June 23, 2001: A strong economy and a shortage of apartments have pushed up the median cost of rent and utilities for a two-bedroom apartment in Concord by 23 percent over the last four years, the Monitor reports. What used to cost $710 a month now costs $873, according to the state Housing Finance Authority.
June 23, 2000: James Hall is convicted of second-degree murder for strangling his 77-year-old mother in their Concord apartment.
June 23, 1823: The New Hampshire Historical Society, formed earlier in the year in Portsmouth, moves to Concord. It will occupy a room in the State House for three years before moving to North Main Street near Ferry Street.
June 23, 1785: A committee is appointed to lay out Main Street in Concord. A final report won’t be drafted until 1798.
June 23, 1815: A freight boat journeys from Boston to Concord for the first time.
June 24, 2000: New Hampshire Bituminous, the Merrimack Valley Little League champion, defeats the Eagles from Concord American Little League, 5-1. The result marks the first time in recent history that the Hilliker Cup will be headed to Penacook.
June 24, 1993: Residents who use Concord’s buses, pools and libraries pack a public hearing to testify against proposed budget cuts. “I’m a little bit disturbed that the quality of life seems to be attacked every time we talk about budget cuts,” says Richard Croak.
June 25, 1835: A Mormon remembered only as “Mr. Green” in a city history comes to Concord looking for converts. He finds none despite two days of lectures.
June 26, 2003: Matt Bonner, who led the Concord High basketball team to three straight state championships before evolving into a star at the University of Florida, realizes a lifelong dream when he’s selected in the NBA Draft. Initially drafted by the Chicago Bulls in the second round, he’s soon traded to the Toronto Raptors.
June 26, 1855: The Legislature incorporates St. Paul’s School. The first student body: three boys from Boston.
June 26, 1996: Concord gadfly and word-spinner David Wells dies.
June 27, 1835: The Concord Railroad Corp. obtains a charter for a railroad between Nashua and Concord. The Boston and Maine Railroad also obtains a charter on this date. The Concord corporation will be delayed by the Panic of 1837 and other factors, and the first train will not pull into Concord until September 1842. The B&M will not open its first line in the state until 1849.
June 27, 1860: A large Democratic crowd marches to the Eagle Hotel, lights bonfires and shoots off fireworks to celebrate news that, at Baltimore, their party has nominated U.S. Sen. Stephen A. Douglas for president.
June 28, 1860: Responding to the Democratic celebrations of the previous day, Wide Awake Clubs, wearing black slickers, and Railsplitters, carrying axes, parade through downtown Concord by torch-light in support of Abraham Lincoln. The Concord and Fisherville cornet bands lead the procession.
June 28, 1833: During his eastern tour, President Andrew Jackson stays at the Eagle Coffee House across from the State House in Concord. Since no bed in the hotel is deemed adequate for a president, Mrs. John Estabrook has lent the house her large mahogany model. Slightly ill, Jackson passes up the renowned hotel cuisine, subsisting on bread and milk.
June 28, 1853: James O. Lyford is born. He will become a journalist and politician and write histories of Concord and Canterbury.
June 28, 1861: The Legislature authorizes $1 million in 6 percent bonds to pay the state’s first Civil War expenses. The vote is 169-94. Rep. John L. Tallant of Concord, a Democrat, crosses over to vote with the Republican majority, making the city’s delegation unanimous in support of the bill.
June 29, 2000: Concord’s Sunnycrest Farms is up for sale, the Monitor reports. A fund-raising effort to save the apple orchard from development will soon get under way.
June 29, 1873: The North Church burns. It will be rebuilt on the same spot – North Main and Chapel streets – and will open for worship less than three years after the fire.
June 29, 1988: The Concord Planning Board approves construction of the Steeplegate Mall on Loudon Road. Downtown merchants, wary of Manchester’s experience, have the jitters.
June 29, 1833: Vice President Martin Van Buren, in Concord with the presidential party, dines with Franklin Pierce and others at the home of Zebina Lincoln, part owner of a dry goods establishment and soon to be proprietor of the Eagle Coffee House.
June 30, 2001: A year-long effort to protect Concord’s Sunnycrest Farm from development has succeeded, the Monitor reports. Dozens of donors came up with about $50,000 in the past two weeks to meet the deadline for raising the $1.2 million purchase amount.
June 30, 1990: Hundreds – and over ensuing days thousands – of people come to pay their respects at the Moving Wall during its stop at the New Hampshire Technical Institute in Concord. The wall is a portable replica of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C.
