https://www.fitzhistoric.org/town-history daily 0.75 2025-01-16 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/67865821a13c8214eeccfe37/710b95e3-0579-4b34-9349-49c41216e244/The+Original+Commons+-+The+Park+and+Soldiers+Monument.jpg https://www.fitzhistoric.org/town-history/blog-post-title-one-5dt7g monthly 0.5 2025-01-14 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/67865821a13c8214eeccfe37/27af6344-4174-4162-9a90-8d3561b50012/railroad-3.jpg Town History - The Railroad Comes to Fitzwilliam When, in 1845, the movement was started to bring the Cheshire Railroad into southern New Hampshire, the engineers surveyed two routes from Fitchburg to Keene, one passing through the town of Richmond, the other through Fitzwilliam. The promoters of the railroad held a public hearing in each town. At the hearing in Fitzwilliam, Daniel Spaulding, one of the influential citizens, expressed his earnest desire to have the railroad go through this town, and said that if it did, he had $5,000 to invest in its stock; nothing, if it went elsewhere. The engineers argued that a route through Fitzwilliam meant one of heavy grades and consequent expense in building, and unless Fitzwilliam people were willing to contribute with substantial investments, they could not consider it. Mr. Spaulding assured the meeting that if the promoters would stay overnight, and in the morning go over the route he would show them, they would find that the steep grades could be avoided. They agreed, and the next day went over the route he had laid out. A third survey by the engineers endorsed his judgement. When the railroad was built, it substantially followed Spaulding’s plan. Its highest point was just south of Rockwood Pond, an elevation of 1141 feet, the greatest between Fitzwilliam and Fitchburg. The railroad right of way is now a rail trail used for hiking, biking and snowmobiling. The building of the railroad (1845-1848), brought in a large group of Irish laborers and their families. They seemed to be known only as “Irish,” though in the burial records two are identified by the places where they lived, as “child of an Irishman and an Irish woman”. https://www.fitzhistoric.org/town-history/fitzwilliamin1776 monthly 0.5 2025-01-14 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/67865821a13c8214eeccfe37/ae6d215e-c1be-4155-8e6b-d03d7f0cd094/revlettr.jpg Town History - Fitzwilliam in 1776 - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://www.fitzhistoric.org/town-history/blog-post-title-three-3r664 monthly 0.5 2025-01-14 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/67865821a13c8214eeccfe37/d1afbe9b-84e1-4bf1-b921-d8c1a9929db4/Monument.jpg Town History - Fitzwilliam in the Civil War - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://www.fitzhistoric.org/town-history/blog-post-title-four-rrfxa monthly 0.5 2025-01-14 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/67865821a13c8214eeccfe37/0b0c0dfa-8794-43b5-b011-356b7dfb0740/granite.jpg Town History - Business & Industry - The Granite Industry The Granite industry was the most important business in Fitzwilliam for more than fifty years, and for a long time it was one of the three principal granite centers of the state. Before any quarries were opened, it had been found that large sheets of stone, which required no dressing except to free them at the sides and ends, could be taken from the surface of the hill south of Fitzwilliam Depot. They were freely utilized. The porch floor and the steps of the Meeting House of 1817, now the Town Hall, are made of these stones; and a few of the old houses have them at their entrances. The first quarries were opened in 1845 by Melvin Wilson, according to the town history. John Milne, of Aberdeen, Scotland, is said to have been the first stonecutter to come to town. The firms of the early days include the names of Angier, Dutton, Damon, and Forbush. In 1848 the opening of the Cheshire Railroad, providing adequate transportation, gave a great impetus to the industry. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/67865821a13c8214eeccfe37/df227b74-bdc6-4f12-9a51-8ac83d932e3d/wood-1.jpg Town History - Business & Industry - The Wood Industry Wood was important here before the days that the King’s men hammered the Royal Seal onto the trunks of the stately pines that were chosen for the masts of the Royal Navy. Some seventy and eighty foot logs had been rolled into place to make corduroy roads. Along the streams may be found ruined foundations of many grist and saw mills. The ruins of the earliest mill are no longer visible from the Templeton Road. Pond areas were enlarged by dams for water power. The preparation of lumber and the manufacture of wooden ware products (picture frames, buckets, wheels, carriages, lumber wagons, sleighs, hat racks, wall brackets, rakes, fan handles, nest eggs, bowls, spoons, chairs and furniture stock) has long been associated with names like Bowker, Howe, Stone, Angier, Damon and Grant. Some wood, unusable for products, was at times stacked, covered with dirt and fired to make charcoal. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/67865821a13c8214eeccfe37/7a1ccd65-9c56-42e5-92c4-71abadd636bb/farming.jpg Town History - Business & Industry - The Farming Industry The first farmers who lived here sold flax, corn, rye, barley, potatoes, turnip and pumpkins. The strawberries, blueberries, blackberries and raspberries were abundant. Stone walls show evidence of large acreages of pasture land that had been cleared with great labor. The raising of cattle, sheep and chickens recently has been on a limited scale and the pasture lands are reverting to woodlands. 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