New England's Hidden Past: 360 Overlooked, Underappreciated and Misunderstood Landmarks

by Dan Landrigan, Leslie Landrigan

Overview

New England is so compact that even casual visitors can sample its diverse history in just a short time. But travelers and residents alike can also pass right by historic buildings, landscapes, and iconic objects without noticing them. New England's Hidden Past presents the region’s history in an engaging new way: through 58 lists of historic places and things usually hidden in plain sight in all six New England states.

Pay attention and you’ll find stone structures built by Indians, soaring churches financed by Franco-American millworkers, and public high schools started by colonists when New England was still a howling wilderness. You may have seen them, but you probably don’t know the story behind them.

New England's Hidden Past takes readers to the grave sites of revolutionary heroines, Loyalist house museums, as well as, Revolutionary taverns and colonial inns. It takes them to Indian trails, the oldest houses, historic department stores, ghost towns, and Little Italys. Each unique, interesting location or object has a counterpart in the other five New England states.

A perfect guide to keep in the car and refer to when traveling New England or planning a trip.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781608939862
Publisher:	Down East Books
Publication date:	06/15/2020
Pages:	328
Sales rank:	669,749
Product dimensions:	6.30(w) x 9.00(h) x 1.00(d)

About the Author

Dan and Leslie Landrigan are the authors of Bar Harbor Babylon: Murder, Misfortune, and Scandal on Mount Desert Island. They are also the writers behind the New England Historical Society. Since its inception in 2014, the blog—which explores and promotes New England history—has hosted more than three million visitors. More than 20,000 have signed up to receive the NEHS weekly updates. With backgrounds in journalism and publishing, they now live in Stonington, ME.

Table of Contents

Introduction vii

Why Is It Called That? 1

How the States Got Their Names 2

Towns with Unique Names 6

Places That Once Belonged to a Different State 10

Towns Renamed Out of Spite 15

Places with French Names 19

Towns Named Warren 23

Roads and Routes 26

Indian Trails That Are Now Scenic Byways 27

Canals That Changed New England 31

Stagecoach Stops You Can Still Visit 36

Stops on the Underground Railroad 41

Historic Train Rides 46

Military Routes 50

Ye Olde New England 55

Oldest Continuously Operational Restaurants 56

Oldest Houses 60

General Stores 64

Colonial Homes Photographed Wallace Nutting 68

Historic Vessels 73

Covered Bridges 78

Say You Want a Revolution 82

Revolutionary War Battlefields 83

Revolution-Era Taverns 88

Revolutionary War Forts 92

Loyalist Houses 96

Gravesites of Revolutionary War Heroines 101

Places Where Revolutionary Heroes Lived 106

Vintage New England 110

New England's Oldest Businesses 111

Six Products and Where They Were Made 115

Places Where Iconic Foods Were Born 120

Landmark Signs 125

Downtown Department Stores 128

The First Shopping Malls 133

Civic New England 138

Oldest Courthouses 139

Historic One-Room Schoolhouses 143

Oldest Public High Schools 148

Historic Post Offices 153

Oldest Public Libraries 158

Oldest Hospitals 163

Working Class New England 168

Places Where Workers Were Killed 169

Irish Landmarks 173

New Deal Projects 178

Little Italys 183

Poorhouses 188

Little Canadas 193

Strange New England 198

Ghost Towns 199

Abandoned Places 203

Mysterious Stone Structures 207

Strange Rocks 211

Homes of Nutty Millionaires 215

Haunted Houses 220

Great Escapes 224

Presidential Retreats 225

The Green Book Guides African Americans to Safety 229

Gorgeous Churches by Ralph Adams Cram 233

Island Escapes 237

Cemeteries 242

Wildlife Sanctuaries 247

Crime and Scandal 252

Places Where a Hanging Took Place 253

Prohibition-Era Speakeasies You Can Still Visit 258

Scandalous Love Nests 262

Armed Robbery 268

Corruption, Railroad Style 274

Places Where People Were Murdered 282

Sources and Further Reading 288

Index 314