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Many interesting stories about Washington, New Hampshire have been featured over the years on local ABC affiliate WMUR-9's nightly magazine show, New Hampshire Chronicle. Many of these segments are presented personally by longtime NH Chronicle host, writer, and filmmaker Fritz Wetherbee. You can access them from here. Fritz Wetherbee filming a segment about the Shedd Free Library for WMUR-9’s New Hampshire Chronicle Click Segment Title To Watch Video Lovell Creamery — East Washington Fritz Wetherbee talks about the Lovell Creamery, a dairy cooperative of local farmers that operated from 1886-1896. The creamery processed milk, cream butter and cheese, operating from an old mill building on the shore of East Washington's Mill Pond that had previously been a rake factory. Fritz also mentions "Captain Leonard Bradford," a Washington resident who Fritz reports made wooden tubs (containers) into his 90's, and proudly inserted a handwritten note into each one that said "Captain Leonard Bradford of Washington, NH, made this tub in his 91st year, without the use of spectacles!" WNHHS research shows that Leonard Bradford lived in Washington for many years. The 1886 History of Washington notes that "He carried on the business of coopering, and continued in the business until very near the end of his life." Leonard was born in Mont Vernon, NH September 13, 1790, and died here in Washington on May 14, 1882 — aged 91! October 2024. Run time 2:56. The East Washington (Mill) Pond Fritz Wetherbee opens this segment saying that "This [Washington] is one of my most favorite towns in New Hampshire." In reminiscing about his first trip here in 1986 to film his first segment about the town for NH PBS, he states that "This was a village out of a dream!" The main focus of the segment is on the restoration of the dam at the East Washington Mill Pond in 1952. The restoration effort was successfully championed by the Purlingbeck Grange. October 2024. Run time 2:20. East Washington Schoolhouse The District #5 one-room schoolhouse in East Washington opened in 1849 and served that community for almost 90 years before closing in 1937. The schoolhouse has remained virtually unchanged over the years — still possessing original desks, maps, and many other interesting items. It has been operated as a museum by the Washington NH Historical Society for many years, and is open to the public free-of-charge Saturdays from July through Labor Day from 1-3pm. Standing before the now 175 year-old iconic landmark, Fritz Wetherbee explains how the school was voted the best school in New Hampshire at the time of its opening, and reminisces about one-room New Hampshire Schoolhouses in general. We hope that you enjoy this segment featuring our beautiful schoolhouse, and that it will encourage you and your family to come and visit it in person. September 2024. Run time 2 minutes and 30 seconds. Granges of East Washington Using the Purling Beck Grange building as a backdrop, Fritz Wetherbee tells the stories behind the Lovell and Perling Beck Granges that once served the people of East Washington (the Lovell Grange later relocated to Town Hall in Washington Center). September 2024. Run time 2 minutes 49 seconds. Presidential New Hampshire Towns Stories of the naming of a number of New Hampshire towns, including Washington, after early Presidents of the United States. Fritz Wetherbee presents these interesting stories using Washington's beautiful and historic town common as his backdrop. May 2024. Run time 2 minutes 42 seconds. A Tale of Two Freezings The chilling stories of Nancy Barton of Crawford Notch, NH, and Daniel Millen of Washington, NH are shared. Fritz Wetherbee relates these cautionary tales while seated inside Washington's amazing Shedd Free Library, and talks glowingly of Ron and Grace Jager's fabulous history of Washington, NH, Portrait of a Hill Town , as the source for Daniel Millen's story. May 2024. Run time 2 minutes 38 seconds. Tubbs Union Academy This private institution for higher learning was founded in Washington by Russell Tubbs in 1849. While the school was mainly only successful in its first four years, the institution lasted another 77 years, closing in March of 1930. Fritz Wetherbee delivers the whole interesting story, framed against Washington's beautiful town common! May 2024. Run time 3 minutes 9 seconds. Sarah Shedd Library Washington, NH is home to one of the most picturesque library's in the state of New Hampshire. It 's named for a woman who was a Washington native and one of the original mill girls of Lowell, MA. Fritz Wetherbee tells you Sarah's story and the amazing gift that she left to her home town. Aired May 7, 2024. Run time 2 minutes 38 seconds. The Communist Women of New Hampshire Two women, Elba Chase, of Washington, and Elizabeth Gurley Flynn, of Concord, NH, both played notable roles in New Hampshire's communist party from the 1930s into the 1960s. Fritz Wetherbee introduces you to both of these women and shares their stories. September 2023. Run time 2 minutes 41 seconds. The Mystery of the Boy Shot on Mill Hill For over a century, someone lay buried in an unmarked grave in East Washington's historic cemetery. This feature segment follows Washington Historical Society's Bill Mulcahy as he searches for the boy's identity and uncovers his powerfully moving story. Former Washington Cemetery Trustee Kitty West is also featured. This segment won first place for best Feature Story at the 2021 New Hampshire Area Broadcasters Granite Mike Awards and was also nominated for a 2021 New England Emmy Award. September 2020. 8 minutes and 2 seconds. Fred Chase of Washington, NH Fritz Wetherbee tells the stories of Fred and Elba Chase, residents of Washington who were leaders of the New Hampshire Communist Party from the 1920's to the 1960's. July 2017. Run time 2 minutes 27 seconds. Pillsbury State Park Pillsbury State Park is a lesser known gem of the New Hampshire State Park System Heavily wooded and sprinkled with several ponds and wetlands, its diversity of habitats makes it a home to a great variety of wildlife, including moose, and loons. Fritz Wetherbee introduces you to Albert E. Pillsbury and explains how the landed that he gifted to the people of New Hampshire became the beautiful state park it is today. September 2014. Run time 3 minutes 15 seconds.

