An amazing story is developing in the beautiful, historic town of Orford NH which was a wonderful settlement from the 1761 Connecticut River settlement that boasts some of the most incredible homes in the Upper Valley. Orford historical references are listed by the town here. Town historian Carl Schmitt reported that the town approved on March 12 a plan to benefit our UV community by approving a proposal to secure a permanent home for Orford’s history and also save the historic Old Town Hall building in Orfordville. Article 9 authorized the town to purchase the Old Town Hall building with donated funds to be raised by the Orford Historical Society. The building would then be leased by the historical society to display, preserve and safeguard nearly 1,000 donated artifacts, photographs and documents for the benefit of present and future generations. This would constitute an ideal new use for the Old Town Hall, which was built by the town in 1859 and served for over 130 years as Orford’s only government building as well as the site of countless community functions. This plan was consistent with support shown for the historical societies in Piermont, Lyme, Bradford and Fairlee, which all use space in town-owned buildings.
The annual Friends of the Orford Libraries Soup Supper was held on March 9th, accepted the support of Orford’s two libraries, the Orford Social and Orford Common Library, and it featured a program called “That Reminds Me of a Story.” Delivered by well known author and storyteller, Rebecca Rule, it highlighted the town’s history in a fascinating lecture. Becky draws on the letters of Horace Walpole cited here:
The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Letters of Horace Walpole
What is compelling is the courage of the early settlers of the Upper Valley- many of whom lived into their early nineties. In the centennial account for Orford in 1965, the following acknowledgement was received.
The natural beauty and fertility of this part of the town attracted to its
inhabitants of considerable wealth from other places. I may mention
particularly, Capt. Joseph Pratt, Capt. Alexander Storey, Capt. George
Ropes and his brother Hardy Ropes, — all from the fine old city of Salem,
Mass. They purchased large farms, and helped greatly to support the
religious and educational interests of the town. Their titles were acquired,
not in the military service, but in maritime pursuits. They left the ploughing
of the ocean for the safer though less remunerative work of ploughing the land.
The Orford Historical Society maintains a Facebook presence which is easy to support- Like It!
Invest In the Upper Valley with Celina Barton 