Historic ghost town house open to public

Friday, September 23, 2011

Photograph by Bethany Poulin The Gould house, at Old Monson Village, remains much as it would have appeared to a house guest in the 1700's.

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Russ Dickerman and his poodle, Niki, tend the grounds and welcome guests at the Old Monson Village. Bethany Poulin photo

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The trails of Old Monson Village are sprinkled with artifacts like this old wagon wheel. Bethany Poulin photo

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The only original building left on the premises, the Gould Homestead, will be open to visitors during the Strollin' and Rollin' event on Sept. 24. Bethany Poulin photo

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Cellar holes and foundations of long forgotten buildings pepper the landscape in Old Monson Village. Bethany Poulin photo

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Visitors to the Gould House get to see the kitchen and pantry, with no running water or electricity, much as it would have looked during the 1700s. Bethany Poulin photo

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The paths and trails of Old Monson Village are edged with miles of hand-built stonewalls. Bethany Poulin photo

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Photograph by Bethany Poulin The Gould house, at Old Monson Village, remains much as it would have appeared to a house guest in the 1700's.

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An easy five-minute walk from Federal Hill Road on tree-lined Adams Road and you will find yourself standing at the edge of one of Hollis’ hidden gems – the ghost town of Old Monson Village.

This 269-acre property, straddling the Milford-Hollis line, served as the center of the more than 17,000 acres that once made up the Monson Village charter. According to Dr. Gary Hume, New Hampshire’s state historian, “Monson is among the most archeologically significant sites in New England.”

The town of Monson was no stranger to conflict. With its center resting on difficult-to-farm, rocky land, Monson’s residents were forced to build away from the center.

The difficulty maintaining local government and meeting places so far removed from the residents tending gentler land eventually forced its dissolution in the 1770s.

Monson existed here for only 23 years before dissolving its corporation, at which point Milford and Hollis absorbed the families, homes and land of the defunct village.

Its town center and history fell into obscurity. Having laid silent for hundreds of years, the property found an ally when Russell Dickerman purchased the parcel and began the process of restoring it to its current state.

In 1998, under the looming cloud of progress, a proposal to build 28 houses very close to the most prominent part of Monson once again threatened this historic parcel.

In an effort to protect Monson, Dickerman approached the New Hampshire Society for the Protection of Forests and convinced them to purchase the adjacent property and create easements preserving and maintaining the remote nature of this historic site as it stands today.

As you walk the well-groomed fields and trails of Monson, you will find remnants, artifacts and cellar holes of the former town.

The Gould House, an original colonial, serves as a museum today surrounded by beautiful rolling fields. The house exists much as it did in colonial times, due to Russell and Geri Dickermen, who painstakingly restored the home to its original state.

Over the years, rumors of the supernatural events at Monson have come and gone.

“Raven Duclos came here; she saw things,” said Russell Dickerman, as he described an encounter with the famous psychic ghost hunter who walked the property in search of spirits.

The Gould House Museum opens its doors to curious visitors by appointment or luck, if you happen to meet up with Russell Dickerman out at the site. However, on Sept. 24, as a part of the Freedom’s Way Strollin’ and Rollin’ celebration sponsored by the Hollis Historical Society, Old Monson Village, including the Gould House, will be open to visitors.

Russell Dickerman and Chuck Worcester, of the Milford Heritage Commission, will be there to answer any of your pressing Monson Questions and regale you with stories of long ago.