RonnieAdventure #0127, New Hampshire, 2014 Part IV

President Franklin Pierce was born in Hillsborough and became the 14^th president of the United States in 1853. The Pierce Homestead is a specious and beautiful country home that was constructed by Franklin’s father in 1804. A ballroom extends the entire length of the second floor and was used for entertaining and has hosted many State and National distinguished guests.

If you are hungry and are looking for some good home-cooking, you need to stop by the Harrisville General Store that has been in business since 1838. The store works with local producers, vendors, and farmers to provide customers with some of the best food in the area. 

Frye’s Measure Mill is one of the few remaining water-powered mills in the United States, and the only measure mill still active today. On weekends a master box maker demonstrates early water-powered woodworking and carding machinery that uses overhead line shafting and leather belts to transfer the water power to the machines. 

The Robert Frost Farm contains a simple two-story white clapboard farmhouse that was typical of New England in the 1880s. However, unlike “The Frost Place” that is located in a remote mountain setting with beautiful vistas, the Farm is now surrounded by the City of Derry and does not have the same peaceful felling.

One of the most fascinating places we visited while we were in New Hampshire was “America’s Stonehenge.” No one knows for certain who constructed the site, but some people believe the stone structures are over 4,000 years old. They believe the site builders were well versed in astronomy because it has been reported that some of the stones are an accurately astronomically aligned calendar that can be used to determine specific solar and lunar events. The site also contains various stone chambers and a 4.5 ton flat stone that may have been used for ceremonial sacrifices. Other people say the site is just an early-20^th century hoax. You decide!

The Rochester Arched Bridge was built in 1883 and is unique to New Hampshire because it is constructed with heavy brick arches, faced with split granite. Its fifty-foot width was unusual for the time period, when most bridges were narrow one-lane construction.  

Fort Constitution State Historic Site (aka Fort William and Mary) is located on the Coast Guard Station Portsmouth Harbor in New Castle, overlooking both the Piscataqua River and the Atlantic Ocean. In 1791 the State of New Hampshire donated the new Castle Island peninsula to the United States, which put Fort William and Mary and the adjacent lighthouse under Federal control. The United States repaired the Fort and renamed it Fort Constitution. The Fort was used for a number of years, but has now been abandoned and is in ruins; however, the Portsmouth Harbor Lighthouse is still in use today.