New Hampton Town House facts for kids
Quick facts for kids |
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New Hampton Town House
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 Location in New Hampshire
Location in the United States
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| Location | Jct. of Town House Rd. and Dana Hill Rd., New Hampton, New Hampshire |
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| Area | less than one acre |
| Architect | Kelley, Samuel |
| NRHP reference No. | 98000198 |
| Added to NRHP | March 23, 1998 |
The New Hampton Town House is a really old and important building in New Hampton, New Hampshire. It's also known as the New Hampton Meeting House or Center Meeting House. Since 1799, this building has been the town's official meeting place, like a town hall. It's one of only three town halls in Belknap County that are still used today and were built way back in the 1700s! Because of its history, it was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1998.
What Does the Town House Look Like?
The New Hampton Town House is in a quiet, country area. It's a one-story building made of wood. It has a pointed roof and its outside walls are covered with wooden boards. There are brick chimneys at both ends of the roof.
The front of the building has five sections. The main door is in the middle. It has a small roof over it, held up by square posts. The doorway is decorated with columns, and there are similar columns at the building's corners. Small additions stick out from the back of the main building.
Inside, the main part of the building is one big room. The additions at the back have space for a stage, a kitchen, and other useful areas. There's even a special curtain on the stage that has a painting of the building itself!
A Look Back: The History of the Town House
New Hampton became an official town in 1777. In the early days, town meetings were held in people's homes or barns.
In 1798, the town decided to build a special meeting house. They used money from the town budget and also from selling "pews" (benches) inside the building. By 1799, the building was ready enough to host town meetings.
When it was first built, it looked like a typical meeting house from the late 1700s. It had a second floor balcony area and stairs on the outside. The building was mainly used by a religious group called the Congregationalists. Another local group, the Free Will Baptists, built their own meeting house nearby because of this.
The Congregationalist group eventually became smaller and stopped using the building in 1842. There's a chance that a Baptist group also used the building for a while.
Over the years, people in the town often talked about updating the building. Finally, in 1872, big changes were made. The second-floor balcony and the outside stairs were removed. The roof was also lowered to its current height. Later, in the 1930s, electricity was added. The stage and kitchen areas were built in 1940.
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