The Troy Village Historic District was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2002. Portions of the content on this web page were adapted from a copy of the original nomination document. [‡]
Description
The Troy Village Historic District encompasses the village center of the Town of Troy, located in the Monadnock Region in southwestern New Hampshire. Troy Village is the geographical, industrial, commercial, and population center of the town. The village is focused along NH Route 12, which passes (south-north) through the center, around the Troy Common. Intersecting roads and residential side streets radiate out from the center in all directions. Buildings are closely, and relatively evenly, spaced along the streets on lots of varying sizes. Troy Village is sited in a valley, which is the confluence of the streams and rivers that provided the water power on which the village's early economy was based.
The Troy Village Historic District is comprised of a mix of building and property types, including residences, public buildings, churches, commercial structures and a factory complex. Nearly 177 acres, made up mostly of small house lots, and a few larger properties, are encompassed by the Troy Village Historic District boundary. Resources date primarily from the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. They illustrate a range of architectural styles, with many excellent representations of the Federal and Greek Revival periods from the first half of the nineteenth century, and significant neighborhoods of turn-of-the-century residences. Buildings are generally 1-1/2 to 2-1/2 stories in height. The majority are wood frame construction, but the village contains a number of brick and granite structures. Nearly all historic buildings have granite block foundations. The Troy Village Historic District contains a total of 225 contributing buildings, nine contributing sites, five contributing structures and two contributing objects. There are also forty-two noncontributing buildings, five noncontributing sites, one noncontributing structure, and four noncontributing objects.
The industrial village developed because it was the location of sources of water power, rather than according to principals of town division or planning. Originally (prior to Troy's incorporation as a town in 1815), the village was located on the border of two separate towns; the northern half of the village in Marlborough and the southern half in Fitzwilliam. The village was about mid-way between the two town centers, and the early village residents were required to travel an inconvenient distance to the meetinghouses.
Troy's history was shaped by its topography and natural resources. It is located in a valley surrounded by steep hills and mountains; the most prominent is Mount Monadnock. The village developed at the convergence of several streams, which merge to form the South Branch of the Ashuelot River. Settlers used these sources of water power to process the products of the surrounding hills, including wool and wood products; thus a thriving industrial center grew at this confluence. Brickyards and granite quarries to support construction were located nearby on the outskirts of the village. Streams flow from the watershed in the hills down into the village from all directions. Rockwood Brook flows from the south, forming Village Pond, a long narrow body of water, created by the dam which is located at South Main Street, just below the Troy Common. The Brook flows under Main Street through a stone arch bridge, over the dam, and curves northeast. This area, east of and below the town Common, was historically the site of various factories. The stream passes directly under the Troy Mills factory at the eastern edge of the village, then north of Mill Street, it merges with Bowker Brook to form the South Branch Ashuelot River. Bowker Brook, which enters the village from the southeast, was historically the site of a large pail factory, located just south of Monadnock Street. The point of confluence of the two brooks was historically the site of Carpenter's mill pond. On the opposite (west) side of the village, another brook forms Blanding Pond (or Silica Mill Pond) and then also flows into Village Pond.
Another major factor in the development of the village was its location on the north-south road, now NH Route 12, a major interstate artery between Massachusetts, the city of Keene, and points northwest in the Connecticut valley since its construction as a turnpike in the early 1800s. In the village, the road is called North Main Street, Central Square and South Main Street. Route 12 divides into north and south lanes around the Troy Common, the focal point of the village. The Common was created to create a traditional town center when the Town of Troy was incorporated ca.1815. For many years, a street on the former town line divided the Common into two sections, but this was changed when Route 12 was widened by the State in 1941. The meetinghouse, now the Town Hall, is at the head of the Common (north) and residences and businesses create a compact village streetscape.
Another north-south transportation route that influenced the development of the village was the Cheshire Railroad, built 1846-1848 and now discontinued. The railroad ran from Fitchburg, Massachusetts to Bellows Falls, Vermont, passing through Troy and the major railroad center at Keene. The railroad station (passenger and freight depot) is located on the west side of the village center, only a block from the Central Square. The commercial area of the village extends between the lower end of the Common and the depot along Water Street, the upper end of which was historically known as Railroad or Depot Street.
While Route 12 and the railroad follow the valley of the South Branch River, all other roads radiate out from the village center to the former agricultural areas in the surrounding hills. The roads now dead-end at unmaintained roads in the woods. The sections of these roads near the center, and later residential side streets off of them developed distinct residential neighborhoods on the various sides of the village. South of the village, NH Route 12 becomes Fitzwilliam Road, where a mix of early and late properties, many of which lack integrity, are located. Parallel to it are South Street, part of the early County Road, and South Main Street, both with a mixture of small early residences and farmhouses. On the east, Mill Street and Monadnock Street run downhill from South Main Street and the Common, embracing the Troy Mills Inc. complex, to converge and continue as the highway between Troy and Jaffrey. Both streets display a mix of nineteenth century residences. North of Mill Street is School Street, subdivided and developed in the late nineteenth century. Granite and Nelson Streets, of the same era, form a triangle south of Monadnock Street. The north end of the village center is defined by the fork of Route 12 and Marlborough Road, the original road to that town center. There are several mid-nineteenth century houses on High Street, which runs due west from the village connecting to West Hill Road, part of an early highway through the area. Prospect Street runs north-south, parallel to the west side of the railroad bed and continues southwest from the village. There are late nineteenth century subdivisions along Russell, Brook and Barrett Streets.
Significance
The Troy Village Historic District is a well-preserved example of a vernacular village center in the Monadnock Region of New Hampshire. The District documents the development and prosperity of a trade and industrial center, and its evolution throughout the nineteenth and first half of the twentieth centuries. The Troy Village Historic District is comprised of a range of resources from throughout the nineteenth century and through the early-twentieth. These include the commercial buildings, mills, and public buildings, that document its history, and the residential areas that developed in response to the growth of business in the village.
The Troy Village Historic District includes a number of fine examples of Federal and Greek Revival style architecture, representing important regional characteristics and construction techniques. The village also contains buildings from the Victorian era and an excellent grouping of turn-of-the-century residences.
Troy Village has been Troy's town center since, and even before, the Town was incorporated in 1815. The Period of Significance (1815-1952) is defined by that date and by the fifty-year cutoff for the National Register. The Troy Village Historic District possesses integrity of location, setting, design, materials, workmanship, association and feeling. It retains a strong sense of its historic environment, as an active, bustling town center, reflecting the interrelated business, civic and residential activities. The overall layout and physical relationships between the buildings are intact, with few missing structures and few intrusions.
As Troy's only village, and the focus of the majority of the population, the Troy Village Historic District represents the historical significance of the town as a whole. It is also important for representing patterns of historical development specific to the Monadnock Region.
Troy's historical development was based on its geography. Water power from the brooks and rivers that converge in the village and the natural resources available in the surrounding hills made this a prime location for settlement. The mills that utilized these resources fuelled the village's development. At the same time, transportation corridors were laid out along the river valley, and stops were located at Troy to provide transport to and from the mills. Entrepreneurs took advantage of this location and the resulting activity to establish businesses and create a commercial center. The village became the trade center for the surrounding area, with agricultural produce, timber, and products of outlying mills brought to the village for shipment by turnpike or rail. The residential development of the village was the result of these trends.
The Troy Village Historic District is defined to include the village center along NH Route 12 and the side streets on either side of it. All components of the village contribute to its significance. These include: the layout of the village, centered around the Common with streets radiating out in all directions; the large, architecturally significant buildings that dominate the main street; the early side streets that connected to the mills and the railroad depot; and the planned residential subdivisions from the turn-of-the-century population boom. The civic and religious buildings, stores, railroad depot, and residences are intact. The Troy Mills property conveys a sense of the village's industrial history.
The Troy Village Historic District documents patterns of residential development and village life. Throughout all periods, the majority of houses were owner-occupied, single-family residences, with a few duplexes and tenements mixed in. The residences reflect the economic character of the village, where relatively small mills were owned by individual local residents, who worked in the mills with their employees and neighbors. The houses reflect the varying status of their owners within this system, and their success at taking advantage of economic opportunities provided in the village. The large, fashionable houses, primarily on South Main Street, reflect the prosperity of the factory and store owners, often with investments in several businesses. More modest houses, often ornamented with simple period detailing, were home to owners of smaller businesses or skilled workers. On the side streets small, plain, vernacular houses date particularly from the later period when larger numbers of laborers worked in the mills. These were often immigrants who came to Troy at the turn-of-the-century specifically for the economic opportunities. They were generally successful and soon owned homes and even purchased farms in the surrounding area.
The available historic documents enhance the significance of the Troy Village Historic District. The 1859 and 1895 town histories with extensive genealogies, census records, tax lists, directories and historic maps create the potential for in-depth study of the village, its buildings and occupants.
The Troy Village Historic District is also eligible for significance in Architecture. Troy's buildings encompass a full range of styles: Federal, Greek Revival, Gothic, Italianate, Queen Anne and other Victorian styles, and early Colonial Revival, with good examples of all periods in both large and small buildings.
Troy's most prominent buildings date from the first half of the nineteenth century. Many exhibit regional architectural trends and are the work of skilled local and regional craftsmen and builders. Of particular importance are the public buildings, including the schoolhouse, meetinghouse, two churches, and two stores. Troy's buildings are also significant for documenting masonry construction techniques. The use of local bricks and the identification of several early contractors contributes to the understanding of these buildings. The Federal style is characterized by relatively simple wood frame houses, in 5x2 bay gable blocks. Several houses retain original window sash, and entries trimmed with half-sidelights, slender pilasters and an entablature enclosing a semi-elliptical fan. Brick construction became popular during the transition between Federal and Greek Revival, displayed on several Troy buildings with blind arcades of semi-elliptical arches across their facades. Brick, wood and even granite were used to build Greek Revival style structures. Particularly significant are Troy's many temple-front buildings with two-story porches under pedimented gable ends. Other Greek Revival residences were in the wide gable or gable side form, with characteristics of the style including corner pilasters, eave returns or pedimented gables with flush boards, 6/6 window sash with flat sills and lintels, and entries with full sidelights, pilasters and entablatures. The Italianate period, during which there was relatively little building in Troy, is represented at its most vernacular level on side-halls with bracketed door hoods and bay windows.
