5 Hobbs Road Kensington, NH 03833 Introduction

The following document is called the “Kensington Townwide Area Form.” It was prepared in accordance with the guidelines of the New Hampshire Division of Historical Resources (NHDHR, a.k.a. the New Hampshire State Historic Preservation Office). The concept of a townwide Area Form was formulated by the NHDHR to provide a basis for understanding and evaluating the historical resources within a given community. The significant themes and historic contexts in the town’s development are identified by compiling a historical overview; and building types, architectural styles and characteristics of the built environment are also documented.

The Kensington Townwide Area Form was prepared for the Town of Kensington by Preservation Company, Kensington, New Hampshire, as a contribution to the documentation of the historic resources that are critical to defining the character of this community. It is our hope that this information will prove valuable for town planning purposes and will aid the NHDHR in its goal of documenting and identifying historical resources throughout the state of New Hampshire. In addition Kensington residents may learn more about the history of their town and understand how their own homes relate to its history and development. There are many strategies available for protecting these valuable resources, but none more powerful that an informed citizen base.

– i – Guide For Using This Book

This book is complex and therefore will take some time and effort on the part of the reader, but taking the time to gain familiarity will enhance the experience. The first thing to know is that there is a map folded in the back pocket which has every historic property numbered (your house, for instance). You can find its location and number on the map. Then look it up by number in the index which begins on page iv of this introduction. Page numbers within the form can be confusing. They are in the upper right corner of each page and are described as “Sheet 1 of 96”; photograph pages are described as “Sheet P1 or P182”. The Table of Contents on page iii of this introduction will guide you to the various sections of the form.

An NHDHR Townwide Area Form consists of several sections. “Geographical Context” physically describes the town, and identifies geographical elements that played a role in the town’s development. “Architectural Significance” (pages 5-19) discusses the buildings in chronological order and relates them to popular architectural styles. (To identify the style and house type of a specific building, consult the photograph pages which are arranged by style and period.) “Historical Background” (pages 19-46) is an in-depth chronological overview of the town’s history, compiled from a variety of sources. Kensington’s history is broken down into periods of development and within each period, a variety of themes and topics are addressed. The “National Register Statement of Significance” and “Statement of Integrity” sections (pages 46-48) are a very preliminary evaluation of the historical contexts and architectural styles under which properties in Kensington might be considered eligible for the National Register of Historic Places (the criteria by which the NHDHR evaluates the state’s resources). The “Bibliography and References” (pages 48- 52) includes all primary and secondary sources used, enabling future researchers to access additional information. “Historic Contexts” (page 53) is a list of the relevant contexts developed by NHDHR.

The Kensington Townwide Area Form includes copies of all historical maps (pages 54-66) for Kensington (sources of the originals are listed in the Bibliography), providing a complete pictorial view of the town’s development. Pages 67-72 area a copy of the Key to Houses in Sawyer’s history.

On pages 73-96 are panoramic photographs showing many of Kensington’s most significant historic landscapes and vistas. Photographs continue from page P0 to P182. A table of contents on P0 shows how the photos are grouped according to property type (i.e. public buildings, houses, barns and outbuildings). Throughout this document, properties are identified by the numbers used in Sawyer’s history. Consult the base map for the number of a specific property, then consult the photo index. Whenever possible, matching modern and historic views are shown. The bulk of historic photographs are from the Kensington Public Library. An attempt was made to copy all historic views, but some may not have been included if their quality was too poor.

– ii – Table of Contents

Pages

Introduction...... i Guide For Using This Book ...... ii Table of Contents ...... iii Kensington Index...... iv-x

Townwide Area Form Methodology...... 1-2 Geographical Context ...... 2-5 Architectural Significance ...... 5-19 Historical Background ...... 19-46 National Register Statement of Significance...... 46-48 Statement of Integrity...... 48 Bibliography and/or References...... 48-52 Historic Contexts...... 53 Historic Maps ...... 54-66 Key to Houses in History of Kensington ...... 67-72 Panoramic photographs ...... 73-96 Photographs ...... P0-P182 Base Map ...... back pocket

– iii – Kensington Index

House Number Road Name Photograph Page* S1 South Road P103, P170a, S3 South P104-1 S4 South P47-2, P154a, P173a-1 S6 South Road P161a-2 S8 Amesbury Road P121 S9 Old Amesbury Road P114 S12 Amesbury P127 S15 Amesbury P115 S16 Amesbury P129, P160a-2 S18 Amesbury P133 S19 Amesbury P87 S21 Amesbury P100 S23 Cottage Road P143, P144 S25 Cottage Road P24 S26 Cottage Road P25-1 S29 Cottage Road P135-2 S33 Cottage Road P22-1, P173a-2 S43 Highland Road P104-2 S44 Highland Road P43 S47 South Road P33, P155a S48 South Road P67-2 S49 South Road P139 S50 South Road P38, P151a-1 S52 South Road P83, P151a-2 S53 South Road P116, P165a S56 South Road P169a-1 S57 Bartlett Road P39, P172a-1 S58 Hickory Lane P31, P156a S67 South Road P69-1 S69 South Road P107 S72 South Road P140 S76 West School Road P85, P86 S83 Muddy Pond Road P109 S85 Beaver Damm P126

*“a” after a page number denotes an outbuilding.

– iv – House Number Road Name Photograph Page* M1 Dow Lane P79-2, P159a-2 M4 Lamprey Road P51 M5 Lamprey P105, P160a-1 M11 Wild Pasture P44 M14 Amesbury P118 M16 Amesbury Road P84 M17 Amesbury P77, P149a M20 Cottage Road P119, P157a-2 M21 Amesbury P52, P53, P153a-2 M26 Amesbury P106 M27 Amesbury P45 M29 Amesbury P95 M30 Amesbury P111, P112 M31 Amesbury P81, P82 M32 Amesbury P110 M36 Amesbury P117 M42 Trundlebed P63, P64 M43 Stumpfield P75 M48 Stumpfield P88, P89 M50 Stumpfield P76, P123, P153a-1 M59 Stumpfield P80, P159a-1 M63 Stumpfield P152a-2 M64 Stumpfield P65, P157a-1 M66 Stumpfield P47-1 M67 Stumpfield P98, P99 M68 Stumpfield P102 M70 Stumpfield P20, P21

* “a” after a page number denotes an outbuilding.

– v – House Number Road Name Photograph Page* N3 Wild Pasture P54, P146a-1 N6 Drinkwater P79-1 N11 Drinkwater P94, P163a-1 N12 Drinkwater P62-2 N14 Drinkwater P35 N17 Drinkwater P161a-1 N18 Drinkwater P27, P28 N19 Drinkwater P37 N21 Drinkwater P130-2 N23 Drinkwater P66 N24 Drinkwater P120-2 N25 Drinkwater P72, P73 N27 Drinkwater P49 N28 Drinkwater P130-1 N35 North Road P120-1, P150a N36 North Road P71 N39 North P58, P59 N44 North P101-2 N47 North P56, P57, P158a-2 N48 North P90, P91, P158a-1, P167a, P168a N52 Moulton Ridge P36 N53 Moulton Ridge P166a N56 Moulton Ridge P23 N57 Moulton Ridge P62-1, P171a N59 Moulton Ridge P26 N60 Moulton Ridge P68-2 N67 Moulton Ridge P67-1 N69 Moulton Ridge P46, P164a-2, P172a-2 N70 Moulton Ridge P174 N71 Hilliard Road P34 N72 Hilliard Road P30 N73 Shaws Hill Road P25-2 N74 Shaws Hill Road P50 N76 Shaws Hill Road P41, P42, P147a, P163a-2 N77 Shaws Hill P122 N78 Shaws Hill P128 N79 Shaws Hill P131-2 N80 Hobbs Road P92 N83 Hobbs Road P124 N84 Hobbs Road P32, P148-1a N85 Haverhill Road P108 N86 Kimball Road P48, P162a

* “a” after a page number denotes an outbuilding

– vi – House Number Road Name Photograph Page* N87 Kimball Road P93 N88 Haverhill Road P55, P146a-2 N89 Haverhill P101-1, P146a-2 N92 Haverhill P74 N93 Osgood Road P70 N96 Amesbury Road P136 N97 Amesbury Road P131-1 N98 Amesbury Road P137 N100 Brewer Road P68-1, P148a-2 N101 Amesbury Road P29 N102 Amesbury Road P141 N103 Amesbury Road P134 N104 Amesbury Road P135-1 N106 Haverhill Road P138 N109 Haverhill Road P142 N110 Haverhill Road P132

* “a” after a page number denotes an outbuilding

– vii – Public Bridges and Sites: P1-P18

#1 Amesbury Road, 1842- North School or “Brick School”...... P16-1 #1 Amesbury Road, North School...... P16-2 #2 Amesbury Road, Congregational Church...... P8-1 #3 Amesbury Road, Town Hall...... P7-2 #4 Amesbury Road, Unitarian Universalist Church...... P7-1 #6 Amesbury Road, Lower Cemetery ...... P4 #6 Amesbury Road, Grange Hall, 1838 Christian Church ...... P5-1 #6 Amesbury Road, Grange Hall, 1838 Christian Church ...... P5-2 #6 Amesbury Road, Grange Hall, 1838 Christian Church ...... P6 #7 Amesbury Road, Library 1894-1895 ...... P11-1 #7 Amesbury Road, Library 1894-1895 ...... P11-2 #9 Amesbury Road, Upper Cemetery...... P2-1 #9 Amesbury Road, Old Cemetery...... P2-2 #9 Amesbury Road, Old (Upper) Cemetery...... P3 Amesbury Road, Kensington Elementary School...... P18 Amesbury Road, N50 former North School ...... P15 Amesbury Road, Town Center...... P8-2 Amesbury Road, Town Center...... P9-1 Amesbury Road, Town Center...... P9-2 Amesbury Road, Town Center...... P10 #11 Cottage Road, East School ...... P17-1 East School, 1905 photo...... P17-2 Sketch of Old Meeting House ...... P1-1 Sketch of Rocky Hill Meeting House, Amesbury, MA...... P1-2 South Road, S61 (non extant)...... P19 Beaver Dam Road, Pinnacle Leadership Center...... P13-1 Beaver Dam Road...... P13-2 Trundlebed Lane, Town Park...... P12 West School Road, now ell of S76, West School ...... P14-1 West School ...... P14-2

Streetscapes: P174-P179

Brewer Road (N100) ...... P178-2 Brick School Corner ...... P177-2 Eastman Corner...... P176-1 Kimball Hill (N86, N87)...... P177-1 Moulton Ridge Road (N70) ...... P174-2 Palmer’s Corner (M16, M7)...... P176-2 South Road (S1, S3)...... P174-1 Stumpfield Road (M66) ...... P179-2 West School Road (S76)...... P178-1

– viii – Wild Pasture Road (N3)...... P179-1

Stores: P180-182

Blake Warner Store ...... P181, P182-1 Kensington Store...... P182-2 Old Blake Shoe Shop...... P180

View of agricultural properties and neighborhoods: P73-96

Amesbury Road, M17 and M16, facing east...... P93-1 Amesbury Road, M21, facing north ...... P92-2 Amesbury Road, N101, facing northeast ...... P78-1 Amesbury Road, toward Green Brook, northwest...... P93-2 Amesbury Road, Great Hill and Shaws Meadow ...... P74-2 Amesbury Road, Lamprey Corners, southeast ...... P94-1 Amesbury Road, school and fire station, southeast ...... P87-1 Amesbury Road, Town Center, facing north ...... P88-2 Amesbury Road, Town Center, library, north...... P87-2 Amesbury Road, Town Center, facing northeast ...... P89-1 Amesbury Road, Town Center, Grange, southwest ...... P88-1 Amesbury Road, Town Center, facing North...... P86-1 Amesbury Road, Upper Yard, facing northwest ...... P86-2 Austin Corners toward Queen’s Bridge, southeast ...... P96-2 Brewer Road, N100, facing northeast ...... P75-1, P76-1 Cottage Road, facing northwest ...... P92-1 Drinkwater Road, facing northeast...... P83-1 Drinkwater Road, N11, near Five Corners, northeast ...... P85-1 Drinkwater Road, N12, near Five Corners, north ...... P84-2 Drinkwater Road, N14, facing east ...... P84-1 Drinkwater Road, N23, facing northeast ...... P83-2 Drinkwater Road, N35, Prescott Corner, west ...... P82-1 Eastman’s Corner, Routes 108 and 107, northeast ...... P94-2 Five Corners or Fryingpan Corners, facing north...... P85-2 Haverhill Road, facing northeast ...... P73-2 Haverhill Road, facing northwest, York Hill...... P74-1 Highland Road, S43, facing southeast ...... P96-1 Hilliard Road from Brewer Road, facing South ...... P76-2 Hobbs Road, Shaw’s Hill Farm ...... P75-2 Kimball Hill, facing north ...... P73-1 Moulton Ridge Road, facing north...... P77-1 Moulton Ridge Road, N57, facing northwest ...... P78-2 Moulton Ridge Road, N69 facing northwest ...... P77-2 North Road and route 150, “Brick School Corner” ...... P79-1

– ix – North Road, N35, Prescott Corner, facing southeast ...... P81-2 North Road, N36, facing northwest ...... P81-1 North Road, N39, facing northwest ...... P80-2 North Road, N44, facing southeast ...... P80-1 North Road, N48, facing northeast...... P79-2 Prescott Corner (North and Drinkwater), north...... P82-2 South Road, Route 107, S1 and S3, facing west...... P95-2 South Road, Route 107, S4, facing west ...... P95-1 Stumpfield Road, Blakeville, facing east...... P91-2 Stumpfield Road, Bodwell Farm, M59, facing east...... P90-2 Stumpfield Road, M64, facing east...... P91-1 Stumpfield Road, toward Gove Hill, northeast ...... P89-2 Stumpfield Road, Gove Hill, facing northwest...... P90-1

– x – NHDHR Area Letter K CODE NEW HAMPSHIRE DIVISION OF HISTORICAL Name of Area Kensington Townside RESOURCES - AREA FORM Area Form Town/City Kensington X Project Area Historic District County Rockingham Inventory form numbers in this Area none

Affix photo here Uses: Present see text use photo continuation sheet for extra photos

Original see text

Period of Significance c.1638 - 1950

General Condition good

Setting rural, small town

Acreage approximately 7,296

UTM Ref. Zone - USGS Quadrangle Exeter, N.H. - Mass. scale 1:24 000

Surveyor Lynne Emerson Monroe Recorded by Kari Laprey Historic photo of the town center (Kensington Public Library) Date of field survey 1997

SKETCH MAP: Draw a general map of the Area, indicating all properties (old and new) within it. Each property should be identified with an open box, and every property documented on an individual inventory form should be numbered with its corresponding NHDHR Inventory #. In the case of a “Historic District” Area Form, all contributing properties should be identified with shaded boxes while the boxes for non-contributing properties should remain unshaded. Label streets including route numbers, if any. (Attach a separate sheet if space is not sufficient.) Indicate north with arrow NHDHR Area Letter K Continuation Sheet used: Yes X No

Kensington Townwide Area Form

METHODOLOGY:

This “Townwide Area Form” was prepared for the Town of Kensington according to the standards and guide- lines of the New Hampshire Division of Historical Resources (NHDHR). Work was conducted by historic preservation consultants, Lynne Emerson Monroe and Kari Ann Laprey of Preservation Company in Ken- sington.

In the text, photographs and maps, houses are identified by numbers assigned them in Rev. Sawyer’s History of Kensington. Sawyer divided the town into three sections, North, Middle and South, and gave each house number a pre-fix – N, S or M based on its location. We are indebted to former Librarian Margaret Perry who created a map of Kensington showing the approximate locations of the houses as numbered in Sawyer’s book. A group of local residents also worked to create a key cross referencing Sawyer’s house numbers and current street addresses, and this is included as an appendix. Perry’s map is included in this report, with additional notations of which houses are no longer extant. House numbers were transferred to a project base map created from an enlarged USGS map.

Fieldwork involved driving all roads in Kensington and confirming the locations of all buildings more than fifty years old. Nearly all of the historic houses in town were photographed, as were barns and significant outbuildings. Fieldwork was conducted in 1997 and 1999. Sawyer’s book proved helpful in identifying houses built before the fifty year cutoff date, because it included all houses standing at the time of its writing, 1944. Historic photographs in the collection of the Kensington Library were photocopied and matched with the existing buildings.

Photographs are arranged by building type, and house style and plan. Additional panoramic views illustrate significant neighborhoods, groupings, agricultural complexes and open space.

The approximate construction dates identified by Sawyer’s research have been used for the purposes of this project, as the best available source. However, Sawyer’s work is known to contain some inaccuracies, and future research may provide corrected dates.

It is hoped that future work will include a more intensive study of Kensington’s buildings. Interior inspection and measurements are vital to fully understanding their construction histories. Many houses date from more than one period or were updated with elements from a later period, making the original appearance and plan more difficult to discern. In particular, many of the large center chimney houses of the 18th century appear to have received new windows and entries in the early to mid 19th century. Many houses were also remodeled in the early 20th century with Colonial Revival details such as porches and porticoes. Other important research question concern the dates and construction of Kensington’s barns and outbuildings, as well as the original date and use of wings and ells.

The following text is a careful synthesis of most available historical information (town histories, maps, his- toric photo- NEW HAMPSHIRE DIVISION OF HISTORICAL NHDHR Inventory # - RESOURCES - CONTINUATION FORM NHDHR Area Letter K Town/City Kensington Inventory Form X Area Form County Rockingham Sheet 2 of 96 METHODOLOGY: (continued) graphs, etc.). All sources are carefully referenced to aid future researchers. The document was edited for accuracy by several Kensington residents and Historical Society members. In particular we would like to thank Nathalie Potts and Barbara Powers (granddaughters of Rev. Roland Sawyer) for their careful review and comments.

GEOGRAPHICAL CONTEXT:

The town of Kensington covers 7,436 acres. The roughly rectangular area is bounded on the north by Exeter, on the east primarily by Hampton Falls and partly by Seabrook, on the south by South Hampton, and on the west by East Kingston. Kensington is located five miles from the ocean and was long tied to the coast through trade and ownership of salt marshes there. When originally divided and settled, Kensington and the adjacent towns to the south and west were included within the large town of Hampton.

Settlement patterns in Kensington were defined by its topography, particularly by its many hills and ridges, and several large, low-lying swamps or meadows. Kensington has more hills than any other town in the vicinity, and historically when land was clear these provided views of the ocean and the White Mountains (Hazlett 1915:475). The hilltops were settled first because they were easier to clear. The hills form a series of three roughly parallel ridgelines oriented west-east or northwest-southeast across the town. At the northwest edge is York Hill, formerly Nudd’s Hill or Buzzell’s Hill (265 feet), as well as Kimball’s Ridge on the Exeter line. To the southeast, Shaw’s Hill rises above the southwest edge of the Great Meadow. Moulton Ridge, originally Red Oak Ridge, at 287 feet historically afforded the best views. Hoosac Hill was named c.1760 by David James who marched over the mountain by the same name in Massachusetts during the French and Indian wars (Sawyer 1946:25). Moulton Ridge, Hoosac and Round Hills divide the northern from the middle part of town. Meetinghouse Hill rises east of the town center. Running northwest-southeast through the central part of town are Stumpfield Ridge (200 feet) (also known as Gove or Hodges Hill), Weymouth or Conners Hill, Pevear Hill, Cottage Hill (also Ward’s or Walton Hill), and Horse Hill. Conners Hill was so called for the family that settled there early on, a daughter married Weymouth, resulting in the later name (house gone, site S81). Parallel to the above, across the southern part of town, are Martin’s or Clifford’s Ridge (280 feet), Palmer Hill, and Towle Hill. Samuel Clifford settled on the ridge that bore his name c.1714, followed by the Martin family. In the far southwest corner, straddling the town line are Hog Hill (285 feet) and Indian Ground Hill (300 feet) (Sawyer 1946:10; Kensington Historical Society 1984).

Swamps fill the low-lying areas between the hills. The largest of these is Great Meadow, originally called the Grassy Swamp, which covers more than five hundred acres in the northeast corner of town and extends over the Exeter line. The meadow was hayed regularly until it was flooded by the Exeter Manufacturing Company when they dammed the Exeter River downstream (G. Swift Community News 5/98). Directly in the middle of the town, east of the Center, is Hog Pen Meadow, a half mile long swampy area that was burned over by the Indians to create a grassy meadow. (It extends along Amesbury Road (Route 150) from Lamprey’s Corner to the rear of the Grange Hall and cemetery.) The western end of the meadow extends along the west side of the town center. The northern portion of this area was also known as “The Guinea” and the southern part “The Bishop” (Kensington Historical Society 1984). According to tradition, the Bishop was so-called because of the nickname of early settler Moses Blake Jr., who lived across the swamp (M38 on Hogpen Lane). An old man with white hair, he drove a white horse and always wore his cocked hat, knee pants and military coat for NEW HAMPSHIRE DIVISION OF HISTORICAL NHDHR Inventory # - RESOURCES - CONTINUATION FORM NHDHR Area Letter K Town/City Kensington Inventory Form X Area Form County Rockingham Sheet 3 of 96 GEOGRAPHICAL CONTEXT: (continued)

which he was nicknamed “The Bishop” (Potts 2000). Kensington’s only natural standing body of water is Muddy Pond located in the southern part of town. The spring-fed pond, containing a few acres surrounded by a large area of swamp, was named for its very deep bottom of fine black mud (Sawyer 1946:10; Sawyer 1926:3). Barren Plain or Burnt Swamp is located in the northeast part of town near Five Corners.

The spring that feeds Muddy Pond is one of many in Kensington. Springs located on hilltops were often chosen as house sites, while those in the low lands create the town’s several small brooks. In the northern part of town, Great Brook flows east from East Kingston through the Great Meadows, north into Exeter River. It is joined by Spring Brook and Hobbs Brook. Mill Brook and Wadleigh’s Brook flow north from the Hog Pen Meadow, through the northeast corner of town, and converge at Great Meadows and continue through it to join Great Brook. The Taylor River and Green’s or Grapevine Run Brook flow east across the Hampton Falls line. Green’s Brook was named for John Benjamin Green who settled in the area in the 1710’s. It originates from two springs. Where the brook passed under Amesbury Road an area was dug out to make a horse watering place (Community News 9/99). The outlet of Muddy Pond is known as Beaver Dam or Winkley Brook (also Gaddis’ Brook or Boardman Brook), which flows east into Hampton Falls. This was the site of several mills particularly near the crossing of Amesbury Road (Route 150). The Falls River begins in the southeast corner of town, while the Back River flows from the southwest corner (Sawyer 1946:226).

None of these streams is very large, most are just trickling streams, but several were dammed and their water power harnessed during the spring and after heavy rains (Sawyer 1946:226). This created small mill ponds, while in other locations farm ponds were formed. Mill Brook was dammed just downstream from North Road creating Philbrick Pond (also Armstrong’s Pond), a historic mill site. Farther downstream, to the north, is York’s Pond. Another small pond was Young’s Pond on Hobbs Brook just east of Hilliard Road. Other farm ponds are unnamed. Some were dug with assistance from the Farm Bureau during the early 20th century (the last one was at Edith Keough’s house on Cottage Road) (H. Beckman Community News 2/96).

The first three main roads through Kensington roughly followed the east-west ridge lines. South Road, now NH Route 107, skirts the southern side of Horse Hill and passes over Palmer and Martin Hills. The Middle Road included Lamprey Road (Route 84), Pevear Lane and Stumpfield Road over the ridge by that name. The North Road consisted of the southern end of Drinkwater, North Road, Moulton (or Red Oak) Ridge Road, and the western section of Route 108 to the Kingston line. Only South Road remains in use as a continuous east- west through road. The others have been divided into segments, and these along with various north-south roads and others running diagonally, connect the various sections of town in an irregular pattern.

The principal north-south road through Kensington is NH Route 150 or Amesbury Road. This is the main road from Amesbury to Exeter, and runs diagonally through the center of Kensington between the South Hampton and Exeter lines. This route was laid out in various segments (1739 Pevear Lane to meetinghouse, 1754 Eastman to Lamprey corners, 1755 Eastman Corner to South Hampton line, 1832 from Meetinghouse to Brick School, 1838 from Brick School to Court Street in Exeter) (Sawyer 1946:247). It intersects with NH Route 108 or Haverhill Road (1840), which runs southwest from Exeter, diagonally through the northwest corner of Kensington into East Kingston. This consists of a portion of the original North Road, a section between Moulton Ridge and Hobbs Road laid out in 1826, and a northern stretch from the mid-19th century. An earlier north-south route was the Stage Road along the eastern edge of town, that consisted of Drinkwater Road or Exeter Lane laid out along a range line in 1734, Wild Pasture Road (1796), and the southern end of Amesbury Road. NEW HAMPSHIRE DIVISION OF HISTORICAL NHDHR Inventory # - RESOURCES - CONTINUATION FORM NHDHR Area Letter K Town/City Kensington Inventory Form X Area Form County Rockingham Sheet 4 of 96 GEOGRAPHICAL CONTEXT: (continued)

Brewer Road, named for the family who have lived at N100 since the late 19th century, and Hobbs Road, named for the family that settled on it in 1724 (house gone, site N82), were part of the “Tilton-Kingston Road” (1733), the eastern end of which, connecting to Drinkwater Road has long been discontinued (Sawyer 1946:238). Hilliard Road, named for the family that lived at N71 for many generations, and Shaw’s Hill Road, run north from Moulton Ridge to the Exeter line. Kimball Road was officially laid out along a private way in 1820.

In the central part of town, Osgood Road or Fryingpan Lane, from the Meetinghouse to the Hampton Falls line, was laid out in 1854. Trundlebed Lane connects the town center with Stumpfield Road (1739). Cottage or Palmer Road (also East School Road) developed in the 19th century, beginning as a dead-end road off Amesbury Road. Discontinued roads include Dearborn Road between Stumpfield and Moulton Ridge Roads (first half of 19th century), the northern end of Moulton Ridge road from the highest point on the hill to Route 108, Round Hill Road from Osgood to North Road (1739), Beaverdam Road (closed to bars and gates) be- tween South Road and Stumpfield (1845), Ward Road from South Road to Route 150 (1739), Pevear Lane between Route 150 and Cottage Road (1740). Below South Road, Highland Road leads to South Hampton and Amesbury, and “Hickory Lane” has long been a dead-end road, though at one time it was part of Tilton- South Hampton Road.

