Pike Manufacturing Program

The Historical Society will sponsor a program about the history of the Pike Manufacturing Company on Sunday, December 8 at 2:00 PM. It will be held at the Pike Hall, and will be free and open to the public.

The program will be presented by Wayne Fortier, a native of Pike, and will be based in part on research conducted by John Page, the late president of the Haverhill Historical Society. The program is dedicated to John Page’s memory. It is part of a series of programs celebrating the 250th anniversary of the founding of Haverhill and Newbury.

In the nineteenth century, Pike Manufacturing began producing whetstones from the local deposits of mica schist. It was the first supplier of commercially available natural sharpening stones in North America, and eventually it became one of the largest suppliers of such stones in the world. Founded by Isaac Pike, the company grew to international success under the leadership of his sons Alonzo and Edwin, and eventually merged with the Norton Company in 1932.

It is remembered today as one of the premier industries in Haverhill history.

Historical New Hampshire

The Fall/Winter 2013 issue of Historical New Hampshire, the magazine of the New Hampshire Historical Society, is now available. The issue is dedicated to the memory of John Page, longtime president of the Haverhill Historical Society, and its lead article is "Myra Montgomery's World: Haverhill, Boston, and Beyond," by Kimberly S. Alexander.

The issue's cover features a painting by Myra Montgomery. 

Dr. Alexander has posted about her article on the blog SilkDamask, where she begins:

"In a quiet corner of New England, in a large but unassuming Georgian home, during the early years of the new nation, lived a young woman whose life was typically New England—and, yet, surprisingly unfamiliar to most New Englanders. Her name was Myra Montgomery."

You may read the rest of her post here.

You may order copies of the magazine from the New Hampshire Historical Society here.