Adopt-an-Artifact
This program is currently being updated. Below are items that have been preserved through this program. We hope you will enjoy seeing the photographs and learning about the objects.
Tremont House Guest Book
Back in the day, travelers and other folks who sought lodging in a hotel were asked to sign a guest book. Our copy of the Tremont House ledger dates from May to June 1876. We are sure there are signatures written on the pages but, after the hotel closed, the ledger was used as someone's scarpbook. There are numerous newspaper articles pasted over the advertising and the signature pages, and we hope to have them removed so as to reveal what was originally written. Wouldn't it be interesting to know who slept there?!
Florence Speare Wedding Dress
Florence Hyde Speare was the wife of Sceva Speare, owner and operator of the Speare's Dry Goods Store on Main Street from 1917 to 1964. Sceva was a member of The Nashua Historical Society and his partnership and generosity were selfless. His request was that our museum building be named in her honor, the Florence H. Speare Memorial. When Sceva Speare and Florence Hyde were married it must have been a grand celebration, and we are fortunate to be in possession of her wedding dress that marked that special day. Clothing, and textiles in general, are extremely fragile without proper care and storage and the condition of this dress is no exception. We hope to repair its beadwork, lace, surface staining,
and fabric deterioration.
Lund-Ingalls Points of Interest Map
The pairing of Charles H.Lund and Frank M. Ingalls certainly made for a good partnership back in the early 1930s. They came together to create a map and a photo index book that described many of the historical Points of Interest throughout Nashua. Charles Lund did the research and the writing. Frank Ingalls drew the map by hand, as well as photographed each location for inclusion in a bound index book. This map, drawn on white linen with black india ink, is one that was given to the Historical Society.
We need to remove it from its present setting of frame, glass, mat and backing and have it properly restored using acid-free and archival materials so as to ensure its preservation. The book compiled by Lund and Ingalls that was mentioned earlier is also part of the collection of The Nashua Historical Society. It is one of only three index books that were made to accompany the map.
Civil War Field Drum
Willard A. Cummings was just a small boy when his family moved to Nashua around 1858. After the Civil War broke out, he ran away to join the Union Army as a drummer boy. After spending a few months with the troops, the Union officers in charge discovered that he was under age and sent him on his way back home. His rope-tension field drum has survived these many years, and today it looks as if it's been through a war. Young Willard grew up to become a successful and well-known music instructor in Nashua as well as the director and conductor of his own orchestra, in which he also played an instrument. Willard Cummings and his family lived in Nashua until his death around 1926.
Nashua Daily Telegraph Newspapers
This series of the Nashua Daily Telegraph are bound by year from 1900 to 1931. Each year is bound in four separate volumes; January-March, April-June, July-September, and October-December. These volumes will be repaired, wrapped in protective covering and enclosed in an acid free box. They will then be labeled and cataloged for storage.
We plan to make these newspapers available for research once they are ready for public use. You will find useful information and period advertising in each Daily Telegraph that will be of great value to those who seek to see the events of Nashua's past laid out in bold print.
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Some items will be for adoption soon!
Nashua Manufacturing Estates Map
This map shows the estates belonging to the Nashua Manufacturing Company before the company built its extensive textile mills. The map, dated 1825, includes the adjoining lands and part of the Merrimack and Nashua Rivers. The architect and the surveyor was Thomas Rust, located in Boston, Massachusetts.