Kensington residents gave names to many of the neighborhoods and road junctions in the town. York Hill on Route 108 is the site of the large farms owned by the York family until the 1960’s. N88 was occupied by the Nudd family from 1785 and the present house built c.1815. In 1840 Daniel J. York came to work for Nudd and married his daughter. A second house, N89 was built c.1861 for their son John W. York. Kimball Hill, between Route 108 and the Exeter line, is also named for its longtime residents. N86 was occupied by Maurice Kimball, and son Stephen erected N87, which burned and was rebuilt in 1928. Both are still occu- pied by the Kimball family. Shaws Hill, previously called Orchard Hill, is a collection of farms on Hobbs and Shaws Hill Roads. Originally settled by the Sanborn family, N74 and N76 were purchased in the early 1800’s by Elijah Shaw for himself and his children. Thomas and Abigail Shaw built the brick house N80 c.1830. Carpenter George Shaw built N77 as his summer home c.1891, and a cottage N78 c.1895. Herman Shaw ran a dairy farm there into the 1950’s. Brick School Corner (also Tuck’s Corner) is the intersection of Amesbury Road (Route 150) and North Road. It is so-called for the 1842 school still extant. The earlier school, c.1790, was moved across the road and survives as house N50. The Tuck family occupied N47 from 1801 and built the brick house N48 c.1827. Nearby were the Tuck tannery and the Fellows grist mill (Sawyer 1946:349). Potters Corner is the corner of Round Hill and North Roads, named for Ebenezer Potter who had a home and tavern on the site of N44 in the late 18th century (Sawyer 1946:348). Moulton Ridge was named for the family that occupied several houses. N69 was built by Benjamin Moulton c.1781, and N67 by his son by the same name c.1800. Benjamin G. Moulton later occupied N70 (Sawyer 1946:352-353).

The “Drinkwater section” of town was the part of the parish between the Hampton Falls line at Fryingpan Corners and the Brick School (Sawyer 1946:336). The intersection of Drinkwater and North Roads is known as Prescott Corner (also Blake’s Corner) for the family that has lived there since the 18th century. Deacon John Prescott settled on site of N36 and his brother Nathaniel on site of N35 in 1720. Jonathan Prescott built on the site of N38 c.1742. Existing N36 was created by Robert Prescott in 1814 and N35 was built by Josiah D. Prescott c.1880. Both are still owned and occupied by the family (Sawyer 1946:346). Fryingpan Corners or Five Corners, near the Hampton Falls line, is the junction of Osgood Road, Drinkwater and Wild Pasture Roads, and Fryingpan Lane. Various families occupied the houses in the vicinity, including several that are NEW HAMPSHIRE DIVISION OF HISTORICAL NHDHR Inventory # - RESOURCES - CONTINUATION FORM NHDHR Area Letter K Town/City Kensington Inventory Form X Area Form County Rockingham Sheet 5 of 96 GEOGRAPHICAL CONTEXT: (continued)

not extant. The Wadleigh family occupied N12 and N11 for many years, and two other houses that are gone. This was also known as Healey’s Corner at one time, for the builder of N6 c.1780 (Sawyer 1946:340).

The small town center, including churches, town hall, library and cemeteries, along Route 150 or Amesbury Road was known, tongue-in-cheek, as The City. J.T. Blake, whose store was a center of activity, boasted that Kensington would soon grow to be a city, after which the area was known as “Blake’s City” (Mace 1909:22). Houses include the Blake House M27 (the store was opposite), the Hilliard/Prescott House which also con- tained shoe shop and store (M31), the parsonage (M32), as well as M28, M30 and M36. Palmer’s Corner refers to a bend in Amesbury Road (Route 150) near M16 and M17 built by the Green family and later purchased by the Palmers.

In the late 19th century, the intersection of Stumpfield Road and Trundlebed Lane was known as Mace’s Corner for the family that lived there after Theodore Mace purchased M43 in 1860 and established a large dairy farm. Previously, members of the Chase family occupied M43 and M45, and the intersection was known as “Elihu Chase’s corner” for the occupant of site M44. Blakeville is located on Stumpfield Road at the East Kingston line. The Blake family settled there in the 1720’s. Elisha Blake built M70 c.1736. Three other early houses are gone. Later members of the family who were carpenters erected M67 and M68 in the mid-19th century (Sawyer 1946:335-336). Cottage Road, known at one time as Tarpaper Alley is the location of relatively small, modest houses.

The junction of Route 150 and Route 84 or Lamprey Road is known as Lamprey Corners. The Lamprey’s settled in the vicinity in 1728, and the large farm remained in the family into the 1950’s. Most of the houses are gone. M4 was built by Deacon John Lamprey c.1790, M11 by Samuel Lamprey c.1785, and M5 by W.P. Lamprey c.1868. Eastman’s Corner (also Stuart’s Corner) is the intersection of Route 150 and South Road (Route 107). The focal point of this area was the Eastman Tavern, which stood in the northeast corner until demolished in 1911. Benjamin Eastman operated the tavern from 1761 to c.1830. The original settler Jeremiah Eastman came from Salisbury in 1739. The Brown family occupied other houses in the vicinity. To the south, Benjamin Brown’s Corner, also known as “Salisbury Corner” and “Arab Corner” is the junction of Route 150 and New Boston Road. Brown owned an 18th century house on the site of S8. Austin’s or Stephen Brown’s Corner is the intersection of South Road and Hickory Lane. The Brown family occupied S57 and in the mid- 19th century it was sold to Samuel Austin. The intersection of South Road and Highland was known at one time as Lovering’s Corner. Theodore Lovering purchased S44 in 1835 and Eben Lovering erected S43 c.1857 (Sawyer 1946:304). Page’s Corner, now the junction of West School and Muddy Pond Roads, was at one time a five-way intersection. None of the Page houses are extant.

ARCHITECTURAL SIGNIFICANCE - Describe important predominant architectural styles and evaluate in terms of other areas within the Town/City

1630-1732 First Period – Town of Hampton, Land Division and Settlement of Western Sections, Parish of Hampton Falls

By 1732 the area that is now Kensington and Seabrook contained 144 two-story houses, and forty-six one- story houses (Brown 1900:14). When the Kensington town history was written in 1946, there were seven pre- NEW HAMPSHIRE DIVISION OF HISTORICAL NHDHR Inventory # - RESOURCES - CONTINUATION FORM NHDHR Area Letter K Town/City Kensington Inventory Form X Area Form County Rockingham Sheet 6 of 96 ARCHITECTURAL SIGNIFICANCE (continued)

1730 houses standing. Ten years later there were only four (Kensington Public Library House Files). Most early homes were reportedly 1½ stories, measuring about 14 X 30 feet, consisting of two rooms, with a chimney at one end, and an unfinished loft reached by a ladder (Sawyer 1946: 24, 216). As of the early 20th century, one of the oldest (built c.1713, not extant, site S61) was a small one-story, 2 X 1 bay structure, of log or plank construction (More Homesteads files).

Presently the oldest extant house in town is N18, built between 1706 and 1714 and occupied by the Rowe family until the mid-20th century (Sawyer 1946:342). This 5 X 3 bay, center chimney house, was given a saltbox form with a rear addition in the mid-20th century. Its wood-shingled walls have no ornament, with narrow trim, flat corner boards, and small windows under the close eaves. House N101 is reportedly the c.1725 Sherburn Tilton House (Sawyer 1946:364). This 2½-story, 5 X 2 bay center chimney house had very low eaves and small windows. It was renovated in the 1940’s, at which time the 6/9 windows were installed (Kensington Public Library House Files). The narrow center entry has Georgian trim of pilasters and entab- lature. Both of these houses are oriented to the south.

The 1½-story, center chimney “cape” became a common house type. A cape on Cottage Road (S33) may be the Edward Palmer House (built in the early 1700’s), moved from site S27. The house on Moulton Ridge Road occupied by the Eastman family since 1901 (N56), was originally the Sherburne house built c.1730, and was reportedly moved to its present site c.1830 (Kensington Public Library House Files). Notable is its orientation to the south, away from the road. It has low eaves, very small windows and narrow entry charac- teristic of this early period. The c.1736 Elisha Blake House is extant (M70) but long vacant. The central chimney has been removed. Originally 3 X 2 bays, now 5 X 2, the age of the house is indicated by the low eaves and narrow entry.

1732-1784 Georgian Style – Parish of Kensington, Meetinghouse Built, Continued Settlement, Town of Kensington Incorporated, Population Growth, Prosperity, Revolutionary War

According to Sawyer’s research, at least twenty-five of the original houses in town were replaced by larger ones on the same site in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. Another twenty-eight early 18th century houses were gone by the 19th century and nothing built on their site.

Other early houses were lost in the 20th century. After the c.1742 Moses Shaw house on Stumpfield Road (site M62) was taken down c.1910, its woodwork was acquired by an antique dealer, and was later installed in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. Rev. Sawyer attributed the woodwork to cabinetmaker Ebenezer Clifford of Exeter, but more likely it was Moses Shaw himself, as he was a joiner (Kensington Public Library House Files). The c.1755 Ebenezer Lovering House (site S62, moved to Connecticut in mid-20th century) was one of the town’s more elaborately detailed Georgian houses. It featured a center entry flanked by fluted pilasters with capitals, and topped by a transom and pediment with dentils and modillions (More Homesteads files).

Kensington retains a significant number of large, 2½-story, center chimney houses of this period. In general their plans consist of three main rooms arranged around a large chimney stack with fireplaces on three sides. In front of the chimney is the entrance and staircase. The kitchen occupies the rear of the building often with small, unheated rooms at either end. Nearly all of the houses of this period are oriented to the south rather than NEW HAMPSHIRE DIVISION OF HISTORICAL NHDHR Inventory # - RESOURCES - CONTINUATION FORM NHDHR Area Letter K Town/City Kensington Inventory Form X Area Form County Rockingham Sheet 7 of 96 ARCHITECTURAL SIGNIFICANCE (continued) directly facing the road. Most are supported by granite block foundations. All are 5 X 2 or 5 X 3 bays with center entries, and in the latter case, a side entry on one gable end. Many had wings added later, probably in the early to mid 1800’s to house a new kitchen with cook-stove. Characteristic of all are clapboard walls with narrow corner boards, small windows, those of the upper floor set close under the eaves. The eaves are close cropped with flat rake boards on the gable ends. Most have 9/6 double hung windows of the first floor and 6/ 6 sash above, but whether this configuration is original or an early alteration has not been determined. House S58 (c.1737) is a massive, 5 X 2 bay, center chimney house with some Colonial Revival period remodeling. S47 is dated c.1745. Recently demolished, N72 was built c.1740, while N84 of similar date was extensively remodeled in the 1990’s. An excellent example of the type and period is N19 (c.1755), which has the charac- teristic close-cropped eaves, 9/6 and 6/6 windows, and a narrow entry with transom light above the door and frame of pilasters and entablature. Several Kensington houses have similar entries. N69 (c.1781) features the same flat eaves, and narrow corner boards, and has a typical entry with transom and frame of pilasters and entablature. Others have simple variations with doors framed by flat boards imitating true pilasters and entablatures. Examples are S57 and N76 (c.1780). Toward the end of the Georgian period, houses were built with somewhat finer detailing. M27, dated c.1780, has the same Georgian entry trim, but with taller propor- tions and a molded cornice. The walls are trimmed with wider corner boards, and a water table, the eaves have a molded cornice, and there is a narrow molding around the window trim. The c.1825 construction date assigned by Sawyer to S4 is probably somewhat later, but it does feature a more elaborate entry, projecting eaves with returns, and larger 6/6 window sash.

Several Georgian houses, N27, N74 and N86, were updated in the early to mid-19th century with Federal and Greek Revival entries. Two center chimney houses, S44 and M66, had significant Colonial Revival remodelings.

A smaller variation on the center chimney plan, popular in the region, was the “half house.” These two room deep, 3 X 3 bay houses have their chimneys in one end bay, serving fireplaces on the side and rear. The entry bay is usually in front of the chimney as in a center chimney plan house, but in some cases the entry is straight into the main room. Half houses were built in 1½-and 2½-story forms. Kensington had at least two 1½-story “half capes,” neither of which are extant (S20 built c.1758 and N30 built c.1780) (Kensington Public Library House Files). The Eastman house (N56) may also have originated as a half cape. It was moved twice and enlarged to create a cape, which looks uniform on the exterior but has variations inside (Perry 2000).

Some half houses were later enlarged to five bays, with a second major room added on the opposite side of the chimney, and are not easily distinguishable from the center chimney houses. In many cases, this expansion was planned when the original “half” was built. The Hilliard House (N71) was built in two halves, c.1743 and c.1770. The resulting house is uniform in appearance, 5 X 3 bays, with central entry and chimney, and small windows throughout. The front portico is a 20th century addition over a simple Georgian entry. N53 was built in two halves, the first in 1748. It retains a Georgian entry with transom, paneled pilasters and entablature. House N14 dates from c.1744 and c.1824. Both halves have uniform small windows. The corner boards and frieze, and projecting eaves with returns reflect the later date. The entry portico and window hoods date from renovation in the 1980’s. Another large center chimney house, N47 is also thought to contain a half house, enlarged to its current size c.1829 according to Sawyer. Again, the later date is evident in the projecting eaves with molded cornice and returns. The house was updated in the Victorian era with porches and bay windows.

Other “half houses” remained as built, many with small, one-story kitchen wings with stove chimneys added. NEW HAMPSHIRE DIVISION OF HISTORICAL NHDHR Inventory # - RESOURCES - CONTINUATION FORM NHDHR Area Letter K Town/City Kensington Inventory Form X Area Form County Rockingham Sheet 8 of 96 ARCHITECTURAL SIGNIFICANCE (continued)

The builder of M64 on Stumpfield Road intended to add a second half for his son’s family, but never did (Kensington Public Library House Files). The 3 X 2 bay structure has its entry and chimney in the end bay. It retains 9/6 windows on the ground floor, and simple entry with narrow pilasters and entablature and paneled door topped by transom. N57 was built in the same form c.1743 for Timothy Hutchins on Moulton Ridge Road. It has 9/6 windows on both floors, molded window trim, narrow flat board wall trim, and an excellent period entry with transom, pilasters and entablature. The entry of N100 on Brewer Road is similar. The house retains integrity including windows and entry and various connected sheds and outbuildings. M42 on Trundlebed Lane was originally the Blake Tavern, built in 1760 on site of M36 and moved to its current location in 1860 (Sawyer 1946:328). A wing was added at that time and later connected to barns and sheds. House N23, built c.1774 for Benjamin Melcher, is a plainly trimmed house with tall square chimney. The half house form was reportedly used as late as 1799 or 1800 on South Road (S48). This house retains period entry with entablature and transom, 9/6 windows upstairs and down. Notable is the high-posted wing with “kneewall” windows. The John Moulton House on Moulton Ridge Road (N67) is dated c.1800 and has the same 9/6 windows and an entry with a simple transom and a peaked lintel. The ell of N6, appears to have been a half house when it was built c.1733 for John Lovering. The c.1749 Joseph Wadleigh House (N12) nearby on Drinkwater Road appears to have been a half house with entry removed, but is in fact the remaining half of a full center chimney house.

The 1738 Fogg Parsonage on Osgood Road (N93) is a massive Georgian house with twin fireplace chimneys. This would suggest a floor plan of two rooms on either side of a central hall, heated by back to back chimneys. However, the date of the house is early for that type of plan, suggesting a later major rebuilding campaign. The windows and entry also suggest a later date.

Considering the larger numbers of residences built, there were certainly a large number of barns also erected in Kensington during this period. These would have been “English Barns,” gable roofed with their main doors in the middle of the lateral elevation. They were generally three bays with a central threshing and vehicle floor, cow tie-up along one side and hay storage in the opposite bay (Hubka 1984:54). The only identified barns of this period is the garage at Shaw’s Hill Farm (N76). Others may be extant, but are longer recognizable, incorporated into later outbuildings.

The second meeting house was built in 1770-1771 on the site of the present Town Hall, based on measure- ments of the North Hampton Church built in 1761. Kensington’s meetinghouse was then copied in Salisbury, and that building still stands on Rocky Hill in what is now Amesbury. Kensington’s was 2 ½ stories with a gable roof, 5 X 5 bays with entries centered on the lateral and gable end elevations. There were forty win- dows. The interior featured galleries on three sides, and an elevated pulpit (Sawyer 1946:160).

The original cemetery, the Upper (Burying) Yard, is located below the meetinghouse site, beside the present Universalist Church. The yard seeded in with pines, which were allowed to grow quite large until they were removed in the early 1900’s. Presently the Upper Yard is open, behind a wall of irregular granite slabs which lines the road. Rows of gravestones extend back to the woods behind. Because it had a public burying ground early on, Kensington contains relatively few small family graveyards. The private cemeteries (some used by Quaker families) include: Green on Amesbury Road, Tilton and Prescott on North Road, Batchelder on Kim- ball Road, Gove on Stumpfield Road, Weare-Lovering on Highland Road, Brown near Five Corners, Eaton off Muddy Pond Road and Dow on South Road (see historic map). NEW HAMPSHIRE DIVISION OF HISTORICAL NHDHR Inventory # - RESOURCES - CONTINUATION FORM NHDHR Area Letter K Town/City Kensington Inventory Form X Area Form County Rockingham Sheet 9 of 96 ARCHITECTURAL SIGNIFICANCE (continued)

1784-1826 Federal Style – Turnpikes and Stagecoaches, Agricultural Prosperity

Several carpenters worked in town during this period, but none have been identified with specific houses. Federal period carpenter and cabinetmaker Ebenezer Clifford, who worked extensively in Exeter and prob- ably also in Kensington, had a shop on Exeter Lane (Drinkwater Road) in the vicinity of N25 and N27 (Saw- yer 1946:230,344). S47 reportedly had elaborate woodwork by Clifford, which was removed for sale (Ken- sington Public Library House Files). During the first half of the 1800’s, Insley and George Page had a carpenter and mechanic’s shop in the fork of Route 150 and the former New Boston Road in the southeast corner of town (Sawyer 1946:230; Chace 1857). The shop of John Page (lived site of S12) is extant as S15 (Sawyer 1946:230, 299).

The center chimney, 2½-story, two room deep house remained popular in Kensington during the early Federal period, though its use ended in more cosmopolitan towns, such as Portsmouth. M4 (c.1790) and M11 (c.1785) are similar in proportion to earlier center chimney houses, but feature wider corner boards, eaves with returns, and larger entries. The entries of this period consist of half-length sidelights, pilasters and entablature, some- times above a long transom light. Several houses dated earlier by Sawyer have similar entries, presumably from remodeling in this period. These include N86 and N74, as well as N27 which has an excellent entry of this type. N88 (c.1815) is an excellent house of this period, with walls trimmed by corner pilasters and eave returns, and characteristic entry with six panel door, flanked by half sidelights, topped by transom and framed by paneled pilasters and entablature. The windows are 9/6 upstairs and down. N3 (c.1800) also has 9/6 windows up and down. Its entry is covered by a portico, assumed to be later. The chronology of the Rev. Napthali Shaw House (M21) has not been identified. It is dated c.1795, but differs from other houses of this period in its 12/12 window sash and entry portico, which may date from a Colonial Revival remodeling.

The center chimney “cape” form remained in use, but with taller proportions. The c.1790 Simon Prescott House on Moulton Ridge Road (N59) is a narrow 5 X 2 bay, high posted structure. It retains 9/6 windows, Federal style entry of pilasters, transom and entablature, and simple molded cornice, and slightly projecting eaves with returns. M33, which is not extant, was originally a center chimney cape, with 9/6 window sash and Federal style ornament (Kensington Public Library House Files).

The twin chimney, center hall plan came into use during this period for large 2½-story houses. Several examples in Kensington are similar in their form and proportions. All are two rooms deep, with chimneys set in from the gable ends, providing back to back fireplaces in the front and back rooms. The c.1797 Hilliard Sanborn House (N25) on Drinkwater Road retains its twin chimney form and entry flanked by sidelights, with later Colonial Revival windows and porches. An excellent example of this type and style is N92 on Haverhill Road (Route 108). It retains tall, rectangular chimneys and center entry framed by half sidelights, transom, pilasters and entablature. The taller 9/6 windows on the first floor are typical of the Federal period. A c.1807 house on Stumpfield Road (M43) has a nearly identical entry, and retains a narrow side entry topped by a transom light. The house at “Highfields Farm,” built c.1805 for Jeremiah Tilton (M50), is also a large 2½- story, 5 X 3 bay structure. Its twin fireplace chimneys are intact. Other period elements are the half-length sidelights and the projecting eaves with returns.

N36 on North Road was created in 1814 by moving and enlarging an older (c.1760) house. The result was a twin chimney house, with small windows and close eaves indicating its age. The corner pilasters and eave NEW HAMPSHIRE DIVISION OF HISTORICAL NHDHR Inventory # - RESOURCES - CONTINUATION FORM NHDHR Area Letter K Town/City Kensington Inventory Form X Area Form County Rockingham Sheet 10 of 96 ARCHITECTURAL SIGNIFICANCE (continued) returns, and entry framed by narrow sidelights and transom, pilasters and entablature reflect the Federal style. Another twin chimney house from two building campaigns is the Green house M17 on Amesbury Road. It was apparently built as a half house with its chimney behind the front entry, and was enlarged to its current form in 1861. It retains integrity from the latter date, including entry trim and 6/6 windows.

Another house type used during the Federal period was the “I-house.” Also 2½ stories, with twin chimneys and five bay facades, these houses have chimneys on the rear or end walls and are only one room deep. An excellent example of the latter is N6 on Drinkwater Road. It retains historic wall and window trim and Federal entry framed by half sidelights and transom. This property is notable for the massive maple trees in the front yard. Like many I-houses, this one has an ell, in this case the original house on the property. The c.1793 house of Samuel Dearborn (now Bodwell) on Stumpfield Road (M59) has similar twin end chimneys and a 2½-story ell. The Dow House (M1) is a 5 X 1 bay house with fireplace chimneys on the back wall of the main block, plus an original ell. It retains a Federal style entry with a six-panel door, pilasters and a narrow transom. Property M31, longtime local store and shoe shop, consist of a one-room-deep house created c.1795, with a long 2½-story ell oriented parallel to the main road.

The c.1815 Nathan Green house (M16) is 5 X 1 bays with two stove chimneys near the middle of the ridge, suggesting an original central fireplace chimney. This house retains period entry trim, including transom, pilasters and entablature. Property S76 on West School Road is an irregular, one-room-deep house, the first story built in 1816 and the second added 1837. Attached to the rear of this house is the relocated West School (built 1873).

Only two houses were built in the popular Federal period form, two stories with a hip-roof and L-shaped plan. Both have two facades, facing front and side, five bays with center entries. The front portion of both is one room deep with twin chimneys on the end walls. The ells have fireplace chimneys on the back wall. The Oliver Locke Tavern (S19) was built in 1826 on Amesbury Road. It retains an excellent Federal style front entry consisting of half-length sidelights, transom, pilasters and entablature. (The date of the 12/8 window sash has not been determined.) The Gove House on Stumpfield Road (M48) is the same form in brick con- struction (c.1832). The five bay façade and ell have matching entries with sidelights and transom under a granite lintel. The house retains its slate roof, topped by a balustrade.

Kensington’s two other brick houses are 2½ stories with gable roofs, 5 X 3 bays, and twin end chimneys. The houses are nearly identical in form and details. The Tuck House (N 48) on North Road was built c.1827. The Shaw House (N80) on Shaw’s Hill was built c.1830. Both retain granite block foundations, 9/6 and 6/6 window sash with wooden lintels set plainly into the brick walls, and narrow wooden cornice and slightly projecting eaves. The center entries are flanked by half-length sidelights and topped by semi-elliptical fans. The Kimball House (N87) was similar until the top floor burned and the existing 1½-story brick house was created in the early 20th century. The house was originally built from bricks manufactured on the site from available clay.

Kensington retains public buildings from this period, but with limited integrity. Of the three schoolhouses built in 1798, one structure remains extant and gives some idea of the original form. This was the North School, moved and replaced by the Brick School in 1842 (Sawyer 1946:219). It is located south of the intersection of Amesbury Road and North Road (N50). All three were uniform in size and type, 20 X 20 feet NEW HAMPSHIRE DIVISION OF HISTORICAL NHDHR Inventory # - RESOURCES - CONTINUATION FORM NHDHR Area Letter K Town/City Kensington Inventory Form X Area Form County Rockingham Sheet 11 of 96 ARCHITECTURAL SIGNIFICANCE (continued) square with a peaked roof. They had windows on three sides and a wood storage shed along the fourth. Inside there were four rows of benches, and heat was provided by a fireplace and later a box stove (Hazlett 1915:486). The existing building (N50) is a 4 X 3 bay, 1½-story structure with gable end to the road and entry on the side elevation. The 1813 Christian Meetinghouse (i.e., Baptist) survives on Cottage Road (S25) as a center chim- ney cape. Originally a plain unpainted building without pews or pulpit (Hazlett 1915:481) it was moved when the second church (now the Grange Hall) was built in 1838. Next door is another cape (S26) which was originally a schoolhouse in Hampton Falls and was moved here c.1860 by Almira Dow (Kensington Public Library House Files).

Kensington’s 1823 map by Rand shows houses in a stylized manner and does not reflect their actual form or plan. However, the map does indicate that there were 113 houses in the town at that date. Most of these were 2½ stories, while twenty-four were drawn as one story (Rand 1823).

1826-c.1850 Greek Revival Style – Shoemaking, Farming, Religious Division, New Churches and Public Buildings

Several of Kensington’s most important public buildings date from this period of local prosperity. All are relatively small, wood-frame structures, displaying simple elements of the Greek Revival style. The second Christian Meetinghouse (now the Grange Hall), built in 1838, and the Union Meetinghouse (now the Univer- salist Church), built in 1840, were both constructed by the local team of Josiah B. Sanborn, Dearborn Blake and William Gove (Sawyer 1926:26).

The Grange, which stands on Route 150 in what is now the town center, is a 1½-story, 3 X 3 bay building, oriented gable end to the road. Clapboard walls have Greek Revival style ornament including corner pilasters, frieze and eave returns, and a lunette motif in the gable. Large windows have double-hung 16/16 sash. The pair of identical entries have double wood panel doors, topped by transom lights, and framed by pilasters and entablatures. Next to the Grange is the “Lower Yard,” the new Town cemetery laid out in 1828. It was originally 110.5 square rods, in solid lots with no paths between. The yard was fenced the following year with a high stone wall. This was replaced in 1888 with an iron fence given by George W. Dearborn (Sawyer 1946:285). The fence remains intact between granite posts.

The Universalist Church, between the Town Hall and Upper Yard, is a typical country church of the Greek Revival period. The pedimented gable end is topped by a square belfry with Gothic spires at each corner. Two entries feature sidelights, and pilasters supporting a full entablature. Windows are flanked by wooden shutters and topped by louvered fans, like that in the front gable.

