Surry, New Hampshire
A Twentieth-Century History, 1920–2000

Can a town whose population has never reached one thousand merit two original histories in less than a century? This warm and insightful account of Surry, New Hampshire, shows that small can be not only beautiful, but also exciting and challenging and tragic—anything but dull. When Surry welcomed home its nine soldiers from World War I, and coincidentally the publication of its first history, it was an agricultural village of two hundred people. Eight decades later, it had grown into the wealthiest (median household income) town in the Monadnock region. Enlivening that transformation were fires and floods, the creation of a federal dam, "bootstrap activists" and down-home thespians, and one of the oldest companies in continuous operation in New Hampshire history. This book shows how tiny Surry adapted to the profound changes of the twentieth century, from electricity to e-mail, from TB tine tests to cell-phone towers, to emerge a vibrant and proud community set amidst a unique natural splendor.

About the Author

Richard Scaramelli is a native of Cape Cod (Hyannis) Massachusetts. He attended Dartmouth College, and graduated Phi Beta Kappa in European history from Columbia University. His graduate studies were in the History of Ideas at Brandeis University, where he was a Woodrow Wilson dissertation fellow. He taught and administered at Keene State College over a period of three decades. A former trustee of the Historical Society of Cheshire County, his term as president included oversight of the construction of its archive center. He lives in Swanzey, New Hampshire, with his wife, Joan Kibbe. He has two children and three grandchildren.

Contact Information

Surry History Committee
c/o Mary Fosher
14 Village Road
Surry NH 03431-8814