Stoddard Town Hall
In 2009, the Stoddard Town Hall was placed on the NH State Register of Historic Places by the State of New Hampshire in honor of its special place as a “representative New Hampshire small town meeting house”. As part of this registration, an historic assessment of the Stoddard Town Hall was sponsored by the NH Preservation Alliance and conducted in the Spring of 2008 by Eric Lewtas/Architect of Daniel V. Scully Architects in Keene. The results of that assessment are available by clicking on the following link to a pdf file:
The New Hampshire Division of Historic Resources inventory form for the Town Hall is also available by clicking on the following link to a pdf file:
The Stoddard Town Hall was constructed in 1867-68 to the immediate west of the intersection of Kings Highway (formerly Kings Street, which was laid out in 1770) and Route 123 North. The land for the property was sold to the Town for $50 by Nathan Gould, the original owner of the house to the immediate west of the Town Hall.
The Town Hall is situated on a site that was previously the location of a two-story Unitarian Church. Nathan Gould, the original owner of the property, provided the land for free for the construction of a congregational church in 1836. In 1838 the denomination was re-aligned to Universalism. In 1841 the Town purchased the use of the lower floor for a town hall. This progression was a result of the proliferation of denominations and the adoption of separate town hall buildings or spaces in New Hampshire in the 19th century following the passage of the Toleration Act in 1819. The town later purchased the entire building for use as a town hall.
In the 1850s the rear wall of the building began to collapse due to soil subsidence. Despite attempts to repair the building and correct the condition, the wall collapsed and the building was demolished (pieces of brick may still be seen today in the soil around the Town Hall). The town purchased the lot in 1866 to build a new town hall. The townspeople voted to build the new building in 1867 and the construction of the new town hall was completed in 1868.
Since then the building has been used for town and committee meetings and other civic purposes such as plays, pageants, and lectures. The building has also been used for school acitivities, programs and graduation ceremonies. Furthermore, when Stoddard’s one-room school burned in the winter of 1979, the town hall was used as schoolhouse for the remainder of the school year.
Today, the building still serves an important role as a meeting place for Town Committees, as offices for the Selectmen and the Secretary to the Planning Board and Zoning Board of Adjustment, and a repository for town records. Also, many organizations use the building: Stoddard Historical Society, Women’s Fellowship, Stoddard Garden Club, weekly Yoga classes, monthly senior luncheons, annual Old Home Day bazaar, Friendly Meal Senor Luncheons, and Christmas Eve town gatherings.
Town Hall c.1900. Notice the level grading around the building, and its "clean", un-cluttered east (right) side.
Click on the links before to view additional old photos of the Town Hall:
Town Hall, c 1900