A new exhibition at the New Hampshire Historical Society, “New Hampshire Then & Now,” features 40 pairs of photographs of places, people and events that reflect the character and culture of New Hampshire, past and present. Based on the book of the same title by photographer, author and publisher Peter E. Randall, the exhibition is a visual overview of New Hampshire and of changes that have taken place in the state from the late 19th century to today. The exhibition also includes a variety of objects from the society’s museum collection that relate to the subjects featured in the photographs.
Randall started this project by searching through the photograph collections of the New Hampshire Historical Society and those of other organizations, choosing images that were most interesting to him. He then set out to find the modern sites.
The exhibition, like the book, uses the powerful medium of photography to help visitors explore changes that have occurred in New Hampshire over the past century. For example, until 1883, a huge boulder was lodged between the narrow walls of the Flume in Franconia Notch, when it was washed away by a flood in a heavy storm. A circa-1880 view of the Flume with the boulder is paired with a photo of how the Flume looks today.
Other “then and now” images include the town common in Hampton Falls circa 1905 and in 2003; Cornish town meetings in 1947 and 2004; New Castle’s Hotel Wentworth in 1880 and the Wentworth by the Sea Hotel in 2005; Haverhill Corner in the 1890s and in 2004; Post Office Square in North Sutton around 1900 and in 2003; the view from Mill No. 2 in Keene in 1927 and in 2005; and tourists looking at the Old Man of the Mountain in 1978 contrasts with today’s faceless Cannon Mountain.
“New Hampshire Then & Now” is on view at the historical society, 30 Park St., through June 2015. The New Hampshire Historical Society is open Tuesday through Saturday, 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m.
