Keene New Hampshire collage
Keene, New Hampshire is located on the west south side of New Hampshire off route 102. Keene NH is the home for Keene State College, a well known State College in New Hampshire. Keene is also the home for former Redsox Catcher great Carleton "Pudge" Fisk who finished his career with the Chicago White Sox.
Keene, New Hampshire also has among its citizens many artisans (i.e. painters, sculptors, photographers, poets, writers). As you walk the main street, you will see numerous coffee houses where you may see these artisans. Keene is also in proximity to Route 91 which can take you up the State of Vermont and south to Springfield Massachusetts and Hartford Connecticut.
The community was granted as Upper Ashuelot in 1735 by Colonial Governor Jonathan Belcher to 63 settlers who paid five pounds each and whose properties were assigned by lot.[3] Settled after 1736, it was intended to be a fort town protecting the Province of Massachusetts Bay during the French and Indian Wars. When New Hampshire separated from Massachusetts in 1741 Upper Ashuelot became part of New Hampshire.
During King George's War, the village was attacked and burned by Indians. Colonists fled to safety, but would return to rebuild in the early 1750s. It was regranted to its inhabitants in 1753 by Governor Benning Wentworth, who renamed it Keene after Sir Benjamin Keene, English minister to Spain and a West Indies trader. Located at the center of Cheshire County, it became county seat in 1769. Land was set off for Sullivan and Roxbury, although Keene would annex 154 acres (0.62 km2) from Swanzey (formerly Lower Ashuelot).
Timothy Dwight, the Yale president who chronicled his travels, called the town "...one of the prettiest in New England." Situated on an ancient lake bed surrounded by hills, the valley with fertile meadows was excellent for farming. The Ashuelot River provided water power for sawmills, gristmills and tanneries. After the railroad arrived in 1848, numerous other industries were established. Keene became a manufacturing center for wooden-ware, pails, chairs, sash, shutters, doors, pottery, glass, soap, woolen textiles, shoes, saddles, mowing machines, carriages and sleighs. It also had a brickyard and foundry. Keene was incorporated as a city in 1874, and by 1880 had a population of 6,784.
New England manufacturing declined in the 20th century, however, particularly during the Great Depression. Keene is today a center for insurance, education and tourism. The city nevertheless retains a considerable inventory of fine Victorian architecture from its flush mill town era. An example is the Keene Public Library, which occupies a Second Empire mansion built about 1869 by manufacturer Henry Colony.
Keene NH was also the site for the filming of Jumanji which starred Robin Williams. Please see the Jumanji chase scene at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2uoXapEpQQg. You can purchase the below piece for $100 including shipping (16"X20") signed by the artist on drymount and send either to Marc Gagnon Inc., PO Box 8776 Coral Springs, Florida 33075 or Marc Gagnon Inc. , 131 Daniel Webster Highway, #246, Nashua, NH 03060.