Next door, the Town Hall was erected in 1846, on the site of the old meetinghouse. The simple wood-frame building has two entries on its gable front façade. Greek Revival style ornament includes corner pilasters, frieze and eave returns, and triangular insert in the gable end. Entries have wood panel doors topped by transoms and peaked lintels. The Town Hall was moved back slightly from the road in 1980, and a rear addition constructed.

New construction employed several local builders. Carpenters Josiah Sanborn and Dearborn Blake had a large carpentry shop on North (Drinkwater) Road during this period (Sawyer 1946:230). Another branch of NEW HAMPSHIRE DIVISION OF HISTORICAL NHDHR Inventory # - RESOURCES - CONTINUATION FORM NHDHR Area Letter K Town/City Kensington Inventory Form X Area Form County Rockingham Sheet 12 of 96 ARCHITECTURAL SIGNIFICANCE (continued) the Blake family had a carpenter’s shop on Stumpfield Road. The stone foundations of both new churches were the work of John Blaisdell, who learned the stonecutting trade while imprisoned for the 1822 murder of John Wadleigh. He also laid foundations for the brick schoolhouse, the brick house on Shaw’s Hill (Sawyer 1946:273).

Another important public building is the Brick or North School, built in 1842 on the corner of Amesbury and North Roads. Residents hauled brick to the site with teams of oxen. Labor on the foundation began in April, and the building was completed by November. John W. Shaw provided the granite sills and steps (Sawyer 1946:224). The building remains intact, 1½ stories with large 12/12 windows and the entry in the western bay of the 4 bay, gable-front façade. It is preserved by the Kensington Historical Society.

Kensington houses of this period are vernacular interpretations of the Greek Revival style. The older center chimney cape form remained in use for several houses. Notably, all of their center entry facades face side- ways, with the gable end to the road, probably reflecting the popular “temple front” form. An excellent example is N70 on Moulton Ridge, built c.1842 for Amos Nudd. It is 5 X 3 bays, and features paneled corner pilasters, frieze and water table, 6/6 windows with paneled trim and corner blocks. M67 on Stumpfield Road was built c.1845 by carpenter Dearborn Blake. It is also 5 X 3 bays, but 1½ stories plus a lighted attic. Its side-facing center entry is flanked by sidelights, and windows are topped by peaked lintels. Smaller and more simply detailed is the Chase House (S21) on Amesbury Road, built c.1860.

Kensington has two examples of the wide gable front house that was popular during the Greek Revival. An excellent, well-preserved house of this type is the 1844 Wadleigh House (N11) on Drinkwater Road occupied by the same family for over a hundred years. The gable-front façade, 1½ stories plus a lighted attic, has a center entry and originally had twin fireplace chimneys reflecting a center hall plan inside. The entry features half-length sidelights and transom, and a channeled board surround with corner blocks and a keystone. The 6/ 6 windows have similar trim. The walls are trimmed with corner pilasters and frieze. In the town center, M29 was built c.1840 by Col. Blake to house workers in his shoe factory. This is a simpler 1½-story, 5 X 2 bay gable-front house. Plain Greek Revival elements include the two panel door, narrow full-length sidelights and simple board trim, as well as the 6/6 windows.

A relatively small number of Kensington’s Greek Revival style houses are in the 2½-story sidehall form, and even these often varied from the norm. An excellent example is M68 on Stumpfield Road, built c.1850 by carpenter Jerry Blake. It features a pedimented gable front with an entry framed by sidelights and a transom, pilasters and entablature. With a side entry centered on the lateral elevation, the house did not entirely aban- don the older building form. Also irregular in form is the Clifford house (S69) on South Road, which has a fireplace chimney centered on its ridge, suggesting it is an older house, with a sidehall entry added. A 2½- story sidehall with Greek Revival ornament was built on the front of an older house at (S1) the Brown Farm on South Road. It features wide corner boards, frieze and eave returns. The entry is flanked by narrow sidelights and framed by pilasters and entablature. Original 6/6 windows are intact. Across the road, the David Brown House (S3) is a similar sidehall plan house, built c.1860 from part of an older house.

Kensington has a single residence of the Gothic Revival style. This is the Ezra Chase House on Cottage Road, dated 1844 (M20). The high-posted cape is 3 X 2 bays with a central gabled pavilion with pointed arch window. The eaves are decorated with barge boards, topped by finials with acorn shaped drop pendants. NEW HAMPSHIRE DIVISION OF HISTORICAL NHDHR Inventory # - RESOURCES - CONTINUATION FORM NHDHR Area Letter K Town/City Kensington Inventory Form X Area Form County Rockingham Sheet 13 of 96 ARCHITECTURAL SIGNIFICANCE (continued)

Entry reflects the Greek Revival in its full sidelights and peaked lintel, as do the windows.

The “New England” barn type, with doors on its gable ends came into use in the early 1800’s and was com- monly built after about 1830. These barns were usually oriented gable end to the road, three bays in width, with central doors on either gable end. The center bay was the vehicle floor running the length of the building. The side bays contained the haymow and animal stalls; the former was usually on the colder northern or western side, and the latter in the south or east bay (Hubka 1984:52, 55).

In Kensington, the first barn with the floor running lengthwise was raised in either 1812 or 1820 (dates conflict) for Samuel Tucker of Wild Pasture Road (N3) (Sawyer 1946:85, 337). It retains an off-center entry with exterior rolling doors on its front gable end. The eaves are close cropped and three multi-pane windows light the loft. The 1829 Nudd barn (N88) (not extant) was 102 feet long. The Shaw barn (N76) was built in 1836 from timbers hewn by Mr. Tarleton of North Hampton (Kensington Public Library House Files). It also has close-cropped eaves with a simple raking cornice. It is supported by a granite block foundation, with a low ramp up to the entry on the east gable end. The gable end is sheathed in clapboards and the side elevations in shingles. It also has exterior sliding doors and two small 6/6 windows in gable. Small six pane windows light the stalls along the south elevation. Kensington contains many similar barns, comparable in their pro- portions and simple detailing. Their strong similarities suggest they were built within a given period, possibly by the same builders. The barns associated with N84 and N100 are similar in their wood shingled walls, trimmed with narrow corner boards, and close eaves with narrow rake boards. Characteristic are the off- center entries with double exterior sliding doors, split in the middle and rolling to each side, as well as the one or two double-hung window sash in the gable. The Green/Palmer barn opposite M17 (not extant) was similar. The barn of N70 predates the 1840’s when it was moved to its current site. It retains off-center exterior rolling doors, wood shingled walls, and 6-pane stall windows along the side elevation. The barn at N35 has a granite foundation and clapboard walls, centered entry with double exterior doors, and small, horizontal windows lighting the stalls on the south side.

The barn of S50 has close eaves, but its entry centered on the gable end may suggest a slightly later construc- tion date than those with off-center entries. The double exterior rolling doors are made up of diagonal boards, also a mid-19th century element. Beside the large door is a smaller door for pedestrian access at corner of the façade. Transom windows above the barn doors came into use by the mid-19th century to provide light to the interior. The barn at S52 has a narrow transom above the off-center door. That of M21 features a transom above central double sliding doors of diagonal boards. The very large barn associated with M50 burned in 1999. It was a “bank barn” set into the hillside with a ramp to the front entry. The foundation was granite and the walls clapboarded. Above the door was a large multi-pane transom, and numerous windows lined the side elevation.

During the mid-19th century, the “connected farm” configuration was adopted in New England, with house and barn connected by a wing or ell. The latter generally contained the kitchen with cook stove, dairy, woodshed, privy, and vehicle sheds. Many of Kensington’s houses have kitchen ells or wings, but detached barns. Whether outbuildings no longer extant were historically attached to the end of the ells has not been determined. Pictures show N80 (Tuthill) with buildings all connected; it was disconnected after a fire (Perry 2000). Examples of connected complexes include the Wadleigh farm (N11) on Drinkwater which consists of a Greek Revival style house, one story ell, sheds and barn, probably part of the same building campaign. NEW HAMPSHIRE DIVISION OF HISTORICAL NHDHR Inventory # - RESOURCES - CONTINUATION FORM NHDHR Area Letter K Town/City Kensington Inventory Form X Area Form County Rockingham Sheet 14 of 96 ARCHITECTURAL SIGNIFICANCE (continued)

Property M30 includes a small 1850’s house and attached barn. Others include outbuildings added to earlier houses. Attached to a half house, N23, are a small kitchen wing, long vehicle shed, small New England barn and added bays. Until its barn was recently removed, S1 was a good connected farm incorporating an older house. Connected outbuildings of S4 have also recently been removed. On North Road, N47 and N48 are similar complexes including 1820’s houses, wings and connected barns, similarly oriented with their dooryards along the road. M42 was created c.1860 when an early half house was relocated and a wing of sheds built connecting to a New England barn. c.1850-c.1890 Victorian Era – Outwork Shoemaking, Farming/Dairying, Civil War, Population Loss, Height of Civic Activity

Kensington’s buildings of the second half of the 19th century are relatively simply designed. They use essen- tially Greek Revival forms and some stylistic elements, combined with aspects of Victorian styles.

The Kensington Congregational Church was probably a simple 3 X 3 bay, gable front structure when the sanctuary was built in 1865. Shortly thereafter, a six-foot deep addition with steeple was added to the façade, creating an Italianate appearance. The façade features recessed entries at both corners, under porches with double arched openings. A square belfry with pointed steeple projects from the ridge. Paired arched windows line the side elevations.

The East and West Schools were identical when built in 1873. The East School on Cottage Road (#11) retains its original location and a high degree of integrity, despite conversion to residential use. The 1½-story build- ing is oriented gable end to the road, supported by a granite foundation are sheathed in clapboards. The three- bay, gable front façade features paired entries with original doors intact, flanking a large 6/6 window. The gable is ornamented with applied triangle, projecting flagpole and attic window. The side elevations have rows of four 6/6 windows, which replaced three original 6/6 windows (see historic photograph). The West School was moved slightly and became the ell of house S76. It retains its original form, but limited integrity.

A number of new houses were erected during this period, but in many cases they replaced older homes. There was almost no change in the number of buildings shown on the maps of 1857 and 1892 (Chace 1857; Hurd 1892). As of 1860, there were 152 households in town. Of these houses, some 39 were not owner occupied indicating a fairly large percentage of the population rented their home or lived in worker housing (Bureau of the Census 1860).

The 1½-story sidehall plan house became more popular during this period. Built c.1852, S83 on Muddy Pond Road is 1½ stories plus a lighted attic. It features Greek Revival corner pilasters and peaked window and door lintels. A comparable house (not extant) was on site N10 (Kensington Public Library House Files). The Congregational Parsonage (M32) was built in the town center c.1860. This small sidehall has a two-bay gable-front façade. The entry is framed by Greek Revival style full-length sidelights and pilasters built into the corner pilaster. It is nearly identical to M30 built c.1855 for storekeeper George Walton. Both have large first story windows with 8/8 sash.

Two larger 2½-story sidehalls include S43 on Highland Road, built c.1857 for Ebenezer Lovering. It has an entry framed by sidelights and pilasters, under a front porch. The property retains a carriage barn of similar NEW HAMPSHIRE DIVISION OF HISTORICAL NHDHR Inventory # - RESOURCES - CONTINUATION FORM NHDHR Area Letter K Town/City Kensington Inventory Form X Area Form County Rockingham Sheet 15 of 96 ARCHITECTURAL SIGNIFICANCE (continued) date. House M5 on Lamprey Road was built c.1868 for Warren Lamprey. It has a typical Greek Revival period pilasters, frieze and entablature embellished with dentils.

A variation on the sidehall form was the house oriented gable end to the road with entry on the side elevation. The c.1860 Joseph Poor House (M36) is 2½ stories with Greek Revival trim and its entry through a porch on the side elevation. M14 is 2½ stories, 3 X 4 bays with entry into a side porch, the front of which is open and the rear enclosed. The Fitts House (S53) on South Road was built c.1848. It is 1½-story plus a lighted attic, using the kneewall framing system. The entry under the side porch is flanked by full sidelights. The 6/6 windows retain molded trim. In the southeast corner of town, S9 on Old Amesbury Road is a c.1860 high- posted house with wing and small barn. Scalloped verge board decorates the gable end. The Col. Jerry Poor House (M26) was built c.1860 as a sidehall, and its entry moved to the side elevation later in the 20th century. In some cases the side entry house was created from an older building. House S15 was originally a workshop, converted to residential use c.1862.

The 2½-story, 5 X 2 bay center entry form remained in use. The York House (N89) on Route 108 was built in 1861. It is 5 X 2 bays, one room deep with original ell. Italianate ornament includes doorhood on heavy brackets, and arched window trim in the gables. The 1869 William Rowe house (N44) on North Road retains twin stove chimneys, 6/6 windows, and entry with sidelights, pilasters and entablature, a late use of the Greek Revival.

The sidehall plan was common for the larger residences built toward the end of this period. The Josiah D. Prescott house (N35), built c.1880, is a 2½-story sidehall with ell. Ornament includes an Italianate doorhood on brackets, double doors with vertical lights, 2/2 windows with projecting lintels, and side porch with turned posts and brackets. Comparable, but more simply detailed is N24 on Drinkwater Road, built c.1890 by local carpenter George Shaw. This 2½-story sidehall has three-sided bay window with hip roof and a simple verge board on the front gable. Decorative verge boards were also used on S8, in the southeast corner of town on Route 150. Originally a twin chimney cape, it is now an asymmetrical 1¾-story house with projecting gable. Ornament includes scalloped verge boards and peaked lintels above the windows.

The barn at S58 was built c.1856. It is a detached bank barn with cellar. The entry with double sliding doors is centered on the gable end, topped by a transom. This barn has projecting eaves with returns, a feature used increasingly on barns in the mid-19th century. The barn of M64 is dated 1863. It is a smaller barn with wood- shingled walls, projecting eaves, center entry, and exterior double doors topped by a small transom. As of 1885, sixty Kensington farms had large barns, half of which were considered “very large” (Kensington Public Library House Files). The barn and large connecting wing of N47 are thought to date from the end of the 19th century. The barn of N48 appears similar and may be of similar age. Both have clapboard walls trimmed with corner boards and frieze, slightly projecting eaves with returns. Double interior sliding doors are topped by large transoms. The stalls along the south elevations are lit by pairs of six-pane sash.

Kensington is significant for the many properties that retain groupings of historic outbuildings. Particular examples include N100, N57 (possibly including part of the French plow shop) and N69 which retains sheds, corn crib and workshop. Property N48 is significant for its shoe shop, while N50 includes the c.1845 Moses James blacksmith shop. Property S52 retains various sheds and barn with remains of a silo. Recently small outbuildings and barn were removed from S4. NEW HAMPSHIRE DIVISION OF HISTORICAL NHDHR Inventory # - RESOURCES - CONTINUATION FORM NHDHR Area Letter K Town/City Kensington Inventory Form X Area Form County Rockingham Sheet 16 of 96 ARCHITECTURAL SIGNIFICANCE (continued)

c.1890-1920 Queen Anne and Colonial Revival Styles – End of Shoemaking, Decline in Population, Farming and Property Values, Summer Residents

Kensington contains few buildings from this period of relative economic decline.

The town’s only true Queen Anne style house was built in 1891, by carpenter George B. Shaw as his own summer home (N77). The 2½-story house has characteristic irregular massing, shingled walls with flared skirt between stories, and front gable ornament, as well as an entry porch, bay window with cutaway corners. A wing, with open carriage pass-through, connects to a carriage barn detailed similarly to the house and topped by a cupola.

Through the philanthropy of Kensington native Joseph C. Hilliard, the Kensington Public Library was built in 1894-95. The contractor was the John S. Gliddings Company of Somerville, Massachusetts, and the architect was George Tilden of Rotch & Tilden of Boston. Plans were published in the Exeter News-Letter on Novem- ber 9 and 16, 1894 (Public Buildings files). The 1½-story brick building is oriented laterally to the road, with two-thirds of the façade recessed under an engaged porch. The porch supports are brick pilasters which rise to a wide entablature that encircles the building. These features, the lunette window, hip dormer, cornice with dentils, and entry details including sidelights and transom, reflect the Classical Revival style. Characteristic of the Queen Anne style are the ornamental brickwork and decorative tiles.

The Blake-Warner Store (not extant) was rebuilt in 1894, following a fire. The store was a 1½-story gable- front structure ornamented with wraparound porch, and Stick Style gable verge board, truss and cut shingles. Storage and wagon sheds extended north of the building.

A few new barns were built during this period. They continued the New England barn form, differing in their higher gable roofs, projecting eaves, sometimes with returns, and cupola ventilators with pyramidal hip roofs. Also common were large multi-pane transoms over central doors. The Bodwell cow barn at M70 was built c.1905. The barn at M11 on Wild Pasture is dated 1908, and has a brick foundation. The barn of M1 has similar features, so is presumably comparable in age.

1920-1948 Colonial Revival and Bungalow Styles – Rise of the Automobile, State Highways, Contin- ued Decline in Farming

As farming practices evolved in the early 20th century, a few of the more prosperous farmers built new dairy barns, while others replaced buildings lost to fire. The modern dairy barn with gambrel roof came into use during this period. A good example on the Lamprey farm (M5) was built in 1920 to replace older one. The broad gambrel roof tops clapboard-sheathed walls. Centered on the façade are double sliding doors. A lean- to cow shed spans one side elevation. Projecting from the front corner of the barn is the milk house, a small concrete block structure with gable roof. On the Herbert Eastman Farm (S16), a 1½-story barn with clipped gables was built in the 1920’s. The cows were stabled in the cellar, which was accessed on the rear. Sliding garage doors were located on the façade and the roof was topped by a metal ventilator. A small barn with silo on Stumpfield Road was associated with M50. In the 1940’s, John York built one of the largest potato barns in the state (Kensington Public Library House Files) which remains extant on the Carpenter polo farm (N17). The large gambrel-roofed structure is mostly below ground, with a ramp up to the large front door. The roof NEW HAMPSHIRE DIVISION OF HISTORICAL NHDHR Inventory # - RESOURCES - CONTINUATION FORM NHDHR Area Letter K Town/City Kensington Inventory Form X Area Form County Rockingham Sheet 17 of 96 ARCHITECTURAL SIGNIFICANCE (continued) is topped by a cupola with a bell-cast pyramidal roof. Milk rooms came into use as regulations required milk be cooled and stored away from the milking area. Most were small one-story structures located in front of the barns, accessible to the road for milk pick-ups. M1, M5, M21, S47 and N76 retain milk houses. Few silos are extant. A wooden silo was recently removed from S4 along with the barn. S52 had a wooden silo that has collapsed. M1 retains a metal silo. Poultry farming was common in Kensington during this period, on a commercial scale and for home consumption. Chicken coops from the 1930’s are extant on the Russell property (N102). S76, M26 and M11 retain smaller coops. Due to the availability of older outbuildings, few garages were built in Kensington to house the new automobiles.

Kensington’s numerous summer residents primarily occupied older homes. Two summer properties reflect the rustic style that was popular during the period. “Sunny Knoll” on Hobbs Road (N83) is a rambling wood- shingled structure created out of several reused older buildings. Currently a large Adirondack style addition is being built. A small slab-sided cottage with stone chimney on Stumpfield Road was “The Ski House”, a recreational building for the Herrick family who summered at “Highfield Farm” (M50). The 1930’s summer home of Roland Sawyer Jr. (S85) on Beaverdam Road has become completely obscured by the evergreen trees planted at the time. The 1½-story house was created from various earlier buildings. Other small houses built from older structures include S12 and N78. The former was built c.1912 on the foundation of a house that burned (Sawyer 1946:298). The latter was created from an apple storage building (Kensington Public Library House Files). Another example is N73.

Colonial Revival remodeling was common. A significant example is S44 on Highland Road; the residence of a woodworker, it was updated with entry portico, picture windows, and dentils lining the cornice.

There was considerable new construction in Kensington during this period, considering the limited economy. However, houses of this period are united by their small modest cottage forms, one or 1½ stories, with little pretension toward architectural styles.

The most fully-developed example of the Bungalow style is S16 the 1924 Herbert and Pauline Eastman House on Route 150. The 1½-story sidehall has a rusticated concrete block foundation and piers supporting the front porch with a hip roof on square columns. Other details are the gable wall dormers and bay window on the side elevations. Period plantings contribute to this property, as do the adjacent outbuildings. Another Bungalow is the house built c.1924 for Jack and Bernice Shaw (N79). It features a front sun porch with exposed rafters and windows with narrow vertical lights characteristic of the style. The gable front form was used on several houses whose full front porches reflect the Bungalow style. On Drinkwater Road is a small, simple house built c.1915 by carpenter George Shaw for George Tuttle (N28). A similar house is N21 the Crosby summer home built c.1921 (Sawyer 1946:343). Both are small 1½-story, 2 X 3 bay houses, wood-shingled with simple front porches. On Amesbury Road, N97 is similar but dated c.1945.

The 1½-story side gable form with front porch was also used. “Birch Camp” (N110) on Route 108, built as a gas station and lunch room, later a retirement home by George Shaw c.1929, is the only example of the true Bungalow type, with integral front porch under the front roof slope. Originally the porch was open, but early on it was enclosed with 2/1 windows. Several houses have front roof slopes that flare and extend to shelter porches. The 1931 Howard and Amy Eastman House (S18) was a good example, but has modern siding, windows and doors. The Welsh House (N103) on Route 150 was built c.1937 along with the garage (Sawyer NEW HAMPSHIRE DIVISION OF HISTORICAL NHDHR Inventory # - RESOURCES - CONTINUATION FORM NHDHR Area Letter K Town/City Kensington Inventory Form X Area Form County Rockingham Sheet 18 of 96 ARCHITECTURAL SIGNIFICANCE (continued)

1946:365). It retains wood shingle siding, small sun porch, shed dormers and 6/1 window sash. Nearby, N104 of the same date is similar but lacks integrity. This property is notable for its granite slab walls, presum- ably of modern construction. The Mitchell House (S29) built c.1929 on Cottage Road is a high-posted 1½- story house with front sun porch and shed dormer breaking the front eave line.

Cottage Road was so-known because it was the location of a number of small early 20th century homes, some owned by members of the same family. S28 was built for the Beckman family c.1905. Elsie Beckman had a cabin (not extant) at site S31. In 1944, Howard and Yvonne Beckman built a two story cottage (S23) out of an older structure moved here from Salisbury. Nearby was S22 built 1932, but no longer extant. S24 was remodeled 1929. Also gone are the Jordan House (site S30) and a small house moved to site S32 in 1917 (Sawyer 1946:300-301; House Files).

The newly established State Highways, Routes 150, 108 and 107 were the locations of new development, some mentioned above. Other 1½-story houses on Route 150 (Amesbury Road) include the “Cottage in the Pines” (N98), built c.1932 for the Morley family, which retains its pines, but limited integrity. A small mid- 20th century commercial building is associated with the property. The Nash House (N96), built c.1937, retains a high rusticated concrete block foundation and pairs of 6/1 windows. The Toothaker cottage (N99) is a small one-story structure with a hip roof. A larger home of this period is the Russell House (N102) built in 1936 (Sawyer 1946:364). The 2½-story, 3 X 2 bay house reflects the Colonial Revival style in its central entry porch with pedimented gable on square posts. Period details include the 6/1 windows and side sun porch. Other houses of this period on Haverhill Road (Route 108) are #N109 built c.1927 as a simple two-story sidehall, and the 1939 Rowell House (N106) a small cape with vertical light sash. On Route 107 (South Road) is a small cottage (S72), the Rosencrantz House (S49), a 1941 cape, and a two-story house with Colonial Revival elements built in the late 1940’s.

Many of the above houses were the work of local resident Herbert Eastman, who erected his first house in 1924. During the 1930’s-1960’s, he built fifty-seven houses mostly in Kensington (“Kensington People”). Carpenters listed in the 1924 town directory were George Eastman, Herbert Ayer and Arthur Colby. Colby was still working in 1949 along with Elmer Brewer, John Gourley, and contractor George Shaw (Anonymous 1924; Anonymous 1949).

As of 1990, an estimated 158 of the over 500 houses in town dated from before 1939. Twenty-six dated from the 1940’s (Bureau of the Census 1990).

1950-present Post War Growth in the Seacoast Region, Residential Development, Commuting

Kensington Elementary School was erected in 1952, by architect Roland Simons and contractor Paul Currier of Amesbury. Several additions have created an asymmetrical, one-story brick building with gable roofs. The Kensington Fire Station, built in 1952 and enlarged several times, the latest in 1990, is an asymmetrical gable- front building of wood-frame construction with a brick veneer on its three bay façade.

Approximately fifty-nine houses were built in the 1950’s, seventy-one in the 1960’s, and one hundred thirty- one in the 1970’s (Bureau of the Census 1990). Kensington contains several good 1950’s Colonial Revival style houses, including two on North Road. An unusual stucco house from the mid-20th century is located on NEW HAMPSHIRE DIVISION OF HISTORICAL NHDHR Inventory # - RESOURCES - CONTINUATION FORM NHDHR Area Letter K Town/City Kensington Inventory Form X Area Form County Rockingham Sheet 19 of 96 ARCHITECTURAL SIGNIFICANCE (continued)

Route 150 near M26. A good early ranch house is located on Drinkwater Road; another is on Route 108. Modest ranches, capes and split levels were built throughout the town during the 1960’s-1980’s.

As of 1980 there were 307 single family homes in Kensington, along with twenty-seven duplexes, nine multi- family dwellings, and two mobile homes. More than ninety percent of homes were owner occupied (Town of Kensington 1981:6, 8A). In 1990, there were 581 units of housing in Kensington, sixty-nine of which were rentals and the rest owner occupied (Bureau of the Census 1990). As of 1996 there were 566 single family units, twenty-four multi-family units and forty-eight mobile homes.

In the late 20th century, Kensington experienced considerable development activity. Between 1980 and 1984, forty-nine new houses were built, and between 1985 and 1988, eighty-five more (Bureau of the Census 1990). Kensington was chosen as a place of residence by upper income families, who commuted to work elsewhere in the region. Many of the large historic houses were purchased and renovated or restored. This has resulted in both good preservation of some buildings and loss of integrity for others. New houses are generally quite large, located on large open lots.

HISTORICAL BACKGROUND - Explain historical importance of the area and how the area relates to the development of the Town/City.

1630-1732 Town of Hampton, Land Division and Settlement of Western Sections, Parish of Hampton Falls

Previous to settlement of the seacoast region by the English, the value of land in the area was recognized by native Americans who occupied the region until wiped out by smallpox c.1615. “Permanent settlements” were located in Kensington on the edges of Hog Pen Meadow and the Grassy Swamp or Great Meadow, which were burned over annually to keep them open for cultivation (Sawyer 1946:14). Their trails between the seacoast at Hampton and Kingston Pond, including one by New-Found and Horse Hills, one by Hog Pen and Stumpfield, and one along Drinkwater and Old Tilton Roads and the edge of the Grassy Swamp, were the basis for Kensington’s early roads (Sawyer 1946:15).

