Morrison Museum

Morrison House Museum

The Morrison House was originally built in 1760 on Rockingham Road and was moved in 1989 by the Historical Society to prevent certain demolition.

Now completely restored, the Morrison House is a beautiful example of an 18th century farmhouse as it would have appeared in the mid-19th century. The house serves as a museum for Londonderry artifacts such as early muskets, the running horse weathervane from the Robie House and a fragment of silk from Ocean Born Mary’s wedding dress. Londonderry was a center for the production of flax and linen and there is a display of related items such as a flax wheel, hetchels and a loom. Country furnishings, early hearth iron and even children’s items complete this pre-Civil War rural farmhouse.

To further enhance the Morrison House restoration we have added the Parmenter Barn and Clark Blacksmith shop.

Morrison House

The Society’s goal of establishing a museum for the town became a reality in 1990 when the Morrison House was acquired through the generosity of the Welch family, for donating the house, and the Mack family for donating the land, to move the house on Pillsbury Road, a short distance from the Town Common.

The Morrison House, circa 1760, is one of the few pre-revolutionary homes existing in Londonderry and it is considered to be a landmark. It was originally owned by a well known and respected Londonderry family, the Morrisons, who came to Nutfield (Londonderry) in 1719. Its many original features include a large center chimney fireplace with beehive ovens and brick hearth, Indian shutters, borning room, wide pine floors, nine over six pane windows, feathered clapboards and 18th century door latches.

The present site of the Morrison House Museum consists of over two acres of orchard land the Mack family donated and the land’s original deed belonged to Charter David Morrison – C. 1726. A befitting location, surrounded by apple orchard vistas, the Morrison House sits amid old cellar foundations and abundant purple lilacs.

Clark Blacksmith Shop

The circa 1840 Clark Blacksmith Shop was one of several buildings within Stonehenge Farm which is still home to the Clark family today. Only the frame and roof were intact when it was moved by the Historical Society in 1998. It now sits atop the original oak beams and is a fine example of a 19th century trade shop. Structural restoration is complete, although the Society would like to replace the reproduction forge with an actual 19th century forge. The shop contains many 19th century tools and a variety of early iron objects such as hinges, horseshoes, nails, hardware and other items routinely used in rural New Hampshire. A very large leather and wood bellows, used to inject air into the forge, was rescued from the original shop.

The Parmenter Barn

The 1859 Parmenter Barn is a classic example of a Yankee post and beam dairy barn. Originally located on High Range Road, it is the last barn in Londonderry that was assembled through a community barn-raising. In 1998 the Historical Society moved and later re-assembled the barn piece-by-piece.

Now completely restored, all signs of 20th century modifications have been eliminated and the barn is once again a solid symbol of Londonderry’s agricultural heritage. In the near future, an original carriage shed will be reassembled and attached to the barn’s north side. This carriage shed was rescued from the homestead of Ned Reynolds on Litchfield Road. The shed will house a one-horse carriage, a racing sulky, and a paint-decorated sleigh.