small town – New England's Narrow Road

The Quaint New England Town of Peterborough

Yesterday I visited the quaint New Hampshire town of Peterborough and took some photos early in the morning before the town woke up.

Thornton Wilder’s play “Our Town” was based on this town! He wrote the play while staying at the MacDowell Colony back in 1938.

Peterborough has two “main” streets. The one called Main St. and the one named Grove Street (Grover’s Corners). Behind both of those roads, which house their own shops and restaurants, is a place called Depot Square. It’s where you’ll find extra parking and more shops and businesses, like the Peterborough Diner and Toadstool Book Store. The Toadstool has a large mural along the outer wall which changes periodically. I included part of the current scene in my photos. The Waterhouse Restaurant is also there, and it backs up to the Nubanusit Brook which runs through town.

Up on Grove Street, Harlow’s Pub is always a busy place and they offer seating outside by the road. Next to Harlows is Noni’s and the shoe store and Joseph’s Coat. Sarah’s Hat Box store is new, and I’ve never been inside. It’s located beneath the new condo complex, where the old wood stove store used to be. Further up the road is a specialty chocolate shop, ice cream, and the oil and vinegar company. I’m just saying, there is a lot to see and do in a compact area.

On Main Street, find Steele’s stationery store, Roys Market, Maggies Health Food, and more. A wide variety of businesses, museums and restaurants make Peterborough a popular place to visit. Once you find a place to park, it’s just a short walk to see what the town has to offer. There is also a small movie theater that is quite nice.

Other famous places in Peterborough, but not downtown, include the MacDowell Art Colony (mentioned above), Pack Monadnock (Miller State Park), and the Peterborough Players (professional theater). The Sharon Arts Center and Mariposa Museum are also well known.

Saturday, October 17th (2015) is the Peak into Peterborough event. Read more about it at the link.

Good to know: In the state of New Hampshire any people in a crosswalk have the right of way, and cars / traffic must stop to let them cross the road. Be aware that many people take for granted that cars will stop and they tend to walk right out in front of you! They do this even when not on a crosswalk! Fall is a big tourist time for this area, so when driving through town be cautious of that.

Alice Blue shop — Little shop on School St.

Sharon Arts center — Sharon Arts is a unique shopping experience

River Waterhouse back — Back of Waterhouse Restaurant

New England — Nubanusit Brook, from Grove St. near the park

walkway to Grove St. — Walkway to Grove St.

gazebo by river — Gazebo by the Contoocook River

Mural on bookstore wall — Mural on Toadstool Bookstore wall

Toadstool bookshop — The Toadstool Book Store in Depot Square

quaint new england town peterborough — Downtown Peterborough – Main St.

This is a very beautiful place to live, but it is also expensive for a single person like myself. Winters are long, but mostly beautiful, except when the snow gets out of hand like the winter of 2005.

Peterborough New Hampshire Celebrates 275 Years

scenic Peterborough foliage — Peterborough Downtown October 3, 2014

This weekend, October 11th, Peterborough, New Hampshire is celebrating 275 years from the time it was first “discovered”. It’s not a celebration of the official founding of the town, but the town prefers to follow the lead from the time the residents recognized the centennial year in 1839. I suppose they celebrate every 25 years, but I am not sure. I haven’t lived in this area very long. I managed to get these fall foliage photos as I was out driving one recent beautiful day.

The celebration is for the 275th year from the time the first settler came to the area. Thomas Morison is the man who traveled north from Massachusetts to find his own special tract of land in the area of what is now called Noone Falls. He came back later to build his house, but the anniversary is counted from the time of his first visit in 1739.

The celebration will be a big deal with lots of visitors expected. Shuttle busses will be transporting visitors from area parking lots, since downtown parking spots are at a minimum. It seems to me that the best place to park would be the Peterborough Shopping Plaza. From there you can walk the path that leads around the back of the Shell station (it goes under the road, so crossing traffic is not a problem) and then follow the sidewalk into town. Click here for a Bus MAP, where you’ll see the other two parking spots are at the Conval High School and the Community Center on Elm Street. You could also walk into town from Elm Street if you so desired.

There are ongoing events during the day, with a parade in the morning, at 10am, that will travel down into town from PES (Peterborough Elementary School) and the day will end with a fireworks show around 7pm.

This information was taken from the Monadnock Ledger-Transcript newspaper and the link will take you to the entire 275th special section, which includes lots of old photographs as well as aerial town views. Read more about what will take place at Peterborough’s 275th Celebration this coming weekend of October 11th.

If you can’t make it to Peterborough this coming weekend, maybe you will be free to enjoy the yearly event, Peak Into Peterborough, with more festivities next weekend, October 17th and 18th. That celebration includes free hay rides, food, music, demonstrations and a rummage sale. I hope the foliage hangs on, because it’s quite beautiful right now.

The yellow signs advertising the yearly fall event are up along all the major roads in town, as seen in my photo.

peak into peterborough celebration signs — Peak into Peterborough signs

A Nasty Election, And I’m Not Talking About The Candidates

voting day in a small town (Photo credit: Muffet)

I will be voting in a small town this Tuesday. We don’t have fancy machines, just a pen or pencil and paper. No matter what time of day I go, it will probably be busy. I doubt that we’ll know who won for many days or even weeks afterward. With voting problems becoming worse each election cycle, and now the storm that has created such havoc, too much is in the way of a fast count and immediate outcome. I hope I’m wrong. I want this to be done.

Today this happened.

I am not a big fan of Face Book, but I use it to advertise. These days social media is important at least for that. I suppose it’s easy to see which side of the political race I support even though I don’t have my page filled with my favorite candidates name. Although I can’t find any sane reason why anyone would vote for “the other guy”, I respect their right to do so.

But, tell me this, why would anyone – especially someone I don’t know very well – come to my FB page and leave an endorsement for the other candidate? Posted right on my wall, just like I put it there myself. All I can think of is just to be nasty. I will just delete it, don’t you know, and I have. But what was the point? Did she score some points for her candidate, or did she just point out how divided we are this time around? I am respectful of the fact that we all see things differently. Her post, on my wall, will not change what I think, except that my opinion of those on “the other side” just keeps getting lower. The ones who shout the loudest about being tolerant, are the least tolerant of all.

This election is really showing the great divide in this country, but we are all Americans, all people, and we will all have to live together with whoever wins, running this place – however he sees fit.

Hopefully you know what you believe and you won’t vote for a candidate just because all of your friends will. Hopefully you are informed – by various media sources – and not just by watching the “fluff” nightly news, or Jon Stewart.

We are bombarded enough with commercials and phone calls. I don’t need acquaintances causing me grief.

Let’s end this thing. VOTE on Tuesday – that is when you’ll have your biggest say.