Feb. 28, 1894: At Sewalls Falls, George and Charles Page of the Page Belting Co. open the second hydroelectric dam of its kind in the United States. The powerhouse is equipped with four 2,300-volt, 225-kilowatt generators driven by leather belts from reaction-wheel water turbines. Sewalls Falls will generate power until 1968.
Feb. 28, 2003: Two men have been charged with brutally beating a McDonald’s night janitor earlier in the month, the Monitor reports. Mitchell Edward, 20, of Elkins Street in Franklin, and Travis Turcotte, 23, of South State Street in Concord, were arraigned on several charges related to the early-morning robbery at the Fisherville Road McDonald’s.
March 1, 1860: During the afternoon, Abraham Lincoln addresses a large crowd at the Phenix Hotel in Concord. He speaks to an even larger one in the evening at Manchester. The mayor of Manchester introduces him as “the next president of the United States.” Lincoln’s appearances follow a trip to see his son, Robert, at Phillips Exeter Academy.
March 1, 1876: Concord’s North Church, at North State and Chapel streets, is consecrated for worship. The church was built on the site of the previous church, which burned to the ground in June 1873. The cost of the new church: $50,883.86.
March 1, 1923: Two Concord newspapers, the Evening Monitor and the New Hampshire Patriot, merge. They will operate as the Concord Daily Monitor and New Hampshire Patriot under Editor James Langley, Dartmouth graduate and World War I veteran. Circulation by the mid-’20s will exceed 5,000.
March 1, 2002: Jury selection starts in the murder trial of Dwayne Thompson, the man accused of killing his longtime roommate and downtown Concord fixture, Robert Provencher.
March 2, 1960: Mayor Charles Johnson of Concord appeals to the Capitol Theatre not to show the movie Jack the Ripper. Johnson hasn’t seen the film but has heard from more than a dozen callers to city hall that it contains scenes of violence and horror. Two days before the movie is scheduled to open, theater manager Theresa Cantin agrees to cancel it.
March 2, 2003: Two Merrimack Valley High School students are killed in a car accident. Amy Gilbert, 17, of Boscawen and Kristin Wagner, 15, of Loudon are in Gilbert’s car when it crosses into an oncoming lane of traffic on Route 106.
March 3, 1863: To the ringing of bells, the firing of cannon and the music of bands, the Second New Hampshire Volunteer Infantry Regiment is feted in Concord on its return from the front. The regiment has been fighting with the Army of the Potomac since the first Battle of Bull Run in July 1861.
March 3, 1915: The Legislature takes a poll on Prohibition. Of Concord’s 18 state representatives, only one votes in favor. After all, that year there are 33 places in Concord where liquor can be legally sold: 13 saloons, five hotels, six “bottled goods places,” eight drug stores and one club.
March 3, 1945: G-men with machine guns swarm Main Street after word reaches Concord that two prison escapees from Iowa are holed up downtown. At midday an inspector and three FBI agents arrest 31-year-old killer Edgar Cook at the point of machine guns at the Phenix Hotel. Cook is described as “a tough-looking character with plenty of cash.” Later, a Concord police officer has a hunch that Cook’s partner may have gone to the Capitol Theater to see a matinee of the current feature, The Suspect. The hunch proves correct, and George Stubblefield, aka William Giles, is captured outside a barbershop shortly after leaving the theater.
March 3, 1993: The new $36.5 million federal courthouse in Concord makes the list of “pork projects” named by a citizens’ group that is a member of a coalition headed by Sen. Bob Smith. “Sen. Smith doesn’t necessarily agree with all the projects on the list,” says Smith’s spokeswoman.
March 4, 1777: Concord’s town meeting votes to “break off all dealings” with attorney Peter Green, Dr. Phillip Carrigain and merchants John Stevens and Nathaniel Green. Although the four are among 156 area men who have signed the Association Test, an oath of loyalty to the Patriot cause, they are suspected of being Tories.
March 4, 2000: Four Concord High hockey players have been suspended on the eve of the state tournament, the Monitor reports. The students are deemed to have violated school policy by attending a party where alcohol was served. School officials learned of the incident from the police – part of a new notification policy the department has put in place.
March 4, 2001: Bishop Brady upsets previously undefeated Merrimack Valley, 45-44, in the quarterfinals of the Class I boys’ basketball tournament. Brady will advance to the finals but lose to Plymouth on a last-second basket.
March 4, 2002: In Concord, a construction company begins making emergency structural repairs to the Sears block, giving some peace of mind to people who worry the decrepit building could collapse at any time.
March 5, 2003: Though they are scheduled to determine the fate of Gary Daniels’s nomination to the state Human Rights Commission, the Executive Council opts not to vote, bowing to pressure from the governor to give him more time to review the appointment.
March 6, 1991: With five seconds left in the state Class I semifinal basketball game, which is tied at 74, Merrimack Valley’s Scott Drapeau miraculously reaches around a Stevens High player to tip in a missed free throw. The MV win sets up a rematch with rival Pembroke Academy and a final showdown between Drapeau and Matt Alosa, two of the biggest basketball stars in area history. Alosa’s Spartans will win the title.
March 6, 2000: Officials investigating the death of the 73-year-old Concord man known as “Cigar Bob” issue a warrant for the arrest of his former roommate. Dwayne Thompson, 46, who has not been seen since Robert Provencher’s body was found, is charged with second-degree murder.
March 6, 2001: A true blizzard sends New Hampshire residents to check the record books. The official tally in Concord is 18.1 inches. That’s a lot for one storm, but it’s considerably short of the 28 inches that fell in December 1969.
