- The Trivia & History Challenge will present a question monthly pertaining to Salisbury in some way in print in Lifelines, on our Website and on our Facebook page.
- We hope you will find the questions intriguing and find the answers interesting.
- Parents and Educators: Some topics may very well lend themselves to further research for school children’s projects and reports.
- Previous Questions with links to answers are Indexed on the following: https://www.salisburyhistoricalsociety.org/trivia-history-challenge-index/
- Do you have an interesting question and answer for the challenge? Please let us know.
- Should we make a factual error please do not hesitate to contact us.
- All additional data, images, corrections or questions are always welcome.
QUESTIONS SORTED BY MONTH, recent to oldest:
DECEMBER QUESTION: Into the 1700’s and 1800’s why did towns have “Town Pounds” and did Salisbury have one?
ANSWER
To pen in stray, large farm animals, a problem for early settlers.
Yes, Salisbury did have a Town Pound and it is located at Whittemore and Center Road.
Stones walls settle over time, parts of them get buried, and stones recycled. This one was likely very up to the task in its time.
Salisbury Town Pound
For more on stone walls, wall watchers and stone fencing, town Pounds etc https://www.salisburyhistoricalsociety.org/the-great-sheep-boom-rock-walls/
NOVEMBER:
Why is there an Old College Road in Salisbury, seemingly going north through East Andover if there is no college anywhere nearby?
ANSWER
It was a road that went to Dartmouth College! For much more information on this fascinating and rather confusing topic:
https://www.salisburyhistoricalsociety.org/old-college-road/
For a general overview/timeline of the era that helps set the stage:
https://www.salisburyhistoricalsociety.org/early-town-planning/
OCTOBER 2020
Often the Society gets genealogy inquiries from the public nationwide inquiring about ancestors who lived in Salisbury. Sometimes we find it is another Salisbury. Currently there are 12 locations in the US with towns or small cities named Salisbury. All of the following states have a Salisbury except one. Which is it?
Connecticut, Illinois, Massachusetts, Maryland, Michigan, Missouri, New Hampshire, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island. Vermont, Virginia, North Carolina.
ANSWER:
Rhode Island
New Hampshire historians find the term “Range Road” often in their research but what were “Range Roads”?
https://www.salisburyhistoricalsociety.org/early-town-planning/
JULY 2020
What are definitions for the following?
wormwall, stile, cairn, pin and feather, erratics, stone boat, fence viewer, town pound
ANSWER
wormwall– a zig zag, Virginia split rail type fencing used prior to stone walls when wood was readily available. Field stones were often thrown against it and began the foundation of the next generation of wall, a zig zag, wormy rock wall.
stile– a part of a wall with steps built in so the farmers could avoid using a gate and still get over the wall.
cairn-an organized rock pile that may have Native American origins.
pin and feather-a method by which settlers 1774-1820 broke up stones leaving the markings of 2 of 3 sholes.
erratics-rock material laid down upon the earth by the last ice age.
stone boat– a flat bottom sled pulled by oxen to haul stones.
fence viewer-an appointed official who regularly checked on town fencing (stone walls included) to make sure all were in compliance.
town pound– a pen for escaped farm animals, originally swine.
For more information stone walls etc: https://www.salisburyhistoricalsociety.org/the-great-sheep-boom-rock-walls/
JUNE 2020
On June 1 of the year 1638 something major happened. Colonists at Plymouth Colony in Mass. heard a very loud roar approach them and then suddenly for 4 minutes were thrown off their feet unless holding onto things. Some chimneys collapsed. The island off NH and Mass were violently shaken and ships in the harbor were subjected to large tidal wave like swells. What was this event and what does it have to do with the Salisbury area?
ANSWER: Measurements based on recent seismic activities place the epicenter of the 6.5-7 damaging earthquake likely in the Boscawen area south of the fork of Rte 3 & 4 or slightly west under the River bed or just into Northfield. Knowing for sure is not possible at this time but these are the best speculations based on geologic findings from recent rumblers. In any case the epicenter, if not actually in Salisbury, may very well have been only 4-5 miles away. The noise and shaking must have been massive.
MAY 2020
What was the Great Sheep Boom?
Question:
https://www.salisburyhistoricalsociety.org/bridges/
MARCH 2020
QUESTION:
Are today’s borders of Salisbury the same as they were when the town was laid out in the mid 1700’s?
ANSWER:
Yes and No. Three sides have borders that are consistent with the earliest borders but the eastern side is completely altered.
Our town was laid out as a tilting rhomboid not a rectangle perfectly along a straight e/w latitude line. It extended from the Merrimack River in the east to the slopes of Mt. Kearsarge in the west.
The eastern border was altered with the creation of Franklin beginning abt 1820. The river was no longer the border but rather a jagged border was created to include the Daniel Webster Birthplace as part of Franklin.
Original boundaries:
SE: This border was what is now the Boscawen/Franklin town line point south of the Webster Farm on rte 3 and just south of the Old Fort along the Merrimack. A historical marker is located at the Old Fort site behind and just south of the Webster Graveyard.
W: The far westerly corner is on the slopes of Mt. Kearsarge intersecting the Mt Kearsarge Road in Warner for several feet.
NW: The north westerly point is somewhere in the hills past where Mountain Road fades out across the Blackwater where Andover begins.
NE: This point was on the Pemigewasset River (Merrimack below Franklin) just north of today’s bridge to Franklin in West Franklin but south of where Route 11 goes off 3A to now East Andover, perhaps by Sturtevant St.
FEBRUARY 2020
QUESTION:
THE MILLS SCHOOLS, West Salisbury
- ca 1806 A school existed but perhaps not in an official school house. It likely existed in a residence.
- ca 1816 A school house existed on Mountain Road. Eight early residences extending up to the Andover line from the Blackwater River appear to have existed in this area at one time.
- ca 1884-mid 1920’s New building was erected, located between the Pingree bridge and Dunlap Road, closer to Pingree Bridge across the road from the river.
JANUARY 2020
QUESTION: