Harris Center to Host Forum on Cellar Holes

Sept. 2008

HANCOCK, N.H. - New Hampshire's settlers laid out roads, built houses and lived their lives. Over 200 years later, all that's left are the abandoned artifacts of that early life: their roads, stone walls, cellar holes and scant records. Their pastures now largely reclaimed by the forest, stone foundations are a reminder of the families who worked, farmed, thrived, and struggled here before us.

With growing public interest in understanding and safeguarding these historic resources, the Harris Center for Conservation Education in Hancock will host a public forum on cellar holes on October 25, at 10 a.m. The forum, "Cellar Holes: More than Just Holes in the Ground," is co-sponsored by the Historical Society of Cheshire County and the N.H. Division of Historical Resources.

The forum will feature short presentations about three projects that involve documenting cellar holes and the people who lived in places now reclaimed by New Hampshire's resilient forest:

• Nelson residents Dave Birchenough and Rick Church will describe their ambitious efforts to research old roads, deeds and cellar holes of their town.
• Eric Aldrich will outline his studies of settlement and abandonment patterns of a hill-country farming community in Hancock and an African-American family that lived there.
• Adair Mulligan will describe Lyme Historians' efforts to prepare an inventory of Lyme's cellar holes with a protocol that's easy for volunteers and effective for documenting the resource.
• Finally, Tanya Kress of the N.H. Division of Historical Resources will discuss why these and other research projects are important, how to safeguard cellar holes, and why landowners can welcome a better understanding of their lands' predecessors.

"Many of the early residents of our region left little written evidence to tell us how they lived their lives," said Alan Rumrill, director of the Historical Society of Cheshire County. "Despite this lack of data, the fieldstone foundations on which they built their homes, barns and mills can teach us about economics, agriculture, industry, and the nature of life in the hills of New Hampshire. This workshop will help us understand how to use cellar holes for research and why it is important to preserve them as an integral element of our region's historical record."

"Like stone walls, cellar holes are a ubiquitous part of New Hampshire's forestlands," said Eric Aldrich. "They're reminders of our agricultural past and of the people who farmed, thrived, and struggled here before us. They're a historic and educational resource, and unfortunately, they're also vulnerable to damage and destruction. One of our goals in holding this forum is to highlight a few research projects, encourage others, and show how cellar holes can be better understood."

Participants can bring a lunch, and after the presentations at the Harris Center, car-pool to a nearby site to see how cellar holes can be documented and studied. The program will end around 2 p.m.

For directions to the Harris Center, visit www.harriscenter.org or call 525-3394.

For more information, call Eric Aldrich, 525-4716, or Alan Rumrill, 352-1895.