Troy experienced a dramatic building boom at the very end of the nineteenth century. The Victorian styles are displayed on several large, fashionable buildings, but mostly on the large numbers of small houses, 1-1/2-story side-halls with porches on turned posts, bay windows, decorative cut shingles, and 2/2 or 2/1 window sash. Troy's side streets contain a relatively well-preserved collection of residences, modest in size and displaying popular Victorian era architectural elements. Simpler but similar houses provided worker housing. These buildings document patterns of residential subdivision and development in an industrial community.
Period of Significance
The 1815 incorporation of the Town of Troy defines the beginning of the Troy Village Historic District's Period of Significance. Troy Village retains little integrity for the period before 1815. A few structures are extant, but all were moved and remodeled during later periods and contribute to the District for the latter associations.
Within the continuous Period of Significance, there were a number of specific events and periods that played specific roles in its development. The primary period of Troy Village's growth took place during the first half of the 1800s, following the incorporation of the town, construction of the Turnpike along what is now NH Route 12, and the expansion of local industry. This period, during which the village developed as the center of a new town, produced Troy's most significant architecture and the resources that give the village its distinct visual character. In addition to the meetinghouse, these include two churches, a school, two stores, and many large fashionable residences. Growth continued through the first half of the nineteenth century. After 1849, the railroad created a new focal point for activity in the village center. A major event in the creation of the existing village occurred in 1856-58, when the meetinghouse was turned, and in an effort at beautification and civic pride, Troy developed its Common into a grassy park (Merrifield 1976:86). A second period of major growth took place around the turn-of-the-century, with a building boom, resulting from a peak in production at the Troy Blanket Mills as well as other smaller mills, the height of the railroad era and of agricultural production in the region. This peak was followed by a decline in industries, changes in transportation, and adaptation of the Troy Mills to new markets. The major change of the automobile era was the widening of Route 12 around the Troy Common in 1941.
Integrity
The individual components of the Troy Village Historic District retain integrity. Some vinyl siding and replacement windows have been installed, and small additions built. These things are most common on the smaller, plainer houses, which began with little architectural detail. One change to older buildings was the conversion to multifamily rental housing, but in many cases, this occurred during the historic period. There are eleven buildings that do not contribute to the Troy Village Historic District due to loss of integrity. Structures so changed that their original appearance and function are not recognizable were counted as non-contributing. Buildings that display their original form, plan and basic appearance retain the ability to contribute to the Troy Village Historic District, because they convey a choice of building type, construction methods and historic associations.
Overall the streetscapes and spatial relationships between resources in the village are intact and the patterns of subdivision and development are evident. There are few modern buildings in the Troy Village Historic District; ten buildings which are primary structures and twenty outbuildings that are noncontributing because of recent construction date. Relatively few buildings have been lost since the Period of Significance.
The one gap in the streetscape around the Common, was the site of the Monadnock Hotel, which burned during the Period of Significance. The primary missing elements are the early blanket mill buildings and the other small nineteenth century factories. Most of these were taken down during the historic period, and most were located at the edges of the village, so their absence from the streetscape is not noticeable except on Mill Street. The Troy Mills continued to operate until recently, longer than most other industries in the region and the state.
Historical Background
Troy Village originally developed on the border of the towns of Fitzwilliam (south) and Marlborough (north). It formed the center of the new Town of Troy when it was established in 1815. Both Fitzwilliam and Marlborough (originally Oxford) were granted in 1752 and settled in the 1760s. Their town centers were elsewhere, but the available water power made the village site an important place for early settlement.
Thomas Tolman was the first settler in what would become Troy Village. In 1768, he erected a log house for his family and in 1771 he built the first of many sawmills around which the village would develop (Caverly 1859:28). The following year, Tolman built a frame house near what is now the Village Pond, and this was later moved to the southwest corner of the Common (27 Central Square). Tolman's house served as a tavern and became a center of social and political activity (Stone 1897:31; Merrifield 1976:20). Soon after Jacob Newell built a house south of the old cemetery on North Main Street, and Alexander Parkman settled ca.1777 on what would be the site of the Troy Blanket Mills (Stone 1897:49). Settlement proceeded slowly until the end of the Revolution, after which large numbers of new families moved to the area (Kurd 1886:9).
By the 1770s-1780s, the pattern of north-south traffic and roads converging at what would become Troy Village was established. The so-called "County Road" followed South Street, South Main Street and North Main Street, while east-west roads connected to Jaffrey and Richmond (Holland 1784). In 1786, Jonas Warren opened the first store in town on the east side of the highway, and the following year he built a tavern adjoining (both structures were later moved and converted to residences (Warren Store, 32 Central Square and Warren Tavern, 30 Central Square) (Stone 1897:53). The fifth house in the village was built by Ebenezer Bacon (no longer extant). The sixth was built by carpenter, Jonathan Whipple, ca.1790. It stood at the northwest corner of the Common until it was moved to its current site at 3 North Main Street ca.1850. In the 1790s, Newton built a house in the vicinity of 4 South Main Street. In 1787, Joshua Harrington purchased fifty-three acres in the southeast quadrant of the village from Thomas Tolman, and built a house on the corner of South Main Street and Monadnock Street.
Although farming was the primary livelihood in the town of Troy during the early period, the village center grew up around the sources of water power that provided Troy with a considerable industrial base (Merrifield 1976:81; Kurd 1886:6). The first mills, a sawmill followed by a grist mill, were erected by Thomas Tolman 1781, but was repeatedly denied (Child 1885a:472). Discussion of building a separate meetinghouse in the village began in 1794.
In 1812, the subject of town separation came up again, reportedly in conversation at the local store. Residents held a formal meeting in the hotel (site of 19 Central Square) and took decisive action by forming a committee to arrange for construction of a meetinghouse and preparation of a town charter, as well as establishing the town bounds. Committee members Daniel W. Farrar and Capt. Isaac Fuller went to Templeton, Massachusetts to examine the newly-erected meetinghouse there. Funds for construction were raised by the sale of pews, and a donation was made by local businessman Elnathan Gorham who owned the nearby tavern (site of 19 Central Square). The meetinghouse frame was raised in June 1814. Land was acquired from Joseph Barrett of Concord, Massachusetts, who owned a large farm covering the northeast quadrant of the village. The ninety-seven and a half square rods of land on the east side of the turnpike also included space for a public common (Deed 1816). At the same time, perhaps to block plans of separatists or as part of a move to build a new meetinghouse in the village for itself, the Town of Fitzwilliam purchased an adjacent tract of land from Thomas Tolman for the use and benefit of the public to be improved for a public common (Deed 1814). These two pieces of land that form the present Common remained under separate ownership until the mid-nineteenth century.
When the new meetinghouse at Central Square was completed, Fitzwilliam and Marlborough still refused to relinquish this important part of their respective towns. A petition was submitted to the State legislature and a special committee was appointed to investigate the matter (Ripley 1986:5). Finally, in 1815, Fitzwilliam and Marlborough gave in to the political pressure and Troy was incorporated as a town, with the village at its center (Ripley 1986:5). The first Troy Town Meeting was held in the meetinghouse in July 1815.
The Troy Meetinghouse was used for town meetings and religious services. Residents of the new town formed an Ecclesiastical Council that met in September of 1815 to organize a Congregational Church. They called the first minister Reverend Ezekial Rich, who served until he was dismissed in 1818. (Rich who lived in Troy until about 1845 is remembered for his development of a phonetic alphabet.) In 1819, a religious society, the First Congregational Society of Troy, was formed and met along with the Congregational Church in the meetinghouse (Stone 1897:131). The Troy Common provided space for loading and unloading of commercial and industrial goods transported on the turnpike, as well as serving as a public meeting place. In this case, the Common was not Troy's military training ground; the "muster field" was located where School Street is now (Stephenson 1994:27).
The new town required other services. Efforts were made early on to draw a physician to Troy, and the town's first doctor, Dr. Charles W. Whitney moved there in 1815, against the advice of his father, who urged him not to go "on account of the smallness of the place." In 1818, Dr. Whitney erected a large house at the southern end of the village at 26 South Main Street and practiced until the 1840s (Stone 1897:555; Anonymous 1908:52). At the time of incorporation, Troy was divided into six school districts. The village or District 1 used an existing schoolhouse until growth pressures created the need for a new one. In 1828, a large brick school was erected at 9 South Main Street. Only ten years later, in 1838, the growing town was redistricted, and District 1 was divided into two sections. The 1828 school was sold to a group of investors who established a high school. This operated only a few years, however, and the building was converted to residential use, but retained the name the "Old Academy" (Stone 1897:254). New schoolhouses (replaced again in the mid-nineteenth century) were built at the northern and southern ends of the village. The Troy Fire Engine Company was formed in 1839 and fire regulations were passed by the Town in 1846 (Stone 1897:308). The public cemetery off North Main Street was enlarged in 1839 (Stone 1897:164). Captain Thomas Wright who lived nearby at 12 North Main was Sexton for many years.
New religious groups proliferated in Troy as elsewhere after the Separation Act of 1819, which separated the church from the Town. In 1833, a Trinitarian Congregational Society of Troy was formed, and the following year a church was erected on South Main Street. Land was given by storekeeper Daniel W. Farrar who lived across the street (4 South Main Street). The granite foundation was built by granite quarry owner Alpheus Crosby at his own expense, and the basement, which contained two tenements, was owned privately for many years (Stone 1897:136). Reverend Luther Townsend, pastor from 1845-1860, lived at 58 South Main Street. A Baptist Church had been formed in the area in 1779, and when the new town was incorporated, the church divided also. The Troy portion became the Fitzwilliam and Troy Baptist Church, later the First Baptist Church of Troy. The Baptists had no regular place of worship until 1836, when they united with the First Congregational Society and met with them in the Troy Meetinghouse. In 1848-1849, a Baptist Church was built at 17 North Main Street (Stone 1897:142-143).
