Misplaced Pages

Central Square Historic District
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
U.S. Historic district
October 2012
Show map of New HampshireShow map of the United States
Location	2-27 Central Square, 1 Summer St., 1-3 N. Main St., and 2 S. Main St., Bristol, New Hampshire
Coordinates	43°35′29″N 71°44′11″W / 43.59139°N 71.73639°W / 43.59139; -71.73639
Area	3.7 acres (1.5 ha)
Built	1861 (1861)
Architect	Multiple
Architectural style	Late Victorian, Federal
NRHP reference No.	83001139
Added to NRHP	March 24, 1983

The Central Square Historic District of Bristol, New Hampshire, encompasses the central commercial district of the town. The square is a four-sided space near the junction of six roadways in the center of Bristol, just north of the Newfound River and west of the Pemigewasset River. The district includes all of the buildings that are arrayed around the square, as well as one contemporary commercial building located just south of the Newfound River on South Main Street. The district was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1983.

The center of Bristol began to take shape in the 1760s with the arrival of the first non-Native settlers. A road was cut along the Pemigewasset River, which crossed the Newfound River near where South Main Street does today. A mill was built a little way to the east. By the 1790s a small town center had emerged, including two tavern buildings that still stand. A new road (now North Main Street) to Newfound Lake in 1805 further enhanced the area's importance as a transportation junction, shortly followed by what is now Pleasant Street in 1808. How the square itself formed is uncertain, since there are no formal town documents discussing the matter.

The center grew in the 19th century with the arrival of industrial mills and the railroad. Most of the municipal functions were located away from the square, which developed as a commercial business district. Early surviving instances of wood frame commercial construction include in the 1841 Bean-Tukey Block and the 1848 Cass Block. The west side of the square was subjected to destructive fires in 1861 and 1871, resulting in the construction of Victorian brick blocks on that side of the square. The square's basic structures today are, with only few exceptions, what they were in the late 19th century.

See also

• National Register of Historic Places listings in Grafton County, New Hampshire

References

1. ^ "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. July 9, 2010.
2. ^ "NRHP nomination for Central Square Historic District". National Park Service. Retrieved March 24, 2014.

v t e National Register of Historic Places in Grafton County, New Hampshire
National Historic Landmark	The Epic of American Civilization Murals
Historic districts	Ashland Gristmill and Dam Canaan Street Historic District Central Square Historic District Colburn Park Historic District Dorchester Common Historic District Enfield Shaker Historic District Enfield Village Historic District Haverhill Corner Historic District Hebron Village Historic District Lyme Center Historic District Lyme Common Historic District Orford Street Historic District Plymouth Historic District Shepard Hill Historic District True Farm Webster Estate
Historic properties	Abbie Greenleaf Library Ashland Junior High School Ashland Railroad Station Bath Covered Bridge Bedell Covered Bridge‡ Boulderwood Brick Store Bristol Town Hall Burleigh Brae and Webster Boathouse Burt–Cheney Farm Camp Carnes Camp Mowglis Camp Ossipee Canaan Meetinghouse Centre Village Meeting House Chapel of the Holy Cross Chocorua Island Chapel Daniel Carr House Dorchester Community Church Dow Academy Edward H. Lane House Enfield Center Town House Felsengarten First Free Will Baptist Church and Vestry Frost Place Goodall-Woods Law Office Great Hollow Road Stone Arch Bridge Hanover Town Library Haverhill–Bath Covered Bridge Hewitt House Holderness Free Library Holderness Inn Jeremiah Hutchins Tavern Lisbon Inn Littleton Town Building Lovett's by Lafayette Brook Lyme–East Thetford Bridge‡ Minot–Sleeper Library Morey Memorial Bridge‡ Moses Kent House Norman and Marion Perry House North Holderness Freewill Baptist Church–Holderness Historical Society Building Old Grafton County Courthouse Owls Head Piermont Bridge‡ The Rocks Rockywold–Deephaven Camps Sawyer–Medlicott House Sphinx Tomb Spring Hill Farm St. Mark's Episcopal Church Stone Arch Underpass Swiftwater Covered Bridge Thayer's Hotel Trinity Church US Post Office and Courthouse–Littleton Main Watch Rock Camp Whipple House Woodsville Opera Building
Footnotes	‡This historic property also has portions in an adjacent state.
See also: National Register of Historic Places listings in Grafton County, New Hampshire and List of National Historic Landmarks in New Hampshire

• Historic districts on the National Register of Historic Places in New Hampshire
• Federal architecture in New Hampshire
• Victorian architecture in New Hampshire
• Buildings and structures completed in 1861
• Historic districts in Grafton County, New Hampshire
• 1861 establishments in New Hampshire
• National Register of Historic Places in Grafton County, New Hampshire
• Bristol, New Hampshire