Yesteryear: Belknap Mill Beginnings
The Belknap Mill in old-time Laconia, NH. (Courtesy Belknap Mill Society)
By Kathi Caldwell-Hopper
The early 1970s was a perilous time for the old mill buildings on Beacon Street near downtown Laconia. The buildings were no longer the site for production of textiles and other goods, and the rooms were empty and dusty. If you were to walk through the mill buildings, you might fancy hearing the call of one former worker to another or the sound of the loud textile machines.
By 1969, the Belknap Mill was no longer in operation; thus began the struggle to save the building from the wrecking ball.
All around the downtown area, old buildings were being demolished as the trend for everything new took over. There seemed to be little regard for anything historical and this was especially true for old mill structures.
But not everyone agreed with that mindset, and a group of such citizens must have been distressed to see the former downtown Laconia they knew and in some cases, grew up with, being torn down to make way for a parking garage, parking lots, modern buildings and busy throughfares. roads. The group asked themselves if there might be a way to retain at least a few of the buildings, specifically the two former mill buildings, built in the early 1800s of brick.
Today, we would look at these buildings and recognize their architectural beauty. But in the early 1970s, many saw the mills as an eyesore, having no purpose to hold onto the structures or fix them for later use.
An article in the Laconia Evening Citizen seemed an ominous prediction to the demise of the mill buildings. Dated October 23, 1970, the headline read “Mill Disposal Deadline Set”. The Laconia Redevelopment and Housing Authority reported to the mayor and city council that unless funds and plans were forthcoming, the Seeburg and Belknap-Sulloway mills would be torn down by June 1, 1971.
It is worth noting that the article also mentioned the Belknap Mill was reserved for museum use. It was warned, however, that plans, and funds would be needed by March 1, 1971, or demolition would begin on June 1.
Luckily, there were those already meeting and working hard to save the old mill. At the first annual meeting of the Save the Mill Society, President Richard Davis reported that for the first time ever, the National Trust for Historic Preservation contributed toward the preservation of something other than a Presidential residence. The amount given was $500 to go toward the preservation of the Belknap Sulloway and Busiel mills.
It was hoped the buildings would be placed on the National Register in Washington, which would be impactful in the goal of saving the mills.
No matter what the efforts were to keep the mills from demolition, deadlines were looming. An article in the Laconia Evening Citizen dates December 26, 1970, reported that a firm deadline of June 1, 1971, was set by Laconia Housing and Redevelopment Authority to decide on the fate of the buildings.
In the efforts to save the mills, the buildings had been under consideration in the past year in connection with the Urban Renewal project. Ideas for the mills was restoration as a city hall, and the Belknap Mill specifically for use as a museum and cultural center.
Authority chairman Richard A. Messer said, “In essence, what the authority advised … was what steps will have to be taken to demolish the mills if no development proposals assuring their rehabilitation for private or public use are firmed up by next June 1.”
Whether one agreed with the feeling of saving the mills or tearing them down, all seemed to agree that there should be a good look at the structural condition of the buildings and the work required to bring the mills up to local code standards.
A report by the Save the Mill committee on December 21, 1970, told that the members were regularly meeting each Friday for a noon time working lunch. They kept up with current trends and other mill-related business. The committee was not about to give up in their intense efforts to see that the historic buildings were preserved.
One can only imagine the sense of urgency among the committee members when they were informed that the Planning Board of Laconia had altered the schedule to hear plans for the use of the Belknap Mill by March 1. The new plan was to demolish the mill buildings – immediately.
Swinging into action, the Mill committee decided to attend a meeting to be held that same evening in the Mayor’s office. At that meeting, they would protest and lay out their plans for Mill renovations.
They would also meet with the Chamber of Commerce that very afternoon.
In the same report, Dorothy Buley presented a report on a plan for a museum and restaurant for the Belknap Mill. She wrote that the museum would not be a tale of an early elegant home such as those found in Portsmouth’s Strawbery Banke or a display of local farming equipment. In capital letters she wrote that a Mill museum would be THE STORY OF THE LAKES REGION AND THE INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION.