During this period, the village was still comprised of several large farms. West of the Central Square was about seventy acres of land associated with the tavern (19 Central Square), purchased in 1827 by Stephen Wheeler. In 1833, the Barrett farm, which covered the northern part of the village, was purchased by two cousins, Captain Thomas Wright and Colonel Lyman Wright. They divided it in half, Thomas taking the western part and erecting a house at 12 North Main, and Lyman (who previously owned properties at 30 and 32 Central Square) taking the east on which he built a new house on Mill Street (no longer extant) (Caverly 1859:126). Elijah Harrington inherited his father's large farm in the southeast quadrant of the village in 1834.
Water-powered industries proliferated during the early nineteenth century. The tannery on the northwest bank of the river below the dam, was purchased in 1815 by Lyman Wright. Wright lived at 30 Central Square on the Common and his partner Moses Bush built a new house next door at 34 Central Square (Stone 1897:290). The original Curtis pail shop south of Mill Street was operated by Luke Harris and then Charles Coolidge (Stone 1897:285). Other businesses included a hat shop established in 1819 by Charles Davis, who was in business for ten years. Hatter Benjamin Grosvenor came to Troy in 1831 and built a new house (37 Central Square) and a shop, where he made fur hats for nearly twenty years. (The Grosvenor Hat Shop was moved in 1856 and made into a house at 54 South Main Street.) Later, Edward P. Kimball, who came to Troy from Hillsborough in 1836, carried on the hat-making business. Kimball also operated a tin shop at the southeast corner of the Common (no longer extant), with ten peddlers employed on the road (Stone 1897:291). The textile industry that was to become the primary force in the local economy began in 1836 when the original Tolman water privilege and grist mill north of the dam were bought by Luke Harris. He immediately built a new factory for the manufacture of woolen cloth, and by 1850, five men and three women were employed (Bureau of the Census 1850).
Local raw materials were influential in Troy's developing economy. The granite quarries of Cheshire County were among the best in the state, and Troy contained a granite of superior quality, with good color, evenness and firmness, that would withstand exposure and retain its color. Early on a quarry was established east of the village, and it produced the stone for foundations of many Troy buildings and the large granite house of quarry owner, Alpheus Crosby, built ca.1837 (1 South Main Street) (Kurd 1886:2; Stone 1897:297).
Clay was dug from the river bank and around what was later Blanding's Pond, and brick-making was carried on successfully at various times. The first brickyard was north of what would become the village center, east of the North Main Street and Marlborough Road fork, and the second was on the west side of the village, south of the railroad depot. These were both owned by the Reverend Ezekiel Rich, former pastor of the Congregational Church. They supplied the brick for the new Congregational Church. From the 1830s to the 1860s, Captain Thomas Wright had a brickyard north of the village. Wright made the brick for all the brick structures in the village except the Congregational Church and may also have been a contractor (Stone 1897:299; Merrifield 1976:84). His own house is a brick Cape at 12 North Main Street.
The clay was also used for the manufacture of earthenware and pottery. About 1812, a pottery shop was built by Colonel Daniel W. Farrar at the fork of Fitzwilliam Road and South Main (site of 50 South Main Street). It was rented to Solomon Goddard and Jonathan French (who lived at 42 South Main Street), but the businesses was dissolved after only a few years, and the structure was later moved and made into a house (53 South Main Street). Goddard built another pottery shop (no longer extant) near his house at 17 Monadnock Street in 1818 and operated it until 1843, when it was sold to Eri J. Spaulding (9 Monadnock Street) (Stone 1897:288; Merrifield 1976:83).
Transportation networks through the region continued to expand with the population and commerce. The South Main Street bridge across the outlet of the Village Pond was rebuilt with the existing stone arch in 1835 (Stone 1897:177). Monadnock Street was the original main road east from the village, and in 1840 a road was built by the Town to replace a private path along what is now Mill Street (Stone 1897:179).
At the height of the turnpike era, business activity increased significantly in the village center. In addition to his public house (later the Monadnock Hotel), Stephen Wheeler engaged in trade in a nearby house, later building a house and a store south of the hotel. He also established a staging business, in addition to operating a farm on his land. Wheeler built a fine brick residence at the north end of the Common at 12 Central Square. Nearby, a house at 5 Central Square was next to the hotel built for his son-in-law David Frost who ran the store (Caverly 1859:172; Fagan 1858). The old Robinson store on South Main Street was acquired in 1835 by Daniel W. Farrar, who built a large new brick store (2 South Main Street) on the site and a large, fashionable residence for himself next door at 4 South Main Street. (Stone 1897:75). Son David W. Farrar (who lived at 15 South Main Street) ran the store after 1843. A second large general store (33 Central Square) was built in 1842 at the south end of the Common by Samuel G. Whitney, son of Dr. Whitney, and son-in-law of the Whittemores (35 Central Square) on whose land the store was built. In 1848, the business was sold to Edward P. Kimball who became merchant and postmaster. He lived in his wife's parents' house at 31 Central Square and later at 35 Central Square. Kimball became one of Troy's most prominent residents and played a major role in the development of the village by investing in residential construction and various industries (Child 1886a:482).
A major event in the development of Troy Village was the coming of the railroad at the end of the 1840s. Construction of the Cheshire Railroad (from Fitchburg, Massachusetts to Walpole, New Hampshire on the Vermont line) began in 1846, and the railroad reached Troy by the following year. Stage coaches provided service from there to Keene while construction continued north through 1848. By 1849 the route was complete to the Vermont line, and two trains ran daily between Boston and Keene (Stone 1897:179; Town History Committee 1984:105). The railroad, which brought in raw materials and delivered finished goods to markets, was a major factor in the establishment and growth of local industries including the Troy Blanket Mills. The rapid delivery of mail also allowed for ease of communication between area businessmen (Ripley 1986:11, 16). Troy residents traveled easily to Keene and Fitchburg, and also made day trips to Boston (Merrifield 1976:27, 31). Early tourists disembarked in Troy to hike Mount Monadnock. The Monadnock Hotel was enlarged to its final form ca.1850 by John Clement.
During the mid-nineteenth century, Troy's primary industries involved the manufacture of wood products from lumber processed at the several sawmills. In 1845, Captain Solomon Goddard and Edwin Buttrick built a brick pail factory on the east edge of the village (Stone 1897:286). Buttrick operated the factory throughout the nineteenth century, later in partnership with his son-in-law Asa Dort. He owned a number of wood lots, which supplied lumber for the factory. His residence was located at 24 South Main Street (Merrifield 1976:29, 84). On the opposite (west) side of the village center, another pail shop was built in 1849 by Harvey Blanding who was in business for about ten years (Stone 1897:290). He lived at 9 North Main Street (Fagan 1858). Isaac Aldrich at 7 Mill Street established a carriage shop (location unknown) where an average of fifty-five wooden carriages were made each year (Bureau of the Census 1850). The old fulling mill site was later used for the manufacture of rakes, then pitchforks, and finally axes (Stone 1897:292).
The woolen textile industry expanded after 1851, when the Harris woolen mill was taken over by Thomas Goodall, a recent immigrant from England. Goodall manufactured a cheap grade of beavers and satinets (a fabric with lengthwise threads of cotton, and filling of wool); the weaving was done in the former Harris mill with materials prepared at a mill in the North End. Later Goodall purchased Coolidge's pail shop on Mill Street, which became the site of future mill expansion (Stone 1897:293). Thomas Goodall changed the history of Troy in 1857 when he conceived the idea of making an improved horse blanket from an inexpensive grade of cloth, cut to fit the horse, with straps and buckles attached (Anonymous 1908:43). It was the manufacture of horse blankets that became "the most important and chief branch of industry, and one that has added much to the growth and prosperity of the town" (Stone 1897:293). The cloth was woven in the mill and the parts cut to size, then distributed to residents of the village to be sewn together, and the finished product returned to the factory for distribution. Goodall soon found a ready market for this inexpensive and practical product and the business became profitable (Ripley 1986:2). By 1860, he manufactured an average of 23,400 blankets annually, employing sixteen men and ten women in the factory (Bureau of the Census 1860). Goodall's house at 37 Central Square stood opposite the factory (Fagan 1858).
The character of the village center was altered in the 1850s. The Troy Meetinghouse, no longer required for religious services, fell into disuse and a committee was formed to make recommendations on what to do with the building. In 1858, the structure was renovated; it was turned ninety degrees into the northeast corner of the Common, a cellar was built underneath and the interior was remodeled. In 1861, a new bell was installed in the tower and a room in the cellar was finished for town use. This was also a period of change in the Troy Common, following resolution of controversy over its bounds. The Town of Fitzwilliam finally agreed in 1857 to sell the southern portion of the Common to the Town of Troy. Following committee recommendations, the Common was fenced to keep strays and teams off, and beautified with trees to make it "a favorite resort for the young people" (Stone 1897:181).
The old cemetery off North Main Street was enlarged again in 1863 (Stone 1897:164), but in 1874 it was superseded by a new cemetery farther north. Civic activities in the growing village included the formation of the Troy Brass Band or Troy Coronet Band in 1872, and the establishment of the Troy Public Library by the selectmen in 1881 (Merrifield 1976:104). Concern for fire protection continued; in 1862 a fund was established to purchase a fire engine and hose, and to finish a room for it in the basement of the Town Hall (Stone 1897:181). The Monadnock Lodge No. 80 of the F. & A. M. was formed in Troy in 1866, and met above Kimball Store (Stone 1897:311). A parsonage was bequeathed to the Congregational Church in 1872 by Mrs. Saphronia Jones (23 South Main Street).
New brick schoolhouses, north and south of the village, were built in the 1850s-60s (Stone 1897:258). In 1861, a private grammar school, for the teaching of higher branches, was established in the basement of the Troy Town Hall. The high school was maintained by local businessmen until 1876, when it was turned over to the Town to become the public grammar school (Ripley 1986:22; Child 1886:475). When the Town was redistricted in 1878, it was consolidated into one large Village District and three outlying districts. The Village District (No. 1) had three schools, two primary (north and south) and one grammar in the room under the Town Hall (Kurd 1886:349).
As of 1860, most of the large residences in the village were owner occupied and homes to single families, occasionally with a single boarder, adult children or extended family members. Residents were primarily longtime New Englanders, although a few Irishmen had moved to the area while working on the railroad. Residents of Troy Village included approximately ten farmers, fifteen general laborers, seven tanners and curriers, five pail turners and two pail makers, a chairmaker and a wood turner, six male mill operatives, seven young women operatives, two spinners, a miller, three shoemakers, five mechanics (probably working on mill machinery), three blacksmiths, a mason and four carpenters, three merchants and five clerks, a hostler, two doctors and two clergymen (Bureau of the Census 1860).
A major event in the history of the village was the formation of the Troy Blanket Mills in 1865. The blanket mill and machinery were purchased from Goodall by three businessmen from Keene, John H. Elliot, President of the Cheshire National Bank, Royal H. Porter, bank cashier, and Barrett Ripley, hardware dealer (Stone 1897:295). During its early years, the factory employed about twenty people on two sets of cards, two hand jacks, and nine looms (Kurd 1886:354). The Troy Mills have been managed by the Ripley family throughout their history, and the family has increased their proportion of ownership of the company. The continuity of ownership of the Troy Mills is the longest in textile manufacturing in New Hampshire, and probably the third longest in the United States (Ripley 1986). Barrett Ripley, who managed the mills from 1865 until his death in 1888, was one of the town's most prominent citizens and the leading businessman. He lived in Goodall's former house at the south end of the Common (37 Central Square) (Ripley 1986:25).
In 1869, the company erected a new brick mill on the north side of Mill Street, near what had been the site of Charles Carpenter's sawmill (Ripley 1986:10). By 1870, forty-seven men, thirty-six women, and twelve children were employed making 50,000 horse blankets each year (Bureau of the Census 1870). The new mill was enlarged in 1877, when it was lengthened by five bays with an added mansard roof providing a third story (Stone 1897:296). The original mill at the south end of the Common was used only for storage after that time. Hauling between the mills and the depot was done by horse and wagon, and a stable of draft horses, wagons, and sleds was maintained by the company. The picker mill where rags were fiberized was located two miles north of the village (Ripley 1986:11).
Nearby, a tannery was operated by Lyman Wright and Francis Foster, with twelve men employed. Foster built a new residence at 20 South Main Street. In 1869, the tannery was sold to the Silsby family who continued the operation for about twenty years (Stone 1897:290; Bureau of the Census 1860). At its peak, about eighteen men were employed, tanning three hundred hides a week and finishing them with wax for upper leathers, using between seven and eight hundred cords of bark a year in the process (Hurd 1886:355; Child 1886a:476). Throughout the second half of the nineteenth century, James Capron and his son Joseph made shoes in a small shop at the intersection of South Street and South Main Street (Child 1886:480).
Wooden wares remained an important part of Troy's economy. At the west side of the village, the Blanding pail factory was acquired ca.1859 by Daniel M. Farrar who built a sawmill nearby (at the end of Russell Avenue) to supply the necessary lumber. Farrar owned nearby residences including properties at 77 and 81 Prospect Street (Stone 1897:290). The business was taken over by his son Charles A. Farrar who employed eighteen men making pails and buckets with 50-75 pound capacities (Hurd 1886:354). From 1873 until it burned in 1887, a factory on the south side of the river below the dam housed the picture frame shop of Wright, Brown and Company, and later the box shop of Oliver Whitcomb (Stone 1897:298). At the east edge of the village, Buttrick carried on the manufacture of pails with his partner and son-in-law Asa Dort. In 1878, the shop was damaged by fire and rebuilt (Anonymous 1908:41; Child 1886a:476). Charles D. Farrar, who lived in his grandfather's house at 4 South Main Street, ran another woodenware factory in the northern part of town (Rockwood 1877).
Brickmaking failed to be lucrative and the Wright brickyard closed ca.1860. The brickyard south of the railroad depot was owned for short periods by Elisha H. Tolman, E. P. Kimball, W.P. Chamberlain of Keene, and George W. Ball of Keene, until about 1888 when it was abandoned (Stone 1897:299).
Two large general stores operated in the village during the second half of the nineteenth century. Charles W. Whitney Jr., who began business in the store of his brother Samuel at 33 Central Square and later clerked for D.W. Farrar, acquired the latter's store at 2 South Main Street in 1865. Whitney went on to operate the largest retail business in the vicinity, the largest wholesale dry goods establishment in the town (Anonymous 1897:429). E.P. Kimball & Son continued to run their store on the Common (33 Central Square), dealing in general merchandise. Kimball lived at 35 Central Square. Another store was opened in the "Old Academy" at 9 South Main Street by Hiram C. Newton who sold "Yankee notions," books and periodicals (Kurd 1886:346). In 1872, Newton commenced publication of the Home Companion, issued quarterly until 1876, then monthly, and after 1885 semi-monthly (Kurd 1886:356). The Monadnock Hotel was run by a series of proprietors. In the late nineteenth century, it solicited "the patronage of the Traveling Public and Summer Boarders." It was advertised as "Pleasantly situated five miles from Monadnock mountain, nine miles from Keene and eighty-two miles from Boston" (Anonymous 1880b:3). The trains brought increasing numbers of tourists to Mount Monadnock; the station at Troy provided the primary means of access to the mountain, particularly before the Monadnock Railroad was built to Jaffrey in 1870. Many travelers continued by carriage to the Mountain or Half-Way House built on the southern slope of the mountain in 1860 (Stephenson 1994:119). In the 1870s, a second hotel, the Kimball House, was built behind Kimball's store. Connected with the Monadnock Hotel was a livery stable run by Ezekiel Starkey, providing boarding for horses, and horses and carriages to let (with or without driver). Flour, grain and feed were for sale, along with carriages, harnesses, robes and blankets. Also located in the hotel was the village's barber shop, and the office of physician M.T. Stone (Anonymous 1880b). North of the hotel, attached to the large barn (17 Central Square) was Carpenter's Drug Store (site of a modern bank — Bank of New Hampshire, ca.1985). Also associated with the hotel as a storage building or stable was 9 Central Square. James L. Stanley, cemetery sexton, ran a barbershop and later an undertakers' shop behind his house at 12 Central Square (Child 1885).
Despite Troy's population growth, there was relatively little new construction in the village during the third quarter of the nineteenth century, suggesting that larger residences housed increasing numbers of people. As of 1885, heads of households in the village included the following. On the Common: the railroad agent, a store owner, a box maker and box factory foreman, two teamsters, overseer of the blanket mill weave room and foreman of the print room. To the north and south on Main Street: several farmers, a physician, two merchants and a clerk, two pail factory owners and a pail turner, a box maker, two tanners, a teamster, a painter, a laborer, a mechanic, a foreman and a bookkeeper of the Troy Blanket Mills, and several mill employees. On Mill Street: a carpenter and fanner, a currier, a blacksmith, a shoemaker, a pail maker and tub factory worker, a spinner, and foremen of the blanket mill picker room and card room (Child 1885).
In 1885, the village was described as a: "...bright business-like post village located in the central part of the town...with a hundred or more residences, two churches, two hotels, two stores, two primary and one grammar school, town-hall, Masonic hall, a blanket factory, pail and tub factory, box factory, fire-lighter manufactory, one shoe shop, wagon shop, tannery, meat market, fire company, brickyard, and the Monadnock trout ponds (Child 1885b:475)."
The expansion of the Troy Blanket Mills during the late nineteenth century made the woolen textile industry increasingly the primary employer of the community. In 1887, the company was incorporated, with the three original partners and their families as directors (Ripley 1986:25). President Franklin Ripley lived at 33 South Main Street. Further additions were made to the brick factory on the north side of Mill Street from 1880 through the 1890s. The mill's capacity increased from five hundred blankets a day to twelve thousand a day.
Some two hundred fifty persons were employed at the mill by 1897, and the number increased to about three hundred by the early 1900s (Stone 1897:296; Anonymous 1908). New company housing included duplexes on the west side of the Common at 11 Central Square and another (no longer extant) to the south. In 1908, it was said that "The manufacturing of horse blankets has become the leading industry in this beautiful manufacturing village and it has been the constant growth of the Troy Blanket Mills that has made this one of the leading towns in the state" (Anonymous 1908). A new storehouse was built in 1895, a sewing room added in 1896, and an office building completed by 1898. In 1899, an entirely new factory building, called Mill B, was constructed on the opposite (south) side of the river along with a new picker house (Ripley 1986:36). The original mill north of the dam was used for storage, and store houses for rags and finished blankets were built on the Common in 1901 (Sanborn 1909). As the blanket mills expanded, the company acquired land and water privileges previously used by other industries, including the site of the Silsby tannery east of the Common, which was destroyed by fire in 1887 (Stone 1897:290).
After an idle period, the brickyard off of Prospect Street was purchased by outside investors in 1889 and became the Troy Brick Company. New buildings and sheds with modern machinery were erected, and large numbers of bricks were produced for a few years (Stone 1897:299; Merrifield 1976:85). At the former pail shop on the west side of the village Charles A. Farrar processed Silica, crushing it and baking it in a kiln. The finished powder was used to make Fire-lighter and Red Star cleaning powder, or was sold to the Wright Silica Company of Keene. The factory was located on the right side of the road south of the brook on Prospect Street (Child 1886a:477; Anonymous 1897:91). Granite quarrying, one of the most active industries in southwestern New Hampshire during this period, was carried out on a large scale during the late nineteenth century by the Troy Granite Company, owned by investors from Worcester, Massachusetts. The industry affected the village, as a special branch railroad was built between the quarry and the depot, from where the granite blocks were shipped out by freight car. The track ran below Water Street, crossed South Main and ran north of 2 South Main Street and along Granite Street from which it continued southeast (Merrifield 1976:6-7).
The production of wood products remained a focus of Troy's economy. Oliver C. Whitcomb built a new large box shop on the site of the Farrar factory on the corner of Prospect and Brook Streets (Merrifield 1976:87). The company was sold to George W.S. Platts who operated it through the first decades of the twentieth century, employing about thirty men in the production of lock-corner packing boxes, tool boxes, and cod fish boxes, as well as toy tool chests, doll furniture, and boxes for croquet sets (Anonymous 1908:44; Merrifield 1976:88). Mark Damon had a small pail shop and sawmill nearby at the end of Russell Avenue. The Buttrick pail factory under Buttrick and Dort employed about twenty-five men in the manufacture of pails and tubs, using about 1,200 cords of pine lumber each year. Edwin Buttrick remarried and moved to 20 South Main Street while Asa Dort occupied 24 South Main Street. Dort continued the business after Buttrick's death in 1891. Later, from 1905 to the 1920s, the factory was operated by Charles C. Carter (Stone 1897:286; Merrifield 1976:90).
