As one of the original 13 colonies and the first state to have its own constitution, New Hampshire is rich in history.
Plus, it’s a pretty awesome place to live, so it’s no wonder the New Hampshire Historical Society is filled with fun, interesting and educational artifacts spanning hundreds of years.
If you grew up in the Granite State, odds are you took a school field trip to the state historical society, but even if you’ve been there before, there is still so much you can learn from stopping in to the downtown Concord museum and library.
If you’d like to wander around, you can do so, Tuesday through Saturday, from 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. – you just have to pay the admission price of $7 for adults (free for members and children 18 and under).
But for the same cost, on the second Saturday (at 2 and 3 p.m.) and third Friday (noon) of each month, you can take a one-hour guided tour of the society and learn a lot more than what you read on the identification tags.
Last Friday’s tour was the last of 2017, and we were rewarded with a personal tour of the place by volunteer guide Tom Fisk. It wasn’t planned that way, but no one else showed up for the lunch time education lesson.
Fisk is a wealth of knowledge – we have no idea how he remembers all those dates. He’s a retired teacher, who spent 35 years molding young musicians in the Merrimack Valley School District, and is really into spreading his love of New Hampshire history. He began the tour with what he calls the show piece, the building itself.
He’ll tell you all about the construction of the granite and marble “temple of New Hampshire history,” and how since 1823, it has been in the business of preserving and protecting artifacts important to our state.
It’s the fifth oldest historical society in the country, and contains some really old stuff.
It’s home to the original State House eagle, a Revolutionary War flag reproduction belonging to the Second New Hampshire Regiment and a mystery stone, that we quickly learned is quite the topic of conversation during tours.
In addition to his wealth of knowledge, Fisk has a ton of stories – like why the town of Kingswood was named, the other Hannah to Hannah Dustin and the creation of Old Home Day.
As you go through the Discovering New Hampshire exhibit, you’ll learn and see about all sorts of great things from New Hampshire’s past. A lot of the important stuff and some of the neat and maybe even quirky anecdotes that make New Hampshire so unique.
Without giving away too much info, if you take the tour with Fisk, who only does the Friday tours, you’ll definitely hear about Franklin Pierce, New Hampshire’s role in the battle of Gettysburg, the miles and miles of stone walls and much more.
If you’re a history buff or someone who just enjoys learning, we highly recommend taking one of these tours.
And the great thing is that after or before the tour, you can wander around and take in all the sights – if you pay the admission fee.
The tours can accommodate 12 to 15 people, and you don’t need to sign up ahead of time. Group tours are also available at just about any time.
The next tours are Jan. 13 and Jan. 19.
For more information, visit nhhistory.org.
