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Early Road Machinery

By Rick Church |

For the first hundred years Nelson seems to have built and repaired its roads using hand and ox-drawn tools also used on farms. Perhaps the earliest equipment specifically designed for highway maintenance was the use of snow rollers for clearing roads in the winter.

The town kept its roads open in the winter with men hired to “break” the roads in their neighborhoods. In 1858 the town “voted $113 for the year for breaking roads. Men to be hired for $.08 per hour; oxen for $.10 per hour; horses for the same rate as oxen and cows for less.” They did this by packing the roads with rollers like the one shown in the photograph, from Sutton, VT. Rolled snow made a good surface for sleighs and sleds.

The first record of a town purchase of CLCK HERE TO READ THE REST OF THIS ARTICLE→ Early Road Machinery

Published on August 15th, 2010 | Category: History, Rick Church History Articles | |

Nelson Old Home Week Preview

By admin |

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Nelson Old Home week promises to be as fun and exciting as ever. You can start on Saturday, August 7th, dancing with your friends and neighbors in the Nelson Town Hall. Dudley Laufman is the caller – who better than the man who got his start in Nelson in the 1970′s and went on to make contra dancing popular all over the country (and make Nelson known as the contra dance capital of the world). Dancing starts at 8:00, admission is only $2.00. No experience necessary – come and have fun!

Sunday morning pick a bouquet of flowers from your garden, dress up “old fashioned” (if you wish) and come to the Old Home Sunday service at the Nelson Congregational Church, at 9:30.

Monday night it’s back to the Town Hall for the regular Monday night dance, featuring a variety of callers and musicians. Donation $3 – dancing starts at 8:00.

Tuesday wander up (or down) to Apple Hill for their regular Tuesday evening concert, starting at 7:30. Outdoor seating is free. In the barn, $10.

Wednesday you can come here Rebecca Upjohn, telling the story of Lily and the Paper Man, at the Library at 3:30. Stick around for the ham and bean supper in the church basement (5:00) and over to the Town Hall at :30 for the Scott Norman Magic Show.

Thursday evening Monadnock Music performs in the Nelson Congregational Church. Admission is free, the concert starts at 7:30.

Friday it’s a game of Capture the Flag at the Ballfield 5:30), the Book Sale pre-sale at the Town Hall (7:00), and the exciting Mock Drive-In (complete with pop corn) showing the Wizard of Oz, at the Nelson School (8:00).

For more details about any of these events, click on the appropriate listing on the calendar (to the right).

And for details about Old Home Day itself, click here.

Published on August 5th, 2010 | Category: Uncategorized | |

Nelson's Earliest Roads

By Rick Church |

Cemetery RoadEditors Note: The images in this article may be clicked, and a larger version will open in a separate browser window. The images displaying hand writing were scanned from our town archives.

Nelson’s earliest roads were made and maintained by hand, using men and teams of oxen — the same methods that cleared farms. Road layouts reflected that labor intensity. They tended to be built straight up and down hills rather than be bench cut, and they were likely to follow property lines and avoid using already cleared and productive farmland. However, early property deeds made it clear that all property was “subject to all necessary highways.” Between its founding and today, Nelson has laid out, built, relocated and improved several hundred roads.

In May 1834 the selectmen received a petition from a number of residents to layout a new road. A public meeting was held and the town approved the following road: “Beginning at the Stoddard line near the brook in said Nelson thence south 34 degrees west through land of James Clark 12 rods to a stake and stones. Thence south 12 degrees west 16 rods 9 links. Thence south 5 degrees west 20 rods 12 links to the bank of the brook. Thence south 40 degrees west across the brook to the old road near James Clark’s cider mill 6 rods. The above line is to be the center of the highway which is to be 3 rods wide.”

This road is part of the current Old Stoddard Road from the Stoddard town line to the big culvert that carries Bailey Brook.  The stone foundation visible on the north side of the road today is probably James Clark’s cider mill.

CLCK HERE TO READ THE REST OF THIS ARTICLE→ Nelson’s Earliest Roads

Published on July 14th, 2010 | Category: Rick Church History Articles | |

Town of Nelson Email Addresses

By ADMIN |

New @townofnelson email addresses have been established for town officials and town boards.

When mail is addressed to one or more of the addresses below, it is forwarded to the individual(s) who can best respond. In some cases this may be a board chair, or in other cases it may go directly to the town office, where a determination will be made as to who should receive it. One value to this new process is that when town officials change, the email address can remain the same, but it is forwarded to the new town official.

Individuals who have been regularly corresponding with any town officials at previously established email addresses should make note of the new addresses, as the old ones will eventually be phased out.

Please remember that many town officials are volunteers, and the administrative staff and paid officials work only part time. Therefore you should not expect an immediate reply when sending email.

The addresses are:

The Town Office               admin@townofnelson.com

The Board of Selectmen        selectmen@townofnelson.com

Conservations Commission        conservation@townofnelson.com

Fire Department             firechief@townofnelson.com

Library                   library@townofnelson.com

Planning Board                planningboard@townofnelson.com

Police                    police@ townofnelson.com

Tax Collector                taxcollector@townofnelson.com

Town Clerk               townclerk@townofnelson.com

Zoning Board of Adjustment         zoningboard@townofnelson.com

Published on June 13th, 2010 | Category: Town Business | |

A Visit to the Montshire Museum

By ADMIN |

Nelson School’s sixth graders spent the night at the Montshire Museum in Norwich, VT on Thursday, June 3.

