1884 – The town’s first circulating library, the Newmarket Social Library, had no formal building—patrons gathered in private homes for literary events. The current library was built for the town’s mill workers with a gift from sea captain John Webster, a mill agent, clerk, and treasurer for the Newmarket Manufacturing Co. The company later donated the library to the town.

c 1823 - 1934 In 1823, when businessmen from Salem, Mass., bought property along the Lamprey River to build Newmarket’s first mill, Main Street was relocated to its current location, making way for the new construction. Over the next century, seven more mills rose from the riverbanks, transforming Newmarket into a bustling industrial center. Inside the brick and stone mill buildings, materials ferried up the river on small packet boats and tall-masted schooners were cut and woven into unbleached cotton shirts and sheeting, silk casket linings, fur caps, and men’s hats. The vast No. 8 Mill, known as “The Great Weave Shed,” once covered five acres behind the Newmarket library—the largest facility of its kind in the world. In 1934, following several years of labor unrest, the Newmarket Manufacturing Company declared abandonment of all its mills, its worker housing, and its 14-acre mill yard—bringing the era of pounding looms along the Lamprey to an end.

1824 – In 1823, businessmen from Salem, Mass, bought property along the Lamprey River, and Ebenezer Smith's sawmill disappeared, replaced by great blocks of granite, rising stone by stone along the riverbank. Although the builders considered using brick to cut costs, they chose stone instead for its durability, and the No. 1 Mill of the Newmarket Mfg. Co, was completed at a cost of $11,197.94. Main Street was moved from the river's edge to its current location, and industrialization was underway, Newmarket was becoming a company town.

1825 – Built a year after No. 1 Mill, this mill building contained over 4,000 spindles, and today still retains its original tower and weathervane. Based on practices developed in the early 1800s by the Boston Manufacturing Co., these early mills used waterpower to produce cotton textiles,

turning out about 160,000 yards a week by 1869. Supplies were delivered to the mills by packets and tall-masted schooners, including the Helen Mar, the North America, and the Pembroke, which freighted cotton from New Orleans to Boston for 62.5 cents per hundred pounds.

1869 – Unlike the town’s first three mills, which were built with granite blocks quarried from Durham Point, No. 4 Mill was constructed from local trap rock. By 1869, when the building was completed, Newmarket’s mills were running 39,000 spindles and 906 looms, producing 160,000 yards of cotton cloth each week and employing about 500 people.

1881 – Originally only two stories high, No. 5 Mill started with a few looms making a soft, thin silk called “pongee.” Silk goods production was introduced by mill agent Ambrose Nichols due to a depression in the cotton market and ultimately was valued at over $2 million per year. Newmarket’s five mills turned out all classes of silk-box-loom work, jacquards and fancy shirting—on 1,100 looms.

1917 – 1942 – Known as "the great weave shed," No. 8 Mill, which produced silk linings for caskets, fur capes, and men's hats, was once the largest single textile room in the world, covering five acres. The mill was built on a concrete foundation, the remains of which can be seen behind the library. To build No. 8 Mill, houses along High Street (which once connected Main Street to Spring Street) were moved to Washington, Lincoln, and Elm Streets, and also onto Elm Court. Winches, cables and teams of great horses did the moving.

1826 – Benjamin Brooks, a master mechanic in No. 1 Mill, built the Brooks Block with shops on the ground level and his residence upstairs. The Masonic Lodge held its first meeting here in 1826, and the Newmarket Manufacturing Co. moved its company store here in 1827. In 1849, Brooks booked passage around Cape Horn to California in search of gold — the same year the railroad came to town. From the late 1800s on, the Brooks Block housed a tailor shop, a tin shop, and eventually, Hector Brisson and Louis Loiselle's grocery business.

164 c. 1800 – Originally located on the old Main Street near the river, this former inn was moved twice: first in the 1830s to the site of the current post office and then, in 1872, to this location to make way for the construction of a Methodist church. Here, the building was converted into a commercial establishment with two shops on the ground floor. From the 1890s until 1910, it housed Haley’s Pool Saloon. Later, Marie Gagnon’s Remnant Shop was in the north half of the building, and Gazda’s Jewelry was in the south half.

1873 - Samuel H. Greene, who constructed this building during the height of Newmarket’s manufacturing era, ran a drugstore on the ground floor, The third floor housed the Masonic Rising Star Lodge No. 47, chartered in 1826. The drugstore was later taken over by Alvah H. Place and then by Rexall Drugs. Bradford S. Kingman also ran a jewelry business here.

c. 1830 – The earliest and only surviving example of the brick Federal-style commercial structures on Main Street, this building stands on a lot once owned by Edward Smith. Originally the home of Charlotte Murray’s Millinery (hatmaker’s shop), the building became a post office in 1880, a fruit market in 1887, and a tobacconist in 1904. In later years, it was the site of Jordan’s Lunch and G A. Bennett, Druggist.

