Steps Away from An Eyesore, a Quaint Town Common

From Dave Brigham:

I recently spent a little bit of time in Troy, NH, something I'd wanted to do for a while. I pass through that town a few times a year on my way to play music with friends in the Granite State, and stumbled across an old mill complex a while back. That place, the abandoned Troy Mills, proved to be a fantastic photo opportunity (see June 21, 2021, "Covering a New Hampshire Blanket Mill"). Unfortunately for the people of Troy, it has been an eyesore for nearly 20 years.

After checking out the mill, I strolled through the quaint area around the town common. Here's what I found in Troy, which was incorporated in 1815, made up of parts of the towns of Marlborough, Fitzwilliam, Swanzey and Richmond.

Troy's town hall stands at the head of the common, which is an island in the middle of the bisected Route 12. Completed in 1815, this quintessential New England building was originally a meetinghouse, as I'm sure you guessed, where religious services and town meetings were held, according to this excellent Living Places article.

During those early years, both a local branch of the Congregational Church, as well as the First Congregational Society of Troy, used the meetinghouse. I'm not sure when the building became town hall.

I love the contrast of the red-brick house with the bright-white town hall. According to the Living Places article linked above, the house, at 12 Central Square, is known as a side-hall home. It was built by Stephen Wheeler, who operated a store and staging business. In later years, James Stanley, the cemetery sexton, ran a barbershop and later an undertakers' shop behind this house.

In the background of the photo above you can see an old barn. Below are close-ups of the one you can see, as well as a second one behind it.

Those buildings were built by Troy Mills for storage in 1901.

In the middle of the aforementioned common is a lovely little bandstand.

The bandstand is a newer addition to the common, although there was one located here previously. There was once a Troy Brass Band, which likely played at the old bandstand.

Just off the southern end of the common, behind Troy Deli & Marketplace and the Thai Bamboo restaurant, sits the wonderful Kimball Hall.

Originally home to the Odd Fellows fraternal club when it was built in 1901, Kimball Hall is currently home to the Troy Historical Society. I'm guessing that in the heyday of the mill, this place was jumping with dances, weddings, social club meetings and other events. From the historical society's Facebook page: "Folks who would like to tour the Cheshire Railroad Depot may stop at Kimball Hall to request it be opened."

I love that. Speaking of the depot....

Located just steps away from Kimball Hall, the station is known officially as the Troy Cheshire R.R. Depot. This fantastically restored place dates to 1847. During the latter half of the 19th century and well into the 20th, the station was kept busy by deliveries for Troy Mills and a nearby quarry, as well as by visitors to Mount Monadnock, located a few miles away in neighboring Jaffrey.

Passenger service along the rail line ended in 1958, freight service in the late 1960s, according to the web site above. Eventually the station was converted to a private home; the abandoned rail bed was maintained by the New Hampshire Department of Transportation for recreational purposes, and is now part of the Cheshire Recreational Rail Trail.

In 1998, the Town of Troy acquired the station and in 2002, restoration began. Check this photo gallery of the restoration.

Across the former rail bed from the station is an old barn/storage building that I'm guessing was once part of the railroad.

Folks visiting Troy via train might've stayed at the Kimball Hotel and Residence, below, which was built in the 1870s.

The former hotel is Troy's only example of a mansard-roof structure, according to this walking tour document.

I'm going to wrap up with a few shots from the Village Cemetery (formerly known as the Old Cemetery), which dates to 1785.

(I've never seen a gravestone age to this color.)