Historical Pictures

These are just a few of the older photos from our vast Historical Photographic Collection. The rest of it is available for viewing during business hours or by private arrangement. We greatly appreciate all the donations we have recieved. If you have any "old" photographs of the Chesterfield, Spofford, West Chesterfield area, old being a relevant term, please feel free to come by and share them with us.

The Allegretto

Harry Thayer Kingsbury enjoyed building and constructed several steamboats for his family's use at their summer cottage on Lake Spofford. The Allegretto sank sometime around 1887. Annette Spaudling a frequent diver in Lake Spofford, recovered some of its artifacts. On June 11, 2019, she presented the Chesterfield Historical Society with its anchor.

Dedication of Memorial Plaque

Birthplace of Chief Justice Harlan F. Stone

August 25, 1948

The dedication was attended by three associate justices of the US Supreme Court, US Senator Styles Bridges, NH Governor Charles M. Dale and four ex-governors of the State of New Hampshire. (Although the building no longer exists, the monument can be found at the Horseshoe Road entrance of Pisgah State Park.)

Blacksmith Shop

C. 1850

Built of seam-faced granite from nearby quarries, it was used by the Clark family until 1868. In 1930, the building was painstakingly moved to

Storrowton Village Museum in W. Springfield, MA

and is still used as the museum blacksmith shop.

Chesterfield Inn

c. 1930's

Main Street, Chesterfield

(Now the Chesterfield House)

Keene/Spofford Lake Stage

at Lakeside

(Now Camp Spofford)

Spofford Lake

Early 1900's

General Store & Post Office

Main Street

West Chesterfield

1908

Photo on loan by Beatrice Chickering

Kneeland Tavern

Route 9, West Chesterfield

(Now The Chesterfield Inn which is still in operation)

Ware's Grove, Spofford Lake

On left, bathhouse and apartments

On right, dance pavilion and later, roller rink

c. 1930

Anthony Manch Collection

Methodist Church

Center Chesterfield

Erected 1843

Photo prior to removal of upper portion of steeple. It is now the Asbury United Methodist Church

Photo by Paul Penning

Pierce's Temperance Lake House

Now the Stone House

(Much of the land now part of Route 9)

at corner of Rt. 9 & Rt. 63

Built 1831

Pine Grove Springs Hotel

Became the Lake Spofford Hotel

(Burned down in 1961)

Pine Grove Springs Hotel

as seen from the lake in 1914

Prospect House

Built 1873, Burned c. 1895

Was Located off Route 9

Spofford

J.A. French Photograph

Slade's Store - 1909

Spofford

Built in 1820, remodeled c. 1880

The Lake House

Built 1831

Picture taken in the late 1800s

It is still on the corner of Routes 63 & 9

(Was the Pierce's Temperance Lake House now The Stone House)

Stone Store

Center Chsterfield

c. 1910 (Built 1849)

(Now the Chesterfield Post Office)

from the Jeff Barry Collection

Courtesy of Richard Mitchell

Town Hall

Center Chesterfield

c. 1910 (Built 1851)

(Center Cemetery behind and on right)

From the Jeff Barry Collection

Courtesy Richard Mitchell

Town Hall and Chesterfield Academy

C. 1885

Academy was founded in 1794

(Chesterfield Elementary School now on house site)

French & Sawyer stereoscopic view

Courtesy Laurence D. Colony III

Universalist Church

West Chesterfield

(Note carriage sheds in the background)

Myrtle Burnham Collection

Justice Harlan Fiske Stone

Pedestrian Bridge

Spans the Connecticut River between West Chesterfield and Brattleboro, VT. Constructed in 1937 to replace the 1888 Suspension Bridge that was distroyed in the 1936 Flood.

(The new Route 9 bridge on the right.)

Photo 2017