A centerpiece for the proposed museum would be a display of the oldest, untouched brick mill building in the country. The story of weaving fabric for Civil War uniforms and the knitting of socks, both done at the mill, would be included in the displays.
A restaurant would be a possibility as well, according to Buley’s report. The dining establishment would make use of antique mill equipment and other items for decoration and even the dining tables would have lighted, locked displays on the tabletops.
It was a creative and worthy idea, but not all of it came to fruition; only the museum effort became part of the finished Belknap Mill.
There is no doubt that dedicated committee members at this time were totally committed to saving the mills. Their work was tireless, but they faced a long road with many meetings, trips to give reports and a constant effort to obtain funding for renovations to the buildings.
Today, it is worthwhile to look back on the early days of the Save the Mill effort. The early 1970s were a time of a desire to embrace the modern and new, while others wanted to move forward but preserve the history of the community. Eventually, both efforts were joined, and it is these herculean goals that created the brick mill buildings still gracing downtown Laconia to this day.
Due to its age (built in 1823), there are many things about the Mill that may be unknown to most people. The following is a list of facts the Belknap Mill, with some help from a former Belknap Mill board of directors member, and a former Mill executive director.
The original wooden mill burned in the early 1800s and was replaced by the brick mill that stands to this day, based on designs of an 1813 mill in Lowell, Massachusetts. It was listed in 1972 as one of the first buildings on the National Register of Historic Places.
A handmade stool was donated to the Belknap Mill by Gwendolyn and Rolland Gove and is a good example of the days of child labor in mills. This stool and others like it were used in mills as chairs for children as young as 10 years of age. The children wound bobbins and did other work. Their feet barely touched the floor as they sat at their tasks.
The historic Belknap Mill was nearly the victim of fire in 1860 when a huge blaze destroyed much of downtown Laconia. Luckily the Niagara Engine Company of Lake Village came to the rescue, and the brave men pushed into the area, showing the community “how fires were fought by real men!” as a newspaper reported at the time.
In 1973, members of the Belknap Mill Society had cast 150 replicas of the original Holbrook Bell. The number (150) was to reflect one bell for each year of the Mill’s existence until 1973.
When the Belknap Mill was built, fire was a frequent occurrence, and it took many buildings. To prevent a fire, the Belknap Mill was built mostly of brick and featured post-and-beam construction. The bricks were made at a brickyard in the Weirs area. The wooden beams of the Mill had shaved corners to make them fire resistant as much as possible. It is uncertain if these measures kept the Mill from burning but something went right, because the structure stands to this day.
Hollywood personality/TV host Jay Leno visited the Mill and signed the guest book around the year 2000. (Information from former Belknap Mill executive director Mary Rose Boswell.)
In 1977, a Proclamation was distributed to state that the American Revolution Bicentennial Administration regarded the Belknap Mill as a project of national scope with state focus and recognized it as an official program for the Bicentennial.
In the 1990s, the gallery at the Belknap Mill, had an exhibit featuring the work of Sandwich, NH artist Ted Sizemore. His detailed paintings were artwork for the covers of romance novels. The exhibit was one-of-a-kind, offering to the viewer a significant collection of unique and beautiful paintings.
The Belknap Mill’s summer outdoor concert series was started in the 1990s with the first band playing and making do with the back cement flat surface as a “stage” of sorts. The area is today the beautiful Rod & Gail Dyer Powerhouse Patio. Audience seating for the first concert was folding metal chairs placed in the former parking lot (now Rotary Park). What started as a one-evening concert morphed into the summertime ambitious lineup of outdoor concerts well attended by the public each year.
Politics, politics, politics! Before area citizens vote there is the campaign trail. That trail has led to the Belknap Mill on many occasions, from Bob Dole to Bill Clinton and many more. Over the last 45 years, visiting presidential candidates have included John Edwards, Marco Rubio, Newt Gingrich, Joe Biden, Edward “Ted” Kennedy and Jerry Brown. The candidates over the years stopped at the Mill to speak, meet voters and answer questions in their bid for the presidency and vice presidency. It is a true testament to the Belknap Mill’s title as the “Meetinghouse of New Hampshire.”