Several farms, focusing increasingly on dairy and cattle, continued to operate on the edges of Troy Village during this period. Henry Mahon (12 North Main Street) farmed and dealt in cattle. George A. Starkey was a cattle dealer; his slaughterhouse and related trout ponds were located east of the North Main Street-Marlborough Road fork. A cattle train passed through town weekly to transport cattle to a slaughterhouse in Boston. During this same period, Troy farmers brought their milk cans to the Troy depot each day for shipment to Boston dairies (Merrifield 1976:2-3, 69). As part of the nationwide Grange movement, the Trojan Grange No. 157, Patrons of Husbandry, was organized in Troy in 1890, meeting in the Congregational Church until 1894 and then in the Town Hall (Merrifield 1976:105).
New more specialized businesses opened in addition to the older general stores. Herbert Thompson built a commercial building at 25 Central Square where he sold shoes, boots and medicines and later ran the Troy Post Office. The basement level housed a newspaper shop, followed by a barbershop and then Grace Taft's "ladies' goods." The building next door (27 Central Square) was converted to commercial use, and its owner Sarah Brown erected a small store (1 High Street) to the rear which housed the grocery store of Ernest Barrett. George Starkey built a meat market (1-3 Water Street) where he sold meat from his slaughterhouse. At the north end of the Common, Syrian immigrants the Shaddy family, opened a small store (1 Central Square) (Stone 1897:320; Merrifield 1976:8; Hawkins et al. 1997). Many Troy residents went by rail to Keene to do shopping and business on Saturdays. During this period, three trains daily passed through Troy between Boston and Keene. Edward Russell, and later his son George, operated the Kimball House and the restaurant in the lower level during the late nineteenth century, and the Monadnock Hotel remained in business into the early twentieth century (Merrifield 1976:95). Both hotels had livery stables where horses, sleighs and buggies could be hired. Herb Marshall also offered livery service and transported people to and from the railroad station (Merrifield 1976:12). Dr. Melvin T. Stone had an office in the hotel. He lived at the property on the corner of South Main Street and Monadnock, which he remodeled ca.1887. Dr. Platts lived and practiced at the southeast corner of the Common at 36 Central Square. Austin Gates was a granite cutter who made gravestones near the depot (Anonymous 1935).
Troy's population growth peaked in the 1890s; the town grew from 999 in 1890 to 1,527 ten years later. This was largely the result of an influx of immigrants to work in local industries. By 1895, a quarter of the workers at the Troy Blanket Mills were French-Canadian, recruited to Troy specifically to work in the factory. Large numbers of Finns moved to the region, employed at first in granite quarries, and later in mills such as Troy Blanket Mills. Many of the families went on to fulfill their goal of small farm ownership, purchasing de-valued farms in the surrounding countryside. By 1914, another quarter of Troy Blanket Mills employees were Finnish. (Hawkins et al. 1997; Ripley 1986:22). Some families immigrated from England and brought experience to the woolen mill.
Company-owned worker housing of the Troy Blanket Mills totaled forty units, including two large boardinghouses on Mill Street (no longer extant) (Ripley 1986:22). During this period, the amount of rental property increased, but houses remained primarily owner occupied. The growing population was housed in several small subdivisions laid out and developed during this period. The earliest was Raymond or School Street, on the site of the old "muster field," purchased in 1888 by Joseph W. Raymond of Keene (Stone 1897:318). He laid the field out in lots with a street down the center, and these were sold to individuals who erected houses for their own use or as rental properties (Hurd 1892; Stone 1897:266). Mr. Raymond also purchased part of the Spaulding farm and subdivided it into Granite Street and Nelson Street (Stone 1897:318). On the west side of the village, George Russell, then owner of the Kimball House hotel, developed Russell Avenue as a residential street; some houses were built by Russell himself and then sold, while others were built for individual lot owners (Merrifield 1976:95; Hawkins et al. 1997). Brook Street and Barrett Street were also developed during this period as the village's least expensive housing, also primarily owner occupied.
Troy's public buildings reflect the importance of this period. In 1893-95, a new four-room brick school was built to accommodate 225 pupils, and replace the older schoolhouses (Stone 1897:266). Two years of high school were available in Troy, and then students traveled by train to Keene. The children of immigrant families often went to work instead (Hawkins et al. 1997). In 1893, a twenty-five foot addition was built on the rear of the Town Hall. The interior was redecorated, a stage built in the second-story meeting room, and the basement fire department enlarged. A clock for the tower was donated in 1896 by Dr. Mary Ann Harris who had practiced in Troy in the 1860s (Stone 1897:186; Merrifield 1976:101). The building was a center of social as well as government activity. Popular events were the church suppers, annual church fairs, Sunday school picnics, grange harvest suppers and dances held twice a month in the Town Hall, the Firemen's Ball, and the Fourth of July parade and fireworks. During the summer, band concerts were held every Saturday night at the bandstand on the Common. Movies were shown each Saturday night in the dining room of the Monadnock Hotel and later in the Town Hall (Merrifield 1976:11, 34). Meeting halls included the Red Men's Hall upstairs in the Old Academy at 9 South Main Street and the Masonic lodge above Kimball's store at 33 Central Square. The Odd Fellows met in Kimball Hall (4 Water Street) built on Railroad Avenue (now Water Street) in 1901. Church congregations also grew. A new Congregational parsonage was constructed at 4 Monadnock Street in 1893. The First Baptist Church of Troy at 17 North Main Street was enlarged by an addition to the rear in 1892. In 1906, long time Deacon Alvah Clark, who lived at 43 South Main, willed property at 13 North Main Street to the church for use as a parsonage. A mission of the Catholic Church was established in Troy in the late nineteenth century to serve French-Canadian immigrants. In 1902, Father D.A. O'Neil came to Troy and in 1903 the Immaculate Conception Church was erected at 33 School Street, followed by a rectory (37 School Street) a few years later (Anonymous 1908:50). The Finnish community erected churches just outside of the village district. The Finnish Socialists built a meeting hall off of School Street at 8 Dustin Street) ca.1920.
The introduction of modern utilities and the advent of automobile transportation after the turn-of-the-century marked the beginning of a period of major technological change. The first streetlights were installed in 1905 (Merrifield 1976:42). Public water lines were laid in 1914 and the following year the Troy Water Works was incorporated (Merrifield 1976:96). In 1915, the state highway system was created and Route 12 or Monadnock Road, from the bridge at Bellows Falls to the Massachusetts line, was designated as a State Road (Bureau of Public Roads 1927).
In 1919, the Troy Blanket Mills voted to build a new mill in their complex. The new buildings, erected in 1920 around the 1899 factory on the south side of the river, included a four-story main factory, a new picker house, and a steam and power plant with a five hundred kilowatt steam turbine driven generator (Ripley 1986:37). Franklin Ripley Jr., who lived in a large house at 16 High Street served as superintendent from 1920 until his death in 1932. He was followed by his brother George Ripley who lived at 33 South Main Street.
The construction of the new mill did not anticipate the rapid decline in the demand for horse blankets that would occur when the horse and buggy or wagon were abandoned for the automobile and truck (Ripley 1986:19). By 1928, horse blanket sales had fallen to one third of the 1920 level (Ripley 1986:40). In order to remain in business, the company shifted its focus to related products including camp blankets, linings for work jackets, and "Troy Robes" for automobiles. Troy blanket lining for work clothes was a major product during this period, and a special line was manufactured for the J.C. Penney Company. The Troy Blanket Mills entered the automotive industry, making needled felts for use as sound insulation and padding under floor mats, as well as in shoes (Ripley 1986:38). The company was affected by the Great Depression and a twenty percent cut in salaries and wages was put into effect around 1930. However, through diversification and adaptation, the mills were able to remain in New Hampshire despite the high freighting costs to ship the fabric to the south where the cutting and sewing was done (Ripley 1986:50).
Other smaller companies were not as successful, and increasingly, Troy became a single industry town. In the late 1920s, the former Buttrick pail shop property was purchased by the Troy Blanket Mills, and the buildings were used for storage for a number of years before they were torn down (Merrifield 1976:90). Platts Box Factory was destroyed by fire in ca.1930 and the company relocated to Keene (Merrifield 1976:89).
Troy remained an active town center. The old Kimball store at 33 Central Square was owned by Edwin and Elwin Smith who lived next door at 31 Central Square and at 20 South Main Street (Hawkins et al. 1997). Charles Whitney remained in business at 2 South Main Street, living at 15 South Main Street. He was followed by H.L. Barnard and C.L. Smith. Lagranade's Market was located at 1-3 Water Street and in the 1940s moved to the property at 27 Central Square. The Shaddy family built a new business block north of the Common at 6-8 Central Square where they ran a store from 1924 into the 1940s (Hawkins et al. 1997). The Troy Baking Company at 12 Russell Avenue was operated from 1924 to 1936 by Finnish immigrants William and Anna Tahtinen (Merrifield 1976:89). Fritz Cummings ran the Monadnock Soda Company out of a concrete block building at 8 South Street. The Monadnock Hotel burned ca.1935, leaving extant only the wing at 19 Central Square, which was converted into apartments. The Kimball House also closed during this period. The former stable at 17 Central Square became an automotive garage, owned for many years by the Lepisto family. Other garages built to the north and south on Route 12 included Parker's Garage at 10 North Main which retains no integrity for this period (Hawkins et al. 1997). Land for a public library was given to the Town in 1927, but funds were not available for construction and the library remained in the Town Hall (Merrifield 1976:104). In 1938 the upper part of the Town Hall steeple was removed due to rot and was not replaced until 1976 (Merrifield 1976:103). The Grange acquired the Finnish Socialist Hall at 8 Dustin Street and met there from 1939 to 1968. Troy's population declined during the early decades of the twentieth century, but began to grow again as the automobile allowed residents to commute farther to work.
