News from the Manchester Historic Association

Collect, Preserve, Share

Manchester

August 6, 2020

In This Issue

1. 28th Annual Historic Preservation Awards

2. Manchester's Urban Ponds - Exhibit Open!

3. New to the Collection - Fishing Mural

4. MHA to Display Part of Pandora Sign

5. MHA is Open!

6. 2019 Annual Report

28th Annual Historic Preservation Awards

Virtual Event

September 15, 2020

4:00 p.m.

This year, the Historic Preservation Awards will be a virtual event, featuring the launch of a video highlighting this year’s award recipients. Please mark your calendars for Tuesday, September 15 at 4:00 pm, the time the video will be released.

After it's release, the video will be available for viewing on a variety of platforms. However, we are asking that people register for the virtual event by signing up.

Please click here to sign up for the event!

If you are registered, you will receive an email the day of the event with a link to watch the video. We also ask that you share this registration page with family, friends, and others who may be interested in watching. Thank you!

The Historic Preservation Awards program recognizes and supports the efforts of individuals, businesses and organizations who have made significant contributions to the preservation of buildings, neighborhoods, traditions and other historic resources in the Queen City.

Thank you to all our sponsors for your support, including our Lead Sponsor:

RBC Wealth Management.

Please click here to see a slideshow of all of our sponsors for this year's event

Manchester's Urban Ponds - Exhibit Now Open!

Manchester’s Urban Ponds: Past, Present, and Future

In the Henry M. Fuller State Theatre Gallery in the Millyard Museum

Tuesday-Saturday, 10:00 a.m.-4:00 p.m. - Included with museum admission

We are pleased to announce the opening of our new temporary exhibit!

Although ponds may not be the first thing one thinks about in Manchester, the Queen City has several ponds that have played an important role in the area’s history. More recently, the Manchester Urban Ponds Restoration Program, established in 2000, has led cleanup efforts to help return the city’s ponds to their historic uses. This exhibit looks at the history of several of Manchester’s urban ponds, including Crystal Lake, Dorrs Pond, Maxwell Pond, Nutts Pond, Pine Island Pond, and Stevens Pond and celebrates the accomplishments of the Urban Ponds Restoration Program over the last 20 years.

Sponsored by City of Manchester, Department of Public Works, Environmental Protection Division

"Manchester's Urban Ponds: Past, Present, and Future" will be on display in the Millyard Museum's State Theater Gallery through November 28.

New to the Collection

In 1951, Merchants Bank commissioned a series of eight plaster relief murals depicting historical scenes of Manchester for their building at 35 Mechanic Street. One, titled Fishing at the Amoskeag Falls, depicts a scene of members of the Penacook Tribe in canoes, fishing near the Amoskeag Falls.

This piece was recently donated to the Manchester Historic Association by the Eaton family, and is now on exhibit at the Millyard Museum. The scene was chosen to emphasize the importance of fishing to early inhabitants of the area. Thank you to the Eaton family for your generosity!

MHA to Display Part of Pandora Sign

Looking for Help from Public in Locating Missing Letters

The illuminated Pandora sign was an iconic symbol of Manchester’s textile history, and the Manchester Historic Association is pleased to announce plans to restore and display the “SWEATERS” portion of the sign as a tribute to both Pandora Industries and Manchester’s historic textile industry.

In full, the sign read “Home of Pandora Sweaters”, and stood atop the Pandora Mill building at 88 Commercial Street for approximately 50 years. The blue neon sign became a landmark for motorists passing Manchester on I-293. Pandora Industries operated in Manchester’s Millyard from the 1940s through 1990 as a major sweater and sportswear maker, crafting as many as 60,000 sweaters per week. It was also one of Manchester’s major employers with as many as 1,000 people working for the company.

Years of exposure to the elements caused significant damage to the sign, and it was removed from the top of the building in the early 2000s. Sadly, the elegantly scripted Pandora portion of the sign was beyond repair. The sign was donated to the MHA, with plans to restore and display it for posterity in the Millyard Museum.

After being donated to the MHA, it was determined that the letters of “SWEATERS” could be restored but a few of the letters had disappeared when the sign was initially removed and left leaning on the ground outside of the building.

Recently, one of those missing letters was given to the Millyard Museum. The MHA is incredibly grateful to have part of the sign returned, and with the addition of this letter, is now able to move forward with the project to restore this part of the sign.

Although the project is moving forward, there are still two letters needed, an “E” and “S” to complete the sign. If anyone knows the whereabouts of these two letters, the MHA would be very appreciative of the chance to make the sign whole again.

The six letters are currently being restored by a local sign company and replaced with new neon. The Museum hopes to be able to display the letters by the end of the year. If anyone has any questions or information about the missing letters, please contact Jeff Barraclough at the Millyard Museum at 622-7531 or jbarraclough@manchesterhistoric.org.

We are Open!

The Manchester Historic Association has reopened to the public!

Since July 1, we have been happy to be able to welcome people back to both the Millyard Museum and Research Center.

Please read below to learn the steps we are taking, in accordance with the Governor's Economic Reopening Taskforce and CDC guidelines, to ensure the safety of our guests, volunteers, and staff.

Millyard Museum

· All guests are asked to use ONLY the Commercial Street entrance to the building and remain only on the first floor during your visit. At times, the entrance may be locked, even during our open hours. If you are trying to visit the museum during our normal operating hours and the exterior door is locked, please ring the doorbell or call the Museum’s main line (603-622-7531) and someone will let you in.

· Masks are required for visitors, volunteers, and staff (while in common areas). Masks are available at the front desk for those who need them.

· People are required to maintain social distancing of 6 feet inside the museum. A one-way flow through the museum will be followed to facilitate social distancing.

· The restrooms immediately outside the museum entrance have been designated for Millyard Museum guests only. Surfaces will be cleaned regularly throughout the day, and professionally cleaned daily.

· Hand sanitizer is readily available at the admissions desk and in the building lobby.

· Common use surfaces, including door handles, push buttons, and phones, will be cleaned and disinfected every two hours.

· Many interactive components of the exhibits have been temporarily removed to minimize contact.

· The Museum shop is open. Please maintain social distancing while in the shop.

Research Center

Those wishing to visit our Research Center can do so by appointment only. Appointment times will be limited to 2-hour time blocks between 10am and 4pm on Wednesdays and Saturdays. There will be a maximum of 3 researchers allowed at a time.

· Masks are required for visitors, volunteers, and staff (while in common areas).

· Hand sanitizer is readily available at the admissions desk.

· Common use surfaces, including door handles and tables will be cleaned and disinfected every two hours.

People should not enter our facilities if they:

· Are exhibiting any symptoms of COVID-19 or have a fever of 100.4 degrees.

· Have had close contact with someone who is suspected or confirmed to have had COVID-19 in the past 14 days.

· Have traveled in the past 14 days 1) outside the United States, 2) by cruise ship, or 3) on public transportation outside of New Hampshire, Maine, or Vermont.

2019 Annual Report

2019 Annual Report

The Manchester Historic Association's 2019 Annual Report is now available! Please click on the above link to view or download the report.

Print copies of the Report are also available at the front desks of the Millyard Museum and Research Center.

We hope you enjoy reading about some of the highlights from the past year!

The Manchester Historic Association is an independent tax-exempt charitable 501(c)(3) educational nonprofit organization with the mission to collect, preserve and share the history of Manchester, New Hampshire USA. The Association operates the Millyard Museum and Research Center.