CHS 50th Anniversary
2025 Year in Review
What better way to celebrate a half century of preserving Chesterfield’s history than to open a museum dedicated to displaying the town’s history. After seven plus years of grant writing, restoration, and construction delays, the Stone House Tavern Museum (SHTM) opened on June 7, 2025. This undertaking presented huge hurdles which couldn’t have been scaled without the dedication of the CHS Board, the SHTM Committee, and loyal volunteers, especially Jon Starbuck. This year’s work was funded by the Putnam Foundation, More Than a Thrift Store, Revo Casino & Social House, and individual donors.
The museum was open Saturdays from June 7 to August 30th and continued to accept private tours through October. Over 385 visitors explored the building in its first season. In addition, the SHTM provided the space to host (for the first time) the Cheshire County Historical Society Round Table which consists of historical societies from around Cheshire County.
The official Grand Opening was held over two days in August. Live fiddle music provided the feel of 1831. Several people were recognized for their contributions including Neil Jenness, who was the CHS Board President and initiator of the purchase, Linda Buffet, our champion donor, and Pam Walton and Valerie Starbuck for their endless hours of work to fund and move the project along. Also acknowledged were Charles Michal (architect), and Jeff Ingram (owner and manager of Ingram Construction), for their steadfast guidance and support.
CHS provided the greater Chesterfield community with seven free programs. Some were presented by local residents, and others were co-sponsored with the Chesterfield Library and/or NH Humanities. Marie Elena Potter demonstrated spinning. Charles Marchant discussed how cemeteries are outdoor museums, while Jeff Titus introduced some of the “permanent residents” of Chesterfield’s 24 cemeteries. John Stark (presented by George Morrison) and Queen Elizabeth (portrayed by Sheryl Faye) brought to life how personalities can drive history. Adair Mulligan’s description of the Connecticut River illustrated how the river has influenced the industrial growth of the valley through which it flows
With fewer people purchasing calendars, CHS decided that the 2025 calendar would be the final one, ending a tradition begun in the 1980s. The calendar highlighted Chesterfield’s graveyard and provided an interactive scavenger hunt which was a great success. Alex Archer and Nova Warner (both six years old) were declared the top winners. This is paragraph text. Click it or hit the Manage Text button to change the font, color, size, format, and more. To set up site-wide paragraph and title styles, go to Site Theme.
CHS’ fifty years of commitment to the history of Chesterfield was celebrated in September with cake and the dedication of the Blacksmith Sign (located in front of the CHS building). Acknowledging the historic value of the stone 1850 Blacksmith Shop had been a goal of the Society since its incorporation. The shop was moved to the MA Storrowton Village Museum in the 1930s where it is used as an educational smithery today. At the ceremony, charter members Audrey Ericson and Clifford “Skip” White were acknowledged, and Past President Cornelia “Neil” Jenness was praised for her forty plus years of service to CHS.
CHS was awarded a $4,571 Moose Plate Grant to preserve the “1828 Survey Plan of the Road…Westmoreland…to…Chesterfield”, the oldest known Chesterfield survey map. Donna Roscoe and David Mann wrote the grant. The document will be digitalized, and a reproduction print for display will be made. The work should be completed by the end of 2026. Thanks to all who purchased Moose Plates!
Three new computers were purchased for the CHS building. Nancy Davis Achiele ordered, installed, and programmed the two at CHS.
Behind the Facebook posts was administrator Jeff Titus. Jeff made 365 posts, one for every day of the year. The site had 958 followers, and the postings created interesting dialogue and contributions. John Martin generously used his talent to restore and colorize some historical photos. Contributor Peter Mitchell regularly shared memories and family photos (covering several generations).
Donna Roscoe, who is also the CHS webmaster, wrote the Constant Contact notifications. Twenty-five announcements were emailed to members, including program promotions and ten new “Bits of History”. In addition, Donna created a Northern Lights Shutterfly book (now available for viewing at CHS) containing a compilation of photos taken by Chesterfield residents in November.
Two thousand twenty-five was a Good Year!
The folks that made it Happen!
The Chesterfield Historical Society Board
Harriet Davenport
Pam Walton
Crystal Winn
Donna Roscoe
Peggy Jacobs
Donna Roscoe
Judith Conant
Ray Dunn
David Mann
Bettina (Tina) Ramsey
Carol Riendeau
Robert Tortolani
Roland Vollbehr
Clifford “Skip” White
The Stone House Tavern Museum Committee
Valerie Starbuck
Robert Tortolani
Darlene Dunn
Tina Ramsey
Robert Jaskolski
Ken Walton
Judith Conant
Our Super Thurs. Volunteers
Carol Riendeau and
Rae Egan
Betsy "Skippy" Emery
Audrey Ericson
Skip White
Judith Conant
Peggy Jacobs
All this couldn't have happened without our Members!
Thank you for being the engine that runs the show.
