Aug. 9, 1746 – A band of 50 to 100 Indians invades Rumford (Concord), but the Indians will be scared off the next morning by 30 armed guards who escort church-goers back to their garrisons.
Aug. 9, 1887 – A warehouse is damaged by fire in downtown Concord. “The losses were not heavy, but the fire was a memorable one from the fact that so many boys were injured in jumping from the windows,” the New Hampshire Patriot reports.
Aug. 10, 1987 – Owners of the Ramada Inn on Main Street in Concord get city permission to build over Storrs Street. “The building that is there right now is, quite frankly, ugly. But what you see there now is not what you'll get,” says lawyer Ray D'Amante. The plan never happens.
Aug. 11, 1746 – Thirty or 40 Indians attack a seven-man military party in Rumford (Concord) near the current site of Concord Hospital.
The Indians kill five men outright – Samuel and Jonathan Bradley, Obadiah Peters, John Bean and John Lufkin – and strip and mutilate their bodies. Alexander Roberts and William Stickney are captured. The dead are brought to town in a cart and buried immediately.
Aug. 11, 1978 – Gov. Mel Thomson orders flags flown at half staff to mark Pope Paul VI's funeral, drawing the ire of civil libertarians who say he's blurring the line between church and state.
Aug. 12, 1927 – In the Hall of Flags at the State House, a bronze plaque is unveiled honoring Walter Kittredge of Merrimack, who wrote one of the most popular songs of the Civil War, “Tenting Tonight on the Old Campground.”
A Boston publisher originally declined to pay Kittredge $15 for the song but, to his great fortune, changed his mind.
The end of the war was only the beginning of the song's popularity. It was a staple at Grand Army of the Republic reunions well into the 20th century.
Kittredge himself sang it before huge veterans' conventions in Chicago and Philadelphia. Ironically, Kittredge was no veteran; though drafted during the war, he was unable to serve because of a disability.
Aug. 12, 1952 – State officials announce that Concord will be the northern terminus for the new Central New Hampshire Turnpike, a four-lane, $26 million expressway.
The road will extend 40 miles from the Massachusetts state line at Tyngsboro to Concord. It will end in a huge traffic circle just south of the city line.
Aug. 13, 1852 – The tallest flagpole in New Hampshire history is erected in the State House yard, put up to celebrate Franklin Pierce's nomination by the Democrats to be president.
It is 143 feet tall, higher than the State House dome. First flown is an emblem with pictures of Pierce and Sen. Rufus de Vane King of Alabama, his running mate.
Aug. 14, 1945 – The victory bell rings at 7:11 p.m., signaling the defeat of Japan and the end of the war.
Thousands of people rush into downtown Concord to celebrate peace. One planned event is an “o so joyful Hara Kiri parade.”
Children in kimonos carry parasols down Main Street, vying for $1 prizes for the best costumes. Also in the parade is an overturned canoe labeled “Jap Navy.”
A man standing atop a Main Street building gaily fires a 10-gauge shotgun again and again. The police report that the throngs are well-behaved with the exception of a carload of Pittsfield boys who are caught setting off false fire alarms.
Aug. 14, 1852 – Concord officials vote to build the Sewalls Falls bridge.
Aug. 15, 1864 – Steam whistles and cannon herald the opening of Capitol Street along the south side of the State House grounds.
A month earlier, the Legislature voted that if the street was not constructed by this day, they would move the capital.
Aug. 16, 1843 – A severe gale accompanied by torrents of rain destroys a large elm tree in the State House yard.
The tree is 20 inches in diameter at its base. The wind breaks it off 20 feet above the ground.
Aug. 16, 1982 – The Concord City Council votes to maintain its ban on overnight parking.
And it refuses to increase the number of exemptions allowed to inpidual residents.
“I see it as creating a crime problem,” warns Councilor Kenneth Jordan.
