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You’ll find Moses’ Notes in the sidebar at the
The trolley came out from Market Square, along Sagamore Road, onto Wallis, through the center of town, down Central Road to the Farragut Hotel on Ocean Boulevard, and on to Hampton Beach. For the next 28 years Rye and the seacoast and the rest of the country had far superior public transportation than we have today. Cars were a novelty in Rye and most places until the teens and especially after the war. (If the truth be known, the Railway was a losing financial proposition and if the B and M Railway did not own it, the trolley would have ceased to exist much sooner. Trolleys were a profitable concern in larger urban areas, but aside from the summer demand, there were never enough people in the seacoast to justify it.) But what did the trolley do in winter? Why it donned a plow and, when necessary, the locals dug it out. The trolley must go on and the fresh memories of our recent snow storm help one to imagine what Rye winters must have been like a century ago. ~Alex Herlihy, Rye Historical Society and Town Museum
But the real heyday of the hall was in the late 1800′s and early 1900′s when different groups in town would stage performances at the town hall throughout the year, mostly of the humorous, light comedy or farcical variety. (One of our favorites from the turn of the century was “Freezing a Mother-in-Law”.) The Town Museum has dozens of the play bills from that era and the names of the actors/performers are familiar to anyone who knows the old names of Rye. In the winter of 1911 with the new library under construction, the town would have been ripe to see a comedy/drama/farce on why Rye was the last town in the county to get a library, but that play has yet to be written. Some of what they did see was the comedy “Higbee of Harvard” staged by the Jenness Beach Improvement Association starring Irving Rand and Flora Seavey; a comedy in four acts staged by the Congregational Society starring, among others, long time selectman Newall Marden and soon to be librarian Miss Helen Drake; and “Just Plain Folks,” a drama in three acts put on by the Ladies Social Union of the Christian Church (the one that was moved in 1947 where the fire station is now). We have no playbill for March 1911 because, we suspect, the wild and often very funny Town Meeting was more than enough entertainment for that month. The final town hall entertainment that year was a drama called “Farm Folks,” appropriate indeed for a town whose majority occupation was still farming. The office space on the second floor and the stage is all temporary. Who knows, in the future the great hall may rise again! ~Alex Herlihy, Rye Historical Society and Town Museum
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Thursday October 6th at 7:00 pmJoin former President of the Isles of Shoals Historical and Research Association (ISHRA) and acting Shoals Historian for the Seacoast Science Center, Ann Beattie for a captivating look at the Isles of Shoals through history. Learn more about the quirky lore and legends of these islands just seven miles from Rye, New Hampshire. Determine the truth behind stories of pirates, ghosts and occasional bouts of mayhem. Learn of the isolated and sometime peculiar villagers of Gosport on Star Island along with little known incidents regarding more famous residents of the Shoals. This program satisfies the perrenial regional interest in the Isles of Shoals along with Rye history specifically, since the border between Maine and New Hampshire splits the Islands; and Star, Lunging, Seaveys and White Islands not only fall within the border of New Hampshire, but within the Town of Rye! It was a tough choice from over 130 entries, but at our Centennial Open House on the afternoon of September 9th, the Rye Public Library Owls were christened with their new names, Artemis and Athena! They take their alliterative names from Greek mythology: Artemis, goddess of the hunt; and Athena, goddess of wisdom and the liberal arts. And, appropriately enough, we have two winners who each submitted the same pair of names! Grace Schwaegerle and Brianna Mastro have been notified that their submissions were chosen and that their own names will accompany the owls’ names on a plaque to be mounted in the Library lobby. Congratulations to our winners, and our thanks to everyone who entered!  Artemis
 Athena
Opening Day, 1911!In early September, 1911, the Rye Public Library first opened its doors to the public. Join us for refreshments, historic displays, our video birthday montage, and live entertainment with flutist Cynthia Chatis.
 Gov. John Langdon House Tuesday September 20th, at 7:00 pm Sandra Rux, the curator and manager of the Portsmouth Historical Society / John Paul Jones House / Discover Portsmouth Center, will reveal the tips and tricks for identifying the architectural features that can help you place your home in its construction era. Sandra has had a life-long interest in dating old houses, and created and taught a course on the topic in Guilford, CT for several years. Look up!
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Rye Public Library, 581 Washington Road, Rye, New Hampshire 03870 |
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