The History of Troy, New Hampshire
This sunny view of Depot Street in Troy was taken about a century ago when the Kimball House across from the Depot awaited travelers. The rails that carried stone along Water Street from the quarry can be seen in the foreground. Were those workers at the Depot taking a lunch break, loafing, or posing for the photographer? In any event the Depot and the hotel have been preserved for our day. Even in the 1940's 5 trains daily from the Troy Depot made commuting to Keene a breeze.
Early Troy
The area that became Troy was the wilderness frontier in the mid-eighteenth century, being known then as Monadnock No. 5, and later to become the Town of Marlborough. Colonial grantees of land in the remote Town busied themselves in selling land to residents of Massachusetts eager to live free of growth in the old colony. The first settler here was William Barker of Westborough, Mass., who built a log cabin on West Hill in 1764. When the revolution came there were few able residents qualified for service, but the isolated area to become Troy is believed to have contributed seven soldiers, including Ezekiel Mixer, who fought at Bunker Hill and died at the Battle of Bennington.
In the early years of the new republic the area of Troy grew steadily, with the development of a village where the common now stands. But the residents had to look to Marlborough and Fitzwilliam as town centers. The hilly nature of the land made contact with the churches and business there difficult, and after much contention, the Town of Troy was incorporated independently in 1815. That same year the meeting house seen today on Troy Common was completed.
Early Troy was a New England farming community, although the abundant forest encouraged the manufacture of wooden ware such as boxes, wooden pails, clothes pins, tool handles, and bowls. A brickyard furnished brick for some of our early nineteenth century homes. Tanneries and a pottery thrived at one time. Dependable water power attracted establishment of carding and fulling mills, and woolen and cotton fabric makers. Of signal importance to Troy was the arrival of Thomas Goodall in 1851. Goodall's brilliant development of the fitted horse blanket in 1857 led to the establishment of a mill later known as Troy Blanket Mills. Acquired by Barrett Ripley and others in 1865, this business has endured under Ripley family management until the present day, now known as Troy Mills, Inc. This places Troy Mills as the oldest textile manufacturer in New Hampshire and third oldest in the United States. Troy woolens in the form of work clothing and "Troy Robes" became nationally known. The Mill successfully made the transition from the horse blankets of the horse and buggy age to become a supplier of needled fabrics to the automobile industry, a classic success story of American enterprise and management.
Troy has become a comfortable small town known for its historic mill, for the thriving resort known as The Inn at East Hill Farm at the base of Mount Monadnock and, not least, for outstanding Town management. The Troy Historical Society maintains a museum of Troy History and welcomes visitors.
Other Historical Points
More TROY HISTORY can be found on the following two pages:
A New England Mill Town Walking Tour
Troy Travel and Tourism Plan
Of Industrial Interest:
Troy had its first grist mill in 1768, operated by Thomas Tollman. Alexander Parkham operated a fulling mill near the present sight of Troy Mills from 1778 - 1788. In 1779 Daniel Cutting built a tannery that later burned in 1887. By 1803 there was a sawmill on East Hill and one on West Hill. In 1808 a carding mill was built by the Harrington brothers. During the 1800's there were numerous businesses that thrived or disappeared such as a pottery, a hat shop, a peg mill, a pail shop, brick works, and even a locked corner packing box maker.
Of Recreational Interest:
The Cheshire Railroad was built in 1840 and provided service between Vermont and Southern Massachusetts. It was said the train could get the milk to Boston in two hours, an amazing speed in the mid 1800's. Many people used the stop at Troy as a starting place to tackle the hike up Mount Monadnock, indeed, even Henry David Theroux himself was a frequent visitor.
On Wildlife:
Wolves became a problem for the early settlers as they ate crops and domestic animals, so sections of Mount Monadnock were burned to rid the area of them. Legend has it that the wolves retreated to the top of the mountain and were burned along with the forest and that's why the top looks like it does today, without trees.
Troy no longer has wolves but you can easily find cotton tail rabbits, beavers, muskrats, porcupines, red and gray fox, coyotes, deer, wild turkeys, and sometimes moose and black bear. The only creature you may not see is the catamount or mountain lion, like one that was killed on West Hill in the 1700s, weighing over 100 pounds and measuring thirteen feet long from head to tail.