When first laid out, the large town of Hampton included what would become North Hampton, Hampton Falls, Kensington, Kingston, East Kingston and Danville, as well as part of Seabrook. Settlement of the coastal area by residents of the Massachusetts Bay Colony began in the 1630’s.

The first grant of land in what is now Kensington was made in 1663, when Rev. Seaborn Cotton, the fourth minister of Hampton, received two hundred acres of the Hog Pen Plain and Meadow. The grant was not officially surveyed and laid out until 1668. During the same period, Hampton offered lots of land at Great Pond in Kingston to settlers who would go there, and laid out additional land in Hampton Falls. In Kensing- ton, grants totaling five hundred acres were made at Grassy Swamp on the Exeter line. William Fuller re- ceived a farm adjoining Rev. Cotton’s Hog-Pen Farm. Other grantees are unidentified (Sawyer 1946:12, 18). John Fuller built and briefly occupied a house on Cotton’s land in 1670 (site of M22). The following year, Rev. Cotton sold the farm to John Garland of Hampton. Over the next several years, the tract was divided into four parts of fifty acres each, none of which were permanently settled (Sawyer 1946:18-19). Roads were laid NEW HAMPSHIRE DIVISION OF HISTORICAL NHDHR Inventory # - RESOURCES - CONTINUATION FORM NHDHR Area Letter K Town/City Kensington Inventory Form X Area Form County Rockingham Sheet 20 of 96 HISTORICAL BACKGROUND (continued) out through the area by the Town of Hampton to provide access to lots in Kingston. These included South Road (formerly Horse Hill Road) or Route 107, which was voted by the Town in 1663 but was probably not built until sometime later. Middle Road, which was in use by 1669, was made up of Lamprey Road, Hog Pen Lane (part of Route 150) and Stumpfield Roads (Sawyer 1946:237). In 1694, Hampton laid out a “New Plantation” at Kingston, including that present town, as well as those of East Kingston and Danville. Settlers began moving west, and pressure to divide land in Kensington increased (Sawyer 1946:19).

At that time, the entire area of Kensington, except about a thousand acres already granted, was common land owned by 156 share holders of Hampton (Sawyer 1946:20). In 1702, the First West Division of Hampton (about four thousand acres total) laid out a strip of land one mile deep along the Exeter-Kingston line. This was divided into seven ranges, each containing thirty-one lots, measuring 10½ by 180 rods. Ranges 8-12 extended a mile deep line along the Exeter line, and included about 1,800 acres of land now partly in Kensing- ton and partly in Hampton Falls. Some 312 Hampton men were awarded half-shares and became landowners in Kensington. Those owning one or two shares in the common, got the equivalent number of shares, while others received a half share (Dow 1893:155). The Second West Division of 1708, divided a square mile area, east of the First West Division, into lots of unequal size, leaving an L-shaped strip a quarter mile wide be- tween the two divisions as common land. The Third West Division made in 1714 was all remaining land south of the Taylor River, including a small area of land in the southeast corner of Kensington (Sawyer 1946:20; Potts 1987:5; Dow 1893:155-160). The original patterns of land division in long, rectangular lots remain evident in the lot lines on modern tax maps. Because Kensington was divided and settled as part of an older town, it developed without principals of town planning, with scattered houses, irregular roads and no center or village.

Lots were rapidly bought and sold as Hampton men assembled homesteads for their sons. Most of the original settlers were young men and couples striking out on their own from the original family homesteads (Sawyer 1946:24). Most were from Hampton, while a few came from Salisbury and Exeter. The first permanent white settlement in Kensington was made in 1702. A number of families moved into the area in between 1714 and 1720, following the end of Queen Anne’s War. However, further settlement was slowed by later French and Indian Wars during which numerous attacks were made on the surrounding communities.

The Green, Johnson and Chase families owned the original Cotton grant or Hog-Pen farm, and mowed and tilled parts of it from their homes in Hampton Falls (Sawyer 1946:19). About 1695 John Green built the first frame house in town near what became the intersection of Amesbury Road and Pevear Lane. His brother-in- law Edmund Johnson built a quarter mile to the north. Moses Blake settled on the northern edge of the Hog- Pen farm in 1701. Edmund James built on North Road c.1702. William Brown was living in the southern part of town before 1709 (Sawyer 1926:7).

The long ridges of high ground offered excellent locations for houses, and good dry land, less susceptible to frosts (Sawyer 1946:33). Houses were built along the three main east-west roads over the ridges. In addition to the South and Middle Roads, the North Road, including the southern end of Drinkwater, North Road, Moulton or Red Oak Ridge Road, and the western end of Route 108 at York Hill, was in place by the 1730’s. Range roads 1½ rods wide were included in the land divisions, and some were later improved while others remained as cart paths. NEW HAMPSHIRE DIVISION OF HISTORICAL NHDHR Inventory # - RESOURCES - CONTINUATION FORM NHDHR Area Letter K Town/City Kensington Inventory Form X Area Form County Rockingham Sheet 21 of 96 HISTORICAL BACKGROUND (continued)

The five hundred or so people living west of the Taylor River faced difficulties travelling to the meetinghouse in Hampton, so in 1718 Hampton Falls, including Kensington, was organized as a parish. From this time on Hampton Falls was essentially a separate town, although no act of incorporation was ever made (Sawyer 1946:22; Brown 1900:13).

1732-1761 Parish of Kensington, Meetinghouse Built, Continued Settlement

By 1732, there were over sixty families in Kensington. They traveled to the meetinghouse in Hampton Falls, which in some cases was a distance from their homes. Twenty-eight families who lived on Horse-Hill (South) and Stumpfield Roads joined with residents of eastern Kingston and began to agitate for a new parish. To support their cause, a meetinghouse frame was raised near what became the East Kingston depot. Hampton Falls protested against losing its western section and Kingston against losing its eastern part; both towns resolved against the plan and the petition was dismissed (Sawyer 1946:39).

Meanwhile, residents of Drinkwater Road/Exeter Lane, Hog-Pen Road and Red Oak Ridge also petitioned for their own parish, and raised a frame for a meetinghouse on North Road opposite Philbrick Pond (Sawyer 1946:40, 282). In 1733, to establish a more central and mutually agreeable location, Elihu Chase gave one acre of land near Hog Pen Meadow to the “inhabitants of the upper or westerly part of the Falls’ parish in Hampton.” This lot, called the Meetinghouse Acre, included the location of the present churches and town hall, the burying ground, and the Meetinghouse Parade where the road now is (Sawyer 1946:282). The meetinghouse frame was moved to this site, the building finished, and the first service held on February 2, 1734. Later that year, Hampton Falls agreed to allow winter preaching there for the people in the west part of the parish (Sawyer 1946:41).

Petitions for a completely separate parish continued, and on April 1, 1737, the Parish of Kensington, named for the London suburb, was incorporated out of the western part of Hampton Falls. Twenty-two men and thirty-five women were dismissed from the Hampton Falls Church to form the Kensington church. They were joined by another six people from Hampton. The first minister Rev. Jeremiah Fogg served the community for some fifty-two years. He had been born in Hampton in 1712 and graduated from Harvard in 1730. His residence was located on Osgood Road (N93) (Sawyer 1946:151, 153). (East Kingston was set off from Kingston in 1738.)

Services at the meetinghouse were attended by all but Kensington’s fourteen Quaker families, including Green, Gove, Dow, Graves and Connor. Reportedly, land donor Elihu Chase was upset that he was not given a good pew in the new meetinghouse and left the church to join the Quakers (Hurd 1882:356).

As of 1735, Kensington contained over a hundred homes, and had nearly one hundred thirty voters, out of a population of six hundred. Some seventy-two families living in Kensington had only fifty-two different last names. The organization of the new parish coincided with the outbreak of Diphtheria or Throat Distemper. By 1737, after one hundred twenty deaths, the population was reduced to five hundred. This plague was centered around Kingston, Kensington and Hampton Falls, and continued into the 1760’s. The victims were the first burials in the new cemetery, which was enlarged in 1744 when additional half acre south of the original was purchased. The plague recurred in the 1740’s and 1760’s, for a total of two hundred fifty deaths, mostly children (Sawyer 1946:263). NEW HAMPSHIRE DIVISION OF HISTORICAL NHDHR Inventory # - RESOURCES - CONTINUATION FORM NHDHR Area Letter K Town/City Kensington Inventory Form X Area Form County Rockingham Sheet 22 of 96 HISTORICAL BACKGROUND (continued)

A number of new roads were laid out by the Town of Hampton in the early 1730’s, and after the new parish was established it took over the responsibility, and built new north-south roads to connect to the meeting- house. Red Oak Ridge Road was rebuilt in 1737. The northern stretch of Drinkwater Road was laid out along a range line as Exeter Lane in 1734. The Tilton-Kingston Road laid out in 1733, ran west from Drinkwater Road, parallel to North and Moulton Ridge Roads, then continued on Brewer Road, over Shaw’s Hill, along Hobbs Road and over York Hill to the Kingston line (Sawyer 1946:238). The section known as Tilton Road between Route 150 and Drinkwater Road is no longer in use.

The new parish required public roads to the meetinghouse from all directions, and many previously private ways were made public (Sawyer 1946:46). Trundle-bed Lane, between Stumpfield Road and the meeting- house, was a private road of Elihu Chase made public in 1739 and improved in 1766; for many years it had a long corduroy section over the meadow. Many of these new roads were later discontinued. These included Dow Road built in 1737 and relocated 1763 (Sawyer 1946:50). Round Hill Road was laid out in 1739 along a cart path between North Road and the meetinghouse (Sawyer 1946:240). Ward Road was built in 1739 from Noah Ward’s on South Road, below Cottage Hill to Hogpen Road (Route 150). Pevear Lane was accepted as a public way in 1740 from Hog Pen Road (Route 150) to Elihu Chase’s corner on Stumpfield Road (Sawyer 1946:241). Southern sections of what became Amesbury Road (Route 150) were built in the 1750’s.

In March of 1738, the Parish of Kensington voted to set up three schools, on Horsehill, Stumpfield and Drinkwater Roads, but this was not done right away. From 1738 to 1741, school was kept in the meeting- house. From 1742-45, it was held in private homes including those of Squire Ezekiel Dow (S79), Dr. Ben- jamin Rowe, and Elihu Chase, as well as Samuel Fellows, William Evans, and Widow Ward (Sawyer 1946:215- 216). In 1746, the parish again voted to have three schools. In 1751, the house of Deacon Abraham Moulton on North Road was purchased for a schoolhouse. It was a one-story house, 14 X 30 feet with a fireplace at one end. Winter terms were held there for all children (Sawyer 1946:51, 216). The first true schoolhouse was built on South Road opposite Beaver Dam Road sometime before 1758. After 1760, the Stumpfield Road school was kept in the home of Elihu Chase (near the corner of Trundlebed) (Sawyer 1946:216; Sawyer 1926:38).

The French and Indian Wars continued through this period. Some twenty Kensington residents fought at Louisburg in 1745, and many then served on the Crown Point campaign. Military practice was held on the “meetinghouse parade” located between the present Town Hall and Congregational Church where Route 150 now passes through (Sawyer 1946:160, 194). In 1761 the legislature accepted a petition to exempt Quakers of Kensington and Hampton Falls from paying taxes to support the wars (Sawyer 1926:12).

Kensington was a farming community. Crops were rye, buckwheat, barley, wheat, Indian corn (for human and animal consumption), turnips, beans, pumpkins and peas. Staples in the local diet were flour, pork, molasses, salt fish, meal and beans. Butter and cheese were made for home use (Sawyer 1946:32, 92). Most residents owned tracts of salt marsh in Hampton Falls and Seabrook. The salt hay made raising stock easier and less expensive, and farmers could maintain more cattle through the winters. Salt hay was also exported to the south. Every farm had one or more yoke of oxen, steers, cows, sheep and one or two horses (Sawyer 1946:225). The proximity to port towns of Newburyport and Salisbury meant easy access to imported goods such as tools and ammunition, spices, molasses and rum. Cattle were driven over land to Boston and salted beef was shipped out by coaster (Sawyer 1946:225-226; Russell 1982:58, 87). NEW HAMPSHIRE DIVISION OF HISTORICAL NHDHR Inventory # - RESOURCES - CONTINUATION FORM NHDHR Area Letter K Town/City Kensington Inventory Form X Area Form County Rockingham Sheet 23 of 96 HISTORICAL BACKGROUND (continued)

Lumber and farm products were processed in several mills. Samuel Page built a sawmill in 1732 near site S13 on lower Beaver Dam Brook (near the crossing of Amesbury Road). Later Samuel Jr. operated the sawmill and a grist mill on the opposite side. Further downstream was the fulling mill built by Joseph Pike in 1737. Robert Pike later built a sawmill in between the above two sites for a total of four mills on one small stream. Another sawmill was run by Elisha Blake off of Stumpfield Road near the east Kingston line. The earliest blacksmith’s shops included that of John Prescott on lower Drinkwater Road. Elisha Purrington who came to Kensington in 1725 built a shop on South Road where he also worked as a gunsmith and clockmaker. The building was standing as late as 1957 near S42 (“More Homesteads”). In the 1750’s, his son Elisha Purrington Jr. built another blacksmith shop/clock shop near the meetinghouse (Sawyer 1946:270).

The first store in Kensington was opened in 1752 by Daniel Blake of Red Oak (Moulton) Ridge (N66), but was in business only a year. In the town center, churchgoers could warm themselves between services and purchase food and drink at the home of William Evans opposite the meetinghouse (Sawyer 1946:260). The first tavern was operated c.1754-1764 by Stephen Palmer (S54) on South Road, which was then the main road between Kingston and Hampton. In 1759, John Blake built a tavern (site of M36) near the meetinghouse (the building was later moved and became M42) (Sawyer 1946:229).

1761-1784 Town of Kensington Incorporated, Population Growth, Prosperity, Revolutionary War

Kensington began to petition for status as a town as early as 1740, and in 1761 it was set off from Hampton Falls (Sawyer 1946:57). At that time it was bounded on the north by Exeter, on the east by Hampton Falls, on the south by Salisbury, now South Hampton, and on the west by Kingston, now East Kingston (Sawyer 1946:10). In 1762 the first town meeting was held and the first representative sent to the New Hampshire General Court in Exeter (Sawyer 1926:48).

The new Town voted to build a 20 X 20 foot Grammar School in the center near the meetinghouse, and it was completed in 1763. The three smaller schoolhouses were attended by the younger children and by all students during the winter months, when travel to the town center was difficult (Sawyer 1946:217). In 1774, the town erected five schoolhouses, each measuring 10 X 14 feet. There were two on the Middle Road, one of which was at the corner of Amesbury Road and Pevear Lane. The other was on western Stumpfield. One was located on South Road at the corner of Highland Road, and two were on North Road, including one at the corner of Moulton Ridge and Hilliard Roads and one at Prescott Corner. School was held in these various locations on a rotating basis. In 1779 the Town voted to discontinue use of the Grammar School in the town center and it was sold (Sawyer 1946:82, 218; Perry 2000).

The Fellows family operated the sawmill on North Road during this period. The Shaw family had a sawmill on the stream out of Hog Pen Meadow (Mill Brook). Downstream was Jonathan Fellows’ grist mill (Sawyer 1946:227). Kensington had a large number of tanners, including Samuel Tuck (N43) and Timothy Blake Locke, who processed hides produced by local cattle farmers. Early shoemakers made shoes in their homes from hides brought to them by local farmers (Sawyer 1946:231, 271).

During the 1760’s, Timothy Blake Locke built a store near his home (site of M27) and tannery on Amesbury Road just below Trundlebed Lane (Sawyer 1946:87, 234). The business later passed into the Blake family who operated it for many generations. The tavern near the meetinghouse was run by John Blake’s widow and NEW HAMPSHIRE DIVISION OF HISTORICAL NHDHR Inventory # - RESOURCES - CONTINUATION FORM NHDHR Area Letter K Town/City Kensington Inventory Form X Area Form County Rockingham Sheet 24 of 96 HISTORICAL BACKGROUND (continued) second husband Jacob Worthen between 1770 and 1794. (The building was later moved and became M42 on Trundlebed Lane.) Ebenezer Potter had a tavern at N44 on North Road from 1769 into the 1770’s (Sawyer 1946:260). Blacksmiths included John Gilman on Red Oak Ridge, David Stewart near Eastman’s Corner, and George A. Chase on Drinkwater Road (Sawyer 1946:229, 269-270).

The population continued to grow slowly from 755 in 1767, to 797 in 1779, after which it remained relatively constant for two decades (Hurd 1882:360). The prosperous community, still served by Rev. Jeremiah Fogg, desired a new meetinghouse. In 1771 a building committee of Ezekiel Worthen, Jonathan Brown, Moses Shaw and Ebenezer Lovering modeled a meetinghouse on the one recently built in North Hampton (Sawyer 1946:160; Hazlett 1915:480). The town’s Quaker families attended the Seabrook meeting during this period (Sawyer 1946:69). The Upper Yard was enlarged again in 1773 with the purchase of 84½ rods that were already enclosed by the burying yard fence (Sawyer 1946:283). Stray livestock were kept in an animal pound at the edge of the cemetery, behind the present Universalist Church, built in 1764 and replaced in 1782 (Sawyer 1926:42).

Kensington remained almost purely a farming community. A drought occurred in the summer of 1773, and in 1779-1780 Kensington suffered along with the region through a severely cold winter (Sawyer 1946:276). The history of the town might have changed dramatically at this point; John Phillips of Exeter contemplated building his academy in Kensington, but farmers there objected, fearing the boys would damage their fields and orchards (Thomas 1975). Farm prices rose during the Revolution due to shortages, so farmers benefited, but also had to pay high taxes to support the army (Russell 1982:125).

Kensington sent approximately eighty-nine men to serve in the Revolutionary War. Most were young men in their teens, twenties and thirties. In December of 1774, a company under Capt. Winthrop Rowe went to assist in the attack on Fort William and Mary. Capt. Rowe announced a call for troops from Rev. Fogg’s pulpit and raised a company. Many local men fought in the battles at Concord and Lexington and Bunker Hill. In 1775, fifty Kensington men pledged themselves as “Minutemen.” In 1777, Capt. Clifford hired sixty local men to serve in an army. In 1779 the Town voted to enlist twenty in the Continental Army, and again in 1781 a committee was formed to hire soldiers for the army. Throughout the War, the town furnished supplies to the soldiers including pork and beef, powder and bullets. Some twenty Tories from New York State were taken prisoners of war and brought to Kensington and boarded there in local houses to keep them from fighting with the British. Six local men died in the War (Sawyer 1946:193-200; Sawyer 1926:2; Hazlett 1915:482).

1784-1826 Turnpikes and Stagecoaches, Agricultural Prosperity

Kensington prospered, along with the region in the Post-Revolutionary period. New transportation routes meant easier access to markets and increased communication with surrounding towns. The late 18th century was a height of growth and development in the town, during which many new residences were erected often replacing earlier homes. The population peaked in 1790 at eight hundred people. Over the next several decades it declined, reaching 709 in 1820 (Bureau of the Census 1940). The town map of 1823 shows 113 houses. They were owned by families with fifty-four different surnames, eight names accounting for half of all households (Rand 1823).

In 1796, a new road was laid out between Lamprey’s Corner and Five Corners at Drinkwater Road. This NEW HAMPSHIRE DIVISION OF HISTORICAL NHDHR Inventory # - RESOURCES - CONTINUATION FORM NHDHR Area Letter K Town/City Kensington Inventory Form X Area Form County Rockingham Sheet 25 of 96 HISTORICAL BACKGROUND (continued)

created a continuous north-south road through the eastern part of town and became the route of the first stagecoach between Newburyport and Exeter. This was called the Stage Road, now Wild Pasture Road (Sawyer 1946:261). The Newburyport Turnpike which opened in 1803, about ten miles away from Kensing- ton, provided convenient transportation to Boston (forty-two miles away) (Sawyer 1946:102). Kensington became a regular stopping point on the Newburyport-Concord stage, which made trips north (sixty miles) one day and back the next (Mace 1909:37). Other new roads were Kimball Road built in 1820 over a rough path, and the section of NH Route 108 between Moulton Ridge and Hobbs Road built in 1826. Dearborn Road, formerly a private way, became a Town road in 1812.

Business increased at local stores and taverns. Eastman’s Tavern at Eastman’s Corner was established in 1785 and operated by two generations of the family, doing a thriving business at this four-way intersection (building demolished 1911) (Sawyer 1946:260). The tavern near the meetinghouse was operated into the early 1800’s by Deacon Jeremiah Fellows, who also had a blacksmith shop and clock shop (Sawyer 1946:260). During the late 18th century, he and brother Nathaniel made the works for clocks. The cases were made by local cabinetmaker Ebenezer Clifford. Several of these valuable antiques were still owned locally in the 20th century (Sawyer 1946:229). Clifford, son of a local carpenter, was born in Kensington in 1746. He lived in Kensington until 1793, when he moved to the Gilman Garrison in Exeter where he remained until his death in 1821 (Gilman 1985). About 1795, widow Amanda Johnson established a store in the lean-to of her home (M31) in the town center. Beginning c.1800, widow Lydia Fogg, daughter-in-law of the first minister kept a small store in the parsonage on Osgood Road (N93) where she was licensed to sell liquor. In 1805, Hezekiah Blake purchased house M27 and the store opposite, which was later managed by his sons. The Locke family had a store at the old Page mill c.1800, and another small store was located on South Road opposite the schoolhouse (Sawyer 1946:234). Dr. Benjamin Rowe practiced medicine in Kensington and the surrounding towns from 1792 to 1813 (Hurd 1882:357). He was followed by Dr. Joseph Osgood who married Elizabeth Fogg (Sawyer 1926:54).

In 1798, the Town disposed of its older buildings and erected three new schoolhouses: one in the center (at the head of Trundle-bed Lane), one on North Road site of the present Brick School, and one on South Road at the head of Beaver Dam Road. All were 20 X 20 feet (Sawyer 1946:82, 218). Kensington sent a number of young men to Harvard, most of whom later settled elsewhere (Hurd 1882:358). The Kensington Social Library, originally formed in 1767, was incorporated in 1798, during a period when similar organizations were estab- lished in many towns. The library, housed in a private residence (home of Jeremiah Fellows, then Joseph Poor), was open two afternoons a week. Members paying dues of twenty-five cents a year could take out one book at a time, while those who paid a dollar a year could take five books. Non-dues-paying members were allowed to borrow books for two cents a day. By 1816 there were forty-three share holders, and in 1820 the library owned 139 books (Sawyer 1946:255).

Turnpikes built during this period provided access to markets and increasing amounts of surplus produce were grown for sale. The early 1800’s were prosperous times in the Seacoast and the height of exports to England and the West Indies. The subsequent embargoes and the War of 1812 impacted the farm economy with a decrease in shipping, but the War itself fostered the growth of American industries, creating new markets (Russell 1982:131, 146). Local farm products included: beef, pork, lamb and chicken, cheese and butter, wool, corn, rye, and wheat. Flax seed was ground into linseed oil and sold. Apples and cider became increas- ingly important products, and potatoes were introduced, plus a wider variety of vegetables. Enoch and Ezekiel NEW HAMPSHIRE DIVISION OF HISTORICAL NHDHR Inventory # - RESOURCES - CONTINUATION FORM NHDHR Area Letter K Town/City Kensington Inventory Form X Area Form County Rockingham Sheet 26 of 96 HISTORICAL BACKGROUND (continued)

Worthen had an early cider mill on their farm (S35). Coasters carried potatoes, beans, butter, eggs and cider from seacoast New Hampshire to Boston (Russell 1982:188). Prominent Kensington farmer Benjamin Merrill (S47) dealt in beef cattle, salting the meat and shipping a thousand barrels a year (Sawyer 1946:305). A stone livestock pound with walls six feet high and three feet thick was built in 1811; it was filled in when the Union Church was remodeled in 1916 (Sawyer 1926:42). Farmers continued to log their land; they cut trees during the winter months and hauled them over the snow to Newburyport, where the timber was used in shipbuilding (Dudley 1992:7; Sawyer 1926:41). Farm products were processed locally. Jonathan Tuck took over Shaw’s sawmill, took it down c.1790, dammed the stream and built a grist mill. The Locke family had a sawmill and gristmill on the brook near their tavern. They kept a store in the gristmill at one time (Kensington Public Library House Files). Mills operated on Beaver Dam brook during this period as well. Tanning and shoemaking continued. Jonathan Tuck operated a tannery on North Road. He built a shoe shop (extant at N48) c.1792 where he made hides into boots during the winter months. The Blake family had a tannery opposite their house (M27).

The religious division that became a major theme in town in subsequent decades had begun in the 1780’s with opposition to the liberal Arminian doctrines of Kensington’s long-time minister Rev. Jeremiah Fogg. In 1789, a council voted 53-50 to dismiss him. He died shortly thereafter. The next minister, Naphtali Shaw preached from 1792-1813. His residence (M21) was erected c.1795 (Sawyer 1946:153; Hazlett 1915:479). In the early 1800’s, the Christian or Baptist Church became increasingly popular in New England, because it was more democratic and less formal than the Orthodox Congregational Church. A Christian Church was organized in Hampton Falls in 1805, which drew families from the surrounding towns. Camp meetings were held in Kensington in 1808, 1809 and 1810 and numerous residents were baptized in Poor’s Mill Pond (Philbrick Pond) on North Road. In 1813 a Christian Meetinghouse was erected on the site of the present Grange, and the church was formally organized in 1822 (Sawyer 1946:163-166). Following the Toleration Act of 1819, members of other churches were exempted from paying taxes for the support of the Congregational Church. The Congregational Church had no settled minister after 1816 and within the next decade it was virtually defunct (Sawyer 1926:23).

During the War of 1812, a company of seventy-two men under Capt. Stephen Brown was gathered in 1814 on the Meetinghouse Parade, and marched to Portsmouth, but were soon discharged (Sawyer 1946:202). Local militias, organized into six brigades and twenty-seven regiments, were created by the State during this period. Kensington’s company was part of the Third Regiment along with six other towns. Two local men , John T. Blake and Jeremiah Poor served as Colonels, and others became Captains. After 1818 all men ages eighteen to forty were required to attend annual spring training and fall muster. In Kensington this was held in Col. Poor’s field in the town center. The militia disbanded in the 1850’s (Sawyer 1926:19, 45).

