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HISTORY SCAVENGER HUNT


  • Lisbon Area Historical Society 9 Depot Street Lisbon, NH 03585 (map)

Clues and instructions can be picked up at Lisbon Area Historical Society Museum. If the museum is not open, there will be copies on the entrance door that you can take.

OR copy and paste the clues and instructions below to your device to take with you on your hunt.

 Find each location, and either take a picture of the site and flower near it with your phone or describe it with the type and color of the flower you see. Bring your completed form into the museum or send the pictures you take to lisbonareahistoricalsociety@gmail.com. Watch for traffic, and only pull over at a safe place.

All names of participants that successfully complete the scavenger hunt will go into a drawing to be done on August 3rd. The three names that are drawn will get either a gift certificate to Wildflour Café, a gift certificate to Mikey’s, or an LAHS publication. Each group will count as one participant. Plus, anyone completing the scavenger hunt successfully will get free membership to LAHS for 2027.

 

 1.     Find a major in the Revolutionary War who died in 1828 and is buried at the oldest cemetery in Lisbon. Give his name and describe the flower placed on his grave or take a picture of it. (FUN FACT: He was a famous ranger and scout known for killing a British general behind enemy lines.) Take a picture of the stone and flower or name the soldier and describe flower:

2.     Find the marker that describes the making of wood into charcoal for iron smelters. Take a picture of the marker with the flower or describe the flower that is placed near it. (FUN FACT: The historic structure was originally shaped like a giant beehive when built in 1868. Now it’s just a circle of flat stones. Don’t look for the stones: POISON IVY!) Take a picture of the marker and flower or describe the marker and flower:

3.     Find the building that houses an old blockhouse. The land near there was used for militia musters from the late 1700s to the mid-1850s. Take a picture of it or describe the flower in the front yard. (FUN FACT: There used to be a beautiful ballroom upstairs with an arched ceiling.) Take a picture of the site and flower or describe the site and flower:

4.     Find the site that at one time was the largest manufacturer of piano sounding boards in the world. Find the Lisbon sign and the flower near it. Take a picture of it or describe the flower. (FUN FACT: The first piano boards were made at a factory on Hollister Meadow, now known as the Lisbon Lions Community Field. The factory burned, was rebuilt, burned again, was rebuilt elsewhere, burned again, and rebuilt. It has had many close calls with other fires over the years.) Take a picture of the site and flower or name the site and describe the flower:

5.     Find the location at Pearl Lake where an ice camp used to be. Take the left fork where Scotland Road turns off, go a short distance, and look near where two tracks go down to the lake. Take a picture of the site with the flower or describe the flower that was placed by the road near there. (FUN FACT: Pearl Lake used to be Lisbon’s water supply, and there was a Pearl Lake Ice Company there. The lake was first named Bear Pond, then named Mink Pond. It was named Pearl Lake after a “pearl rush” in 1854, when young boys found what they thought were real pearls, but they were just “pearls” from freshwater clams.) Take a picture of the site and flower or describe the site and flower:


6.    Find the Lyman Grange Hall. Take a picture of it with the flower near there or describe the flower that has been placed there. (FUN FACT: Almost every town had a Grange hall with a kitchen, dining room, and meeting hall with a stage where programs, plays, musical acts, dances, and other events were held. There are three restored historic painted stage curtains from this Grange hall on display at the Lisbon Area Historical Society Museum.) Take a picture of the site and flower or describe the site and flower:

 

7.     Travel to the spot after Ogontz Camp and find the location that provided the source of power for what was previously Young’s Sawmill. Take a picture of the spot with the flower or describe the flower that has been placed there. (FUN FACT: Ogontz Lake used to be called John Young Pond, after John Young, who had the sawmill there.) Take a picture of the site and flower or describe the site and flower:

 

8.     Near Gold Mine Road in Lyman, find the little white house that used to be the Clough Hill Schoolhouse. Either describe the flower that has been placed near there or take a picture of the house with the flower near there. (FUN FACT: The schoolhouse was moved to this site from a field across the road.) Take a picture of the site and flower or describe the site and flower:

9.     Find the building in Lyman that has chestnut pews. It was built in 1828. Tell the name of the building and either describe the flower that was placed near there or take a picture of the site with the flower. (FUN FACT: There used to be a long carriage house behind the building.) Take a picture of the site and flower or name the site and describe the flower:

 

10. Find the gravestone at Center Cemetery in Lyman for a Revolutionary War soldier who died July 9, 1843, at the age of 90. Either write down his name and describe the flower at the grave or take a picture of his grave with the flower at it. (FUN FACT: This soldier also had a father who fought in the Revolutionary War and is buried in Parker Hill Cemetery down the road.) Take a picture of the grave and flower or name the soldier and describe the flower:

 

11. Find the site of the Old Ireland School in Landaff near the Maddie Chandler Farm. Take a picture of the building with the flower near it or write down a description of the flower. (FUN FACT: The first school in Landaff was Philip’s School, a grammar school built by Dartmouth College in 1780, during the 21 years the College owned Landaff. The site of that grammar school is unknown.) Take a picture of the site and flower or describe the site and flower:

 

12. Locate the site of the first church in Landaff below the town hall. Take a picture of the location with the flower there or describe the flower. (FUN FACT: This first church was a Methodist Church built in 1802. Parishioners purchased pews, and that is how money was raised to build churches in those early years.) Take a picture of the flower or describe the flower:

 

13. At Landaff Center Cemetery, find the grave of the person that lived in three centuries. Write down her name and describe the flower at her grave or take a picture of the grave. (FUN FACT: To show she was still able and active, she wove some cloth with the words, “When I was one hundred and one. This web I spun.) Take a picture of the grave and flower or name the woman and describe the flower:

 

14. Find one of the oldest houses in Landaff. The original part is said to be one of the first frame structures in Landaff. It is located on King Hill Road. Take a picture of the house or describe the flower not far from the house. (FUN FACT: The house was originally a barn on the other side of the road and renovated into a house around 1840. Descendants of the first owner still live there.) Take a picture of the house and flower or describe the house and flower:

15. Find where an old bobbin mill was located in Landaff near a brook after the farm that used to belong to Dr. Erb. Take a picture of the location with the flower that is there or describe the flower. (FUN FACT: Lisbon, and Lyman had bobbin mills, too. Lisbon’s was at one time the largest bobbin mill in the whole United States. Bobbins were used in textile mills in large cities.) Take a picture of the site and flower or describe the site and flower:

 THANKS FOR PARTICIPATING! HOPE YOU HAD FUN AND LEARNED A LITTLE HISTORY!

If you believe you have found the correct location and see no flower, please let us know if someone removed the flower and we are not aware of it. lisbonareahistoricalsociety@gmail.com or 603-838-2003