They arrived at the museum around 6:00 pm, after an early dinner at Friendly’s, and spent the evening rotating in small groups through three different activities:  StarLab, Evening Walk, and Science Discovery Lab.  The activities were followed by a light evening snack and then the students drifted off to sleep in the main exhibit hall.

In the morning, following breakfast, the students headed out to explore some of the trails with a self-guided nature hike.  As the sun came out and the day began to warm up, the sixth graders put on their bathing suits and splashed around in the 250-foot interactive watercourse.  They had a lot of fun floating balls downstream, making dams by redirecting the water flow, and watching patterns of light and shadow as water spun around cylinders and moveable shapes.

Nelson School’s sixth graders had a wonderful class trip, and would like to thank all those who supported their fund raising efforts this year.

Published on June 8th, 2010 | Category: Uncategorized | |

Building the Early Town: First Roads.

By Rick Church |

Nelson Highway DeptThe charter granting Monadnock Number Six to those early proprietors required that they provide the basic necessities for the new community’s viability.  Of necessity, building roads came first.

Breed Batchellor was the town’s first resident, settling as early as 1766.  He moved into an early structure built by Josiah Billings just over the east line of Keene in Monadnock Number Six, comfortably in Roxbury today.  That part of Keene was settled sparsely, but Batchellor’s home had access to Keene over Keene roads.  Dr. Nathaniel Breed followed Batchellor, building a large log cabin on the Old Stoddard Road followed shortly thereafter by Joseph Stanhope who built on the north slope of Osgood Hill on today’s Homestead Lane. Aaron Beel, James Bancroft, Phineas Stanford, Thomas Upham and Eleazer Twitchell are mentioned in the first road records as living in town. Certainly they created trails to serve their farms and these probably became the first roads.

In 1768 Breed Batchellor and Nathaniel Breed were appointed to layout roads.
Their layout is lost but we know there were at least five early roads that predate the first recorded layout in 1773:

  • From the site of the future Packersfield meetinghouse to Keene
  • From the meetinghouse site to Joseph Stanhope’s and on to Limerick (Stoddard)
  • From the meetinghouse site to the outlet of Pleasant Pond (Silver Lake)
  • From the meetinghouse site to the outlet of Center Pond
  • From the outlet of Pleasant Pond to Eleazer Twitchell’s

The first of these connected our town with the region’s most established town: Keene. It went from the old meetinghouse site west along the current Lead Mine Road as far as the house currently owned by Dorothy Iselin, where it turned south through the woods.  Then as now, it shortly crosses a brook and turns west south west and runs north of Woodward Pond. It comes out at the old Roxbury Center and passes Breed Batchellor’s cellar hole in present-day Roxbury. Roxbury calls its end “Middle Town Road” today. CLCK HERE TO READ THE REST OF THIS ARTICLE→ Building the Early Town: First Roads

Published on May 29th, 2010 | Category: History, Rick Church History Articles | |

Town Office Summer Hours

By ADMIN |

The Town Office (including selectmen and town clerk) will be closed on the following Wednesdays:
June 9, 23, July 7, 21, August 11, 26, September 8

Please make note of this (this information is also published on the left sidebar of this web site).

Published on May 22nd, 2010 | Category: Town Business | |

Nelson School Field Trip

By ADMIN |


Nelson School’s fifth and sixth grade had a wonderful trip to Ferry Beach Ecology School in Saco, Maine the week of May 10.  Students attended three lessons a day, exploring different ecosystems and gaining a better understanding of how cycles, change, succession, and disturbance work in different areas of our environment.  Lessons included the ABCs of Ecology, Astronomy, Abiotic Adventures, Beach and Dunes, Marine Lab, Salt Marsh, Forest, Nature at Night, Tide Pools, and Student Choice.  The final lesson, Connections, was an overview of the relationship between humans and their environment, with an emphasis on sustainability.  Between lessons, students had a chance to relax in their dormitories, walk the beach, and play on the volleyball and basketball courts. The fifth and sixth grade students enjoyed the opportunity to learn outside the classroom as well as bond with their classmates.

Published on May 18th, 2010 | Category: Uncategorized | |

News Flash: Auction Nets $8400!

By Betsy Street |

The 2010 Nelson School Auction raised $8400, a stunning total that means the students will get their new swings for the playground.  Thanks to all who participated!

Published on May 5th, 2010 | Category: Community Gathering, Nelson School | |

Time for Minutes

By ADMIN |

Nelson Town Officials are now providing pdfs of minutes of the various official meetings that take place in town. These minutes are provided at a special web site dedicated to this purpose: www.minutes.townofnelson.com (see also the link to the left)

Since this is a new process, there is some getting used to it, but in general the various boards will attempt to post the minutes in a timely fashion after each meeting. Please note that minutes from meetings are generally approved at the next meeting, so the most recent minutes are considered to be pending approval.

If you have questions about meeting minutes, please stop by the town office during business hours.

Published on May 2nd, 2010 | Category: Town Business | |