1826-c.1850 Shoemaking, Farming, Religious Division, New Churches and Public Buildings

During the 1820’s, several new businesses were established in town. In 1826, Oliver Locke built a large new house (S19) on Amesbury Road which he opened as a tavern. This became the local post office, to which mail was delivered by stage. For some twenty years, under Locke and then Capt. Henry Brown, the tavern was an important local gathering place (Sawyer 1946:76, 235, 261). During this period, the store on Osgood Road (N93) was continued by Dr. Osgood (Sawyer 1946:234). In 1826, Philemon Blake opened a store in the former Timothy Blake Locke shop. This was located on Amesbury Road just below Trundlebed Lane, oppo- NEW HAMPSHIRE DIVISION OF HISTORICAL NHDHR Inventory # - RESOURCES - CONTINUATION FORM NHDHR Area Letter K Town/City Kensington Inventory Form X Area Form County Rockingham Sheet 27 of 96 HISTORICAL BACKGROUND (continued) site the house (M27) that Blake had purchased in 1805. When Philemon Blake died in 1828, the business was taken over by his brother John T. Blake who ran it until 1854. Blake’s store became a center of activity in the town, and in 1838 it was designated as the Post Office. Weekly papers from Portsmouth, Concord and Boston were also received there. Blake went to Boston every other week to purchase goods. They were shipped to Portsmouth and transported to Exeter by gundalow, or to Newburyport and to Kensington by team (Sawyer 1946:73, 87, 234-235, 262). As of about 1850, there were twenty-two places in town where liquor was sold (Sawyer 1935).

The shift in Post Office resulted from the construction of a new route to Exeter, completing what is now NH Route 150. The final sections of road were “Meetinghouse Hill Road” laid out in 1832 over a formerly private way from North Road to the meetinghouse, and the “New Road” built in 1838 from North Road north to Court Street on the Exeter line (Sawyer 1946:244, 247). Other roads from this period were: Haverhill Road (1840) completing the route from Exeter to East Kingston, Beaver Dam Road (1845) between South and Stumpfield Roads, and Frying Pan Lane, now Osgood Road built in 1854. As of 1840, six stagecoaches passed through the town daily running between Boston, Salem and Newburyport, Dover and Concord (Mace et. al. 1901:25, 27; Sawyer 1926:37).

Storekeeper John T. Blake was also instrumental in establishing the shoe industry that was to play a major role in the history of the town. Previous to returning to Kensington to take over the store, he had learned the boot- making trade in Boston. In 1829, he enlarged the family’s store, and established a boot manufactory on the second floor. At its height, the Blake shop employed about forty men and women. About 1835, Blake built a house nearby for some of his workers (M29). About 1840, Charles and Timothy Hilliard established a shoe shop at their family’s farm (N71) on Hilliard and North Roads in the northern part of town. They soon employed fifteen to twenty men. The shop was later moved to become house S56. Both Hilliard and Blake tanned much of their own leather. Their boots were transported to Newburyport and Salisbury by stage and some were shipped down the coast by packet (Sawyer 1926:48). Francis Hilliard built an addition on his parents’ house, the former Widow Johnson Store (M31) just north of Blake’s shop, and manufactured boots on the first floor, while a meeting hall was located upstairs. As of 1835 it was said that “Kensington is the place to buy either fine or coarse boots.” In addition to those employed in the larger shops, increasing num- bers of Kensington farmers did outwork for Lynn shoe factories during the winter months. About a hundred men made shoes during the winter season, and forty men worked at it year-round. Farmers also whittled wooden shoe pegs in their spare time. The “Brown boys” had an express route to and from the Lynn factories (Sawyer 1946:102, 231-232; Kensington Public Library Public Buildings file).

Although the town’s residents prospered, Kensington’s population continued to shrink slowly from 717 in 1830 to 672 in 1860 (Bureau of the Census 1940). The Town purchased land for a new cemetery, the Lower Yard, in 1828. The Upper Yard seeded in with pine trees and fell into disrepair after this time (Sawyer 1946:283). Kensington was redistricted in 1839 into two school districts, each responsible for its own fund- ing and administration. North Road was District No. 1, in which the Brick Schoolhouse was erected in 1842. The Middle and South Roads combined into District No. 2, with terms alternating between the two older (1798) schoolhouses (Sawyer 1946:219).

During the first half of the 19th century, the religious doctrines of Kensington residents continued to diverge. The popularity of the Baptist movement continued. In 1838, the same year that churches were erected in the NEW HAMPSHIRE DIVISION OF HISTORICAL NHDHR Inventory # - RESOURCES - CONTINUATION FORM NHDHR Area Letter K Town/City Kensington Inventory Form X Area Form County Rockingham Sheet 28 of 96 HISTORICAL BACKGROUND (continued) towns of Stratham, Rye and Hampton Falls, a new Christian Meetinghouse (now the Grange) was built on the site of the first. The old building was sold, moved to Cottage Road (Palmer Lane), and made into a house (S25) (Sawyer 1946:163-166). The Congregational church, divided by the Unitarian/Trinitarian controversy, no longer held regular meetings. Many families became Unitarian and Universalist, reflecting the liberalism and tolerance, which had begun with the town’s original Quaker residents and with the anti-Calvinist beliefs of Rev. Fogg. Unitarian leaders were invited to preach in the old meetinghouse, and in 1832 the First Unitar- ian Society of Kensington was formed. In 1838, a group of subscribers, including the Unitarians, joined to erect a new meetinghouse for the use of various Protestant sects. The Union Meetinghouse (now the Univer- salist Church) was built in 1839-1840. Pews were sold at auction (Sawyer 1946:170).

During the 1840’s, a joint Unitarian Society of Kensington and Hampton Falls met in the Union Meeting- house on Sunday mornings. In the afternoons, the Universalists held services in the summer and autumn months and occasionally in the winter. They had no settled minister, but were visited by itinerant ministers and many prominent members of the denomination. The Congregationalists held only occasional meetings (Sawyer 1946:172). Churches were important part of social and civic life. The Unitarians had an active social calendar holding dramas and concerts in conjunction with the Hampton Falls church (Sawyer 1946:119). In 1849, Mrs. Abby Lincoln, wife of the Unitarian minister, organized the Ladies Sewing Society Library. The group met each fortnight and sewed while one member read aloud. The proceeds of the sewing projects were then used to purchase new books (Sawyer 1946:256).

With the construction of two new churches and the inactivity of the Congregational church, the old meeting- house was used only for civic business, and was too large to maintain. It was demolished in 1846, and the stone and lumber used to build the present Town Hall in its place. As built, it contained a single room, thirty feet square, furnished with settees, with a small selectmen’s’ room off of it (Sawyer 1946:82, 161).

As of 1850, there were eighty-six farms in the town. The most valuable farms were those of John W. Shaw and Gilman Lamprey (worth $10,000 each), Stephen Brown ($9,000), John L. Lamprey ($8,000), and Ira Blake, J.C. Blodgett, John Tilton, Joseph Brown and Lewis Gove ($7,000). Another notable farm was that of John Nudd (N88) who was awarded second prize for the best farm in the county by the Rockingham County Fair (Sawyer 1946:94). Land was classified in the census as either improved or unimproved, of which there was relatively little in Kensington. The farms were generally large; only fourteen contained fewer than forty acres of improved land. Twenty-five farms contained between forty and fifty-nine acres, and twenty-two between sixty and seventy-five acres. Thirteen farms contained from seventy-five up to one hundred acres. The largest Kensington farms contained from one hundred to one hundred fifty acres of improved land. They were owned by John W. Shaw (N46), Gilman Lamprey (site M10), John L. Lamprey (M4), Benjamin Dow (site M2), Ira Blake (site N17), Joseph Brown (S4), Stephen Brown (S1), Theodore Lovering (site S62), Jeremiah Tilton Jr. (M50) and Michael Gove (S58). Almost all farms had some unimproved land, including wood lots, but nearly two-thirds of the farms included fewer than twenty acres of it. A quarter of the farms contained twenty to thirty acres. Four had between forty and fifty acres, and three men (John L. Lamprey, Benjamin Dow and Samuel P. Tuck) each owned seventy-five acres of unimproved land (Bureau of the Cen- sus 1850a).

The focus of farming in Kensington remained on mixed agriculture, primarily for home consumption. How- ever, during this period, the number of non-farming local families increased, and the growing industrial cities NEW HAMPSHIRE DIVISION OF HISTORICAL NHDHR Inventory # - RESOURCES - CONTINUATION FORM NHDHR Area Letter K Town/City Kensington Inventory Form X Area Form County Rockingham Sheet 29 of 96 HISTORICAL BACKGROUND (continued) nearby in northern Massachusetts provided a convenient outlet for Kensington farms. Joseph Dow of S50 was noted for painting animal murals on the walls of South Road houses during this period (Kensington Public Library House Files).

Hay was a universal crop. Stables in nearby cities provided a cash market for hay, as well as oats, and prices rose (Russell 1982:212). The tracts of salt marsh owned by at least fifty of Kensington’s farmers allowed them to maintain larger herds of livestock than otherwise. Haying was done in late August or September in the period known as “Going in the Marsh” (Sawyer 1946:117). The census did not differentiate between salt hay and English hay. Most farmers (thirty-five) cut between thirty and thirty-five tons a year. Twenty-three farmers mowed between ten and nineteen tons, and nine mowed less than ten. Nine farmers mowed from forty to sixty tons. Benjamin Tilton Jr. mowed sixty-five tons, John W. Shaw seventy-five, Joseph Brown eighty-five, and John Dow and Stephen Brown ninety tons.

All but a few farmers grew Indian corn. Corn dishes were popular and the surplus was used as feed, and the stalks and leaves as fodder (Russell 1982:212-217). A quarter of Kensington farms produced thirty bushels or less a year. Thirty farmers produced thirty-five to fifty bushels, sixteen produced between sixty and ninety- nine, and thirteen produced one hundred bushels. The farms of Ira Blake, Joseph Brown, Gilman Lamprey, Benjamin Dow and Stephen Brown produced more than a hundred bushels a year. Oats, primarily for horse feed, were a product of two-thirds of the farms. Annual quantities ranged from fewer than twenty bushels to one hundred twenty, but the average was around thirty. More and more grain was imported from the West. Small quantities of wheat were grown on thirteen farms, barley on seven farms, and peas and beans on thir- teen. Thirty-eight farmers raised rye, averaging between ten and twenty bushels a year. Potatoes were grown on all Kensington farms for human consumption and livestock feed. A quarter of the farms produced between one hundred and two hundred bushels, and another quarter between two hundred and three hundred bushels. Eighteen farms produced between three and five hundred bushels, and only seven produced fewer than a hundred. The largest potato producers were Gilman Lamprey, Jeremiah Batchelder, Benjamin Moulton, and J.T. Blake (six hundred bushels), Joseph Wadleigh and John W. Shaw (eight hundred), and Stephen Brown (twelve hundred). Apples and cider became increasingly important cash crops, and forty-seven farms had orchards. Most of the farmers made between $20 and $50 a year from their orchard products. The largest orchards were those of Jeremiah Poor, William Wadleigh, Jeremiah Wadleigh, J.C. Hilliard, and John W. Shaw; they had incomes of $100-$350 a year. Tom Flanders ran a cider mill at S35 during this period. Eight farmers maintained beehives and produced honey, aiding in the fertilization of their fruit. Small amounts of produce were sold in Exeter, Amesbury and Newburyport.

Oxen were important as draft animals for plowing and hauling hay and lumber. They served a dual purpose as they could be butchered after a few seasons of work (Russell 1982:201). One fifth of Kensington farmers did not own their own oxen, and would have relied on the assistance of their neighbors who hired themselves and their team out for additional income. One pair of oxen served half of the farms. Nineteen farmers owned two pair and five had three pair. Stephen Brown had four pair of oxen working his large farm. Horses for trans- portation and work were also common. Only twelve Kensington farmers were without one. Three-quarters of the farmers owned on horse. Seven owned two horses and three men owned three horses (Joseph Brown, John W. Shaw and Jonathan Palmer) (Bureau of the Census 1850a). It is likely also that other Kensington men who were not listed on the census as farmers kept a horse for their transportation. NEW HAMPSHIRE DIVISION OF HISTORICAL NHDHR Inventory # - RESOURCES - CONTINUATION FORM NHDHR Area Letter K Town/City Kensington Inventory Form X Area Form County Rockingham Sheet 30 of 96 HISTORICAL BACKGROUND (continued)

Dairy products were important throughout Kensington’s history. Herds were not large, however. Almost half of the farms had two or three milk cows, while five had only one. Just under one quarter of the farms milked four cows and the same number milked five or six. The largest dairy herds were those of John W. Shaw and Julius Blodgett who each owned seven milk cows, Theodore Lovering and Stephen Brown who owned eight, Ira Blake with nine, and Benjamin Dow with ten (Bureau of the Census 1850a). The average cow gave five to six quarts of milk a day in warm weather. The surplus milk not consumed by the family was made into butter and cheese by the women of the household. These could be stored for future use or sold to dealers or store- keepers (Russell 1982:203). Butter was the principal dairy product, and was made on all farms. Approxi- mately a quarter of the households produced two hundred pounds or less each year, slightly more made between two and three hundred pounds, and slightly less than a quarter made between three and four hundred pounds. Nine farms produced four hundred pounds of butter and the same number made between five and six hundred pounds, while four households produced from seven to eight hundred pounds. Cheese was made on over two-thirds of the farms. Half of these households made between one hundred and one hundred fifty pounds a year, and a quarter made from two to three hundred pounds, with only four farms producing more than three hundred pounds and only six producing less than a hundred (Bureau of the Census 1850a).

Stock raising was an important aspect of farming throughout Rockingham County. On fifty of the farms in Kensington, beef cattle were raised for sale or slaughter in urban markets. The largest cattle raisers were Stephen and Joseph Brown with twenty-four and twenty head respectively. Theodore Lovering, Benjamin Dow and Gilman and John Lamprey had as many as fifteen cattle. Ten farmers owned between five and ten head, and thirty-four owned five or fewer. Almost half of the farms had small flocks of sheep. Lambs were raised and each sheep produced about three to four pounds of wool a year. Six farmers owned fewer than five sheep, while fifteen had between five and nine. Eighteen farmers had from ten to fifteen sheep. The largest flocks were those of Jeremiah Batchelder (seventeen sheep, sixty pounds of wool) and Gilman Lamprey (twenty sheep, eighty pounds of wool). Swine or hogs were an integral part of the farms as they had long been. Only one Kensington farmer owned none. In general they were raised for family consumption rather than for profit. About one third of the farms had one swine, and slightly more had two. Sixteen farmers owned three, and four had as many as six. Ira Blake had eight swine and Theodore Lovering ten (Bureau of the Census 1850a). This coincided with their large dairy herds, as swine were fed the skim milk and whey leftover from butter and cheese making (Russell 1982:205).

Saw and grist mills closed or operated on a very small scale. The Fellows Mill, on Mill Brook south of North Road, was operated by Moses James until about 1850 and was the only sawmill shown on the 1857 county map. No mills were listed in the industrial censuses of 1850 or 1860. Blacksmith John French (1801-1884) came to Kensington in 1823. In 1828 he purchased a farm on Moulton Ridge Road (N57) where he estab- lished a blacksmith shop and plow factory. He made about two hundred plows a year, first in wrought iron, then in cast iron. French invented an all-metal, wrought iron plow to replace the older heavy wooden ones, and in 1847, he made the first steel tooth cultivator. His products were used throughout this area and agents sold the plows in surrounding communities (Sawyer 1946:99, 230; Hurd 1882:365). Another blacksmith shop was that of Jonathan Badger on South Road near S48; he made iron rings for shipbuilding in Newburyport (Mace 1909:32). Abraham Eaton had a carriage shop near his house (S76).

As of 1850, the Blake shoe shop employed six men and three women, making two thousand pair of boots a year. Blake employed several Irish immigrants. Timothy Mahoney was the first Catholic citizen in town. He NEW HAMPSHIRE DIVISION OF HISTORICAL NHDHR Inventory # - RESOURCES - CONTINUATION FORM NHDHR Area Letter K Town/City Kensington Inventory Form X Area Form County Rockingham Sheet 31 of 96 HISTORICAL BACKGROUND (continued) lived in the house (M29) built by Blake for his workers (Community News 1/98). Eighteen men and six women worked for C.A. Hilliard, making six thousand pair of boots (Bureau of the Census 1850a). c.1850-c.1890 Outwork Shoemaking, Farming/Dairying, Civil War, Population Loss, Height of Civic Activity

The larger shoe shops failed financially in the 1850’s. The tanning pits remained in use and Kensington families turned increasingly to doing outwork shoemaking for the large shoe factories in cities to the south (Sawyer 1946:231). Col. Blake lost his business in 1856 and it was taken over by his cousin Ferdinand Blake until the Civil War. Blake’s store remained a center of business and of Democratic politics. Blake family members continued to work as shoemakers as late as 1860 (Bureau of the Census 1860). Francis Hilliard’s shoe shop (M31) was rented by George W. Walton who ran a store there c.1855. He ran a trade route to Newburyport, delivering produce there and bringing back goods for the store (Sawyer 1926:41). The Hilliard shoe shop on Moulton Ridge Road at Hilliard Road continued to employ members of the Hilliard family (Chace 1857; Bureau of the Census 1860).

Outwork shoemaking played an increasingly major role in the local economy. Numerous small shoe shops were shown on the map of 1857 (Chace 1857). A shop at the intersection of Amesbury Road (Route 150) and Cottage Road employed several young men from nearby families. There were two shops on South Road. Another shoe shop built in 1858 for Calvin Sawyer was moved to Austin’s Corner by Newton Austin in 1870. The Tuck family worked in their shop on North Road. The Rowe family worked in a shop near the Brick School. The Blake shop on Drinkwater Road employed the Rowe family and neighbors. Ebenezer Ramsdell had a shoe shop on Beaver Dam Road. A shop on Stumpfield Road employed young people from the Blake, Tilton and Shaw families (Chace 1857; Bureau of the Census 1860). According to the 1860 census, fifty local men worked as shoemakers. Fewer than a third of them were property owners, suggesting that their families made up a large portion of the households living in rental properties. Nineteen shoemakers were young men living at home, often the sons of farmers. A few (five) shoemakers were single men boarding with another family (Bureau of the Census 1860).

Agriculture continued to dominate the economy. Some ninety-one men were listed in the 1860 census as farmers; about a third of them worked on farms owned by others. Another forty men were counted as farm laborers. While some were heads of households, twenty of them were working for their fathers, and seventeen boarded with the families of their employers (Bureau of the Census 1860).

Local blacksmiths of this period were Jonathan Badger of South Road and George Chase of Wild Pasture Road. John French Jr. manufactured plows. One man worked as a stone cutter and one as a mason. Also in the building trades were one painter, a joiner (James Ordway), and ten carpenters (John Page Jr. & Sr., Rufus Eastman, William Fitts, W.F. Harris, Stephen R. Brown, Joseph Tilton, William and Jeremiah Blake and George Rowe). The workforce also included a retired merchant, two store keepers, a hatter, a soap maker, two physicians, two male teachers, and a Christian minister. Three young men worked as mariners out of nearby seacoast towns.

Unmarried young women generally lived at home and a small number of them earned incomes, as did some older single women or widows. As of 1860, six women worked as dressmakers, one as a tailoress, and three NEW HAMPSHIRE DIVISION OF HISTORICAL NHDHR Inventory # - RESOURCES - CONTINUATION FORM NHDHR Area Letter K Town/City Kensington Inventory Form X Area Form County Rockingham Sheet 32 of 96 HISTORICAL BACKGROUND (continued) as milliners. One woman was listed as a shoemaker, while six worked as shoe binders probably in their family’s shoe shop. Three young women worked elsewhere as factory operatives. Seven women were teach- ers in Kensington and adjacent towns. There were fifteen domestic servants, primarily boarding with their employers, though a few lived at home and worked out.

Increasing numbers of the population were born outside of Kensington. As of 1860, more than eight of the town’s residents were natives of Massachusetts, and twenty-four were from Maine. One resident hailed from Vermont, one from New York and one from Illinois. The small number of foreign immigrants included nine people from Ireland, who were primarily young men working as farm laborers and boarding with their em- ployers. One English immigrant, Hyla Peacock, worked as a shoemaker (Bureau of the Census 1860).

In the mid-19th century, Kensington’s religious lines shifted again. The “Christian” movement declined, particularly after the division, disappointment and ridicule that resulted from Miller’s failed prediction of the Second Advent in 1843-1844 (Sawyer 1946:169). At the same time, the popularity of the Orthodox Congre- gational Church began to revive, and the number of Unitarians decreased. In the early 1850’s, the Congrega- tionalists shared use of the Meetinghouse for morning services with the Unitarians, and later they met in the Town Hall (Sawyer 1946:172). In 1859, the Congregational Church of Kensington was organized. It in- cluded one surviving member of the town’s original Congregational Church, Miss Sally Hobbs. In 1860 a Congregational Society or Parish was formed. Under Rev. Erasmus Darwin Eldredge, who was minister from 1864 until 1875, a Congregational Church was built in 1865 (Sawyer 1946:176, 179). Rev. Eldredge (M42) was a graduate of the Andover Seminary and had preached at Hampton where a church was built during his ministry (1838-1848). The original Blake tavern was moved to become the parsonage (M42). The Unitarian Church was dissolved in 1865. The society of Hampton Falls united with Exeter, and Kensington residents went there to church or joined the Universalists. The Kensington Universalist Church was strengthened and officially organized and hired its first settled minister (Sawyer 1946:172, 174).

Kensington was bypassed by the railroads that were constructed through the region during this period. Plans (about 1860) for an Exeter-Salisbury Railroad with a depot in Kensington never came to fruition (Sawyer 1946:108, 319). The railroads brought a decrease in stagecoach travel, though Kensington was connected by stage to Exeter and Amesbury throughout the 19th century. The B&M railroad opened in 1840 ran just beyond the northwest corner of town. Local residents could travel to railroad stations in Exeter or East Kingston depending on which part of town they lived in.

Kensington lost twenty-five of the 125 men it sent to serve in the Civil War. This included seventy-two town residents, plus substitutes and men hired by the town for bounties. The Town’s total expenses for the War came to almost $20,000; the average bounty was about $270 per man (Sawyer 1946:104; Blake 1917:20).

Following the War, the population continued to decline, reaching 642 in 1870 and 547 in 1890. This reflected a statewide trend of population loss in agricultural communities, as people migrated to better land in the west or job opportunities in industrial cities. Of the hundred young Kensington men who returned from the War, about twenty settled in other cities, thirty returned to farming in Kensington, and fifty took up shoemaking (Sawyer 1946:104).

During this period, the shoe business flourished in nearby cities of Lynn, Newburyport and Haverhill, Massa- NEW HAMPSHIRE DIVISION OF HISTORICAL NHDHR Inventory # - RESOURCES - CONTINUATION FORM NHDHR Area Letter K Town/City Kensington Inventory Form X Area Form County Rockingham Sheet 33 of 96 HISTORICAL BACKGROUND (continued) chusetts, and many Kensington residents participated in out-work shoemaking. By 1880, there were twenty- two small shoe shops in the town, and other families had a room set aside for it in their house. Shoe shops were a local gathering place where men gathered for discussion (Sawyer 1946:233). Ira Newell Blake built a shop on Drinkwater Road and manufactured women’s turned shoes until 1886 (Sawyer 1946:231-232). John Ryan and “Old” Dunbar did “turned work” in a shop in the ell of M64 during the 1880’s. A few men with teams got their own work, but most was brought from Haverhill by teamsters or “expressmen” Newt Austin and John Lewis Chase. They made two trips weekly delivering materials and finished product to and from the shoe shops. Few shoemakers worked full-time at that trade. During planting and harvest season they often worked for area farmers, and others combined shoemaking with work on their own farms. The average earnings from shoemaking were $125/year. According to the 1880 census, full-time shoemakers included twenty-two men who were heads of households, seven young men living at home and two who boarded with other families (Bureau of the Census 1880b).

Retired shoemaker Francis Hilliard opened a store in his shop (M31). Hilliard was appointed Postmaster in 1867 by the Republican government, and ran the Post Office in the store (mail delivered by stagecoach) until 1886 when the Democrats returned to power. Hilliard also established a lumber business with Robbie Merrill of South Hampton (Sawyer 1946:234). The Blake Store was run by Thomas then George Blake during the end of the 19th century. The Boston Daily Globe distributed there was the first daily paper received in town. Blake’s Store housed the Post Office from 1886 to 1890, and the mail stage between Amesbury and Exeter stopped there twice a day. Mary Esther Blake married stagecoach driver William Warner in 1872. She was soon widowed, and took over the family store after her brother George’s death (Sawyer 1935:28). Two bakers, one from Exeter and one from Newburyport, made weekly deliveries to homes in town. Dan Mace delivered meat in his butcher’s wagon (Sawyer 1915:17, 29). A series of doctors lived briefly in Kensington, but the town was never large enough to support its own physician.

Several blacksmiths worked in town. Sidney Chase had a shop on Amesbury Road. This was then acquired by blacksmith G.W. Green who moved it to his own property (M16) c.1856 (it was later converted into a cottage residence). Jonathan Badger had a blacksmith shop on South Road, where, after the Civil War, he made ship rings for the Newburyport shipyards. Hyla Peacock did the same; he bought Paul Ordway’s shoe shop and moved it to his home where he made ship rings (Sawyer 1946:230). The blacksmith shop near the meetinghouse was run by Joseph Poor until it burned in 1876 (Sawyer 1946:229, 269). Two blacksmiths were listed in the 1880 census, as well as one teamster. In the building trade were six house carpenters, a stone mason, a brick maker and a brick mason (Bureau of the Census 1880b).

Sawmills continued to operate. George and Newell Page ran a steam-powered sawmill in the southern part of town, employing five men for five months of the year and producing 48,000 board feet annually as of 1870 and 100,000 board feet by 1880. Joseph Poor built a new mill on Mill Brook, which operated through about 1890 sawing lumber for local farmers (Sawyer 1926:41). As of 1870, the mill produced 20,000 board feet of lumber annually and employed three men for five months of the year. Poor cut half of the lumber he used while the others purchased it. Benjamin Tuttle operated a steam mill during the 1870’s, with four men cutting 190,000 board feet in a three month period (Bureau of the Census 1870a; Bureau of the Census 1880a). The Page sawmill on Beaver Dam Brook burned in 1880 (Sawyer 1946:227). Other small-scale industries in- cluded the carriage shop of Augustus Eaton. About 1885 William Gaddis, an Englishman, came to Kensing- ton and made soap on Boardman’s Brook. John Davis made baskets in his home “on the road from the East NEW HAMPSHIRE DIVISION OF HISTORICAL NHDHR Inventory # - RESOURCES - CONTINUATION FORM NHDHR Area Letter K Town/City Kensington Inventory Form X Area Form County Rockingham Sheet 34 of 96 HISTORICAL BACKGROUND (continued)

School” (Sawyer 1946:230). In 1880, a large lumber business employed eight French-Canadian wood chop- pers who boarded together in the same house (Bureau of the Census 1880b).

