House for Sale | TOWN for Sale!
One of New England’s most authentic 19th-century mill towns goes on the market—lock, stock, and barrel.
By Yankee Magazine|Jan 01 2010|
Originally published in the March 1971 issue of Yankee.
We realize that many of you look for this column each month in hopes that we’ll be featuring a real bargain in the most beautiful of country settings and—well, you know. And often we do find such places. But this month we can’t resist doing something a little different. After all, how often do you run across one of New England’s most beautiful, most photographed, most painted towns for sale? Well, not the entire town—but certainly the heart of it.
In the center of our neighboring town of Harrisville, New Hampshire, are 17 homes for sale (which includes three double houses) plus the entire Cheshire Mill complex. Situated on the river called Nubanusit which spills down from Harrisville Pond to North Pond and then down to the Contoocook in Peterborough, the mill has been the life’s blood of Harrisville for nearly 200 years.
It began as a combination grist and saw mill but, in 1799, one Jonas Clark established it for the manufacturing of cloth-and the business was continued over the years by Bethuel Harris who, in 1830, added the so-called “Upper Mill.” In addition, Harris gradually built storehouses, sorting houses, etc., as well as a number of homes to rent to his employees. Then Cyrus Harris, brother of Bethuel, built a third mill (the “Lower Mill”) downstream and around this, too, were built outbuildings as well as a large boarding house. There’s much more history to be told but space dictates we skip to 1850 when a group from Keene bought the Lower Mill and some of the descendants of this group have operated it ever since. In the 1880s the Middle Mill burned and the Upper Mill was permanently boarded up, but the Lower Mill continued on. With the addition of the large, modern, brick wing, in 1922, the entire mill complex and the town took on its present appearance.
Until last fall Cheshire Mills somehow continued to operate in the face of higher wages and operating costs as well as competition from foreign and synthetic textiles.
Then, ironically, the year of Harrisville’s Centennial, it became impossible to continue. Cheshire Mills paid its last paychecks to its employees, many of whom were third- and fourth-generation mill workers, and sadly announced all would have to find work elsewhere. The news cast a pall of gloom and anxiety over Harrisville (recently declared an Historic District, incidentally), as well as the entire Monadnock Region. What would happen to Harrisville, now?
Well, that’s yet to be determined. People are still living in all but two of the 20 houses owned by Cheshire Mills. And a number of these are beautiful old brick colonials. Many homes are on the lake or the river. The entire setting is superb, as many of you who have toured the area will know. The huge mill complex, with its modern textile machinery and vast assortment of other equipment, stands silently waiting—for who or what? Presently, the only activity is a little Mill Store where, on Fridays and Saturdays, you can buy stunning fabrics at bargain prices.
So now it’s all for sale—including the some 30 or 40 acres of land in the central village.
Since there are few property lines to the homes and many have common sewage, etc., all the houses are to be sold as one unit. Preferably, someone with imagination, foresight, and money will purchase the mill, its outbuildings and homes, and incorporate everything into one large master plan. A private school? Historic village such as Sturbridge? Manufacturing on perhaps a lesser scale? A combination of several things? Or?
Sorry, but we can’t mention price at this stage. However, if you or some group or organization you know would like more details and background, simply write the Cheshire Mills, Harrisville, New Hampshire…. □□□
