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Exemplary Estates of New Hampshire

The Bedford Historical Society and the Bedford Public Library are delighted to host an evening with Cristina Ashjian of the New Hampshire Humanities. The program will be presented on Wednesday, May 15th, at 6:30 pm at the Bedford Public Library in the McAllister Room. This program is free and open to the public.

In the early 1900’s, the New Hampshire Board of Agriculture decided to try to help the local economies in the state’s rural areas and to try to encourage more tourism by selling off the abandon farms to summer tourists. Many farmers had simply gotten up and left their homesteads for what they hoped would be a better and more prosperous life out West. This plan of the Board of Agriculture became known as the “country house movement”.

The  speaker, Cristina Ashjian, will not only discuss this movement, which was between 1902 and 1913, but some of the wonderful estates that resulted from the State’s program. Today some of these estates are now opened to the public.

Thi­s promises to be a very informative and enjoyable evening.  Light refreshments will be served.