Upper Village, Page 3

1907: Bartlett Village Railroad Square: The big white building is the Odd Fellows Hall, which has a stage and movie theatre. Next door to that is Hellen Hayes lodging house, The Maplewood.

Hellen also operated The Elmcrest during the 1930's. That building is still standing and is located almost opposite the present day Villager Motel, It has been vacant for years. I recall watching Carroll Hayes butcher cattle in the barn there in the 1960's.

Hellen, being an ambitious person also operated a restaurant, The Red Rooster, located on Main Street where Lydia Lansing now lives.

The brown building (above) at this time may have been Eben Garland's store which later became a grocery store operated by Mr Wimpy Thurston followed by Harold and Edith Jacobson. The building was razed in the late 1990's and the land is owned by the Hodgkins, who live next door.

Next to the store is The Garland, an Inn built by Eben Garland. It also housed a drug store and jewelry store. It was sold to the Hodgkins family about 1920 for use as a private residence. It is still owned by the Hodgkins family. (photo above, right)

The top picture was taken from the vicinity of the Railroad Depot building, Rail tracks are just to the left of this picture.
Railroad Square Bartlett Village

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Railroad Station Bartlett Village New Hampshire

Bartlett Village Rail Station as it appeared in 1922. Dianne Dudley Osborne sent the information below about the white building in the background: "It was our home from 1948 to when it burned in the mid 1960's. My Dad David A. Dudley bought the home from Mr. Grimmer and his wife. This family where directly related to my Great Great Grandfather Simeon Stewart who lived on Kearsarge Street. Both families came from St. Stephens, New Brunswick Canada in the late 1890's with their families and most of them are buried in Garland's cemetery. They had ties to the Railroad and logging industry. In the picture what you see is the home which was right next door to Sacred Heart Church (later renamed St. Joseph the Worker) and you can see part of the school that was directly behind both buildings. Our home had many rooms with a spiral staircase to the attic. We believe that many railroad workers roomed there. When we were children our parents sold eggs from the house and my father had two cows and pigs. Of course, we were always called out of school to bring one of them home. When the school windows were open you could hear them. Farming was a very important and necessary way of life and alot of families had to do both work a full time job and run their family homesteads. Mr. Grimmer and Simeon Stewart were children raised by Mr. Jesse Grimmer from Grimmer Mountain in St. Stephens. Jesse is buried on the the back side of markers in the church in St. Stephen. His family were member of the original Loyalist from Ireland who are listed on the Tax List of 1815 in St. Stephens. This names on this list are found in the Olde Burying Grounds in St. Stephens."
This card scanned from the Michael Bannon collection.

Contributed by Clayton Smith, April 2011:

There are places in the Bartlett area that without being shared will be forgotten and disappear. I have heard of two places in the experimental forest that my uncles, cousins, and other local old timers went to for hunting. Hearing stories of hikes to these places, and good times spent with fathers teaching their sons the honored traditions of self sufficiency, hunting, fishing, survival, and becoming a man. One was the Hermit's Shelter. The details of the story of the hermit are fuzzy. I've heard slightly different accounts. But, here's what I've heard: "There was a hermit who lived in the upper Bear Notch area sometime in the early nineteen hundreds up to possibly the World War Two era who lived off of the land. He was self sufficient, and by definition, lived like a hermit. He poached game as he needed food and perhaps hides to use and sell. The game wardens of the day (or whatever tile they had, maybe a special task of the CCCs?) searched for his cabin/home/camp, found it and burned it to get rid of him. He then being a stubborn man with Yankee ingenuity relocated his base to a shelter which could not be burned; a massive boulder with the potential of hospitality for one. This boulder had a crack which ran vertical through the ceiling, enough to put a chimney for a wood stove. The ending of what I know of the history of the hermit" Sounding somewhat as a treasure story one would tell their children before bedtime, mention of a buried keg of silver dollars has rung in my ears for many years. Who knows? Maybe you?

The other place is Pert's camp: "Pert's camp was a hunting camp with a more solid history. Not there anymore due to being burned, some say that they could recognize the remains if they could get in the area again."

Yes, there is more to these stories. I forget my bank account number, phone numbers, and even names of people I met days before, but I remember every detail of these stories as they were told. If you have any stories about these type of places, or perhaps info missing to my stories, for the heritage of Bartlett please share.