Young women in the workforce included two dressmakers, two seamstresses, a laundress, six teachers, two domestics, and two shoe factory workers. Kensington remained a town of primarily longtime residents. As of 1880, there were fifteen French Canadians, four Germans and three Irish living in the town. Out-of-staters included seven residents born in Maine, forty-eight from Massachusetts, two from Vermont, four from New Jersey, one from Pennsylvania and one from Minnesota (Bureau of the Census 1880b).

Farming remained the focus of the economy. According to the 1880 agricultural census, there were one hundred thirteen farms in Kensington. Ten of these were occupied by tenants. Some forty-nine farms em- ployed paid labor other than family members (Bureau of the Census 1880a). The 1880 population census counted seventy-eight Kensington men as farmers, plus three women who were running their family’s farm. Another forty-six young men worked on their fathers’ farms. “Farm laborers” (working on others’ farms) included fifteen men who boarded with their employers and nine heads of households (Bureau of the Census 1880b). Kensington’s agricultural products were typical of the period. The railroad increasingly brought grain and meat from the West, while milk, butter, eggs, poultry and vegetables, which were harder to transport by rail, were produced locally (Russell 1982:261).

Nearly half of the farmers owned a horse and about a third owned two horses. Nine Kensington farmers had three horses, and Charles C. Dow had five. Nineteen farmers did not own a horse. Oxen were becoming less common. A third of the farmers owned a pair of oxen, while nine owned two pair, and one man (Henry Tuck) owned three pair (Bureau of the Census 1880a).

Dairying was a mainstay of the economy. Only a dozen local farmers did not have a milking cow. An equal number milked a single cow. More than one-third of the farmers maintained two or three milkers, while about one-fifth had four cows, and an equal number five or six cows. Six farmers milked from seven to nine cows, while only three farmers milked ten or more cows at a time: Charles Dow (ten) of M1, Theodore K. Mace (ten) of S43 and Charles Evans (sixteen) of M55 (not extant) who owned the longest barn in town. In 1879, all but twenty-two farms produced butter. Of these, about a fifth produced fewer than a hundred pounds a year, more than a quarter made from one to two hundred pounds, and about one fifth made from two to three hundred pounds. Nine families made more than three hundred pounds a year, five made more than four hundred pounds, and eight made more than five hundred pounds. The largest producer was the family of Stephen Kimball. By this time, only nine farms produced cheese. Fresh milk became an increasingly important farm product. Some thirty-seven farms sold fresh milk as of 1879. Quantities ranged widely. Five farms sold between one and two hundred gallons a year, two farms sold four hundred gallons, nine sold from five to six hundred gallons, and five sold between seven and eight hundred. Three farms sold 1,000-1,200 gallons a year, four sold 1,500-1,800, three sold 2,000-2,500 gallons, and three sold 3,000 gallons of fresh milk in one year. The largest producers were John L. Lamprey (M4), John A. Blake (site of N17, not extant), Leroy Sanborn (N92) (each four thousand gallons) and Charles Evans (six thousand six hundred gallons). The Dow Brothers (M1) were the first to peddle their fresh milk directly to households in Amesbury, beginning about 1880 (Kensington Public Library House Files).

Charles Evans owned sixteen head of other cattle, while Charles C. Dow and Theodore K. Mace each owned NEW HAMPSHIRE DIVISION OF HISTORICAL NHDHR Inventory # - RESOURCES - CONTINUATION FORM NHDHR Area Letter K Town/City Kensington Inventory Form X Area Form County Rockingham Sheet 35 of 96 HISTORICAL BACKGROUND (continued) ten at the time of the census. A dozen farmers had one other cattle, some thirty-seven had two or three head, twenty owned four head, twenty-one owned five or six head, and six owned seven to nine. Most farms maintained swine, primarily for home consumption. Over half had one or two on hand at a time, and about a fifth had three or four, while a few farms had six to eight swine. Sheep were much less common, owned by only a quarter of Kensington farmers at this time. Seventeen flocks contained fewer than ten sheep, and ten flocks contained between ten and twenty sheep. Daniel G. York (N88) owned twenty-six sheep at the time of the census, and John L. Lamprey (M4) owned twenty-two. Poultry were widespread by this time. Flock sizes ranged equally from fewer than fifteen, to forty birds. Eleven farms had flocks of more than fifty birds, including those of Francis Hilliard (one hundred fifty) and Charles Dow (one hundred twenty-five) (Bureau of the Census 1880a).

Hay and corn remained the predominant crops. Other grains were grown on only a few local farms. They included barley (eighteen farms), rye (thirteen) and wheat (ten). At one time, barley was sold to the Frank Jones brewery in Portsmouth. Only a third of Kensington farms still grew oats. Corn was raised on all but thirteen farms. Eight farms produced fewer than twenty bushels, about a quarter of the farms grew forty or fifty bushels a year, and roughly equal numbers (around twenty percent) grew quantities ranging from twenty bushels to ninety-nine bushels. About twenty percent of farms raised a hundred or more bushels a year, and three farms yielded more than two hundred. All Kensington farmers cut hay. About a third cut fewer than ten tons a summer, a quarter cut from ten to twenty tons, and a quarter cut from twenty to forty tons. A dozen farmers cut more than forty tons a year. They included Stephen Brown (S1), John Lamprey (M4) and Charles C. Dow (M1).

All but two Kensington farms included apple orchards. Eight of these orchards contained twenty or fewer bearing trees, and nine of the orchards contained more than three hundred trees. The largest orchards were those of Daniel York (N88), Joseph Brown (S4) and Benjamin Moulton (N69 or N70). Seventeen farms also had peach orchards. The only market gardener was John F. Gile who lived on site S11 (not extant). Potatoes remained a crop of most farms. Equal numbers of farmers (about a dozen) grew fewer than twenty-five bushels a year, or between twenty-five and fifty bushels. About twenty-five farmers each harvested from fifty to one hundred bushels and one to two hundred bushels. More than two hundred bushels were grown on nine farms.

Eighty-five percent of Kensington farmers logged their land during the winter months. Of these, only a few cut fewer than five cords a season, while more than half harvested between five and ten cords. The largest lumbermen were Leroy Sanborn (one hundred cords), Charles Evans (one hundred twenty-five cords) and Charles Dow (one hundred sixty-five cords).

The schoolhouses in District 2 were in poor condition by this time, and in 1873, the District voted to build new ones, known as the East and West Schools (Sawyer 1946:222-223). The identical buildings cost $750 to construct. Both are still extant. The East School (#11 on the base map) retains a high degree of integrity. The West School was moved and attached to S76. No longer needed, the old Middle Road School was moved at the time to become a barn of S3, but is no longer extant. As of 1880, there were forty-two students in the North District 1, thirty-two in the East School of the southern district, and twenty-six in the West School. The School District system was abolished by the State in 1885, and schools came under control of the Town government, specifically the newly established School Board. This revived an earlier conflict between the NEW HAMPSHIRE DIVISION OF HISTORICAL NHDHR Inventory # - RESOURCES - CONTINUATION FORM NHDHR Area Letter K Town/City Kensington Inventory Form X Area Form County Rockingham Sheet 36 of 96 HISTORICAL BACKGROUND (continued) north and south parts of the town. The north had almost half of the pupils, but the south had two schools and received two-thirds of the funding (Sawyer 1946:221-222). In the late 1880’s local boys learned the game of baseball from Phillips Exeter students and several local teams formed (Sawyer 1946:96; Sawyer 1915:30). Newell’s Hill near Pevear Lane was an informal picnic ground.

The late 19th century was a time of considerable civic and social activity, fostering a sense of community for the town’s shrinking population. An addition was built on the rear of the Town Hall in 1883. Dances were held regularly in the Town Hall. Other events were church socials, “huskings,” sleigh rides, and dancing and singing schools. An oyster supper was held at the Town Hall on the biennial election of Representatives (Sawyer 1946:115). A debating society, which later became the Farmer’s Club formed about 1870. The Temperance Movement was strong in Kensington between 1865 and 1895. The Hoosac Division of the Sons of Temperance, No. 25 was formed in 1867. Meetings and lectures were held in the Town Hall. By 1870 there were ninety members, and the group boasted that no liquor was sold in any store or tavern in the town (Sawyer 1946:16, 119). Those who wished to drink went to Exeter to do so (Sawyer 1915:36).

Religious activities included a series of camp meetings held by the Baptists in 1883 (Sawyer 1946:115). This did not revive the popularity of the church, however; regular meetings were held in the Christian Meeting- house until 1884, and occasionally until 1899 when they ceased altogether (Sawyer 1946:166).

The first “Decoration Day” or Memorial Day (one of the first in the state) was held in 1878 when flags were placed on the graves of Civil War soldiers. The next year, graves of all soldiers were decorated by the G.A.R. A total of sixty-three graves were marked, including eight of Revolutionary War soldiers, thirty-five of War of 1812 veterans, one Mexican War, and nineteen Civil War soldiers (Sawyer 1946:124). The Lower Yard was enlarged in 1888 by the Dearborn Annex, a gift of 3.5 acres to the town by George W. Dearborn, a Kensington native living in Philadelphia. Lots in the new cemetery were sold at auction (Sawyer 1946:285). Dearborn also paid for an iron fence around the Lower Yard which is still extant. In a failed attempt at street beautifica- tion, shade trees were planted along the highway and in front of the lower graveyard by Mrs. Rosa Ackerman, but most were torn up by vandals (Sawyer 1946:110).

1890-1920 End of shoemaking, Decline in Population, Farming and Property Values, Summer Resi- dents

James Austin’s purchase of a shoe sewing machine in 1890 (Sawyer 1946:105), marked the end of local shoemaking; the changing technology and end of hand-powered sewing made home manufacture unprofit- able. During the 1890’s all shoe shops closed, and many young men from Kensington moved away or trav- eled to Exeter and other nearby towns for work opportunities (Sawyer 1946:131). Over thirty young people went to work in city shoe factories in Newburyport (ten miles away) and Haverhill (eighteen miles away). The Blake shoe shop was still in use when it burned in 1894 along with the store (Sawyer 1946:271). Charles Foss shoe shop on Stumpfield Road burned in 1896.

In 1889 Herbert Prescott hired the old Hilliard store and was storekeeper and postmaster there many years. He advertised meats and groceries, and a quick lunch counter (Anonymous 1915). From 1890 to 1894 George Walton kept the Post Office in a former shoe shop opposite Hilliard’s store. The Blake Store was rebuilt after the fire in 1894 and run by Mary Blake Warner until her death in 1912, and then by her daughter Esther NEW HAMPSHIRE DIVISION OF HISTORICAL NHDHR Inventory # - RESOURCES - CONTINUATION FORM NHDHR Area Letter K Town/City Kensington Inventory Form X Area Form County Rockingham Sheet 37 of 96 HISTORICAL BACKGROUND (continued)

Warner. George Shaw built and managed the telephone exchange and also installed gas generators and elec- tricity in area homes. Electricity was first mentioned in Town Reports in 1905.

As part of a larger movement to promote farming, the Kensington Grange No. 173 P. of H. was formed in 1892 with thirty-six charter members. By 1902 there were one hundred seven members. In 1906 the former Christian Meetinghouse was dedicated as the John F. Gill Grange Hall. The group put on programs and lectures and held social events (Sawyer 1946:121).

During the early 1900’s, approximately seventy-five Kensington men made their living at farming, another twenty or thirty (mostly young men boarding with their own or other families) were farmhands. A handful of widows maintained farms, and two young women were identified as farmers in the town directory (Anony- mous 1901; Anonymous 1915).

Several markets were convenient to Kensington. Fresh produce was delivered to Exeter and Amesbury, or by rail from East Kingston to Boston. The dairy cow dominated New England farms during this period (Russell 1982:295). In 1900 there were a total of 429 cows in town (Kensington Town Reports). The sale of fresh milk to Boston markets and on milk routes in nearby cities increased during the end of the 19th century, replacing stock raising as the focus of Kensington farms. Horace Blodgett ran a large dairy farm at N74 and had a milk route in Exeter until the barns were destroyed by a fire c.1920. Other milk dealers were Sherman Shaw, Moses Evans, Leroy Sanborn, Frank Kimball and Henry Brown (S6). Frank A. Mace (M43) had a milk wagon and delivered milk to Exeter in eight quart cans and glass bottles. Levi Sanborn (N6) and Roy Brown, as well as Theodore Mace (M43) were cattle dealers. Sanborn advertised “Cows and cattle of all descriptions bought and sold. New milch cows on hand at all times. Young and veal calves taken at short notice.” Frank Poor and Shaw also dealt in lumber. Sylvester Hobbs combined farming with teaming (Anonymous 1901; Anonymous 1915). Each farm had an ice house, especially important for dairy operations. The main ice pond was Armstrong or Philbrick’s Pond on North Road, another was Muddy Pond. Farmers hauled the ice cakes home to their ice houses (Community News 3/96, 1/97). Horses, bred in the West, replaced oxen as work animals. In 1900, there were a total of 187 horses in town, and only seventeen oxen. As a result, oat produc- tion increased somewhat. Sheep farming ended in this period, with local numbers falling from seventy-six in 1900 to forty-four in 1910 and zero in 1920. Poultry raising became more profitable with cheap western grain for feed. In 1900 there were 481 fowl in town.

Crops were hay, corn, potatoes, and apples (Hazlett 1915:475). Most local hay was consumed on the farm by this time. The Great Meadows were still hayed in this period, but because milk customers in Lynn and Boston considered salt hay to give milk a funny taste, its use was discontinued (Sawyer 1946:117). Orchards re- mained important and New England apples were exported from Boston to England during this period (Russell 1982:225). Abram Hilliard had a fruit farm at M26. Shaws Hill became known as “Orchard Hill.” Owner of Orchard Hill Farm, Weare Nudd Shaw, wrote columns for the Exeter News-Letter under the pen-name “Or- chard Hill.” At one time there were some twenty-two horse-powered cider mills in town, making cider and also vinegar (Sawyer 1946:228). Archie York maintained a two hundred fifty acre farm at N88, including twenty-five acres of potatoes and twenty of sweet corn (Kensington Public Library House Files).

Several Kensington residents continued to work in nearby shoe factories and a few worked in brass and machine shops in Exeter. Two men worked for the railroad. Teamsters were Arthur Batchelder, Herbert NEW HAMPSHIRE DIVISION OF HISTORICAL NHDHR Inventory # - RESOURCES - CONTINUATION FORM NHDHR Area Letter K Town/City Kensington Inventory Form X Area Form County Rockingham Sheet 38 of 96 HISTORICAL BACKGROUND (continued)

Brewer and Charles Card. There were a number of general laborers, several blacksmiths, a carriage painter, a chauffeur, five laborers, about six carpenters, two masons, an electrician, two painters, two grocers, and a real estate dealer. Women working outside the home included a milliner, a dressmaker, three laundresses, several teachers, a nurse and two stenographers (Anonymous 1901; Anonymous 1915).

Local civic activity continued. A local Order of United American Mechanics was established in the 1890’s. The Ladies Library Association, created from the Ladies Sewing Society Library, owned 725 volumes by 1889 (Sawyer 1946:256). In 1893 the Town voted to establish a free town library, accepting the State’s offer of 100 free books to any town so doing. In 1894-1895 a brick library erected for the town as a gift from Joseph Chase Hilliard of Boston to the people of his native town (Sawyer 1946:366). The new building took the name of the original Kensington Social Library. It housed the books of the public library and the Ladies Library Association, sharing a librarian (Hazlett 1915:486). Some 160 books of the original Social Library were also included. Trustees were appointed by Hilliard (Public Buildings files). The Ladies Aid Society of the Congregational Church was formed in 1899. Another group, the King’s Daughters, consisting of women from the Congregational Church, gave papers and hosted speakers, raising money for charities (Sawyer 1946:122). The Congregational Society bought M32 as a parsonage about 1912.

In the 1890’s, Kensington “was still the town of families that settled here” (Sawyer 1946:10). As of 1895 there were 175 names on Kensington’s voting list. By 1904 there were only 140. In 1900 the population was 524. The most rapid population decline occurred between 1900 and 1910, when the town lost over a hundred people. It shrank further from 417 in 1910 to 398 in 1919. The low point was reached in 1920 when there were only 383 residents in the town (Bureau of the Census 1940). The decline would have been greater but for a number of people who moved away, but kept Kensington as their legal residence (Sawyer 1946:132). Real estate prices in Kensington reached a low point. Large areas of land were purchased and cut over by lumber companies (Sawyer 1946:131).

At the same time, Kensington’s rural, agricultural character made it known as a summer retreat for families from Boston and northern Massachusetts cities. It appealed to “summer visitors who like beautiful scenery, pure and bracing air, and retirement from the noise and dust of the city” (Hurd 1882:353). Farm families supplemented their incomes by taking in boarders, who were also consumers of farm produce, milk and eggs. The Lamprey family ran a summer boardinghouse at M10. Mrs. Sidney Chase advertised her accommoda- tions “on a pleasant little farm where one may rest and enjoy nature, at a reasonable price” (Mace et. al. 1909). Another summer boarding house was the Palmer House on South Road (S52, recently remodeled). Other Kensington farms were sold to become summer residences, or were maintained by family members who lived elsewhere.

Kensington’s most prominent summer resident was native Rev. Roland D. Sawyer who was born in Kensing- ton in 1874. A Congregational minister, he lived most of his life in Ware, Massachusetts, and served twenty- eight years in the Massachusetts Legislature. Sawyer and his family spent summers camping at M40 (not extant) off of Trundlebed Lane beginning in 1907, and built a series of cabins there in 1909, 1912, 1916, and 1925. He purchased the property in 1926, and called it “Mother Earth Camp” after Emma Goldman’s maga- zine (Sawyer 1907). Rev. Sawyer conducted extensive research into the history of the town. In 1899 he bought his first camera and began photographing local houses, leaving an important document for historians. He died in Kensington in 1969. His son, Roland Sawyer Jr. was a schoolmaster in Southborough, Massachu- NEW HAMPSHIRE DIVISION OF HISTORICAL NHDHR Inventory # - RESOURCES - CONTINUATION FORM NHDHR Area Letter K Town/City Kensington Inventory Form X Area Form County Rockingham Sheet 39 of 96 HISTORICAL BACKGROUND (continued) setts, and had a summer home at S85 (Kensington Public Library House Files, Anonymous 1901; Anonymous 1915).

Several farms on Stumpfield Road on the edge of town became summer homes. M67 was summer residence of Charles and Genevieve Bennett from 1911-1927. Bennett was a voice instructor at the New England Conservatory of Music in Boston. His colleague, Harry Redman summered nearby. The Goodwin family, Mrs. Dolly Goodwin and daughters Cora and Emma from Boston, owned M66 throughout this period, mak- ing additions to the house c.1910 (Sawyer 1946:335). Robert Herrick of Boston (M45), son Robert Herrick Jr. (M50), and Albert Flynn of Boston (M48) owned properties on Gove Hill. Other summer residents were Mr. and Mrs. Elden Crosby of Winthrop, Massachusetts (M27), the Hallowells. The family of Dr. Rounsefell from Wellesley summered at N14 near Prescott Corners, where they had an early swimming pool and a grass tennis court. The Prescott family maintained S53 as a vacation home. Lorenzo Prescott was a businessman in the South. The Prescott sisters, Josephine and Mary lived in Portsmouth, where they are noted for their donation of Prescott Park. George Shaw wintered in Exeter and built a house on his family homestead (N77) as a summer home. Dr. William Kenniston of Exeter rebuilt the tenant farmhouse of John Knight in the 1910’s and named it “Sunny Knoll” (N83). The family summered at this rustic retreat and daughter Faith ran a summer camp for girls to support her studies at Radcliffe. Everett Hilliard who dealt in sole leather in Lynn, summered at his family homestead on Hilliard Road. Rev. George Osgood, Unitarian minister and great grandson of Rev. Fogg, retired to the family homestead (Kensington Public Library House Files; Anonymous 1901; Anonymous 1915). During the summer months, local families and young people made day trips to Hampton Beach and attended dances at the Casino there.

Miss Esther Blake Warner ran the Blake Store throughout this period, adding a Blue Seal grain dealership in an adjacent building. The Prescotts had a store and “quick lunch” in the ell of M31 until 1922. Kensington lost its local post office in 1901, when the Star Route for mail delivery was established delivering mail from Exeter to local homes. R.F.D. service was instituted in 1909 covering the entire town, with deliveries from Exeter, East Kingston, Hampton Falls and Amesbury, depending on which part of town one lived in (Sawyer 1946:134, 235). Al Stevens ran a blacksmith shop at M67. Howard Towle, who lived at M30, built a black- smith shop on the west side of Route 150 south of Trundlebed Lane c.1895. He did blacksmithing, machine work and early auto repair there into the 1940’s (Mace et. al. 1909). Frank Strout opened a blacksmith shop c.1905 on Trundlebed Lane. After John Lamprey’s grist mill burned in 1909, he continued to deal in feed and grain (Sawyer 1946:272; Anonymous 1915). Automobiles were first mentioned in Town Reports in 1912.

In 1915 the Town deeded the lot of the Union Church to the Universalist Society, which held three Sunday services each summer (Sawyer 1946:186). Semi-retired minister Rev. Roland Sawyer preached during the summers. A second addition was built on the Town Hall in 1916. Also in 1916, Kensington entered the State Superintendent’s Union No. 16. The following year, improvements were made to the Brick Schoolhouse at the demand of the State Board of Health. Older students attended high school in Exeter, Amesbury, Newburyport or the Sanborn Seminary in Kingston from the eight grade.

Six young men from Kensington served in the First World War (Sawyer 1946:213). A local arm of the Red Cross was active 1917-1921. NEW HAMPSHIRE DIVISION OF HISTORICAL NHDHR Inventory # - RESOURCES - CONTINUATION FORM NHDHR Area Letter K Town/City Kensington Inventory Form X Area Form County Rockingham Sheet 40 of 96 HISTORICAL BACKGROUND (continued)

1920-1948 Rise of the Automobile, State Highways, Continued Decline in Farming

The period during and just after the War provided job opportunities in the region, particularly in the boom town of Amesbury, wages rose, and the automobile allowed Kensington residents to commute to work (Saw- yer 1946:134). Some worked in factories in Exeter. People did business in one town or the other depending on where they lived.

As of 1924, there were sixty farmers in Kensington, a livestock dealer and four milk dealers, a market gar- dener, plus twenty-six farmhands, and three widows managing their family farms. Also employed in town were a forester, two teamsters, two blacksmiths, six carpenters, a stone mason, an electrical contractor and a painter, a minister, a nurse, two grocers, a church janitor, and four teachers. There were as many as ten summer households. Residents commuted to Newburyport (one), Salem (one), Exeter (three including a worker at the brass works and a street railway conductor), and Amesbury (eleven including three shoe work- ers, three clerks, a chauffeur and a mechanic). About twenty heads of households had moved away within the previous few years (Anonymous 1924).

George B. Shaw of Exeter and Kensington installed acetylene gas and electric light plants, as well as tele- phone and fire alarm systems (Anonymous 1915). Overall, Kensington farms were modernized relatively late. Electric power lines were first installed in 1928. $3800 was spent by the Town for poles and wires in 1929, $6000 in 1930, and the cost reached $18,000 in 1934 (Kensington Town Reports). Wood stoves for heating and cooking were finally replaced during this period, and indoor plumbing was installed. During this period, Kensington was served by the Exeter and Amesbury fire departments. In winter, the roads had to be packed so farmers could transport their milk to the depot in East Kingston and elsewhere. The road crew used a pair of horses pulling a double runner sled with a log dragging between (H. Beckman Community News 2/ 96). Route 108 became a State Road in 1917, known as New Hampshire College Road. Route 150 was paved in 1929, the same year that electrical lines were installed along it. As of 1935, only Routes 150 and 108 had been paved. Improvements to local roads soon followed (Community News 3/96).

As the automobile replaced the horse and carriage, the town’s last blacksmiths gave up their work. Al Stevens closed his shop c.1920, and Frank Strout c.1936 (M40). (The building stood on Trundlebed Lane and col- lapsed gradually then was taken with a controlled burn sometime in the early 1990s (Potts 2000).) Howard M. Towle (M30) turned gradually to woodworking in his shop on the corner of Trundlebed Lane and Route 150, and continued into the 1950’s (Sawyer 1946:229). The building was taken down in the 1980’s and rebuilt by T. Young; it later burned (Potts 2000). Filling stations were usually associated with small stores selling limited groceries, candy, tobacco, tonic and beer. These were run by Mrs. Bragg at M23, Dutchy (George) Robinson, who also had two overnight cabins at S20 near the junction of Route 150 and Cottage Road in the 1920’s, and Mrs. Harvey Wilbur on Route 150 (Sawyer 1946:235). From 1929 to 1934 the Birch Camp Lunch Room and filling station (named for birches that are now gone) one Route 108 was operated by Maude Shaw at the home of her parents, George and Alice Shaw (N110). Business declined in the late 1930’s when Route 125 replaced Route 108 as the main road from Massachusetts toward the White Mountains. John Crowell continued to run a gas station on Route 108 (Anonymous 1949). Miss Esther Warner ran the town’s only general store, and gas pumps, through the 1950’s. The building burned in 1966.

Joseph Wilbur ran a gasoline-powered sawmill near N95 beginning in 1937. Harold Greenwood had a fine NEW HAMPSHIRE DIVISION OF HISTORICAL NHDHR Inventory # - RESOURCES - CONTINUATION FORM NHDHR Area Letter K Town/City Kensington Inventory Form X Area Form County Rockingham Sheet 41 of 96 HISTORICAL BACKGROUND (continued) cabinet shop at his farm on Highland road where he made doors and windows (Community News 3/98). The former Palmer blacksmith shop was renovated to be Miss Card’s Beauty Shop (Community News 12/99).

In the 1920’s, summer residents included the Misses Prescott, on South Road, Charles and Genevieve Bennett and Harry and Mabel Redman both of the New England Conservatory in Boston, and Misses Dora and Emma Goodwin. Others were Fred and Nellie Herrick (Lynn shoe manufacturer), Rufus Hilliard (Boston), Rev. and Mary Sawyer, and Edward Pope (Haverhill grocer) (Anonymous 1924). Elden and Ethel Crosby from Winthrop, Massachusetts built a small cottage in 1927 (N21). Towards the end of this period, they included the Toothakers (Swampscott), Louise Shaw (Nashua), the Rev. Sawyers (Weare, Mass.), Rayner and Ruth Hutchinson (Bos- ton), Roy Hallowell (Lynn) (S58), Harold Blake (Haverhill), and Francis and Barbara Birch of Boston who summered on Moulton Ridge (Anonymous 1949). In the 1920’s, Ray and Dorothy Cook saw properties on Moulton Ridge Road advertised through the New Hampshire Farms for Summer Homes program and pur- chased N59 and N60, developing a chicken farm there (Kensington Historical Society, Kensington Public Library House Files). Property M48 was owned by Dr. Walter T. Goodale a heart specialist with offices in Boston and Exeter. Dr. and Mrs. Jacobs were noted for their parties and “Strawberry Socials” at Sunny Knoll (N83).

