Sept. 6, 1842: The locomotive Amoskeag with a train of three passenger cars arrives in Concord at 6:45 p.m. The train, from Boston, is the first to come to the city’s new depot. “As the cars came in, the multitude raised cheering shout, and the cannon pealed forth its thunder to celebrate,” Bouton’s history will report. Many of the onlookers were taken for a joy ride to Bow.
Sept. 6, 2000: Concord civic and business leaders tour the Courtyard by Marriott Hotel at Horseshoe Pond. The $10 million hotel and conference center “has been a gleam in so many eyes,” Concord Mayor Bill Veroneau says. “There’s no question this is going to be the highlight facility of the city.”
Sept. 7, 1791: A constitutional convention is called to order in Concord. In 36 days in session, it will propose the creation of the Executive Council, the sizes of the bicameral legislature and a change in the name of the state’s top elected official from “president” to “governor.” Voters will approve these changes in 1792.
Sept. 7, 1929: Patrick Griffiths of 10½ Walker St. in Concord pedals to a stop in the State House plaza at 12:03 a.m. with a new endurance record for continuous bicycling. His time of 65 hours, 33 minutes breaks the record by 33 minutes. Motorists surrounding the State House plaza honk their horns in tribute to the new mark.
Sept. 8, 1992: Arnie Arnesen of Orford defeats Ned Helms of Concord in the Democratic gubernatorial primary. She will face former attorney general Steve Merrill in the November election.
Sept. 8, 2002: The Concord police and fire departments conduct their largest drill to date near Concord High School. The exercise involves 150 emergency workers from various agencies and will help improve the city’s response to a mass casualty incident, according to Lt. Bob Barry.
Sept. 8, 2003: Opinions and street maps are plentiful at the Concord City Council meeting as residents pick apart plans to install more traffic-calming measures in Concord’s South End. Some say the city should go all-out and install protruding curbs, islands and a median strip on Broadway. Others think it would be better to use more stop signs. A few say their street should be left alone.
Sept. 9, 1842: The rail line between Boston and Concord opens. Two years later, it will carry 73,000 passengers and 43,000 tons of freight.
Sept. 9, 1847: With Mexican War fever at its peak, the Ancient and Honorable Artillery of Boston celebrates its 211th anniversary with a march down Concord’s Main Street.
Sept. 9, 2000: Concord is about to get its own baseball team, the New England Collegiate Baseball League announces. Concord will join the wooden-bat summer league next summer, playing its home games at Memorial Field.
Sept. 10, 1861: Fire destroys the railroad storage barns and many cars of the Concord and Northern railroads.
Sept. 11, 1866: Kearsarge beats Portsmouth 32-19 in one of the first reported games of “base ball” in Concord. Judge Ira Eastman, however, remembers seeing the game (or its forerunner, rounders) played in the city 50 years before.
Sept. 11, 2002: Hundreds of people stand silent under umbrellas at the State House Plaza during a Sept. 11 commemoration ceremony.
Sept. 12, 1841: In an unscheduled lecture, Stephen S. Foster, a Canterbury abolitionist, holds forth during a meeting at the Old North Church. When he won’t stop talking, several men escort him out.