Using a drone, Peter Sibley captured this beautiful video of the Fall foliage in and around the Washington, NH area at its peak on October 8, 2022. Click here to watch the foliage video. Peter spent 5 hours gathering the footage, which he edited down just under 5 breathtaking minutes. The video flight starts in Windsor by Hunts Honey Fields, moves on to Smith Pond, travels Rt 31 towards Goshen just past Pillsbury State Park, shows the Mount Sunapee Resort area, makes a fabulous pass over the Washington Historical Society's East Washington school house, captures amazing images of Eccardt Farm Inc., cruises over Island Pond and Half Moon Pond, captures the windmills near Goshen, and finishes up with one of the most picturesque sites in New England -- the spectacular Washington Common at the peak of Autumn glory!

Former WHS President Susan Fairchild tells the story of the July 2021 effort to conserve the historic O. L. Story stage curtain in the upper hall of the Washington Meetinghouse. In July of 2021, Curtains Without Borders, an organization responsible for documenting and conserving over 500 historic stage curtains throughout Northern New England, undertook the conservation of the historic O. L. Story stage curtain that has hung in the upper hall of the Washington, NH, Meetinghouse since 1906. Join former WHS President and video host Susan Fairchild and learn more about the history of Washington's special stage curtain and the steps involved as Chris Hadsel, Executive Director of Curtains Without Borders, leads a team of local volunteers through the cleaning and conservation process. Watch or Learn More Click here to watch the video. Or, click here to watch Chris Hadsel's presentation from the WHS September 13, 2021 meeting on the history of stage curtains and to learn much more about the many stage curtains that Curtains Without Borders has documented and conserved since 1996. You can also learn more about Curtains Without Borders by visiting their website.