As of 1935, employment of residents of the different neighborhoods of the village was fairly mixed. On the Common lived two store keepers, a doctor, a teacher, a mail carrier, a pail maker, an overseer and four employees of the blanket mills. North Main Street residents included a farmer and a cattle dealer, a railroad conductor, and three Troy Blanket Mills workers, while on South Main Street lived a clerk, a teamster, a phone operator, and six blanket mill employees. Residents of South Street worked primarily at the blanket mill.
School Street was home to two storekeepers, three barbers, a carpenter, two janitors, two garage owners, and a railroad signalman. Eight heads of households were employed at the blanket mill, one as foreman, along with a number of their adult children. Mill and Monadnock Streets, near the mills, were home primarily to Troy Blanket Mills workers (twenty), as well as two weavers, a spinner, two drivers and an engineer. Nearby, Nelson Street and Granite Street housed seven general mill workers, two foremen, a carder and a teamster, a machinist, a carpenter and a painter, and one man who worked in Keene. On the west side of the village, Russell Avenue residents included a stone cutter, a coal dealer, a railroad signalman and the station agent, a chairmaker, a painter, an electrician, a baker, and a bookkeeper. On Brook Street lived five blanket mills employees, two railroad workers, a laborer, a mail carrier, and an electric company employee (Anonymous 1935).
The new form of transportation, automobile and truck, impacted the village as previous transportation modes had done. Portions of Route 12 through Troy were graveled in 1920, and the highway was first paved in the early 1920s, followed by subsequent surface treatments. The stone bridge on South Main Street was widened in 1928. In 1941, the State widened the road through the village, altering the Common. By the end of this period, the railroad was rendered obsolete. Passenger service ended first, followed by freight service in 1958.
The Troy Blanket Mills continued to produce heavy-weight blankets and utility fabrics until after World War II. In 1940, a major building program was initiated to expand the needle felting operation, and a new dye house and office building were also added to the complex at that time (Ripley 1986:52). The original Goodall mill at the south end of the Common was torn down in the mid-1940s (Ripley 1995). In 1950, a large modern warehouse was added to the factory complex and a number of "obsolete outlying buildings razed" (Ripley 1986:53). These included the factory buildings on the north side of mill street, which was no longer needed for storage after the new warehouse was built, and some adjacent mill housing (Ripley 1995). The company continued to employ large numbers of residents of Troy and the surrounding area (Ripley 1986:100). The work force peaked in 1955 at 625 employees, about 550 of which were Troy residents.
In order to remain competitive, the Troy Blanket Mills diversified their products, developing coated fabrics for automotive trim, industrial felts for filtration, and vinyl fabrics for shoes, boots, and apparel. In 1957, the company began the production of needled felts of Dacron (Dupont's polyester fiber) rather than wool. For about twenty years, the company made needled felt with a vinyl film for car interiors, but terminated this business in 1981 due to environmental concerns (Ripley 1986:56). In 1960, the name of the company was changed to Troy Mills, Inc., since very few blankets were still being made there (Ripley 1986:56). In 1973, the company built a branch plant in Harrisville, West Virginia in order to reduce transportation costs. The main sales and administration office and principal engineering facility remained in Troy (Merrifield 1976:91). As of 1970, the Troy Mills employed 462 (Ripley 1986:100).
New public buildings from the second half of the twentieth century include the Gay-Kimball Library, built in 1953 on the corner of South Main and Monadnock Streets (10 South Main Street), funded by a bequest from Warren Kimball. In 1954, a gymnasium addition was added on the Troy School (Merrifield 1976:46). A wing was added to the Baptist Church (17 North Main Street) in 1958. In 1967, the fire department moved out of the Town Hall basement to a new building on Fitzwilliam Road (Merrifield 1976:79). The first floor of the Town Hall was renovated in 1975, and the following year the steeple was replaced (Merrifield 1976:103). More recently, the fence around the Common was replaced and a new bandstand was erected.
Businesses in the village as of the 1970s included Roland's Troy Market at 33 Central Square, the Red and White Store at 27 Central Square, and Peacock Ceramics at 31 Central Square. On the west side of the Common were a beauty shop, grocery, and doctor's office. An antique shop and upholstery shop were located on South Main Street, a gas station, laundromat and gift shop on North Main Street, a barber shop on Mill Street and a beauty salon on Russell Avenue (Merrifield 1976:93). Since that time, many businesses have closed and there are presently several vacant commercial structures. Commercial activity has shifted to various modern buildings along Route 12, north and south of the village. The Post Office was relocated in the 1980s to the shopping plaza on North Main Street.
A large proportion of Troy Village's residences have become inexpensive rental housing (Hawkins 1995). The widespread use of the automobile allows the majority of Troy residents to commute to work and shopping elsewhere in the region, primarily in Keene (Ripley 1986:59). Traffic on Route 12 has increased steadily through the second half of the twentieth century with commuters, tourists to the Monadnock Region, and large numbers of trucks. As the only surviving local industry, the Troy Mills remained the economic backbone of the community (Merrifield 1976:91). However, by the 1980s the number employed at the factory was reduced to 250, about a third of whom were local residents (Ripley 1986:100). The Troy Mills remained in business longer than any other textile company in the region, but recently reached bankruptcy and closure is imminent.
Architectural Significance and Description
All of the surviving late eighteenth century buildings were remodeled in the nineteenth century and contribute to the Troy Village Historic District for their later periods. Early buildings included 2-1/2-story, center chimney plan houses and smaller 1-1/2-story houses, two rooms deep with fireplace chimneys, in either the full- or half-Cape form.
The Period of Significance for the Troy Village Historic District begins in 1815. The early nineteenth century, during which the village developed as the center of a new town, produced Troy's most significant architecture and these resources that give the village its distinctive character. In addition to the meetinghouse, these include two churches, a school, two stores and many large, fashionable residences. Most significant in the formation of the present village center were the construction of the Troy Meetinghouse or Town Hall and the creation of the Troy Common. The meetinghouse that was to be the focal point of the new town of Troy was erected between 1814 and 1815. The Federal style building features a shallow portico with pedimented gable supported by two pairs of columns and square tower topped by octagonal belfry and bellcast dome. The Troy meetinghouse is similar to others in the region, all of which were modeled on the Templeton meetinghouse, built by Elias Carter (Tolles 1979:133; Stephenson 1994:22). The Troy Common was established at the same time as the meetinghouse in an attempt to create a traditional town center with central green or common like other towns in the region (Stephenson 1994:27).
Troy's early nineteenth century houses are excellent and well-preserved examples of the Federal style. There are several large 2-1/2-story, 5x2 bay houses in the Village; three have side-gable roofs and two have hip roofs.
An example of the former, the 1818 Dr. Whitney House at 26 South Main Street displays a massive central fireplace chimney, and center entry framed by sidelights, slender pilasters and a semi-elliptical louvered fan within the entablature. The Fairbanks House, two stories with a hip roof (31 Central Square), was built ca.1815 at the south end of the Common and remodeled in the later nineteenth century. The Winch House at 42 South Main (ca.1821) retains twin fireplace chimneys, 12/12 windows, and an entry nearly identical to that of the Whitney House. The one-room deep, 5x2 bay I-house type is reflected in the Harrington/Spaulding/Stone House on the corner of South Main Street and Monadnock Street and 2 Central Square, which had twin chimneys behind the ridges (some removed) and original kitchen ells.
Brickyards and granite quarries operated in Troy at an early date, and the most architecturally significant buildings in the village are large, fashionable masonry buildings which display the growth and prosperity of the new town. These include four brick houses, one granite block house, two brick stores, two brick churches and a brick schoolhouse. According to the local history, all brick buildings in the village, except for the Congregational Church (and probably the 1828 school), were constructed with bricks from the yard of Thomas Wright, which operated north of the village from the 1830s through the 1860s (Stone 1897:299; Merrifield 1976:84). The earliest of these masonry structures is the 1828 schoolhouse (known as the "Old Academy") at 9 South Main Street. This 2-1/2-story, front gable structure has two Federal entries topped by semi-circular fanlights.
An important theme in Troy and throughout the region, is seen in transitional or "eclectic" buildings, which combine elements of the Greek and Gothic Revivals, as well as Federal style detailing. Three of the most architecturally distinguished brick buildings in the village display a regional feature, a series of blind arches with granite imposts across their facades. The Congregational Church on South Main Street was built in 1833-1834. The building is oriented gable end to the road, with five arches across the facade and a pair of entries with Federal segmental arch fanlights in the largest two arches. The square wooden bell tower is decorated with Gothic crenellation and spires at each corner. The design for this church and other Troy buildings reflects the influence of regional master builder Aaron P. Howland of Walpole (Tolles 1979:129, 153- 156). Two brick residences also feature the blind arcade. The Goddard/Caverly House, built ca.1839 at 17 Monadnock Street, is a 5x2 bay, one room deep I-house with twin end chimneys. The other, on the intersection of South Main and South Streets is also 5x2 bays and one room deep, but has its very broad roof oriented gable end to the road, a form that was becoming popular in the region at this time. It features an arcade of five arches, a center entry with louvered fan, and a pedimented gable end sheathed in flush boards. Both of these houses had an original wood frame wing or ell.
Brick construction remained popular in Troy as the Greek Revival style became fully developed. Several of Troy's most architecturally distinguished buildings reflect the Greek temple form in their overhanging gable ends sheltering two-story porches supported by square pillars or columns. At 2 South Main Street just below the bridge is the 1835 Farrar/Whitney Store. The building has a three bay, gable front facade, with an overhanging pedimented gable on tall pillars creating a two-story front porch. Historic large storefront windows are intact, as is the Palladian window motif that is the focal point of the front gable. The Kimball Store (33 Central Square), built 1842 at the south end of the Common, is a typical brick commercial block of the period, 2-1/2 stories with entry centered under the pedimented gable end. The Baptist Church at 17 North Main Street was built in 1848-1849 of local bricks and granite (Merrifield 1976:98). The building has the gable front form with overhanging gable end supported by three classical pillars. The bell tower is similar to that on the Congregational Church, square with crenellation and spires. A wood-frame building in the same temple front form was the Monadnock Hotel on the west side of the Common, which burned ca.1935 leaving only the 2-1/2-story wing extant (19 Central Square); this was remodeled extensively and does not contribute to the Troy Village Historic District. The epitome of the temple front form for domestic architecture is the David W. Farrar House at 15 South Main Street, built ca.1848 on South Main Street. The 2-1/2-story, gable front facade features a pedimented gable above a two-story porch on tall square pillars. A similar building, with somewhat less integrity, is the Whittemore/Kimball House (35 Central Square) at the south end of the Common.