1822 – One of the last surviving tavern-hotels, the A.W. Doe House, as this building was originally called, was built in the same year that the Newmarket Manufacturing Co. was founded. The building became the Rundlett Tavern and later the Washington House, which was run by well-known horseman H.H. Smith until 1870, when it became Silver's Hotel. G.H. Willey purchased the hotel in 1902, adding electric bells, hot and cold water, steam heat, and a livery stable.

1891 – An excellent example of 19th-century commercial architecture, the JW. Barnard Block replaced E.P. Pinkham's wood-framed boot and shoe shop. The original building was relocated to the rear of the lot, and Pinkham moved his shop into the north side of the new brick structure. For nearly 100 years, people bought shoes here — first from Pinkham, and then after WWI from Adelard Rousseau. Following WWII, Adelard's son, Robert, continued selling shoes until 1981.

The south side of the building was known for its barbers. Billy Martin was first, followed in 1923 by Bennie Kendrigan, who learned barbering to pay his tuition to Tufts Medical School, as well as to the New England Conservatory, where he studied violin. When it came to earning a living, he abandoned the stethoscope for the razor. But he still pursued his music, often dashing across the street to perform in concerts on the town bandstand.

Bennie and fellow musician Mary Gordon formed the Kendrigan-Gordon Orchestra and also played during silent movies at the Star Theater, located in the former Methodist church that stood between Church and Chapel Streets. And for nearly 40 years, Bennie kept sharpening

his barbering skills, finally retiring in 1961.

1894 – The ground floor of this structure was Frank H. Durgin’s grocery store. Upper floors housed the Pioneer Lodge No. 1, Knights of Pythias and a meeting hall for the Grand Army of the Republic, an organization for Union veterans of the Civil War. Durgin was an active Mason, Pythian, and Odd Fellow who served as town treasurer and selectman, as well as state senator.

c. 1855 – The bank once housed in this building was first chartered in 1855 as a state bank and reorganized in 1865 as the Newmarket National Bank. After 1879, the Newmarket Savings Bank also moved to this site, with S. A. Haley as cashier. On his death in 1891, "there wasn't a dollar in the bank." Thanks to the heroic efforts of Alanson Haines, who succeeded Haley, the Newmarket National Bank continued sound—even through the Panic of 1893, when its resources shrank to a mere $500.

1840 – Once the site of Widow Mead’s small house, this brick and stone building at Tenney’s Corner was constructed by Benjamin Mathes. His sisters, Maud and Mabel, opened a millinery shop here, which was followed by a grocery and dry goods store run by Constantine Mathes. True Smith’s Tin Shop, the Newmarket Telephone Co., Caswell’s Grocery, and Butler’s Cobbler Shop also operated here.

c. 1835 – 1840 – In the early 1800s, William M. Tenney built a law office on this site and a house across the street. Long known as Tenney's Corner, both buildings were sold to B. W. Mathes, who rebuilt the old wooden structures in stone between 1835 and 1840. The building on this site housed many businesses through the years, including a post office, a grocery store, and a variety store, as well as Felix Sobozenski's and Joseph Filion's saloons.

1852 – Built against Zion’s Hill, the first Newmarket fire station is the home of Tiger No. 1, a hand pumped fire engine called a “handtub,” purchased by the town in 1852. Both Tiger No. 1 and Granite No 2, owned by the Newmarket Manufacturing Co., fought the Great Fire of 1866 which leveled every building from Tasker Lane to Depot Square and from Water Street to Creighton Block.

1817 – Originally located on South Street near the Engine House, this building was owned by Wentworth Cheswell (1746-1817), a town selectman thought to be one of the first African Americans in the country elected to office. Moved in 1849, the building has housed a workshop, a doctor’s office, a music studio, and several stores, including Kennedy’s Grocery & Shoe and Marcotte’s Market.

177, Main Street, Newmarket, Rockingham County, New Hampshire, 03857

1847 – John S. Bennett moved his tin and hardware business here in the 1840s. In 1850, his brother Edwin joined him, and the firm employed about 50 men. The business was later called Treadwell & Davis, and then Treadwell & Folsom. In 1891, the building was purchased by J. H. Griffin, a selectman and legislator. The building remained a hardware business until the 1990s, making it one of the earliest wooden stores in continuous single use.