?Hearse House,? Former Railroad Depot, Chichester Store Among New Register Of Historic Places Listings

CONCORD, NH ? The New Hampshire Division of Historical Resources has announced the State Historical Resources Council has added six properties to the New Hampshire State Register of Historic Places. The buildings illustrate a wide array of purposes vital to the daily lives of nineteenth-century New Hampshirites.

Haines General Store and Post Office is a multi-phase attached structure with Greek Revival features that currently includes a dwelling, built circa 1847, attached to a store and a former carriage shed that date to the third quarter of the nineteenth century. The largest, longest-operating, and only surviving store in North Chichester Village, it was once a ?one-stop shop? for locals and travelers, combining a general store with post office services, a hotel, and tavern; today, its store is known for its apple cider donuts.

Built from lumber donated by residents and funded in part by community dinners and lawn parties, South Effingham Union Church has Queen Anne-style details including board and batten siding as well as rows of shingles made in six different styles. Its double five-paneled front door in a projecting vestibule is topped by a partially integrated three-story bell tower that also integrates shingles installed in patterns. Known for its community events and bake sale fundraisers, it has remained a seasonal church from the time it was dedicated on October 14, 1891.

The Raymond Boston & Maine Railroad Depot was built in 1893 and incorporates common Italianate-style design trends found in rail passenger depots at that time. Its passenger platforms are protected by an extended hipped roof supported by square posts with 45-degree sawn braces, giving the building an exaggerated horizontal effect. The depot still has many of its original interior features, including ticket windows and intact semaphore signaling equipment. Listed to the National Register of Historic Places in 1979, it is now a museum.

Originally built circa 1866 as a counting room for Cocheco Woolen Manufacturing company, the single-story East Rochester Public Library was moved in the mid-1880s and refitted to become a neighborhood library. The company donated free use of the building, plus fuel for heating, so long as it was used for library purposes. While the building initially featured Italianate-style details, it was updated in the early 1920s with Colonial Revival features, including the addition of a gable roof over the entrance that is supported by slender paired columns.

Before the advent of funeral homes, when wakes were held at the home of the deceased, a horse-drawn hearse would transport the body to the cemetery for burial. Salisbury?s Hearse House Museum was built in 1885 to store the town?s hearse that was used for this purpose. In 1912, an addition for the town?s snow roller ? equipment used to compact and pack snow on roads ? was added. The town donated the building to the Salisbury Historical Society in 1986 and it was converted into a history museum in 1990.

The Pillsbury-Dexter House is located on what was formerly a 200-acre farm in Whitefield. Its original 1850s Greek Revival cape was moved back from what is now Route 3 to become the ell of a larger, two-and-a-half story house built in 1878 with Italianate-style details. At that time, the cape became the home?s kitchen that was closed in the winter. While the property?s barns were demolished sometime after 1940, the open fields that once were part of the farm have been placed in a conservation easement.

Anyone wishing to nominate a property to the New Hampshire State Register of Historic Places must research the history of the nominated property and document it on an individual inventory form from the New Hampshire Division of Historical Resources. Having a property listed in the Register does not impose restrictions on property owners. For more information, visit nhdhr.dncr.nh.gov.

New Hampshire's Division of Historical Resources, the State Historic Preservation Office, was established in 1974 and is part of the NH Department of Natural and Cultural Resources. NHDHR?s mission is to preserve and celebrate New Hampshire?s irreplaceable historic resources through programs and services that provide education, stewardship, and protection.

For more information, visit us online at nhdhr.dncr.nh.gov or by calling 603-271-3483.

Submitted by the New Hampshire Division of Historical Resources