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. 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, 1804: Franklin Pierce is born in Hillsboro. He will become the nation’s 14th president, and the only president ever from New Hampshire.
Nov. 24, 2000: The day after Thanksgiving marks the unofficial start of the shopping season for Christmas trees and wreaths. “If I don’t do this today,” says Kathy Temchack of Canterbury, “I won’t have time to get around to it before it’s too late.”
Nov. 24, 1989: The temperature in Concord falls to 5 below zero, making this the coldest November day of the 20th century.
Nov. 24, 1736: Hopkinton is granted status as an independent township.
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. 25, 2003: The Pembroke Planning Board unanimously approves a growth management ordinance which, among other measures, restricts individual developers to five building permits per year. The measure takes effect immediately.
Nov. 25, 2002: The Laconia city council discusses new regulations for Bike Week designed to make life easier for the police. Proposed changes include reducing the number of temporary campsites allowed on a piece of property during the event and barring vendors from residential areas bordering the Weirs.
Nov. 25, 2001: Vanasse Hangen Brustlin, 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. 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, 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. 26, 2002: Attorney General Philip McLaughlin announced that New Hampshire will join eight other Northeastern states that plan to sue the federal Environmental Protection Agency for relaxing air quality standards, the Monitor reports.
Nov. 26, 2001: As winter approaches, state health officials want people to be wary of a virus that has proven far more deadly and contagious than anthrax: the flu, the Monitor reports.
Nov. 26, 1994: Playing together for the first time for the University of New Hampshire basketball team, former high school rivals Scott Drapeau and Matt Alosa combine for 53 points in a win over Holy Cross.
Nov. 26, 1898: A giant snowstorm hits New Hampshire. Concord records 18 inches, Manchester two 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. 27, 2003: After missing for nearly three weeks, Mocha, a 14-year-old arthritic and nearly deaf chocolate Labrador retriever, has returned to her home in Contoocook, the Monitor reports. “It’s an appropriate time of year because we owe thanks to so many people,” said a jubilant Dawn Sanel, Mocha’s owner.
Nov. 27, 2000: About 300 people attend a Concord memorial service for longtime basketball coach Frank Monahan. “I personally feel I’ve lost a second father,” says Steve McMahon, a former player, “and I’m sure others that played for him feel much the same way.”
Nov. 27, 1817: Between 20 and 30 pet dogs throughout Concord are bitten by a dog with rabies. The rabid dog will be killed the next day.
Nov. 27, 1884: It is Thanksgiving, but the trains are running in Concord and the mail will be delivered as usual, at 7 and 11 a.m. But in general, “the streets wore a Sunday-like still,” the Evening Monitor reports.
Nov. 28, 2001: Former Concord High basketball star Matt Bonner returns to New Hampshire to play with his University of Florida team against UNH. Bonner scores 15 points in a Florida victory.
Nov. 28, 1785: William Whipple dies at his home in Portsmouth at the age of 55. He was one of New Hampshire’s signers of the Declaration of Independence.
Nov. 28, 1814: An earthquake rattles the Suncook River valley. “The villagers were all out viewing the stars and earnestly telling each other what they heard and how the shake appeared to them, all acting as if in a momentary expectation of another earth-shaker,” a Barnstead town history reports.
Nov. 29, 2003: The wind whips across central New Hampshire with gusts of more than 45 mph, knocking out power and tearing down lines and trees. Public safety officials spend much of the day responding to calls for downed wires and trees in at least 20 communities.
Nov. 29, 1867: Ingalls & Brown’s Quadrille Band plays at a grand ball at Concord’s Eagle Hall. “If you don’t dance,” exhorts the ad in the Patriot, “go to hear the music.”
Nov. 29, 1866: Fire damages the Penacook mills. Loss estimated at $40,000.