The wide gable front, center entry form was the most popular form for houses in Troy during the Greek Revival period and there are eight wood frame houses of this type in the village. This new form was created by turning the roof of the 2-1/2-story, five bay house so the gable end was oriented to the street and made wider to fit the full facade. The largest of these is the 1836 Daniel W. Farrar House at 4 South Main Street. The Lawson House at 14 Water Street is 1-1/2 stories, with characteristic Greek Revival details including wide corner pilasters and frieze with molded cornice, and entry framed by full sidelights, pilasters and entablature. Similar houses with simpler detailing include 5 Central Square at the north end of the Common, 6, 10 and 20 High Street, 18 Mill Street, and 2 North Main. One of the Troy Blanket Mills' boardinghouses on Mill Street (no longer extant) was a large house of this type.
One of the most distinctive houses in Troy is a wide gable Greek Revival house at 1 South Main Street built in 1837 of large granite blocks by quarry owner, Alpheus Crosby. The 2-1/2-story, 5x5 bay house of regular coursed smooth granite blocks features a pedimented gable. Another important granite structure, the stone arch bridge under South Main Street was built by the Town of Troy in 1835 (Caverly 1859:183). The original, filled spandrel, split stone arch structure remains visible on the upstream (west) side of the bridge, while the downstream side is intact, but obscured by the 1928 addition of a concrete slab and encased I-beams on concrete piers. Granite blocks were also used for the abutments of railroad overpasses erected in 1847-48, which are extant on High Street and North Main Street, but have modern decks. The locally available granite was used for nearly all building foundations in the village until the very end of the nineteenth century.
The 2-1/2-story side-hall plan, with narrower gable front facade, was less common in Troy during this period. One example is the Wheeler House at 12 Central Square, a brick 2-1/2-story side-hall, built adjacent to the town hall in the 1830s. It is an excellent example of the fully-developed Greek Revival style. It features a pedimented gable sheathed with flush boards, granite sills and lintels, and Greek Revival entry trim with wooden fretwork.
Brick was also used for the construction of smaller houses. A brick Cape at 12 North Main Street was built ca.1834 as the residence of brickmaker and contractor Capt. Thomas Wright (Caverly 1859:173). An eight bay long, 1-1/2-story brick building at 7 Mill Street was built ca.1839 as a duplex residence for Isaac Aldrich Jr. and his brother Julius C. (Caverly 1859:191; Fagan 1858).
Two brick 2-1/2-story, 5x2 bay, side gable houses with center entry have simple Greek Revival period granite trim. The Buttrick/Dort House at 24 South Main (ca.1840) has twin chimneys behind the ridge, and a one-story brick ell, later enlarged. The house was remodeled considerably in the late nineteenth century with Italianate details. The Charles Coolidge House at 14 Mill Street retains its brick walls with granite trim, but had its windows replaced and entry filled in. Wood-frame houses of this form include 1 School Street which is on the corner of Mill and School Street, built (ca.1850) with twin stove chimneys and a simple Greek Revival style entry.
In the 1850s, use of the side-hall plan became more common in Troy. There are several small wood frame houses of this type. These are generally high-posted, but not kneewall in form, with two windows placed close together in the small front gable, which is either fully-pedimented with flush board sheathing or has projecting eaves with returns. Entry trim on these houses is generally simple, with full or partial sidelights and channeled board trim with corner blocks. The best example in the village is a property built at 15 Mill Street ca.1855. Others are the Eri Spaulding House at 9 Monadnock Street built by its carpenter owner, and the Robb House at 77 Prospect Street and the Francis Foster House at 20 South Main Street built in 1852.
During the third quarter of the nineteenth century, Troy Village continued to grow as an industrial community, but there was relatively little new residential or commercial construction. Troy's only new late nineteenth century commercial building, the Kimball House hotel at 13 Water Street, was built in the Second Empire style, mansard roof form, popular on hotels at the time. One of Troy's more unusual residences, the A.J. Aldrich House at 7 High Street, corner of Prospect Street, was built ca.1865 out of an existing structure. The 1-1/2-story house is Y-shaped with two gables projecting diagonally forward from a larger main block.
Construction picked up again in the 1870s, and the late nineteenth century was an important period in the Troy Village Historic District's development. The most common house type was the side-hall. An excellent example is at 57 Monadnock Street, built as worker housing for the nearby pail factory. It has an essentially Greek Revival form and proportions, an Italianate style door hood on brackets, a slate roof and 6/6 windows. A similar house is the A.S. Clark House built ca.1883 at 43 South Main Street. It also has door hood, a bay window, slate roof, 2/2 window sash, a large ell and connected barn. The Mahon House at 23 High Street also features a bracketed doorhood, two-story bay window, and 2/2 window sash. On North Main Street, are three houses built by carpenter Amos Ingalls. Two (20 and 26-26a North Main Street) are side-halls of 1-1/2 and 2-1/2 stories, both with bay windows, and wings spanned by Victorian porches. The third (25 North Main Street, Almira Spooner House) is a high-posted Cape with gable wall dormers.
A number of older houses were updated during this period with Victorian details, reflecting the continued prominence of their owners. The Buttrick/Dort House at 24 South Main Street was substantially remodeled with a front porch, two-story bay windows, double-doors, and 2/2 window sash. The Harrington/Spaulding/Stone House on the corner of South Main Street and Monadnock Street received a door hood, 2/2 windows, a new ell and stable. Porches were added to properties at 4 South Main Street, 9 and 17 Monadnock Street, and 12 North Main Street. An entry porch and larger windows added to 31 Central Square created an Italianate style appearance. Colonial Revival porches on Doric columns were added to 38 South Main Street. A Greek Revival period house at 27 South Main Street (Osborne/Rippley House, ca.1850) was completely remodeled in the 1880s with porches, bay windows and decorative cut shingles.
The Troy Blanket Mills expanded its factory in 1899, with new wood-frame buildings between Mill and Monadnock Streets. In 1901, two barn-like storage buildings were constructed at the northeast corner of the Common at 26 and 28 Central Square. The late nineteenth century population growth and prosperity is reflected in Troy Village's public buildings. Additions were made to the Baptist Church (17 North Main Street) and the Town Hall at Central Square. In 1893-95, a new large brick school was built at the end of School Street to serve the whole town. Kimball Hall (4 Water Street) is a simple two-story, wood frame meeting hall on upper Water (formerly Depot or Railroad) Street, relatively unchanged since its construction in 1901. The Queen Anne style Immaculate Conception Church at 33 School Street dates from 1902-03. Nearby is the ca.1905 parsonage at 37 School Street, a large square house.
Commercial activity in the village also increased and a number of new commercial structures were erected. The most distinctive of these is the 1893 Thompson Block on the Common at 25 Central Square, a 2-1/2-story, gable-front structure with a two-story porch, and entries centered on the first floor and recessed basement level, flanked by large store windows. Adjacent property at 27 Central Square was converted to commercial use during this period, smaller commercial buildings include properties at 3 Depot (Water) Street and 1-3 Water/Depot Street (formerly Railroad Street).
Through the turn-of-the-century, the main streets in the village remained the desirable location for the construction of large, fashionable residences, and the older houses remained in single family use. Some new houses were built on in-fill lots during this period, reflecting the Queen Anne, Stick and Colonial Revival styles. The most architecturally distinguished of these is the Franklin Ripley House at 33 South Main Street, built ca.1910 for the superintendent and owner of the Troy Blanket Mills, at the corner of South Main and South Streets (Ripley 1986:35). This large residence is an outstanding combination of the Queen Anne and Colonial Revival styles, and by far the most fashionable house of this period in Troy. The 2-1/2-story structure features bands of clapboard and shingle siding, bay windows, a wraparound porch, cutaway porches on the second story, and an attached gazebo. A smaller house is the Dr. Platt House (36 Central Square) on the east side of Central Square, a Stick style house with bands of clapboards and fish scale shingles. The Congregational Parsonage built at 4 Monadnock Street in 1893 is a simple Queen Anne style house. Another large formerly Queen Anne style house at 21 Prospect Street has lost integrity.
The last decades of the nineteenth century marked a boom in residential building in the village, creating three new neighborhoods in a series of small subdivisions. Between 1889 and 1897, forty-six new houses (containing one to four units each) were built in the village (Stone 1897:319). New construction continued into the early 1900s. These houses include a mix of vernacular, wood frame house types, primarily single family homes, as well as some double houses. By far the most common is the 1-1/2-story side-hall, while others are high-posted Capes, or other small, more irregular forms, and a few 2-1/2-story side-halls. All are detailed with basic Victorian era design elements including porches with turned posts and balusters, or bracketed door hoods, bay windows, and decorative shingle work. All are supported by brick foundations and have double-hung 2/2 or 2/1 window sash. The resulting neighborhoods retain strong turn-of-the-century character.
The earliest subdivision was School Street, originally Raymond Street, in the northeast corner of the village, east of the Town Hall. It was subdivided in 1888 and houses were built in the early 1890s. Most were built by individual owners and display a variety of stylistic details and house plans. Granite Street and Nelson Street were laid out by the same developer, Mr. Raymond. Three houses were built before 1897 (Stone 1897:318) and others soon after. Most of these single family residences are small, 1-1/2-story side-halls with a small wing.
On the west side of the village, Russell Avenue was laid out by George Russell (Merrifield 1976:95). He built a number of the houses himself as investment properties, including a row of five nearly-identical houses along the north side of the street. Russell Avenue features hillside lots, with maples and granite retaining walls. The houses are particularly attractive in composition and siting. They are larger than the subdivision on Granite and Nelson Streets and were more expensive. The Queen Anne detailing is more expansive featuring towers, porches and a generous use of cut shingles. The houses have a strong horizontal massing with large wings and some barns. Nearby, Brook and Barrett Streets (developer not identified) consist of a series of small, flat lots, with small modest residences built ca.1900-ca.1910.
