Category: Historic Houses of Bennington, New Hampshire

Factory Village

April 17th, 2023

Judging from the smoke trails, one can see three active factories, viewed from the bridge over the river in the center of town. Goodell Cutlery is on the right side, just downstream of the Monadnock Dam.

Before the Town of Bennington existed, it was part of the Town of Hancock. Hancock had some running water to power some small factories, but nothing like the huge store of potential energy along the Contoocook River in Bennington. Bennington was originally planned as a site for mills.

The saw mills and flour mills of the late 1700s soon gave way to fulling mills [to turn woolen fibers into felt for hats], paper mills, and knife factories in the 1820s. Because of this, Bennington was once called ‘Hancock’s Factory Village.’ On the 1859 map, not made in any great detail, a Powder Mill [gunpowder], a Paper Mill, and a Knife Factory are shown. In the 1887 map, the Goodell Cutlery Company competed with the C.J. Kimball & Son Cutlery and Tool Company. Goodell Cutlery later moved to Antrim and most people forget that they started in Bennington. Also shown were the Monadnock Paper Mill and the W.C. & F.C. Starrett lumber mill. While the factories began by using the water as their sole source of power, the smoke in the postcard picture indicates that by the late 1800s, the machinery of the mills was powered by combustion, most likely coal.

The mills attracted workers, some of whom moved from neighboring towns, some were immigrants new to this country. Workers required housing. The three white-painted Cape-Style houses on Main Street were built by Joseph Putnam around 1800, perhaps to attract workers for his mills. On the strip of land across from the Paper Mill, between the River and the road, there used to be workers’ housing in the 1880s, since replaced by the garages of the Mill. Going up Starrett Road, one sees several identical houses on the right. When you see a row of such dwellings in a mill town, you know they were built for workers and rented to them by the factory owners.

Today, the only mill that is still operating is the Monadnock Paper Mill which has been using water power to make its products since 1819.

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The Putnam House

February 16th, 2023

Putnam house, after some additions, c. 1930s

The house today, after being ‘restored’ to its origins as a Cape-style building.

Built in 1783, this is said to be the oldest house in Bennington, NH. It was constructed by Joseph Putnam, the first settler of European descent. Putnam, from Wilton, NH, had purchased the land along the river with the dream of building a grist [flour] mill and a saw mill powered by the falling water. After building the mills, he milled boards to construct his house. Within the year, his wife and children joined him there.

The style of the house is a Cape Cod, a common building of the early days. It features a full main floor and a half-story above. Originally, it would have had a center chimney. The size of the house made it relatively easy for one man to build. On the ground floor, there would have been a kitchen/great room and a bedroom. The upper floor, accessed by a ladder, would have been an unfinished loft for food storage and the sleeping space for children. In time, stairs would be added and the loft would be finished into rooms.

In an upstairs closet of the Putnam House, the floor includes a board made from a “King’s Pine,” a tree of great height and girth that had been marked as property of the King of England for the purpose of being made into masts for the British Navy. Early settlers, before and after the Revolution, cheerfully cut down these trees (illegally), to use for building their houses and to tweek the nose of the British. One might presume that this board is all that remains of wide boards once seen throughout the house.

Originally, the house stood on Main Street, where the Pierce Elementary School stands. The building has been moved twice and is now located at 12 School Street, between the Bennington Garage and the Bennington Fire Department. In the late 1990s, it housed a series of restaurants, most notably David’s and The Red Maples. The interior of the building has been changed many times. The house is again a private residence and is not accessible to tourists.

This is the blog of the Bennington Historical Society in Bennington, NH.

Category: Historic Houses of Bennington, New Hampshire

Factory Village

The Putnam House