Mill Town Messenger | April 2015

Overview

The newsletter presents the Newport Historical Society’s Spring 2015 activities, fundraising successes, and local historical features. It highlights organizational news—meeting schedules, program events, membership goals, social media outreach, and completed fundraising for museum window replacements—framed with gratitude to sponsors and volunteers.

Complementing society business, the issue offers local history articles and archival photos: profiles of long-standing businesses (Newton-Bartlett/Chadwick Funeral Home), historic Main Street buildings (DeWolf and Lewis Blocks), and early manufacturers (Amos Little Hat Factory), plus museum exhibit updates and community projects like newspaper digitization.

You can read the online version of the newsletter here.

This quarterly newsletter is generally published in January, April, July and October.

Main Points

• Newton-Bartlett/Chadwick Funeral Homes: One of Newport’s oldest businesses, founded in 1876 by David A. Newton, later operated by his sons, then Dixi C. Newton, and eventually Clinton S. Bartlett; ownership changed hands in 1998 to Wilfred Tremblay, and then to Chadwick Funeral Home in 2009; currently managed by Steve Robertson and others.
• DeWolf Block and Main Street Fires: The DeWolf Block (built 1893/94) and neighboring Lewis Block (1886) and Opera House (rebuilt 1886) were constructed after Newport’s major 1885 fire, which destroyed key buildings including the Nettleton House, Bank Building, and original Opera House.
• Historic Businesses: The DeWolf Block has housed various businesses and organizations, including J.S. Hirsch Department Store, Hunton & Barker Clothing Store, and fraternal groups like the Knights of Pythias and the Masons.
• Amos Little Hat Factory: Operated from the early 1800s until destroyed by fire in 1867; Amos Little and later his son Charles Henry Little produced hats for a wide region; the Newport Historical Society preserves one of their hats.
• Museum Renovations: The Newport Historical Society completed a fundraising campaign to replace all 23 museum windows, with donor plaques to be installed; a contingency fund was also established for unexpected renovation needs.
• Digitization Project: The Society contributed $1,000 to digitize Argus Champion newspaper records, improving research access by making them word-searchable.
• Membership Drive: As of 2015, the Society had 236 members, aiming for 254 to match the number of years since Newport’s 1761 charter.
• New Hampshire Governors from Newport: Three men with Newport connections served as Governor: Ralph Metcalf (1855–1857), Jesse Barton (Acting Governor in 1918), and Francis Parnell Murphy (1937–1941).

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