Free History Walk with Town Historian
The public is invited to an Earth Day walk in Manchester’s North End on Saturday, April 22. Meet at 1:00 p.m.at Robertson School, 65 North School Street, on the front steps of the old building. The school was named for John T. Robertson (1856-1922), organizer of the J.T. Robertson Soap Company, maker of Bon Ami scouring powder., with interests in the Orford Soap Company, in Manchester, Syracuse, N.Y., and Montreal, Canada. Mr. Robertson was one of the organizers and original directors of the Manchester Trust Company.
We’ll walk along streets in the North End to Union dam, originally built in 1866, where the Hockanum river flows out of Union Pond. On this 53rd annual Earth Day, we’ll acknowledge the Hockanum’s drastic change from pollution to recreation, and the benefits of the clean air and clean water legislation of the 1970s.
We’ll see housing originally built by Union cotton mills for its employees. The mills were established in 1794 by Samuel Pitkin, and operated through various ownerships until 1900. No buildings remain at the site of the former Union Manufacturing Company, although it did lend its name to the Union Village Historic District, which was added to the National Register in 2002. We’ll visit the waterfront home of the LeGeyt family and St. John’s Church, two gems of the area. Rain or shine. No dogs please.
Additional walks, celebrating Manchester’s bicentennial are scheduled for 1:00 p.m. on • Saturday, May 20, at 146 Hartford Road, • Sunday, May 28, at 41 Center Street, and • Saturday, June 3, at 39 Lodge Drive. See details of the 23 walks in 2023 on the Events page of www.manchesterhistory.org or pick up a printed copy of the booklet at Town Hall or libraries.