Work in Progress
Grasmere located in the Eastern part of Goffstown
Original Goffstown Centre
It is important to note when looking through history books and Goffstown Centre
is mentioned depending on the time frame they are more than likely referencing
the Grasmere area. Goffstown Centre became Grasmere around 1895.
Just where is Grasmere
This could be debated by some but it looks like in the past Grasmere started at
Bartletts Corner (Mast Road & Daniel Plummer Road)
Goffstown's first meeting house was built on the location of the Grasmere Town
Hall in 1769
Grasmere Town Hall / Grange Hall / School
House #9
Goffstown's first meeting house built 1769 was built on the land the
current Grasmere Town Hall is on. The building was used for a
meeting house and town house
until 1841 when the town purchased the interest of the pew holders and used the
building for a town house until 1869, when it was sold taken down and relocated to
Manchester. In 1870 the proceeds from the sale were used to build a new Town
Hall (cost $5389.62) on Main Street in the village which eventually became the
towns primary business district. In 1889 town officials requested funds to
expand the town hall on Main Street, but the people of Grasmere held up the vote
with a request of their own. Unhappy with the lost of their meeting house
Grasmere residents vowed to defeat the request unless voters agreed to build a
hall in Grasmere as well. Local leaders were able to reach an agreement and soon
Goffstown had two town halls.
Built 1889 at a cost of $4,498.00
Queen Anne Style
Built with a large second floor theater and two smaller rooms
on the first floor, the building has been used as school house #9, home of the
Junior Grange, a meeting place for a variety of civic organizations, dinner
theater and as Town Hall from 1937 - 1947 after a fire destroyed the Main Street
Town Hall.
Currently under restoration it is the hope of the Historic District Commission
to someday once again use the building for community events.
Added to the National Register of Historic Places September 5, 1990
Hillside Cemetery
Alphabetical listing of burials at Hillside Cemetery
Hillside Cemetery &
Map.pdf
The oldest public cemetery in town there is no record concerning the yard until
1782 when the town voted
"That the burying ground be measured out and fenced the
present year, and that the surveyors warn their hand to do the work."
The oldest stone is Joseph Kennedy June 5, 1768 age 74
Buried here are those who served their country
The French Indian War (1754 - 1763)
57 from The
Revolutionary War (1775 - 1783)
Revolutionary War Soldiers Hillside Cemetery.pdf
15 from The War of 1812 (1812 - 1815)
The War of 1812.pdf
58 from the Civil War (1861 - 1865)
Civil War Soldiers Hillside Cemetery.pdf
6 from WWI (1914 - 1918)
World War I Soldiers Hillside Cemetery.pdf
5 from WWII (1939 - 1945)
World War II Soldiers Hillside Cemetery.pdf
Grave of John Buswell thought to be one of George Washington's body guards at
Valley Forge
In 1817 the town voted to buy a hearse with all the necessities belonging to it
Harry Brook
Harry Brook flows from Long Pond in Dunbarton and discharges
into the Piscataquog River. There were once four mills on Harry Brook.
The principal industry of Grasmere was the pulp mill of Excelsior Fiber Co. of
which P. C. Cheney was president.
The mill employed about 40 men when it was running full time.
Postal Service
Post Office established at Goffstown Centre (Grasmere) January
22, 1832 discontinued February 17, 1840
Reestablished January 1846
Post Office name changed to Grasmere November 26, 1895
A partial list of Postmaster can be found on page 303 of History of Goffstown by
George P Hadley
Railroad Depot
Goffstown had three depots Parker Station, Goffstown and
Goffstown Centre (Grasmere)
In 1893 the Grasmere Depot formed a junction of the Manchester and North Weare
line and the Manchester and Milford line
Gov. Person Colby Cheney (Gov. 1875-1877) owned the farm he
called Grasmere (County Farm) 1882 - 1893
Named for Grasmere England home of poets William Wordsworth and Samuel Taylor
Coleridge
Used his influence to change the name of the railroad station
County Farm / Poor Farm
In 1849 the County purchased 300 acres from Noyes Poor for
$10,000.00. The property was to be used to house and care for the indigent,
mentally ill and impoverished of Hillsborough County which at the time numbered
88. The choice land and pastures were utilized to provide food and heat, those
who were able, worked the fields, tended the cattle and performed other task
necessary to maintain the home. In 1867 the County Farm was sold and all
residents moved to the Whiting Farm in Wilton until 1895. In 1895 the Goffstown
Centre farm called Grasmere was under the ownership of former Governor P. C.
Cheney, was sold back to the County and the entire operation was moved back to
Grasmere. The reason for the removal of the farm to Wilton and the losses
incurred by the County on its subsequent return are inexplicable but were
probably political as were many issues of the day. Now housed in comparative
luxury in the new quarters the farm once again began to grow and prosper. The
farm now included facilities for the ill, paupers, the insane and the House of
Corrections. In 1896 a cemetery was added to the property with each graved
marked with a numbered marble tablet, the numbers correspond to records giving a
description of the illness and death of the deceased.
The County property now is used as a Womens Correctional facility, Court House
and County offices.
Some of the fields are being used for community gardens.
Hillsborough County Hospital / Moore Hospital
Construction completed in 1906
1911 School of Nursing was opened under the direction of Addie Moore, who
devoted her life and talent to the improvement and care for those unable to care
for themselves. Renamed Moore Hospital in 1953. The hospital closed in the early
70's and the facilities used entirely as a nursing home.
The current nursing home opened May, 1977, designed to accommodate 300, built at
a cost of $6,000,000.00
Route 114
1965 By-Pass completed.
Heading towards Bedford looking to the right off the roadway you can see the
abandoned rail bed of the Manchester Milford Railroad.
Opened in 1900 the Manchester Milford line was the shortest lived railway in NH
history only lasting 26 years.
Past Summer Attractions
Yacum Mineral Springs: Located on the farm of L.H. George the
springs were celebrated for their medicinal virtues and have doubtless
helped and benefited many who have drank of their sparkling water
Do you have pictures to share? Contact Dan LaRochelle at 623-0304 or e-mail us.