Dairying remained the basis of New England farming. Production per cow increased, as did the size of the herds. The Babcock test for milk fat content allowed for herd improvement. Kensington milk was purchased and picked up daily by Hood during this period. Nearly every family had a cow, and even those with only three or four sold their milk to Hood (Prescott 1999). This practice essentially ended with the TB scare in the early 1920’s after which many people sold their cows, changing the local way of life (Prescott 1999). Tuber- culosis testing had begun in 1906, but the battle to wipe out the disease was long and costly, with large numbers of cattle, sometimes whole herds, slaughtered (Russell 1982:301). Total numbers of cows in town fluctuated from 431 in 1919 to 348 in 1920, 418 in 1924 and 375 in 1927 (Kensington Town Reports). In 1940 there were 310 and in 1950, 406. State health regulations requiring new equipment, such as bulk tanks, also proved too costly for small-scale farmers. New Hampshire’s 1931 Sanitary Food Law required separate stabling for milk cows, a separate milk room, cooling to fifty degrees within an hour of milking, and disinfect- ing of all containers and utensils (State of New Hampshire 1942). Electricity was important for cooling, because it was hard to cut and store sufficient ice. By the mid-1940’s, about sixty-five percent of New Hampshire farms had electric coolers. Mechanical milking machines also came into use. These were impor- tant when man-power was short during WWII (State of New Hampshire 1946).

Large scale dairy farming continued. The Mace farm (M43) and Exeter milk route were carried on by Everett S. Mace. Henry Brown of Mapleleaf Dairy Farm (S6) continued his milk route in Amesbury for over forty years (Sawyer 1946:329, 295). The Lamprey family (M5, M6) had a milk route and then started a trucking business in Amesbury. On their three hundred acre farm, they maintained about forty cattle, horses, pigs and poultry. Highfields Farm (M50) was owned by Charles Hodges during the 1930’s-1950’s. President of a Boston insurance company, he commuted from Kensington and the farm was managed by a hired hand who lived down the road. Registered Guernseys were raised and about sixty head milked (Community News 2/00). The Buxton family (N6) had a dairy farm and raised broiler chickens. The Bodwell family (M59) raised and milked Holsteins until the bacillus’s outbreak, then Jerseys, followed by some Guernseys and Ayrshires. From 1915 through the 1940’s, the Perkinses had a Guernsey dairy farm at M70 (Sawyer 1946:336). Everett Palmer of M17 milked fifteen or so cows. Throughout this period he was important as the local butcher and NEW HAMPSHIRE DIVISION OF HISTORICAL NHDHR Inventory # - RESOURCES - CONTINUATION FORM NHDHR Area Letter K Town/City Kensington Inventory Form X Area Form County Rockingham Sheet 42 of 96 HISTORICAL BACKGROUND (continued) meat dealer. Hillside Farm (N88, N89) remained in the York family through this period. In the 1920’s Herbert Eastman established a small dairy farm at S16. Frank Kimball had a large modern dairy farm at N87 from which he operated an Exeter milk route. Shaw’s Hill Dairy (N80) was operated by Herman Shaw into the 1950’s. He milked around sixty cows, bottling the milk on the farm. Shaw grew American kidney beans which were sold in Exeter, and cut a hundred cords of wood a year. He also sold water from a spring in Great Meadow, transported to Exeter in big jugs (Community News 5/98). George Armstrong of North Road main- tained twenty head of milk stock.

Tractors came into use and the number of horses decline from ninety-eight in 1930 to thirty-one in 1950. As of 1920 there were eight in town. In 1930 there were two (Kensington Town Reports).

Poultry farming was popular during this period. In 1930, a total of 1205 fowl were kept in town and by 1950 there were 5,576 (Kensington Town Reports). Cora Colby ran a poultry farm on Drinkwater Road (N25 – coops not extant), as did Harold Dickinson (N19), and Ray and Dorothy Cook (N59 and N60). Others were Frank Morris on Moulton Ridge (N60), and Valentino Rizzo on South Road (Anonymous 1949), as well George Frame (N52) and Clyde and Marion Russell (N102). Howard Blake of S83 had over three thousand birds. Many families maintained poultry for their own egg and meat consumption. During the 1930’s-40’s, Howard Outwater (sales manager for Mystic Iron Works in Boston) developed a Fox farm at S11 (not extant) (Sawyer 1946:297).

After WWI dairy, fruit and vegetable farms near transportation routes remained prosperous (Russell 1982:317). Most local families had large gardens and did home canning. Canned wild berries were also very important in the diet. The Brewers at N100 had a four or five acre orchard. They maintained a hundred beehives and took the bees seasonally to Applecrest Orchard in South Hampton to pollinate the trees (Kensington Public Library House Files). Market gardeners were Alice Bragg (Route 150), Leslie Briggs and Ralph Keniston on South Road (Anonymous 1949). The Prescott farm (N36) was noted for its pumpkins. The Hutchinson’s estab- lished Moulton Ridge Nursery (N70) in the 1940’s.

Local children socialized in groups based on what schoolhouse they attended. The West School was more isolated, while North School was nearer to Exeter and therefore more sophisticated. Kensington students felt more town identity when they went to other towns for high school (H. Bodwell Sr. Community News 6/97). Children attended high school in Exeter, Amesbury, Haverhill or Kingston (Sanborn Seminary) depending on where in town they lived. Some drove there by horse and wagon, others boarded with families near the school during the week (G. Lamprey Leroy Community News 9/96). In the coldest months students could ice skate to school in Exeter up the river from the Great Meadow (M. Armstrong Community News 1/97). The condition of the North School remained an issue. A new toilet was installed in 1921, followed by a stove, and another indoor toilet in 1931 (Kensington Town Reports). In 1941, the West School was closed and the pupils trans- ferred to the North School. Some were transported by automobile, including that of their teacher who pro- vided the “first bus service.” The local PTA was formed in 1937.

The old pine trees were removed from the Upper Yard during this period. In 1921, the Town erected a memorial to soldiers of the World War in the library yard (Sawyer 1946:137). Memorial Day celebrations continued to be a major local event. School children and townspeople made wreaths to decorate the graves, the Exeter Brass band played, children sang patriotic songs, and the Gettysburg Address was read. Beginning NEW HAMPSHIRE DIVISION OF HISTORICAL NHDHR Inventory # - RESOURCES - CONTINUATION FORM NHDHR Area Letter K Town/City Kensington Inventory Form X Area Form County Rockingham Sheet 43 of 96 HISTORICAL BACKGROUND (continued) in 1935, the Universalist Society observed Old Home Day one Sunday each August (these continue to the present). Regular dances held at the Town Hall and Grange were popular.

The town was hard hit by the Depression beginning in 1929. However, the population began to rise again reaching 438 in 1930 and 458 in 1940 (Bureau of the Census 1940). Old family names still in town included: Brown, Nudd, Shaw, Palmer, Rowe and Prescott (Eastman 1982).

World War II revived the economy of the region, in particular providing jobs at the Portsmouth Navy Yard in Kittery, to which many Kensington residents commuted (Sawyer 1946:137). More than sixty young men and five women from Kensington served in the various branches the military during the War (Sawyer 1946:214). A lookout tower was located on Shaw’s Hill.

In 1949, Kensington residents included thirty-seven farmers and thirteen farmhands, four poultry dealers, three milk dealers and two market gardeners. One man owned a sawmill and one was a blacksmith, five worked as “woodsmen.” Twenty-one men worked as laborers. There was one truck driver, a steam shovel operator, a filling station owner and two state highway department employees. Kensington had eight carpen- ters, a contractor, a plumber, three cabinetmakers and two painters. There were two stores and a butcher shop. Eight households were summer only. A large number of Kensington residents worked elsewhere by this time. Commuting to Exeter were: a dentist, a clerk, a bookkeeper, an insurance agent, four employed at the Acad- emy, an auto mechanic, two electric company employees, two shoe factory workers and eight employed at the Exeter Manufacturing Company textile plant. Three Kensington men worked at the Portsmouth Naval Ship- yard, four commuted to Newburyport (two worked at Towle Silver Co.), one to Raymond, one to East King- ston, one to Manchester, and one to the University in Durham. Three worked at shoe factories in Salisbury and Haverhill, and eight Kensington residents worked in Amesbury (Anonymous 1949).

1950-present Post War Growth in the Seacoast Region, Residential Development, Commuting

During the second half of the 20th century, the population of Kensington, like that of the surrounding region, has increased substantially. In 1950, Kensington had 542 residents, in 1960 there were 708, in 1970, 1,044, and as of 1980 there were over 1,200. In 1961, families with twelve of the original fifty-two last names of Kensington residents were still living in the town. As of 1980, a fifth of the town’s population had lived their entire lives in Kensington, and another fifth had lived there for twenty years or more. However, forty-five percent of town residents had lived there fewer than five years. The number of households increased from 240 in 1960 to 400 in 1980. Land values rose with demand for residential development (Town of Kensington 1981:5,8).

The growing town has required increased public services. Construction on a new Elementary School for grades one through six began in 1950. It was dedicated in 1952 and the last two schoolhouses closed. As built, the school contained two rooms and had two teachers for six grades, as well as an auditorium and modern bathrooms. Older students attended Exeter Area Junior and Senior High Schools. By 1958, the elementary school was already too small and an addition was built on the southern end in 1963. During this period, Doris Swift opened the town’s first kindergarten, Stepping Stones, at her home (Potts 1987:28).

Following a summer of drought, the Kensington Volunteer Fire Department was organized in 1948. The first NEW HAMPSHIRE DIVISION OF HISTORICAL NHDHR Inventory # - RESOURCES - CONTINUATION FORM NHDHR Area Letter K Town/City Kensington Inventory Form X Area Form County Rockingham Sheet 44 of 96 HISTORICAL BACKGROUND (continued) equipment included surplus military supplies and a 1936 Ford V8 oil truck. Meetings were held at Everett Palmer’s meat market on Route 150, and the truck was parked there. In 1950, the Ladies Auxiliary was formed to earn money for the purchase of equipment (Potts 1987:25-26). Harold Smith donated land for a fire station and lumber was cut on members’ wood lots, and milled at Arthur Evans’ mill on Wild Pasture Road. Construction on the station began in 1952. The first addition was built in 1961 (now the ambulance bay). The building was enlarged again in 1980 and 1991 (Community News 5/98). The Town Dump on Beaver Dam Road opened in the 1950’s and closed in the 1970’s.

The American Legion Post No. 105 was formed in 1947-48 by forty-six local veterans. Fifteen women formed the Auxiliary. Meetings were held in the Brick School and the Town Hall. Fundraising dances were held weekly to raise funds, and in 1954 the Legion purchased the East School, remodeled it and built an addition (Potts 1987:16).

In the 1950’s, an addition for Sunday School rooms and meeting space was built on the Kensington Congre- gational Church (which became part of the United Church of Christ in 1957). The project was funded by a $5,000 donation from Dr. Jacobs, a local dentist, although some older residents (including Roland Sawyer) didn’t want to see the building changed (Potts 1987:10; Community News 6/97).

As the population grew, the town needed a larger space for public meetings and events. This was provided by the new American Legion hall erected in 1973 on Route 150. It was built largely with volunteer labor. The Legion has since been used for annual town meetings, public and private functions, including weekly dances, the Community Christmas Fair, Scout meetings and Police Association events (Potts 1987:16). The Kensing- ton Historical Society was formed in 1971, and took over maintenance of the Brick School in 1972. Also in 1972 the Children’s Playground was given to the town in memory of Matthew Brewer. A memorial to soldiers of WWII, the Korean and Vietnam Wars was installed in front of the elementary school. The Town Park on Trundle-bed Lane was dedicated in 1975. Another addition was made to the Fire Station in 1980-81, and in 1991 the building was extended to the front and remodeled. The first real fire truck was purchased in 1968 and an ambulance in 1982 (Community News 5/98). The library was expanded with a rear addition in the 1970’s, and in 1986 the upstairs room was renovated in memory of Ruth Elizabeth Sawyer (Potts 1987:18). The main reading room was restored c.1997. About 1973, the library was the first town building to have electric Christmas candles in the windows; other town buildings were soon decorated beginning a local tradi- tion. In 1980, the Town Hall was moved back about twenty-five feet and a rear addition built. The lower level now houses the Selectmen’s office, Police Department, Town Clerk and Tax Collector. An addition was built on the Elementary School in 1987, and a Kindergarten room added in 1998. In 1997 the Exeter Region Cooperative School District was formed, including Exeter, Kensington, East Kingston, Brentwood, Newfields and Stratham. Recently the Unitarian Church has undergone restoration and work continues on the Congrega- tional Church.

Up until 1950, farming was the economic base of the town. Since that time, with use of the automobile, Kensington has become dependent on the surrounding towns for work, shopping and social purposes (Town of Kensington 1981:5).

Farming continued on a reduced basis during the subsequent decades. John and Jessie York established a potato farm on Drinkwater Road (N17), which became one of the largest potato producers in the state. They NEW HAMPSHIRE DIVISION OF HISTORICAL NHDHR Inventory # - RESOURCES - CONTINUATION FORM NHDHR Area Letter K Town/City Kensington Inventory Form X Area Form County Rockingham Sheet 45 of 96 HISTORICAL BACKGROUND (continued) cultivated two hundred acres of potatoes, there and on land in East Kingston and Brentwood. Potatoes were delivered to stores, hotels, and the Academy in Exeter, and York also trucked potatoes and vegetables to the market in Boston (Community News 3/96). York farmed until about 1980. In 1983, the potato farm was purchased by Harlow Carpenter who built a polo field, track and horse barns. Shaw’s Hill Farm has been owned by the Tuthill family since the 1950’s. The farm operation was managed by the Swifts, followed by Mark Perry, then Seth and Margaret Perry. A farmstand was located on Route 150 where vegetables and flowers were sold; they also cut hay. The farm is now operated by Allen and Kathryn Tuthill who sell vegetables, flowers and plants from their farmstand on the property and at local farmers’ markets. In 1997, Shaw’s Hill Farm was one of six New Hampshire farms chosen as a “Farm of Distinction” (Community News 7/98). Roy Cole farmed during the 1950’s-60’s. He had about forty milk cows and five hundred chickens. Sweet corn was raised and trucked to Boston by John York (Community News 11/99). Until the dairy herd buyout of the 1980’s, the Schweizer family of Stumpfield Road milked some forty-eight cows, replacing the old barn when it burned in 1966 (Community News 2/00). There are two dairy farms currently operating in the town. The Bodwell Farm on Stumpfield Road is the larger. Some five hundred stock are maintained, half of which are milking cows and half are young stock. According to Bodwell, a farm now needs to milk fifty cows per man to make enough to support a family. Currently, there are just as many cows in Kensington as there were fifty years ago, but they are all owned by only two individuals, while previously they were spread among about thirty farms (Community News 6/97). The Sargents (Ralph followed by son Bob) on Dow Road maintain between fifty and sixty milkers. George and Sandy Gavutis cultivate blueberries and Christmas trees and produce between fifty and seventy-five gallons of maple syrup each year. The “Kensington Honey Farm” is located on the Kingston town line (Powdermill Road). In addition to the polo farm, many residents keep horses, both for their own use and boarded for others.

There has been little modern commercial development in Kensington. A small shop at N98 has housed a donut shop, bike repair, and wood shop. A former blacksmith shop (N50) housed a florist shop. The towns only general or convenience store, the Kensington Grocery, was built on Route 150 by Warren Sargent in 1971. As of 1975, local businesses included the Rozencrantz John Deere dealership, Dick Boyd excavating contractor, Sargent’s lawnmowers and tractors, Connie’s Beauty Shop and Gifts, Kimball Farm Pools and Landscaping, Ryco Sand and Gravel, and Easson & Easson electrical contractors (Thomas 1975). Wooden boat builder, Gordon Swift has built nearly forty boats at his shop on Shaw’s Hill (N78). Exeter-Hampton Electric (Unitil) occupies a facility, just south of the Exeter line on Drinkwater Road. The Kensington Gro- cery is still Kensington’s only store, and the only gas station and full scale restaurant, Country Brook Cafe. A second restaurant, Queen’s Bridge, recently closed. Twin Lanterns ice cream take-out stand is located near the South Hampton line. A trucking business operates from the junction of Routes 107 and 150. Several residents own small planes and maintain landing strips for their own use. Residents include a number of building contractors, electricians, excavators, plumbers, etc. Former farmland has been converted to gravel pits. There were eight shown on the USGS map of about 1980, and others have been opened recently.

A large proportion of residents commute to work in Massachusetts. Access to Interstate 95 is only five miles away, and I-495 another mile beyond. As of 1980, a quarter of Kensington’s working population were em- ployed within the town. Twenty percent commuted to Exeter, including many employed at Phillips Exeter Academy. Some 4.5 percent work in Seabrook, 3.2 percent in Portsmouth and three percent in Hampton. Eighteen percent commute to Massachusetts (Town of Kensington 1981:7). The workforce included one hundred fifty-five people with “professional” type jobs, seventy-two in sales and clerical work, thirty-two in NEW HAMPSHIRE DIVISION OF HISTORICAL NHDHR Inventory # - RESOURCES - CONTINUATION FORM NHDHR Area Letter K Town/City Kensington Inventory Form X Area Form County Rockingham Sheet 46 of 96 HISTORICAL BACKGROUND (continued) service industries, twenty-two in machine trades and fourteen who did “bench work.” Growth and develop- ment is reflected by the seventy-five people in the building trades. Only nineteen Kensington residents made their living at farming (Town of Kensington 1981:8C).

As of 1990, Kensington had a population of 1,622. In 1997 the Town passed a measure eliminating “Town Meeting” from local government. At that time, the population was 1,753. Only 16% worked in the commu- nity, the remaining 84% commuting for a mean distance of 24.5 miles. There were twenty eight employers in Kensington with a total of 889 workers. The largest was Exeter-Hampton Electric with forty employees, the next was Rosencrantz and Son with fifteen (Community News 2/00).

NATIONAL REGISTER STATEMENT OF SIGNIFICANCE:

Criterion A: Kensington contains a large number of important farm properties, which are potentially eli- gible under this criterion for conveying the importance of local agriculture and trends in farm- ing practices. Both large and small farms, from all historic periods, could be considered sig- nificant. Most farms will reflect evolution and change over time. Those properties with barns and outbuildings and associated land, open and woodland, intact are most likely to be eligible. Farmhouses must also retain a fair degree of integrity. The best surviving agricultural proper- ties are as follows (in numerical order):

S33 consists of an early cape, small barn and sheds surrounded by pasture. S58 includes house and barn in an expanse of open land. M1 is a working farm with barn and land intact. M11 includes a very large barn and open fields. M21 is an exceptional farm property with house and outbuildings set in a large field. M43 was historically of significance, but lost its older barns. M59 retains barn and associated fields. N11 consists of house and connected barn, with surrounding fields lined by stone walls. N23 retains outbuildings and fields. N69 is signifi- cant as a farm complex with outbuildings and land. N70 has a significant landscape and asso- ciated outbuildings. Shaws Hill Farm (N76 and N80) contains houses, outbuildings and sur- rounding open land. N47 and N48 are significant connected complexes with open fields to the rear. Properties with less open land, but significant outbuildings include N57 and N100. Twen- tieth century farming is documented well by N102 and M5.

Other significant local contexts include shoemaking, turnpike travel, commerce, and small- scale milling. The one extant shoe shop is clearly important (N48), as well as the Hilliard store and shop (M31), and the Locke Tavern (S19). Whether mill sites retain sufficient integrity as archaeological sites has not been determined. The two intact schoolhouses, churches and pub- lic buildings are potentially eligible for reflecting important aspects of the town’s history.

Properties that reflect ownership as summer homes include S53, S58, S85, M66 and M67.

Criterion B: Properties associated with the more prominent and influential farmers, and the owners of the key local businesses and industries might be eligible under this criterion for the role of the individual in the development of the town. To be eligible under this criterion a property must NEW HAMPSHIRE DIVISION OF HISTORICAL NHDHR Inventory # - RESOURCES - CONTINUATION FORM NHDHR Area Letter K Town/City Kensington Inventory Form X Area Form County Rockingham Sheet 47 of 96 NATIONAL REGISTER STATEMENT OF SIGNIFICANCE: (continued)

have strong associations with the individual and retain integrity from the period of signifi- cance. For example, the Fogg Parsonage N93 would be eligible if it is determined to have integrity for Fogg’s period of occupancy.

Criterion C: Kensington contains significant 18th and early 19th century architecture in its exceptionally large number of large farmhouses from those periods. These buildings are generally plainly de- tailed, with little pretension toward particular architectural styles. The oldest extant house, N18, has been altered, but may be eligible for its information potential about early building practices. Among the many center chimney houses, the following appear to retain the highest degree of integrity: S4, M4, M11, M21, M27, N19, N27, N39, N47, N53, N69, N74 and N88. Properties S33 and N59 are good 1½-story capes. The most intact half houses are S48, N57 and N100.

The best surviving federal period houses include S19, M31, M59, N6, N36 and N92. Three significant brick houses of the Federal period are M48, N48 and N80.

There are several excellent Greek Revival style farmhouses (S1, S83, M5, M68, N11 and N70), and one Gothic cottage (M20). Good late 19th century houses include N35, N77 and N89. A few of the small early 20th century houses may be eligible. The most intact are S16, N96, N102, N103 and N110.

Those houses with siding and trim, entry and windows intact are most likely to be eligible for the National Register. The integrity of interior spaces must also be considered. Older proper- ties updated in the late 19th or early 20th century with Colonial Revival elements may also be significant.

The town’s churches and public buildings are of both historical and architectural significance, and most all retain high degrees of integrity. Agricultural outbuildings and complexes may also be eligible under Criterion C for their significance as building types, even when the prop- erty does not retain overall integrity as a farm. For example the barn at N3 is significant as the earliest New England barn.

Historic Districts: The town center is divided into two smaller groupings of historic buildings by a stretch of modern properties. The Congregational and Universalist Churches, Town Hall and Upper Yard form an eligible district. The Lower Yard, Grange, Library and residences M27-32 form a second district.

Kensington was historically significant for its various neighborhoods. Some of these survive as groups of historic properties and may be eligible as historic districts. Prescott Corner in- cludes N36, 38, 39 and N18. On Drinkwater Road, N6, 11, 12 and N14 form an intact agricul- tural neighborhood near “Fryingpan Corner.” Brick School corner might include the school- house, N47 and 48, N50 and N53. Shaws Hill includes N74, 76, 77, 79, and 80. York Hill Farm (N88 and 89) retains some open land but has lost historic outbuildings. Moulton Ridge NEW HAMPSHIRE DIVISION OF HISTORICAL NHDHR Inventory # - RESOURCES - CONTINUATION FORM NHDHR Area Letter K Town/City Kensington Inventory Form X Area Form County Rockingham Sheet 48 of 96

properties N67, 69 and N70 retain integrity. Palmer’s Corner includes historically associated houses M16 and 17. “Blakeville” on Stumpfield Road encompasses M64, M66, M67 and M68. M50 and M59 on Stumpfield are important for their large tracts of open land. Eastman Corner lacks integrity due to the loss of the tavern and recent removal of outbuildings. S43 and S44 on Highland Road retain outbuildings and surrounding land.

STATEMENT OF INTEGRITY:

Kensington retains a relatively high degree of integrity as a rural, agricultural community. The town contains large areas of open land, surviving farm complexes and some ongoing farming. However, these are threat- ened by the current trend toward subdivision of large tracts of land and development with large residences. Several barns have recently been demolished or lost to fire. There has been relatively little reforestation. Comparison of USGS maps shows that the town has about the same area of open land now as in the 1930’s.

Modern development has divided former neighborhoods/districts so there are few groups of properties intact as historic districts.

Many buildings retain high degrees of architectural integrity of design, materials and workmanship. There has been limited vinyl siding and window replacement, and some unsympathetic restoration by new owners. Many properties have been maintained by the same family for generations and are less changed. More de- tailed investigation of individual buildings is needed to determine which changes were made historically and which are more recent.

BIBLIOGRAPHY and/or REFERENCES:

Anonymous 1901 Directory of Atkinson, Brentwood, Kensington……. and Stratham in Rockingham County, New Hampshire. Methuen, MA: the Methuen Transcript Company. Collection of New Hampshire State Library, Concord.

Anonymous 1915 Crowley & Lunt’s 1915-1917 Exeter and N.H. Coast Directory. Beverly, MA: Crowley & Lunt Publishers. Collection of New Hampshire State Library, Concord.

Anonymous 1924 Crowley & Lunt’s Exeter, Newmarket and N.H. Coast Directory. Beverly, MA: Crowley & Lunt Publishers. Collection of New Hampshire State Library, Concord.

Anonymous 1949 Crowley & Lunt’s Exeter, Hampton and N.H. Coast Directory. Beverly, MA: Crowley & Lunt Publishers. Collection of New Hampshire State Library, Concord. NEW HAMPSHIRE DIVISION OF HISTORICAL NHDHR Inventory # - RESOURCES - CONTINUATION FORM NHDHR Area Letter K Town/City Kensington Inventory Form X Area Form County Rockingham Sheet 49 of 96 BIBLIOGRAPHY and/or REFERENCES: (continued)

Blake, Harold F. 1917 Re-Told Tales. Farmington, ME: The Knowlton & McLeary Company.

Brown, Warren 1900 History of the Town of Hampton Falls. Manchester, NH: John B. Clarke Company.

Bureau of the Census 1850a Agricultural and industrial schedules. Microfilm collection of the New Hampshire State Library, Concord.

Bureau of the Census 1850b Population census. Microfilm collection of the New Hampshire State Library, Concord.

Bureau of the Census 1860 Population census. Microfilm collection of the New Hampshire State Library, Concord.

Bureau of the Census 1880a Agricultural and industrial schedules. Microfilm collection of the New Hampshire State Library, Concord.

Bureau of the Census 1880b Population census. Microfilm collection of the New Hampshire State Library, Concord.

Bureau of the Census 1940 16th Census of the United States. Collection of the New Hampshire State Library.

Bureau of the Census 1990 Notes on file at Kensington Public Library.

Dow, Joseph 1893 History of the Town of Hampton. Salem, MA: The Salem Press.

Dudley, Albertus 1992 “A Country Doctor’s Daily Charge Book, 1792-1813: Dr. Benjamin Rowe.” Written 1936, printed North Barnstead, NH: The Rowe Register.

