July 23, 1964: New Hampshire Attorney General William Maynard writes to the secretary of state assuring him that residents serving overseas in the Peace Corps should not be prohibited from voting in New Hampshire by absentee ballot.
July 23, 1990: The Washington papers report that President Bush has narrowed to five the names he is considering for a vacancy on the U.S. Supreme Court: Federal appellate Judges David Souter, Edith Jones, Lawrence Silberman and Clarence Thomas and Solicitor General Kenneth Starr. The suspense is short-lived. After a meeting at the White House, Bush announces his choice: David Hackett Souter of Weare, N.H. “I believe history will prove this to be one of the greatest nominations of all time,” says Sen. Warren Rudman, Souter’s longtime colleague and friend.
July 24, 2001: The Census Bureau reports that the state’s prison population grew by 74 percent in the 1990s.
July 25, 2002: It’s been 20 years since a significant building was torn down on Main Street, the Monitor reports. This week, the Sears block takes its place in history alongside such historic demolitions as the Centennial Block in front of Durgin Lane, the retail building that once stood in Eagle Square and the Phenix Hotel.
July 25, 2001: The Lakes Region Conservation Land Trust announces plans to buy Castle in the Clouds and keep the attached 5,000 acres and 85 miles of trails open to the public. To close the deal for the Moultonboro property, the trust must raise nearly $6 million.
July 25, 1874: Thirteen months after a fire destroyed the church on the same site, the cornerstone is laid for the North Congregational Church at North Main and Chapel streets. It will be ready for worship in March 1876.
July 26, 2003: Episcopalians here and around the world are preparing for next month’s national convention by trying to gauge the likelihood that the Rev. Canon Gene Robinson, of Weare, will prevail in his bid to become New Hampshire’s next bishop, the Monitor reports. While many are opposed to Robinson’s open relationship with another man, he has earned a national reputation as a gifted and holy clergyman. It is also almost unheard of for the national church to reject a local diocese’s choice for bishop.
July 26, 1970: The Associated Press reports that Mel Bolden’s campaign for the Executive Council makes him “the first Negro to seek the seat.”
July 26, 2000: About 25 people show up at Franklin City Hall to watch the night’s episode of Survivor. Unfortunately for her fans, local hero Jenna Lewis is voted off the island.
July 26, 1965: Trains carrying 71-foot laminated wooden arches arrive in Concord. Shipped from Oregon, they will become rafters for the new Everett Arena.
July 27, 1851: New Hampshireman Benjamin Brown French visits a Maryland Plantation where the proprietor has 50 slaves. “All appear happy and contented,” French writes in his diary. “What fanatic shall have the impudence to say that those 50 negroes are not, by far, better off than if they were free!” Events will change his views, and he will become a Lincoln Republican.
July 28, 2003: A group of residents who have spent the last decade fighting a planned connector road between Concord’s Pleasant and Clinton streets file a lawsuit in Merrimack County Superior Court in an effort to stop the project for good. The lawsuit asks the court to revoke a wetlands permit that gives the city permission to build the Langley Parkway through about 3.5 acres of wetlands near White Farm.
July 28, 2002: John Frisbee, executive director of the New Hampshire Historical Society, dies at the age of 58. Frisbee took the helm at the historical society in 1987, and it was under his leadership, colleagues said, that the now 179-year-old organization arrived in the modern age. Frisbee led a more than $6 million capital campaign that paid for renovations to the Tuck Library in Concord as well as the purchase, design and construction of the museum, which opened in 1995.
July 28, 2000: A law requiring stricter penalties for young drivers who commit moving violations takes effect. From now on, motorists between the ages of 16 and 20 who have been on the road for less than two years will lose their license for 20 days upon conviction of any traffic violation. The suspension will last 45 days for a second offense and 90 for a third.
July 29, 2001: The New York Post runs a first-person essay by Concord’s Adam Young about the experience of trying to make the New York Giants’ roster. “I think I have a different perspective than a lot of guys,” Young writes. “You appreciate the things that come to you after having to battle your way through the ranks.”
July 29, 1964: Gov. John King establishes a traffic safety committee to “map a blueprint for a permanent continuing attack on the rising death and injury toll on New Hampshire highways.” By mid-August, 88 people will have died in New Hampshire traffic accidents that year.
July 29, 1914: On Star Island, the most prosperous of the Isles of Shoals, a 40-foot granite obelisk is dedicated to Rev. John Tucke, whose 18th century ministry on the island lasted 40 years.