Weather statistics for Washington, NH, that have been collected by town resident Tom Barton since 2008. Barton Weather Collection Tom Barton shares the story of his Collection of Weather Data I moved to Washington from the Manchester-Hooksett area in December of 2007 but was already intrigued by its weather after having spent many days during the prior two years up here camping and clearing the land for my house site and driveway. That December of 2007 broke a 135-year-old record for snowfall in Concord, NH. Here in Washington, we got at least 40 inches of snow that month. I had already heard a few times that winter is a little harsher and longer up here than down at lower elevations, and I had seen Phil Barker’s snowfall numbers on the town website, which I thought were pretty impressive! Being fascinated with weather, especially extreme events, since I was a kid, and now living in a place where the current weather played a large part in my day-to-day activities during the winter months, I decided to start keeping a daily log for future reference. I wanted to be able to look back and see how the current week, month or season compared to the same periods in prior years in terms of snowfall, rainfall (starting in 2017) and temperature. I also wanted to record things like first/last frost of the season, leaf out dates, earliest/latest measurable snowfall, mud season, and snow gone dates and to make a record of any unusual events. Plus, with all the talk of climate change, I wanted to see what the temperature and precipitation trends were locally, once I had at least 20 years of data. Tom’s methodology for measuring and recording weather data My location is on North Main St (Route 31), about 1.3 miles north of the Washington Store. The elevation at the house is about 1750’. For instruments, I use 4 outdoor temperature sensors, 3 of which are placed in different locations. Two of them are Accurite units, one is a ThermPro and one is a SensorPush. Three of the 4 units are placed about 3-4’ off the ground and in the shade. I have an Accurite 5-in-1 weather sensor that measures temperature, humidity, rainfall, barometric pressure, wind direction and wind speed. 3 of the 4 sensors have indoor displays and the SensorPush, which I just started using in 2022, is connected via Wi-Fi and internet to my computer and cell phone so that I can get the data whether I’m home or away. As a backup for rainfall (if the weather station collector is blocked with ice or debris), I have an old fashioned rain gauge. I measure snowfall with a yardstick in anywhere from 1 to 10 different locations in a large flat area (over 3000 sq ft) of my yard depending on the amount of drifting, and then average the results. Often times, with very dry snow, and if there is significant drifting, I’ll also measure down at the bottom of the hill in order to get an accurate measurement. Temperature readings are taken once a day at about 10 PM, and I then enter the high and low temperature and the precipitation for each day on my spreadsheet, along with a short summary of the day’s weather in a Notes column. At the end of each calendar month I transfer that month’s data to my monthly totals spreadsheet (which also compiles totals and averages) and then I write up my summary for that month, the results of which are posted monthly on the Washington, NH Facebook page, and updated on this webpage page on an annual basis. View a PDF of Monthly Summaries posted on Facebook since May 1, 2019. More of Tom's research and analysis is available at our Museum! In addition to the charts, tables, and other statistical data available on this page, further detail data and results from Tom's analysis are available in hardcopy by visiting the Washington Historical Society's Museum . Annual Temperature & SnowFall Charts Click on picture for more details. Daily Weather Log (Starting January 2008) Use the "Search" field for a custom inquiry. For example type 12/31/11 to call up the record for December 11, 2011, or type the word snow to return all Weather Details that mention snow. The results window displays just 30 listings at a time and may take a few seconds to load. To see more records, scroll d own using the white slider at the top right of the chart. Washington's Weather Highlights (Starting January 2008)

1e8e97e0-210d-4497-af83-5c57cc423680 < Back 2003 Spring WHS Newsletter Topics in this issue: President's Message; The Croydon Turnpike; What's a Moose Wallow?; The Cotton Road; More on Taverns; The NH Quilt Documentation Project Phase II OPEN / PDF Previous Next

f6364e33-851a-4724-9e5b-0960c4b07e84 < Back 2015 Fall WHS Newsletter Topics in this issue: Greetings from the Board of Directors of WHS; District #5 Schoolhouse; Washington Historical Society Officers; The Washington Afghan; Items for Sale; More on Local Wild Orchids; Our Square Grand Piano; Airplane Crashes in Pillsbury State Reservation; Membership Form OPEN / PDF Previous Next