Nov. 20, 1884: The Evening Monitor’s City Notes column reports: “One week from today is Thanksgiving. Let the turkeys paste that in their hats.”
Nov. 21, 1987: On a gusty day during which the temperature never hits 20 degrees, Concord High School defeats Salem 14-7 to win its first state football championship since 1974.
Nov. 21, 2000: Frank Monahan, a basketball coach revered locally and well-known nationally, dies of a heart attack at age 60. His coaching career included stints at Bishop Brady High School, Concord High School and Merrimack College and in the United States Basketball League. He also worked as an NBA talent scout in New England.
Nov. 21, 2001: The Brick Tower, the last independently owned motel in Concord, will close at the end of the month. The 47-room motel, which opened in 1958, could not compete with the newer hotels in the area.
Nov. 21, 2002: Seventy-five nonunion state employees gather at the New Hampshire Technical Institute in Concord to voice frustration after discovering they must pay the state employees union for the cost of contract negotiations, and if the employees don’t hand over that monthly tithe, they could be fired.
Nov. 21, 2003: On the last day of the filing period, Massachusetts Sen. John Kerry and Ohio Rep. Dennis Kucinich file for the New Hampshire presidential primary at the secretary of state’s office in Concord. At closing time, the office registers the nine major Democratic candidates, President George W. Bush and 29 long-shot candidates hoping for a moment of national publicity.
Nov. 22, 2000: For the first time in recent memory, the tax rate in Penacook will be higher than in the rest of Concord, city officials announce.
Nov. 22, 2003: The 52nd annual Holiday Magic Christmas Parade in Concord goes to the dogs, the dogs on the Rolling Bones 4-H club parade float, that is. Joining the canines on the 2-mile route up Loudon Road are high school marching bands, children on unicycles, Shriners in tiny Jeeps, horses, Hooters girls and fire engines.
Nov. 23, 1911: The New Hampshire Historical Society dedicates its building in Concord. The building was designed by Guy Lowell, also architect of the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, and financed by philanthropist Edward Tuck. The society was previously housed on North Main Street in what are now the law offices of Gallagher, Callahan and Gartrell.
Nov. 23, 2002: The Holiday Magic Parade, which has marked the beginning of the holiday season in Concord for 51 years, marches up Loudon Road in Concord. The procession includes emergency response vehicles, floats, decorated vehicles, equestrian units, clowns, eight marching bands and Santa Claus.
Nov. 24, 1812: The first inmate, John Drew of Meredith, is brought to Concord’s first state prison. The prison was built near Washington Street after legislative approval in 1810. During a visit to the city, the Rev. Timothy Dwight, president of Yale, called it “a noble edifice in beautiful granite.” How Drew found it is not recorded. He was sentenced to four years for stealing a horse.
Nov. 24, 1989: The temperature in Concord falls to 5 below zero, making this the coldest November day of the 20th century.
Nov. 24, 2002: Manchester Central’s football team ekes out a 3-0 win for the Division I championship over Concord High at Gill Stadium.
Nov. 25, 1817: A fire consumes a large three-story house on Main Street in Concord. It will eventually be replaced by the Phenix Hotel.
Nov. 25, 1875: Although the building is not quite completed, the fire department occupies its new central station on Warren Street between Green and State streets.
Nov. 25, 2000: Interviews in downtown Concord find the public tiring of the never-ending presidential election. Speaking for many of his fellow city dwellers, Jerry Slaughter tells the Monitor, “I think they should just decide so we can get on with our lives.”
Nov. 25, 2001: VanasseHangenBrustlin, a consulting company hired by Concord city councilors to study traffic patterns on Loudon Road, concludes that instead of more lanes for traffic, there should be fewer and that some traffic should be diverted to alternate routes, the Monitor reports.
Nov. 26, 1845: Five hundred twenty-five turkeys mysteriously pass through the streets of Concord, one day before Thanksgiving.
Nov. 26, 1898: A giant snowstorm hits New Hampshire. Concord records 18 inches, Manchester 2 feet. “Along the coast the loss of life was appalling. More than 200 lives were lost and 200 vessels destroyed,” one local history reports.
Nov. 26, 1900: “Uncle Ben” Davis dies. He was one of Concord’s most popular citizens during the 19th century and, according to one eulogist, “the greatest music teacher that New England ever produced.”
