The Town of Jaffrey, NH, has had several seats of governments—Town Meetings and Town Offices—stretching from 1773 to the present day.
Click here for an illustrated Historical Narrative of The Seats of Jaffrey Government, that was presented at the Annual Meeting of the Jaffrey Historical Society on August 14, 2025.On August 15, 2025 the new and latest Town Office will be dedicated. It was most recently a branch of TD Bank. Before that it was CSX Bank and before that, and for many years, it was the Monadnock Bank.Click here for an illustrated Historical Narrative of The Seats of Jaffrey Government, that was presented at the dedication of the new Town Hall on August 15, 2025.
Click here for a piece that appeared in the Monadnock Ledger-Transcript on Jaffrey's Seats of Government on September 2, 2010.
Town Meeting has been held in several locations. The first was at the Wright Tavern, which still stands, in 1773. Once the Meetinghouse was up, it shifted there and remained there until it moved downtown (East Jaffrey) in 1914 to Union Hall on School Street. From there it was held in the auditorium of the Grade School until it moved to its current location at Pratt Auditorium, Conant High School.
Robert Stephenson appeared before the Jaffrey Board of Selectmen on Wednesday, March 26, 2025, and presented a proposal to have the Jaffrey Historical Society plan and execute some historical displays in public areas of the new Town Office, the former TD Bank. He had toured the building with Jon Frederick, the Town Manager, on February 28, 2025, and presented the following notes to the Board:
Jon Frederick recently invited me to take a tour of the TD Bank / New Jaffrey Town Office building and I immediately accepted.
Among my take-aways was a possible opportunity for involvement by the Jaffrey Historical Society.
As you enter the building from Main Street there will be a waiting area which, as I understand it, will be space with new walls and a sitting area.
Depending on the area's layout and configuration, it would seem a perfect place to install some Jaffrey-related decoration.
A variety of ideas come to mind, all involving the Historical Society as a partner with the Town.
Such as…Some of these might be permanent installations; others, temporary for a few months. All would likely have printed captions. And the Historical Society would be noted and information about the Society, its programs and membership information included. Doing something along these lines would be something for those using the room to enjoy; would be good publicity for the Society; and would be nice way to involve the membership.Framed maps, photos, paintings, posters, etc., of a historical nature and from the Society's collections, on the walls.
Some artifacts and objects of an appropriate size, again from the Society's collections.
A mural or two of scenes highlighting Jaffrey history, created by a local artist with support from the Society.
A timeline highlighting Jaffrey history from the beginning to the present, researched by the Society and produced by a local artist / designer.
A first step in planning this project was to photograph the present Town Office specifically the public areas and what was presently on display.
The second step was to photograph the New Town Office (TD Bank) once the renovations were complete to highlight public areas that might be suitable for JHS exhibits, either wall hangings or artifacts in display cases.
Click here to see these photographs and images of past Offices and Town Meeting sites. Also appearing are examples of Display Cases that might be used; examples of Time Lines and Historical Panels that might be considered; and floor plans with areas indicated where wall hangings and display cases might be located.
1) items attached to walls (paintings, photographs, maps, etc., originals or copies, framed or on panels, etc.); and…In both cases, thought needs to be given to the condition of the item (fragility, for instance); security (value of the item; danger to the public; liability, etc.); attractiveness; historical interest & importance; etc.
2) items (objects & artifacts) in display cases, either free standing or attached to walls.
In the case of paper items such as letters, broadsides, advertisements, photographs, ephemera and similar, it's probably best to install reproductions rather than the originals for at least two reasons: 1) protection of the original; and 2) ability to increase the size of the item to enhance legibility.
Display Cases: There may be display cases that the Jaffrey Historical Society can presently supply. The current fashion of museum display cases are ones that are clean and simple in design, can be locked and use plexiglas not glass to enclose a space for the items in question. These mostly incorporate wood or medal legs or solid bases. In most cases modern display cases are free standing but there are shallow models that can be attached to walls. Prices tend to be high, typically over $1,000. Of course, the bigger the more expensive. There are many suppliers out these. Here are several to consider:
Framing Options: Original or reproductions of items to be displayed on walls are best framed versus being mounted on fomecore or similar backing. Doing so has the advantage of providing protection, visually unifying the items, and making it easy to change the contents periodically without cost.Displays2Go: https://www.displays2go.com/
Allen Display: https://www.allendisplay.com/
Museum Display: https://museumdisplay.com
Gaylord Archival: https://www.gaylord.com/c/Exhibit-and-Display-Cases
University Products: https://www.universityproducts.com/exhibit-display
Click here for some examples of display cases.
Historical Timeline: An Historical Timeline might be considered as an informative permanent display. A possible location is the stairway wall. It could run at an angle similar to the angle of the stairway. This could be done using vinyl lettering. For the source of a Jaffrey Timeline one could selectively edit the one that appears on pages 21-27 of the Jaffrey 250th Program at https://www.rs41.org/MYWRITINGS2/250%20program.pdf
Click here for some examples of timelines.
Some Suggestions of Items to Include in a JHS Display:
From Jeane Duval:
There are items not currently on display in the JHS rooms that would be excellent candidates for the Town Office displays:The long hotel sign that is on top of the shelves in the JCC storage room;
Charlie Bacon's maple syrup jug molds;
A large photo of his sugar house could be great behind the jug display;
George Jaffrey image with history;
Stan's barber shop sign and Barber Pole;
Ice saw with photos;
Wood (in storage room) from the Baptist Church torn down on Charity Square, and stain glass window.