Ordering Information
$50.00, 6″ x 9″, HC, 483 pages, b&w photos throughout
ISBN: 978-1-963714-22-7
To order copies, please contact the author.
Our Modest, Unpretentious Little Town
Sullivan, NH, in the Twentieth Century
by C. Christopher Pratt
Until 1900, Sullivan, New Hampshire, was a typical northern New England hill town with an agricultural economy supplemented with forestry and a small mill village. Its history in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries was well documented in Rev. Josiah L. Seward’s history of the town—published after his death in 1917. However, the world that Seward knew was changing rapidly. This history details the transition of the community over the course of the twentieth century from a sparsely populated farming community into what the current residents call a rural-residential town. Using documents available in the Sullivan Town Archives as well as interviews, reminiscences, oral histories, and unpublished manuscripts, the author brings together the community’s story and its struggles with the many changes affecting the town in the one hundred years since Seward’s book was published. The history also includes institutional histories (town government, departments, the library, schools, etc.) and a chapter on the town’s sense of its history. Probably the most important part of the story is how the town has grown and yet maintained its open land and its places of natural beauty. In so many ways, it is one of the best kept secrets of Cheshire County—and this is its story.
From the Dust Jacket
In his centennial oration in 1887, Rev. J. L. Seward described Sullivan as “our modest, unpretentious little town.” He went on to write a comprehensive history of the town from its beginnings to circa 1910. In his time, Sullivan was a typical northern New England hill town with an agricultural economy supplemented with forestry and a small mill village.
Now comes a new history that begins in 1900 and traces changes to our town up to 2020. It details the transition of the community from Seward’s time to what the current residents call “a rural-residential town.” It tells the story of how the town has grown and yet maintained its open land and its places of natural beauty.
Using documents available in the Sullivan Town Archives as well as interviews, reminiscences, oral histories, and unpublished manuscripts, the author brings together the community’s story and its struggles with the many changes of the twentieth century. It includes chapters on our institutions (schools, highways, public safety, the public library, etc.), our businesses (the store, forestry, and others), and chapters on utilities, entertainment, and weather events. Finally, there is chapter on how we have celebrated and preserved our history during the last century.
In so many ways, our community is not only modest and unpretentious, it is one of the best-kept secrets of Cheshire County—and this is our story.
About the Author
C. Christopher Pratt is a retired librarian/archivist. He is a New Hampshire native and has lived in Sullivan for over forty years. He has served on the Town Planning Board, the Library Board of Trustees, the Sullivan Bicentennial Committee, and as the Town Moderator.
