Belmont Master Plan

Conservation & Preservation

Preliminary Report: Historical & Archaeological Inventory

 

7/08/01 L M Frawley (revised 9/17/01)

 

 

HISTORICAL RESOURCES & REFERENCES

 

Sources & acknowledgments: Wallace P. Rhodes, Belmont Historical Society; “Reminiscences of a New Hampshire Town” compiled for the Belmont Centennial 1969, Rhodes; “The Durham-Haverhill Province Road”

Robert G. Fillion; “Belmont Village Millennium Historic Walking Tour”, Belmont Historical Society ; websites State of New Hampshire, Division of Historical Resources et al.   Belmont Cemetery Trustees 1999 list & map

 

EARLIER REPORTS & INVENTORIES

 

Belmont Conservation Commission meeting 3/26/99 discussed in conjunction with data for the Lakes Region Planning Commission master list “Lakes Region Natural, Cultural and Historic Inventory” – recommended by Sue Roberts

(Requested Land Use office locate/request)

 

The town has one state historical marker (Lochmere Archaeological District), one building included in the National Historic Register of Historic Places (Belmont Public Library) as well as one site (Lochmere Archaeological District). A state historical marker in Gilmanton identifies Old Province Road which continues through current day Belmont.

 

SITES:  WORKING LIST FOR DISCUSSION & PRIORITIZING

 

Badger House & Estate*

 

Bandstand*

 

Belmont Mill*

 

Belmont Village Millennium Trail (nationally designated in 2000 by the White House Millennium Council)

 

Canal*

 

Cemeteries (Several are listed in the New Hampshire Old Graveyard Association www.nhsog.org, a genealogical resource; annual town reports provide further detail)

 

Corner Meeting House (Purchased by the Town in 2000 the building was formerly the Lakes Christian Center.)

 

 

Dam*

 

Farrarville Mill Sites

 

Fellows Houses (Joseph, Joseph Jr. And Thomas)*

 

Fuller House*

 

Gale School*

 

Gale Street Mill Houses *

 

Hose House*

 

Indian Mound near Pout Pond

 

Indian Sites (Lochmere aka Drake site and possibly behind Belknap Mall)

 

Library*  (Added to the National Register of Historic Places 9/12/85 as the Belmont Public Library)

 

Lochmere Archaeological Area aka Drake site (A 13.4 acre reservation overseen by the New Hampshire Division of Resources and Economic Development.  The site features the only state historical marker in Belmont, noting that the District was listed on the National Register in 1982.)   See attachment

 

Lochmere Mill Site 

 

Mill Houses*

 

Mill Pond Historic Site*

 

Old Province Road (One of the earliest New Hampshire highways, authorized in 1765 as a supply route from the tidewater port of Durham to the colony’s northern Coos settlements. A state historical marker designates the road’s importance in Gilmanton, about four miles south of the 107/NH 140 junction.)

 

Province Road Meeting House (Built in 1792  as the first house for religious worship in the Lakes Region, currently owned by the Belmont Historical Society)

 

* See dates, detail & location “Belmont Village Millennium Historic Walking Tour”

St. Joseph Church Historic Site*

 

Shaker Road

 

South Road School*

 

Town Hall*

 

Tuttles Brook Stone Bridge

 

Veterans Monument*

 

Village Blacksmith Shop*

 

 

* See dates, detail & location “Belmont Village Millennium Historic Walking Tour”

 

RECOMMENDATIONS

 

The Conservation & Preservation subcommittee, at its October 29, 2001 meeting finalized discussion of several new goals and objectives pertaining to conservation of  historic buildings, sites, views and heritage.

 

They include:

New Goal ‘02  * Identify and consider ordinance or other mechanisms for preserving key scenic community vistas, views and viewsheds

Objective: Determine priority sites and areas visible from public roads that convey and showcase Belmont’s agricultural and rural heritages, beauty and character

 

New Goal ‘02* Establish administrative goal to proactively research, monitor and apply for established, available funding opportunities (state, federal and foundation sources)

Objective: Identify Community Development Finance Authority (CDFA) projects offering preservation/community facility support opportunities, while simultaneously benefiting business through state tax investment credits; or viable prospects for the Land and Community Heritage Investment Program, among others

Objective: Train staff in research, grant review, writing as necessary

 

New Goal ’02  Identify Belmont historic buildings and sites

Objective: Inventory and determine eligibility for appropriate state and federal registers and/or programs as key community landmarks of special significance, with the Belmont Historical Society and other interested citizens

 

New Goal ’02  Evaluate and prioritize all municipally-owned historic or landmark buildings and sites for conservation/preservation/multiple reuse as community facilities

Objective: Discuss defining the Village District specifically as an historic district or similarly preserved area, complemented with village green space and other aesthetic considerations

Objective: Promote Town Forest awareness and usage

 

 

 

 

Attachments & further resources:

Map, sites Belmont Village Millennium Historic Walking Tour

New Hampshire Historical Markers: Lochmere Archaeological District, Old Province Road

Online Historic Preservation Information sites list

Revised 10/31/01 for Community Master Plan Presentation