Eastman, Herbert 1982 “Tid-Bits of Kensington History.” Typescript of talks for Kensington Historical Society, March, April and May 1982.

First Congregational Church of Kensington 1968 “The Kensington Study.” Collection of Kensington Public Library. NEW HAMPSHIRE DIVISION OF HISTORICAL NHDHR Inventory # - RESOURCES - CONTINUATION FORM NHDHR Area Letter K Town/City Kensington Inventory Form X Area Form County Rockingham Sheet 50 of 96 BIBLIOGRAPHY and/or REFERENCES: (continued)

Gilman, Robbins Paxson 1985 The Old Log House By the Bridge: Exeter’s Garrison House. Portsmouth, NH: Peter E. Randall.

Hazlett, Charles A. 1915 History of Rockingham County, New Hampshire. Chicago: Richmond-Arnold Publishing Com- pany.

Hubka, Thomas C. 1984 Big House, Little House, Back House, Barn: The Connected Farm Buildings of New England. Hanover, NH: University Press of New England.

Hurd, D. Hamilton 1882 History of Rockingham and Strafford Counties. Philadelphia: J.W. Lewis & Co.

Kensington Historical Society 1984 “An Index of Geographical Names.” Collection of Kensington Public Library.

Kensington Public Library Archives. Including “House Files,” “Kensington People” and “”More Home- steads in Kensington - Not Included in Sawyer’s History”

Kensington Town Reports. Collection of the Kensington Public Library.

Mace, Ida et. al. 1909 Kensington, New Hampshire Sketches and Reminiscences. Newburyport, MA: Newburyport Herald.

Monroe, Lynne Emerson (editor) 1994-2000 Community News. Newsletter of the Kensington Community Church.

State of New Hampshire – State Board of Health 1942 Regulations Governing the Production, Pasteurization ….. of Milk, Cream, …. Concord, NH: Evans Printing. Collection of the New Hampshire State Library, Concord.

State of New Hampshire 1946 Report of the Department of Agriculture. Concord, NH. Collection of the New Hampshire State Library, Concord.

Potts, Nathalie S. (compiler) 1987 Kensington, New Hampshire 250 Years.

Russell, Howard S. 1982 A Long Deep Furrow: Three Centuries of Farming in New England. Hanover, NH: University Press of New England. NEW HAMPSHIRE DIVISION OF HISTORICAL NHDHR Inventory # - RESOURCES - CONTINUATION FORM NHDHR Area Letter K Town/City Kensington Inventory Form X Area Form County Rockingham Sheet 51 of 96 BIBLIOGRAPHY and/or REFERENCES: (continued)

Sawyer, Roland D. 1915 A Personal Narrative. Farmington, ME: D.H. Knowlton & Company.

Sawyer, Roland D. 1926 “An Outline history of Kensington,” typescript of articles published in the Exeter Newsletter 1918- 1919 as ‘Sketches of Kensington History.” Collection of the New Hampshire Historical Society, Concord.

Sawyer, Rev. Roland D. 1932 A Quarter Century in Tent, Cabin and Cottage. Farmington, ME: The Knowlton & McLeary Company.

Sawyer, Roland D. 1935 “My Mother: Her Family and Ancestry.” Collection of the Kensington Public Library.

Sawyer, Rev. Roland D. 1939 An Epilogue to The Days of My Summer Life in Kensington. Farmington, ME: D.H. Knowlton.

Sawyer, Rev. Roland D. 1946 History of Kensington, New Hampshire. Reprinted 1972, Seabrook, NH: Woodbury Press, Inc.

Thomas, Matthew 1975 “Looking Back at Kensington, New Hampshire: A Storybook Town of Distinction,” The Kingstonian. May 14, 1975.

Thomas, Matthew E., compiler 1994 The Old Photographs Series: Rockingham County. Bath, Augusta, Rennes: Alan Sutton.

Town of Kensington 1981 “Master Plan.” Collection of the Kensington Public Library.

Visser, Thomas Durant 1997 Field Guide to New England Barns and Farm Buildings. Hanover, NH: University Press of New England.

Maps

Anonymous 1805 Microfilm Collection of the New Hampshire Historical Society, Concord, NH.

Brown, Joseph Weare 1849 “A Plan of the Town of Kensington by actual survey taken in 1805, with the additional roads that have been since laid out.” From copy at Kensington Public Library. NEW HAMPSHIRE DIVISION OF HISTORICAL NHDHR Inventory # - RESOURCES - CONTINUATION FORM NHDHR Area Letter K Town/City Kensington Inventory Form X Area Form County Rockingham Sheet 52 of 96 BIBLIOGRAPHY and/or REFERENCES: (continued)

Chace, J. Jr. 1857 “Rockingham County, New Hampshire” wall map. Philadelphia: Smith & Coffin. Collection of the New Hampshire Historical Society, Concord.

Hurd, D.H. 1892 Town and City Atlas of the State of New Hampshire. Boston: D.H. Hurd & Company.

Jacobs, Dorothy, and Judith Pease, Seth Perry, Ann Smith, Donald Wilson n.d. “Historical Map of Kensington, Rockingham County, New Hampshire.

Perry, Margaret 1994 “Approximate locations of Houses Described by Roland D. Sawyer in Chapter 20 of his History of Kensington.”

Rand, Thomas, Jr. 1823 “The Map of Kensington” taken from actual survey of 1805 with additional roads. Original in collection of the New Hampshire Historical Society, Concord.

U.S.G.S. 1894 “Newburyport-Exeter, NH-MA” quadrangle, reprinted 1911. From Historic U.S.G.S. Maps of New Hampshire Internet web site.

U.S.G.S. 1932 “Newburyport-Exeter, NH-MA” quadrangle. From Historic U.S.G.S. Maps of New Hampshire Internet web site.

U.S.G.S. 1934 “Newburyport-Exeter, NH-MA” quadrangle, reprinted 1941. From Historic U.S.G.S. Maps of New Hampshire Internet web site.

Historic Photographs

Collection of the Kensington Public Library.

Interviews

Kitty Clark. Margaret and Seth Perry. Nathalie Potts. Barbara Powers. Edith Prescott. NEW HAMPSHIRE DIVISION OF HISTORICAL NHDHR Inventory # - RESOURCES - CONTINUATION FORM NHDHR Area Letter K Town/City Kensington Inventory Form X Area Form County Rockingham Sheet 53 of 96 APPLICABLE HISTORIC CONTEXT(S) with code:

2. First settlement on the New Hampshire seacoast, 1623-1660. 4. The French and Indian Wars in New Hampshire. 5. Revolutionary New Hampshire. 15. General outwork/home manufacture in New Hampshire, 1840-1920. 17. Small to mid-scale lumbering and millworking, 1620-present. 20. Localized shoemaking, 1620-1820. 22. Shoemaking outwork/home manufacture, 1870-1920. 28. Machine tool manufacture, 1840-present. 29. Carriage and wagon manufacture, 1820-1900. 31. Hand tool manufacturing, 1800-1920. 35. The sheep craze, 1820-1870. 36. Local-scale dairy farming, 1800-present. 38. Dairy farming for the Boston market, 1880-1940. 39. Poultry farming, 1930-present. 40. Grain farming/milling, 1650-present. 41. Potato farming, 1900-present. 42. Orchards and cider production, 1650-present. 44. Maple sugar and syrup production, 1650-present. 45. Mixed agriculture and the family farm, 1630-present. 46. Boarding house tourism, 1875-1920. 48. Summer home tourism, 1880-present. 53. Pre-automobile land travel, 1630-1920. 54. Automobile culture, 1920-present. 58. Elementary and secondary education, 1770-present. 60. Local government, 1630-present. 62. Philanthropy, 1880-present. 64. The French-Canadians in New Hampshire, 1840-present. 70. The Irish in New Hampshire. 72. Small-scale cabinet making. ::\EW HAMPSHIRE DIVISION OF HISTORICAL NHDHR Inventory # - RESOURCES - CONTI UATION FORM NHDHRAreaLetter K Town/City Kensington Inventory Form ---..X- Area Form County Rockingham Sheet 54-of 9'" Sawyer 1946:291)

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ApPROXIMATE LOCATIO Ns OF' HOUSES

DeSCRIBED BY ROLANO D. 5AWY.e:~ IN CHAPTER 20 OF' HIS HISToRY o. KENSI NG-TO N NEW HAMPSHIRE DMSION OF HISTORICAL NHDHR Inventory #­ NHDHRArea Letter K RESOURCES - CONTINUATION FORM Town/City Kensington County Rockingham Inventory Form .-X- Area Form Sheet Co7 of OJ 10

KEY TO THE HOUSES in the History of Kensin~ton, by Roland D. Sawyer. This key attempts to match the house numbers assigned by Sawyer in his Chapter 20 to the street addresses adopted by the Town of Kensin~ton in 1987. fiG mC'Clns House Gone as noted by Sawyer in 1946 when his History was published. Houses gone since that time are indicated with dates if possible. S, M or N in front of the numbers indicates the south, middle or north parts of town. This key was assembled by MargClret Perry with information contributed by many community members, 1992.

Page Num Street address, (Recent) and/or Current Resident

p 292 S 1 289 South Road, Brownell & Doris Schrempf S 2 HG (site about opposite 286 South Road) p 293 S 3 286 South Road, Susan Maire S 4 275 South Road, George & DoLores Martin S 5 HG (site near entrance to Bob Dow's pit?) p 295 S 6 269 South, Goldie and Robert Selfe S 7 HG (site: SE corner Routes 107 and 150) S 8 268 Amesbury Rd., (George) and Helen Eastman p 297 S 9 1 Old Amesbury, Belle Tuttle S 10 Gone now (site was opposite 10 Old Amesbury Rd) S 11 Burned ca 1952 (site now 16 Old Amesbury Rd) Thomas p 298 S 12 244 Amesbury, (Harry) & Gertrude Steeves S 13 HG (site near 238 Amesbury) Simmons S 14 217 Amesbury, Edwin & Althea Ohlsen p 299 S 15 207 Amesbury, (Otis Eastman) Sadler S 16 228 Amesbury, Herbert & Pauline Eastman p 300 S 17 Razed 1970s (site just north of 224 Amesbury) S 18 199 Amesbury, Hank & Amy Eastman S 19 220 Amesbury, Mardirosian S 20 Burned 1960s (site near Legion Hall) S 21 1~9 Amesbury, Margaret George S 22 5 Cottage, (Adams) Pellerin S 23 2 Cottage, Howard Beckman S 24 9 Cottage, John Rochwarg p 301 S 25 11 Cottage, (Roy) Bob and Mar~y Jane Solomon S 26 13 Cottage, (J.Head) Donald Jensen S 27 HG (site now 14 Cottage) Carter & Stebbins S 28 18 Cottage, (N.Head) Ed & Leigh Patnaude S 29 17 Cottage, Bert & Dorothy York S 30 Gone now (site was right beside S 32) S 31 Gone now (site now 22 Cottage) Dot Cleary S 32 Gone now (site now 19 Cottage) Marino S 33 46 Cottage, (Dunn) Bill & Lyn ¥iske p 302 S 34 HG (site near barn at corner, appears on 1823 map) S 35 264 South, (Card) Batchelder & Brown p 303 S 36 263 South, Hale S 37 HG S 38 258 South S 39 HG (appears on 1823 map) :\£\-\1 HAMPSHIRE DIVISION OF HISTORICAL NHDHR Inventory # ­ RESOURCES - CONTINUATION FORM NHDHRArea Letter K Town/City Kensington Inventory Form -.2L. Area Form County Rockingham Sheet "8 of Cf fo

S 110 II (] (t() P 0 f' Ward's II i j J, a p p (~a r son l B ~ J &. 11) <\ 9 maps ) 8 41 HG (site near 8 40) S 42 Gone in 19 'I Os (s i tc corner South & Benver Dam l?ds) p 304 8 43 8 Highland, (Frank) & Hilda Rosencrantz 8 44 12 Highland, Walter & Ann Greenwood 8 45 HG (appears on 1823 map) S 46 Razed 1991 (site beside 24 Highland, Mertinooke) p 305 8 47 191 South, Peter & Anja Greer 8 48 188 South, Carole Callahan 8 49 182 South, James Rosencrantz S 50 177 South, John & Michelle Barron p 306 S 51 HG (site in field opposite 8 50) S 52 172 80uth, Tom & Dawn Li~ocki 8 53 173 80uth, (Casey) Goldstein 8 54 HG (site near 157 80uth), Les & Martha Bri~gs p 307 8 55 HG (site near 154 80uth), Desrosiers S 56 153 80uth, Bill & Geneva 8imon 8 57 2 Hickory, David Heasley S 58 9 Hickory, (Atwood, McKnight) Alan & Elsie Duston S 59 HG (site near 8 58, Indian Hill?) p 308 S 60 HG (appears on 1849 & 1892 maps) 8 61 Gone now (site on Bartlett Rd, near 8 62) 8 62 Moved to Conn.,1930s (site on Bartlett Rd, appears on 1823,1849 & 1892 maps S 63 HG 8 64 HG S 65 HG 8 66 HG (site NW corner of Muddy Pond &. South, 1823 mapl p 309 S 67 146 South, (Wilbur) Robert Frye 8 68 HG (8 78 moved, became 8 68; near cor. Muddy Pond and South Roads) S 69 140 80uth, (Rizzo) John & Doris Diamond 8 70 HG 8 71 HG .. S 72 113 80uth, (Hodgdon) Chamberlain 8 73 HG S 74 HG (site near E. Kingston line, N side of 80uth Rd) p 310 S 75 HG (site somewhere on West School Rdl 8 76 9 West 8chool Rd, (Comfort) Richard & Della Boswell 8 77 HG (site W side of West 8ch Rd, appears on 1823 mapl S 78 HG (site west end Muddy Pond Rd, then became S 6B) p 311 8 79 Razed 1960s (site opposite 60 Muddy Pond, 1823 &. 1892 maps) 8 80 HG (site on Muddy Pond Rd, 1785 map) S 81 HG (about opposite 42 Muddy Pond Rd, 1849 map) 8 82 Moved to Amesbury (appears on 1823 map) P 312 8 83 _23 Muddy Pond, (8entenac) Chris Schadler 8 84 Burned 1979 (site now 3 Muddy Pond) Worthen p 313 8 85 8 Beaver Dam, Alan &. Harriet Le~.,ris 8 86 HG (site somewhere on E site of Beaver Dam Rdl 8 87 HG (site on Beaver Dam Rd, appears on 1849 mapl :\EW HAMPSHIRE DMSION OF HISTORICAL NHDHR Inventory # RESOURCES - CONTINUATION FORM NHDHR Area Letter K Town/City Kensington Inventory Form ~ AreaForm County Rockingham Sheet lP4 of CJ(P

\lIDDLE ROAD

P 314 [\'1 1 3 Dow Lane, Ralph B. Sargent 1"1 2 I?azcc:l, 1950s (site about. ~()U' cast. of 17 Do>" Lane) (Dow, Robie) M 3 HG p 315 M 4 26 Lamprey, Parker & Georgianna Humphrey M 5 22 Lamprey, (S im) Col b:,-' M 6 Burned 1967 (site now 12 Lamprey) John Bradley M 7 - 4 Lamprey, (B~iley) M 8 Gone now (site was in back of M 7) M 9 Moved: H.Falls (site NE cor. Lamprey & '~ild Pasture) £"1 10 HG (site on Wild Pasture, south of MIll p 316 M 11 9 Wild Pasture, (Evans) Jim & Joan Webber N 12 HG (site N of MIl, W side Wild Pasture, 1849 map) [\'1 13 HG (site near 169 Amesbury) Bob & Shirley Upton p 317 M 14 167 Amesbury Road, (Gilbert) M 15 HG, 2 houses: one on Pevear Hill; other: S of Green's Brook, E side of Amesbury Rd p 318 M 16 180 & 182 Amesbury Rd., Roy (180) & Blouin (182) M 17 178 Amesbury, (D. Everett & Bea Palmer) p 319 M 18 HG (site on Pevear Lane) M 19 HG (near west end of Pevear Lane) M 20 68 Cottage, Nathan & Elizabeth Herrick p 320 M 21 164 Amesbury, Eunice Morgan M 22 HG (site now 129 Amesbury) F. Felch p 321 M 23 Burned 1974 (site near 154 Amesbury) Doria Bragg M 24 Gone now (site near 133 Amesbury) DeBoisbriand N 25 HG (site now 119 Amesbury, Green View Nursery) W. & B. Ellsworth p 322 M 26 144 Amesbury, John & Mildred Sargent P 323 M 27 134 Amesbury, (T.Elliot) & Victoria Young Store Burned 1960s (site opposite 134 Amesbury) p 324 N 28 HG (site of M 29, appears on~1823 map) i"1 29 132 Amesbury, (Sawyer) Glenn & Barbara Greenwood M 30 130 Amesbury, (Grant) Peter & Rebecca Brucato M 31 111 Amesbury, Edith & Priscilla Prescott p 325 M 32 128 Amesbury, Parsonage, David & Angela Lennox M 33 Burned 1960, site now 107 Amesbury, J & M Chase M 34 HG (site near 101 Amesbury) Williams & Babkey M 35 HG (site near,[or same as?l M 36) p 326 M 36 116 Amesbury, (Dillenbeck) Ken & Helen Cohen M 37 HG (site on Hog Pen Lane, near Wend of cemetery) M 38 HG (on Hog Pen Lane) M 39 HG (on Hog Pen Lane) P 327 M 40 Burned 1966 (site now 7 Trundle Bed Lane) (Sawyer) Nat Potts, Barbara & Bill Powers M 41 HG (site now the town park) p 328 M 42 22 Trundle Bed, (Miller) Linda & Skip Buxton NEW HAMPSHIRE DMSION OF HISTORICAL NHDHR Inventory #­ RESOURCES - CONTINUATION FORM NHDHR Area Letter K Town/City Kensington Inventory Form 1-- Area Form County Rockingham Sheet 70 of" b

p 329 M 43 9 Stumpfield, Hubert & Priscilla Schweizer M 44 HG (site between M 43 and M 45) p 330 M 45 15 Stumpfield, Michael & Denise LaRoche M 46 HG (site east of M 48) M 47 Razed 1960s (site west of M 4H) N 48 42 Stumpfi eld, (Dr. Goodn. I.e) Joanne &. Aubrey Ha i nes l"l 49 HG (site opposite M 501 p 332 M 50 45 Stumpfie.ld, (Charles Hod.e:es) Warren N 51 HG (site part of M 50 place) M 52 HG (site on Stumpfield, between M 50 & N 54) N 53 HG (site on Stumpfield, between M 50 & M 541 M 54 HG (site opposite 72 Stumpfield) M 55 HG (site is 58 Stumpfield) LeBlanc M 56 HG (site now 72 Stumpfield) Robert & Lee Smart M 57 HG (on Dearborn Rd, east side) l"l 58 HG (N.W cor. Dearborn & Stumpfield) M 59 78 Stumpfield, Harry & Betty Bodwell p 334 M 60 HG M 61 HG M 62 HG (Probably same site as M 63) M 63 Burned 1946 (site: 83 Stumpfield) Geo.& Nancy Cole M 64 95 Stumpfield, Hal & Elaine Bodwell p 335 M 65 HG M 66 105 Stumpfield, (Hartl L Clifford & S Zalenski M 67 102 Stumpfield, (O'Brien) Doug & Sandy Mitchell M 68 108 Stumpfield, (Plummer) John & Paula Carey M 69 HG (site north of M 70) "" p 336 M 70 109 Stumpfield, house is standing, Sut unoccupied for many years. NEW HAMPSHIRE DIVISION OF HISTORICAL NHDHR Inventory # RESOURCES - CONTINUATION FORM NHDHR Area Letter K Town/City Kensington Inventory Form ---.X.­ Area Form County Rockingham Sheet 7/ of 'teo

NORTH ROAD HOMES

p 336 N 1 HG P 337 N 2 ITG N :3 80 Wild Pasture, (Keatley) Jeffrey & Mary Blum N 4 HG N 5 HG p 338 N 6 194 Drinkwater, Frances Buxton N 7 Burned, (site corner of Os~ood & Drinkwater) N 8 HG (site between 190 & 194 Drinkwater) N 9 Moved just over the line to H.Falls, Kasprzak N 10 Burned 1964 (site of 201 Drinkwater) Gaw p 339 N 11 190 Drinkwater, Bill & Ginny Wadleigh N 12 188 Drinkwater, (Richard> & Jean Dearborn N 13 HG (near site of 180 Drinkwater, or perhaps across the road) p 340 N 14 178 Drinkwater, Paul & Mary Avery N 15 HG (site probably near 173 Drinkwater) W. Buxton N 16 HG (perhaps near SW corner North & Drinkwater) N 17 HG (site 152 Drinkwater) Harlow Carpenter p 341 N 18 159 Drinkwater, (Welch) Mary Bargate p 342 N 19 146 Drinkwater, Richard & Jan Parker N 20 HG p 343 N 21 151 Drinkwater, (Dickenson) Raymond George N 22 HG (site between 146 & 132 Drinkwater) p 344 N 23 132 Drinkwater, Joan & John Skewes N 24 126 Drinkwater, (Wardwell, Doherty) Bouwens & Young N 25 119 Drinkwater, (Colby) PEA faculty housing N 26 HG (site just N of 119 Drinkwater) N 27 115 Drinkwater, Emmons Sanborn N 28 116 Drinkwater, Arthur & Marion Chapman p 345 N 29 Burned 1946 (site now Exeter-Hampton Electric) N 30 Burned 1970 (site of 108 Drinkwater) (Dignard) N 31 HG N 32 HG N 33 Burned 1969 (site near 104 Drinkwater) Lufkin N 34 HG (site W.side Drinkwater, at Exeter line) p 346 N 35 44 North, Richard & Esther Prescott N 36 42 North, (Crowell) ~ N 37 HG (site near 35 North) David Freeman N 38 HG N 39 32 North, (James) & Janet·McQuarrie P 348 N 40 HG N 41 HG (site W side of Round Hill Rd) N 42 HG (site now 23 North) Melvin & June Armstrong N 43 HG N 44 13 North, Richard & Muriel Welch N 45 HG p 349 N 46 Razed 1956 (site North Rd, west of Round Hill Rd) N 47 8 North, (Philbrick, Levin) Kitty & Warren Clark N 48 2 North, (Tom Powers) Dan & Linda Dailey N 49 HG (site near 1 North Rd) Larsen N 50 74 Amesbury, (Philbrick) Gerald & Deb Girard p 350 N 51 HG (site near 65 Amesbury) N 52 Razed, 1950s (site 65 Amesbury) Helen Bernier N 53 3 Moulton Ridge, Seavie Rideout, Edwin Page P 351 N 54 HG (site west of N 53) N 55 HG (site just east of N 56, 1849 map) :\EVV HAMPSHIRE DIVISION OF HISTORICAL NHDHR Inventory # RESOURCES - CONTINUATION FORM NHDHR Area Letter K Town/City Kensington Inventory Form .--X.­ Area Form COlll1ty Rockingham Sheet 72. of "1~

p 351 N 56 14 Moulton Ridge, Vera Eastman N 57 19 1'Ioul ton Rid~e. David l.ambert N 58 HG (site is cellar hole E of 25 Moulton Ridge) p 352 N 59 28 NOlll ton Ridge, (Lambert) Grf'f;g & Lynne Holmes N 60 29 Moulton Ridge, (Martha) & Bill ThorndH:e N 61 -HO N 62 HO p 353 N 63 HG N 64 HG N 65 HG N 66 HG N 67 53 Moulton Ridge, (Matthews) Steve & Christie Jones N 68 HG N 69 63 Noulton Ridge, (Birch) Steve & Ann Smith N 70 66 Maul ton Ridge, (Underhill) Carl Rezendes p 354 N 71 8 Hilliard, (Finnegan) Frank & Judy Pease P 355 N 72 6 Hilliard, (Young) Buxton N 73 20 Shaw's Hill, (Blodgett, Coussoule) N 74 19 Shaw's Hill, (Blodgett) Mary Plumb N 75 HG (site near 18 Shaw's Hill) David & Clair Cushman P 356 N 76 15 Shaw's Hill, (Shaw) Seth & Margaret Perry N 77 16 Shaw's Hill, (Shaw) Audrey Thompson/Jayne Inglis N 78 14 Shaw's Hill, Doris & Gordon Swift N 79 12 Shaw's Hill, Paul Shaw N 80 18 Hobbs, (Shaw) Nora & John Tuthill N 81 HG (site S side of Hobbs, W of N 80) P 358 N 82 HG (site opposite 5 Hobbs Rd) N 83 5 Hobbs, "Sunny Knoll", Lynne ~Ionroe N 84 3 Hobbs, (Shute) (Joyce) & Frank Bronk N 85 242 N Haverhill, Cole: (Mary) & Roy, Joanne & Harley p 359 N 86 22 Kimball, (Marion P Kimball) N 87 21 Kimball, Marian and Paul Kimball p 361 N 88 269 N Haverhill, (York, Kuegel, Schadler) N 89 271 N Haverhill (York, Webster) Springer N 90 HG (site near 262 N. Haverhill) John & Jesse York N 91 Burned 1975 (site near 270 N Haverhill) Duffy N 92 285 N Haverhill, Dick & Betty Brinckerhoff p 362 N 93 9 Osgood, (Yardley) Barbara Boudreau N 94 HG (site in church parking lot?) N 95 Burned 1980s (site S of 83· Amesbury) N 96 96 Amesbury, Arthur & Goldie Burnap N 97 79 Amesbury, (Greenwood) ~ark Kimball p 363 N 98 88 Amesbury, (Carmody) Brown N 99 71 Amesbury, (Painting) Mike Gilmore NI00 11 Brewer Rd, Carl & Becie Brewer p 364 NI0l 38 Amesbury, (Jacobs, Smith, Jones) Bullock NI02 34 Amesbury, Arthur Russell p 365 NI03 28 Amesbury, (Welch) Dou~ & Naomi Armstrong NI04 8 Amesbury, (Poirier) Rafe & Linda Blood Nl05 209 N Haverhill, (Miller) Peter Poole NI06 211 N Haverhill, (Ashton) Gregg & Carlene Durell NI07 215 N Haverhill, Morris & Mary Williams NI0a Gone in 1950s (site now 225 N. Haverhill) J.Johnson Nl09 208 N Haverhill, (Johnson) Blanche Plouffe p 366 NII0 205 N Haverhill, Betty & Eric Young Errors will surely be found. Please report them at the library. NEW HAMPSHIRE DIVISION OF HISTORICAL I NHDHR Inventory #­ RESOURCES - CONTINUATION FORM NHDHR Area Letter K Inventory Form ~ Area Form Town/City Kensington County Rockingham Views of agricultural properties and neighborhoods Sheet 73 of 9(0

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