**NEW-See selected Holderness records under Archives
We are a seasonal organization dedicated to preserving our town’s history, providing educational experiences and informative programs to the public, collecting artifacts and maintaining our museum, and providing an avenue for research.
On August 28, 1961 the first meeting of the Holderness Historical Society was held at the home of Susan Bacon Keith. Through the next years meetings were held in private homes, the Community Church and the fire house. When the New Hampshire Baptist Convention declared the North Holderness Church defunct the Historical Society purchased the building and had it moved from Perch Pond Road to Curry Place in 1994.
Museum Hours
July – September, Saturdays 10am – noon or by appointment. Contact holdernesshistsoc@yahoo.com
2016 Special Exhibit
Squam Bridge School
Our special exhibit this summer is School Days, featuring pictures of Holderness schools of yesterday and class pictures as well as artifacts from the era of one room school houses.
2016 Programs
June 23 – 7:30 PM
at Holderness Historical Society
“The Ballad Lives!”
John Perrault
Murder and mayhem, robbery and rapine, love that cuts to the bone: American ballads re-tell the wrenching themes of their English and Scottish cousins. Transplanted in the new world by old world immigrants, the traditional story-song of the Anglos and Scots wound up reinvigorated in the mountains of Appalachia and along the Canadian border. John Perrault talks, sings and picks the strings that bind the old ballads to the new.
August 4 – 7:30 PM
at Holderness Historical Society
“Discovering New England Stone Walls”
Kevin Gardner
Why are we so fascinated with stone walls? Kevin Gardner, author of The Granite Kiss, explains how and why New England came to acquire its thousands of miles of stone walls, the way in which they and other dry stone structures were built, and how their styles emerged and changed over time and their significance to the famous New England landscape. Along the way, Kevin occupies himself building a miniature wall or walls on a tabletop, using tiny stones from a five-gallon bucket.
September 8 7:30 PM
at Holderness Historical Society
“A Visit With Abraham Lincoln”
Steve Wood
Abraham Lincoln., portrayed by Steve Wood, begins this program by recounting his early life and ends with a reading of the “Gettysburg Address.” Along the way he comments on the debates with Stephen Douglas, his run for the presidency, and the Civil War.
Doing genealogical research? For local cemetery information see site maintained by member Carl Sheperd, website.