Saturday, October 4th
A History Weekend at The Hancock Inn
Moderated by
Howard Mansfield
Once upon a time, water in New Hampshire was hoarded. Nearly every pond, lake, river, and brook was altered. Dams were built, swamps and pastures were flooded.
The “unspoiled” lakes, beloved by summer visitors today, and the “pristine” ponds in nature sanctuaries, have a hidden industrial past. They were reservoirs. Impounded water was the coal heap of the early 1800s. The landscape was reshaped in a quest for power. The more water a mill claimed, the more machines it could run. Water was progress.
Spend the day with us, Saturday, October 4th history and future of New Hampshire waterpower. We will visit Harrisville, one of America’s great preservation stories – a rare, intact 19th Century mill village in a stunning setting – and meet with Chic Colony, preservationist and Trustee of Historic Harrisville.
At dinner that night at The Hancock Inn, Howard Mansfield will lead Bob King, hydroelectric entrepreneur and evangelist, in Q&A discussion about the future of water power in New England.
ITINERARY
Agenda:
10:00 a.m. – Meet at the Hancock Inn for Q&A on the day with Howard Mansfield
11:00 a.m. – Field Trip to Historic Harrisville, NH with Chick Colony, preservationist, Trustee of Historic Harrisville and Owner of Harrisville Designs*
Lunch – Harrisville General Store*
6:00 p.m. – Dinner at the Hancock Inn, and a conversation with Bob King, hydroelectric entrepreneur and evangelist. Yankee Magazine Article
Please note: Lunch and Dinner costs are a la carte
Event reservations are required. Please call the Inn at 603 525 3318. Space is limited.
Howard Mansfield sifts through the commonplace and the forgotten to discover stories that tell us about ourselves and our place in the world. He writes about history, architecture, and preservation. He is the author of seven books, including In the Memory House, The Bones of the Earth, and most recently, Dwelling in Possibility: Searching for the Soul of Shelter which The Boston Globe called “a wholly original meditation … that’s part observation of the contemporary built environment, part cultural history, part philosophical account, and at times something like a Whitmanian poetic survey.”
*Attendees need to have their own transportation.