The best examples of the 1-1/2-story side-hall house type are located on Russell Avenue. One (9 Russell Avenue) is a fully-developed example of the Queen Anne style; it features a wraparound porch on turned posts, a square corner tower with bellcast roof, and decorative cut shingles in the gable end. This house, like several others on the street, has an ell and small barn. A row of five nearly-identical side-halls with wings were built by George Russell at 11, 13, 17, 19 and 27 Russell Avenue. All feature porches on turned posts across the facade of main block and wing, and all have gable wall dormers on the front roof slope of the wing. Most retain original 2/2 windows and doors glazed with large square lights. Bay windows are located under the front porches at 11, 17 and 27 Russell Avenue. The latter has decorative cut shingles in its gable, as does 19 Russell Avenue. On the opposite side of the street are various 1-1/2-story side-halls. 26 Russell Avenue is notable for its porch with flared shingled parapet and square posts.
Several equally good examples of the 1-1/2-story side-hall house type are found on School Street. 41 School Street features porches, a bay window, and a Queen Anne style stained glass window. 22 School Street has a door hood and a bay window, a wing and small connected barn. A similar house at 15 North Main Street, which has a brick foundation and 2/2 windows, features cut shingles in the gable, door hood and bay window, wing and small connected barn. A pair of 1-1/2-story side-hall residences at 19 and 21 School Street reflect the Stick style in their exposed rafter ends, porches, shed-roofed bay windows, and at 21 School Street, a tiny gable crosspiece. 17 South Street is an outstanding house of this type with a stone foundation, bay windows and porch with oriental-motif railing.
More plainly detailed houses of the type are located on Granite Street, which has six side-hall residences, all slightly different, built ca.1899-1910. 34 Granite Street has an Italianate doorhood and a bay window; 38 Granite Street features a wrap around porch. A Colonial Revival style porch supported by Doric columns spans 13 Granite Street. Built slightly later, 21 Granite Street reflects the Bungalow style in its rusticated granite foundation, shingled walls, and porch with columns supported on granite piers. Carpenter Walter Burpee built three identical 1-1/2-story side-hall houses at 54, 56 and 58 Mill Street ca.1895 (Hawkins et al. 1997). These houses have no added features such as porches or bays. Similar, plain, un-ornamented houses are located on Brook Street.
32 Brook Street retains original clapboard walls trimmed with corner boards, frieze and eave returns, a stove chimney, 2/2 window sash and one-story ell. Others with somewhat less integrity are 31 and 38 Brook Street.
Walter Burpee also built one of few high posted Capes from this period at 4 North Main Street. Another high-posted Cape is located at 9 Prospect Street. It retains a high degree of integrity including an ell and small barn. Other small 1-1/2-story houses include a kneewall Cape at 30 Granite Street, and a narrow side-hall with wing and Queen Anne porch at 10 Nelson Street, and a house which is similar in form at 14 Nelson Street. Several small houses are located at 3, 13 and 27 Brook Street, plus 7 Barrett Street, a narrow "shotgun" house and 11 Barrett Street an identical house but retains no integrity.
The Square House type, two stories with pyramidal hip roof, was used for two houses on Nelson Street (9 and 71 Nelson Street), and the Catholic Parsonage at 37 School Street.
Troy also retains representatives of multi-family housing. All of the larger dwellings from this period were multi-family residences, primarily duplexes. These include a duplex on the west side of the Common, owned by the Troy Blanket Mills (11 Central Square), which is 6x2 bays with a 2-1/2-story ell split down the middle, twin stove chimneys, and two entries under a door hood; another duplex stood to the south (no longer extant). At the upper end of Granite Street are two large 2-1/2-story duplexes built ca.1900 by Walter Guy (1-3 and 5-7 Granite Street) (Hawkins et al. 1997). Guy himself lived at 1-3 Granite Street, a 6x3 bay duplex, with two entries under a Queen Anne porch, and two 1-1/2-story ells. The house retains its twin stove chimneys and slate roof. Several large houses were built on School Street. 25 and 29 School Street are 2-1/2-story, gable-front duplexes. One of the twin duplexes (10 and 14 School Street) built by George Russell retains integrity. 14 School Street is 6x2 bays with double center entries flanked by bay windows with shed roofs. Another multi-family house at 38 School Street is 2-1/2 stories with a 2-1/2- story wing. A small duplex at 5 Barrett is a high posted Cape, 6x2 bays, with twin stove chimneys and center entries.
A new four-story brick mill was added to the Blanket Mill complex on the south side of Mill Street in 1920. Other buildings in the complex probably also date from this period and expansion continued as late as 1950. Unique in Troy and reflecting the prominence of its owner, the superintendent and part owner of the Troy Blanket Mills, is the Franklin Ripley, Junior House at 16 High Street. Built ca.1920 and enlarged in 1926 (Ripley 1997), this large stuccoed house reflects the Spanish Colonial or Mission style. There was little new construction in the town following the end of the industrial boom period, and the population declined after 1920 (Southwestern New Hampshire Regional Planning Commission 1979). The few small residences from this period are modest buildings, including a Colonial Revival Cape built ca.1940 at 50 South Main Street.
There has been little new construction in Troy since the end of the Period of Significance ca.1952. Modern industrial structures were added to the Troy Mills complex. In the village center are a small modern bank and a large new elderly housing complex.
References
Anonymous. 1861, "Invoice and Taxes." Collection of the New Hampshire State Library, Concord.
Anonymous. 1880a, "A Report of the Valuation and Taxes, of the Town of Troy, N.H." Collection of the New Hampshire State Library, Concord.
Anonymous. 1880b, The Troy and Marlborough Directory. New York Publishing Company. Collection of the New Hampshire State Library, Concord.
Anonymous. 1897, Biographical Review, Containing Life Sketches of Leading Citizens of Cheshire and Hillsborough Counties. Boston: Biographical Review Publishing Company.
Anonymous. 1908, The Town Register: Marlborough. Troy. Jeffrey, Swanzey. Augusta, Maine: Mitchell-Cony Co. Inc. Collection of the New Hampshire Historical Society, Concord.
Anonymous. 1915, "Invoice and Taxes of the Town of Troy." Keene, N.H.: Sentinel Printing Company. Collection of the New Hampshire State Library, Concord.
Anonymous. 1935, Manning's Keene and Troy (New Hampshire) Directory. Springfield, MA: H.A. Manning Company. Collection of the New Hampshire State Library, Concord.
Anonymous. 1952, Manning's Keene. Marlborough and Troy (New Hampshire) Directory. Springfield, MA: H. Manning Co. Collection of the New Hampshire State Library, Concord.
Bureau of the Census. 1860, Population Census. Microfilm Collection of the University of New Hampshire Library, Durham.
Bureau of the Census. 1920, Population Census. Microfilm Collection of the University of New Hampshire Library, Durham.
Bureau of the Census. 1940, Sixteenth Census of the United States. Collection of the New Hampshire State Library, Concord.
Caverly, Abiel M. 1859, An Historical Sketch of Troy, and Her Inhabitants from the First Settlement of the Town, in 1764, to 1855. Keene: N.H. Sentinel Office.
Child, Hamilton. 1885, Gazetteer of Cheshire County, N.H.. 1736-1885 and Business Directory of Cheshire County, N.H.. 1884-85. Syracuse: The Daily Journal Office.
Harling, Betty. 2002, Recollections of old houses, manuscript March 2002.
Hostutler, Elizabeth J. and Worthen D. Muzzey. 1994, "Cheshire Railroad — New Hampshire Division of Historical Resources Area Form," on file at NHDHR, Concord.
Hurd, D. Hamilton. 1886, History of Cheshire and Sullivan Counties. New Hampshire. Philadelphia: J.W. Lewis & Company.
Merrifield, Kenneth, ed. 1976, Troy: A Tribute to the American Revolution Bicentennial. Trojan Press.
Ripley, F. Fuller. 1986, The Fabric of Troy: a History of the Troy Mills. Troy, NH: Troy Mills Inc.
Smith, Marjorie Walen. 1979, Historic Homes of Cheshire County, New Hampshire. Collection of the New Hampshire State Library.
Stephenson, Robert B., compiler. 1994, The Old Photographs Series: The Towns of the Monadnock Region. Augusta, Maine: Alan Sutton, Inc.
Stone, M.T., M.D. 1897, Historical Sketch of the Town of Troy, New Hampshire and Her Inhabitants. Keene: Sentinel Printing Company.
Maps
Carrigain, Philip. 1816, "Map of New Hampshire." Reproduced 1965 by N.H. Division of Economic Development. Concord, NH: Capital Offset Company.
Fagan, L. 1858, "Map of Cheshire Co. New Hampshire from Actual Survey by L. Fagan." Collection of the New Hampshire Historical Society, Concord.
Hurd, H.D. & Co. 1892, Town and County Atlas of the State of New Hampshire. Boston: D.H. Kurd & Co.
Rockwood, C.H. 1877, Atlas of Cheshire County. New Hampshire. New York City: Comstock & Cline. Collection of the New Hampshire Historical Society, Concord.
Sanborn Map Company. 1909, Troy Insurance Maps. Microfilm collection of the New Hampshire Historical Society.
Sanborn Map Company. 1924, Troy Insurance Maps. Microfilm collection of the New Hampshire Historical Society.
Sanborn Map Company. 1946, Troy Insurance Maps, 1924 corrected to 1946. Microfilm collection of the New Hampshire Historical Society.
Deeds - Cheshire County Registry, Keene
1814 Book 176, Page 38. 1816 Book 73, Page 275. 1851 Wadsworth notebooks, Vol. 35, pages 75-79.
Interviews
Warion and Wendell Hawkins, Maurice Clark, Marion Austin, Bob Tucker, Jeanette Carlson, Reggie and Isabel Venn, Ralph Lang, Betty Harling, and Edmund Lagranade, Troy residents, March 3, 1997.
‡ Kerry Ann Laprey and Lynne Emerson Monroe, consultants, Troy Heritage Commission, Troy Village Historic District, Troy, NH nomination document, 2002, National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places, Washington, D.C.
Street Names
Barrett Street • Brook Street • Central Square • Depot Street • Granite Street • High Street • Main Street North • Main Street South • Mill Street • Monadnock Street • Nelson Street • Prospect Street • Route 12 • Russell Street • School Street • South Street • Starkey Avenue • Water Street