Author: Laconia Historical

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Oct. 21 LACONIA —The Belknap County Farm will be the subject of a joint meeting of the Laconia Historical and Museum Society and the Thompson Ames Historical Society of Gilford, at 6:30 p.m., Monday Oct. 21, in the Lower Level Rotary Hall at the Laconia Public Library. The program will expand on the Upper Gallery County Farm Exhibit, which continues into December. Since before the Civil War, the land comprising today’s County Facility, Blueberry Lane, O’Shea Industrial Park, and adjacent neighborhoods, made up almost 500 acres of the Belknap County Farm. “The stories of what grew to be a model facility endure,” says Pat Tierney, executive director of the Laconia society. “Before most of the land was sold in 1962, local communities looked to the Farm and Alms House for agricultural excellence, care for the needy, labor for food and housing, a prison for criminals, and a cemetery for those who never left.” Tierney and other exhibit contributors will present many of the tales and timelines that emerged over the years. The program is free and open to the public. For further information call 527-1278 or go to www.laconiahistory.com.

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LACONIA — “Civil War Reunions in Weirs Beach,” an illustrated talk by C. Ian Stevenson, will be presented by the Laconia Historical and Museum Society at the Laconia Public Library, Monday, Sept. 16, at 6:30 p.m.

Stevenson, who holds a Ph.D. from Boston University in American and New England Studies, recently completed his dissertation, “This Summer-Home of the Survivors: The Civil War Vacation in Architecture and Landscape, 1878-1918.”

Stevenson’s talk will focus on the NHVA waterfront site at the Weirs, discussing the ways that Civil War veterans used architecture and landscape to heal wartime trauma and to preserve their legacy.

Drawing from his dissertation, Stevenson will explore group vacation cottages and campgrounds constructed by Civil War veterans as places to merge memory and leisure among their comrades and families.

Founded in 1875, the New Hampshire Veterans Association held annual reunions or “encampments” every August at Weirs Beach from 1878 onward. 

Starting in 1880, numerous permanent structures were built on the nearly eight-acre Campground site, including the Headquarters Building (1885) located at the corner of New Hampshire Avenue. 

In 1980, the NHVA district was listed in the National Register of Historic Places.

The program, at Rotary Hall on the Lower Level of the library, is free and open to the public. 

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Recognizing “200 Years of Mount Lebanon Lodge No. 32,” the Laconia Historical and Museum Society and Mount Lebanon Lodge will explore the history of this local lodge of Free and Accepted Masons, Monday, June 17, at 6:30 p.m. 

The event, to be held at Mason Hall, 63 Court St., next to Walgreens Pharmacy, is free, open to the public and refreshments will be served. 

Chartered in 1819, the lodge has provided two centuries of service to the community and reflects 300 years of Freemasonry and, in fact, 400 years of involvement since colonization of the land that is now called New Hampshire. 

Parking is available across the street at the Court House or behind the Walgreens Drive Thru, off Rowe Court, for lower level access to the Hall. 

For further information call 527-1278, email lhmslpl@metrocast.org 

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Tour of Veterans Campground set for May 18

LACONIA — Once a year, the New Hampshire Veterans’ Association Campground in Weirs Beach is opened for a tour by the public.

This year’s tour will be held on Saturday, May 18. It will begin at the Veterans’ Association Headquarters (pictured) on Lakeside Avenue at 1 p.m., rain or shine.

The surviving buildings of this unique facility mark close to 140 years of history at this resort community.

As historical researcher Sally E. Svenson wrote in Historical New Hampshire, some years ago, “Distinctive as was the reunion culture at the Weirs, the setting for the annual event was even more singular.

“While regimental and G.A.R. reunions elsewhere were held in cities or on temporary campgrounds loaned by state governments or local railroads, in New Hampshire the statewide veterans’ association oversaw the development of a fixed reunion facility which eventually would house a remarkable cluster of buildings without a parallel elsewhere in the country.”

Veterans Association Historian Fred Merrill will again lead the tour.

This annual event is being held in partnership with the Laconia Historical and Museum Society.

The tour is free and open to the public.

For further information, contact Fred Merrill at The NH Veterans’ Association at nhvaorg@gmail.com or visit http://www.thenhva.org/

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LRPA’s first 20 years to be chronicled, April 15 

LACONIA — In recognition of its 20 years of operation, Lakes Region Public Access TV will be the subject of the next Laconia Historical and Museum Society program, April 15, at 6:30 p.m. at the Laconia Public Library. The station went on the air, March 18, 1999, under the direction of Peter Pijoan and has continued, through many changes in technology and with subsequent station managers as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, under the governance of a board of directors. Current Station Manager Grace McNamara will moderate a panel of current and former station personnel in tracing the 20-year history of LRPA, to include a look at the sweeping changes in technology since those first days of VHS recording, along with the landmark local productions that the station has featured. Among those productions, “Today in Focus,” with Jen Andersen and Charlie St. Clair, and “Now and Then” with Esther Peters are only two examples of LRPA’s unique programing. Laconia Historical and Museum Society has also been one of the organizations producing programs for LRPA since the very beginning. The program, at Rotary Hall on the Lower Level of the library, is free and open to the public and refreshments will be served. For further information, (603) 527-1278, lhmslpl@metrocast.net, visit Facebook or www.laconiahistory.com

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