The Wilton Heritage Commission

&

The Wilton Historical Society


"A Link to the Past . . . A Guide to the Future"

 



Contact Us:  heritage@wiltonlibrarynh.org


Visit the Heritage Store!

A Glass Negative of Main Street ca. 1892

A Glass Negative of Main Street ca. 1892 from the Bob Lorette Collection, Wilton Historical Society

Who We Are

The Wilton Heritage Commission was established by the people of the Town of Wilton in March of 2000.  The Commission’s mission is to identify and protect Wilton’s historically and culturally significant sites and buildings through consultation with other town agencies as well as private citizens who wish to preserve these special resources. Our ongoing projects have included the digital  transcribing of the earliest surviving Town Warrants; the Historic House Plaque Program (in conjunction with the Wilton Historical Society) which has identified and inventoried Wilton's old houses from 1739 through 1850, and provided identifying hand-painted house markers; we have compiled, for the Wilton Cemetery Trustees, a photographic inventory of the damaged grave markers in Vale End and South Yard Cemeteries; and the ongoing Wilton Heritage Trail program -- road markers placed to identify areas of historic or cultural significance as well as important natural or man-made features throughout the town.  Our goal is to eventually provide a map and guide to these features for residents and visitors alike.

The Wilton Historical Society maintains several collections of unique antiquities, genealogical records, historic documents, photographs and information. The collections currently include:

The Rollo Farm Collection
The Rideout Scrapbook Collection
The Wilton Genealogy of 1958, an update to the
Town History Genealogy of 1888
A collection of old clothing from 1804 thru 1914
The Lewis Collection of antique furniture
A collection of antique fans and beaded purses
circa the mid 1800's  


A portion of the earliest surviving Town Warrant from March of 1775
Click Here for more images of Town Warrants from the Heritage Commission's files


Projects currently underway or supported by The Wilton Historical Society include:

Inventory of the old houses in Wilton from 1739 through 1850 including deed research, historical background on residents

Research and collection of information for all Wilton military veterans from World War II

The book "Wilton, Temple and Lyndeborough", part of Arcadia Publishing's "Images of America" series which was a collaborative effort of each of the town's Historical Societies


Parade on Main Street for the 200th Anniversary of the Founding of Wilton, 1939.
Note Proctor's Store, left, which was torn down not long after this photo was taken,
and Wells Diner (which was moved to the other side of the block and further down
Main Street and re-named Oscar's, later the Wilton Diner) which is tucked up
against the Stanton Block Building, which now houses the Post Office. Click Here for more
old views of of Main Street



Lost in History: Old Wilton's Meetinghouse


This is a model of the Second Meetinghouse in Wilton Center, which was
raised on September 7, 1773.  (The First Meetinghouse was by all accounts a
smaller log structure on or near the same site).  While it was being constructed,
a large center post at the heart of the structure gave way and the work
collapsed, killing several people and wounding many more.  The building
was eventually finished, however, and stood for many years afterward
as both the spiritual and temporal center of village life.  On December 8th,
1859, a Thursday, after a concert given by some schoolchildren, the building
caught fire and burned to the ground, devastating the community.  Two
buildings were built to replace it; the current Unitarian Church and a new
Town Hall.  But the business of the town was rapidly congregating around the
mills and the railroad down by the river in what was called the East Village;
and this building (which is now Andy's Summer Playhouse; it was also at
one time or another the Grange Hall, Citizens Hall, and home to the Lion's Club as well as a temporary home for the Pine Hill
Waldorf School) was soon superseded by the new Town Hall, built on the site of the destroyed Whiting House Hotel, in 1885.
Click HERE for a look at the report of the Committee which investigated the causes of the fire that burned down the Meetinghouse.  (PLEASE NOTE: THIS IS A LARGE [8MB] PDF FILE WHICH NEEDS ADOBE READER TO OPEN) This model (photographed in Wilton Center, approximately on the site where the Meetinghouse was believed to have been situated, between Andy's Playhouse and the Unitarian Church) was built in the 1920's by Henry A. Holt, who remembered the building from his childhood) and was donated to the Historical Society by his wife in 1929.



The Wilton Historical Society Rooms are located upstairs in the Wilton Public/Gregg Free Library, and are open on Thursday afternoons, between 1:30 and 6:00 PM

The Current Minutes of Historical Society Meetings are posted Here

Prior Minutes of Historical Society Meetings are Here


The Wilton Heritage Commission meets every fourth Tuesday at 7:00 PM at the Wilton Public/Gregg Free Library (4 PM in the months of January and February) and these meetings are open to the public
You can find the minutes of the Heritage Commission's meetings Here




Looking east on Main Street in the aftermath of the December 2 1874 Fire
To see more pictures of Main Street after the Great Fire, Click Here