2022 Preservation Achievement Award Winner: Lower Gilmanton Community Club

The N.H. Preservation Alliance is pleased to announce our 2022 Preservation Achievement Award winner, the Lower Gilmanton Community Club for the rehabilitation of the Kelley Corner School House, with support from Gilmanton School District #79, Monadnock Archaeological Consulting, LLC, Lucinda Williams, Decatur Company, Bedard Preservation & Restoration, Beck Road Masonry, ESL Distributing, LLC, JR Stockwell, Dana Hines, and Robert L. Potter & Sons.

This award recognizes a five-year, volunteer-led effort to save and rehabilitate Gilmanton’s last remaining publicly owned one-room schoolhouse. The pandemic, rain, humid days, and learning how to write grants and ask for money did not deter the project leaders and the club’s members.

Established in 1778, and designated as School #1, the Kelley Corner school was used for over 160 years, serving Lower Gilmanton, the first Village in Gilmanton to be settled. The adjacent William Webster Memorial Forest holds other remnants of early settlement.

In front of the Kelley Corner School, Gilmanton, NH. Photo credit: Lower Gilmanton Community Club

The project began with listing to the NH State Register of Historic Places in 2008 and naming to the New Hampshire Preservation Alliance’s Seven to Save in 2010. These accomplishments by its stewards, the Lower Gilmanton Community Club, catalyzed enthusiasm for the much-needed rehabilitation of the schoolhouse and its surviving detached two-stall privy.

Armed with a building assessment, the group launched into a multi-year effort that began with an archaeological assessment and re-grading the site to address major drainage issues.

Work included sills, siding, front door, restoration of 9 windows, chimney upgrades and interior stove pipe installed to code, interior surfaces such as wainscoting and walls; underground utilities, all new wiring, additional outlets, and conversion from fuse box to 200 amp service. In the kitchen, the iron sink was restored, and deteriorated counters were replaced. All interior walls, trim and ceiling were repainted using historic colors.

The now safe and secure Kelley Corner School House is available for dinners, events, and meetings. It will host the annual Lower Gilmanton Fall Harvest Dinner and be part of the Gilmanton Historical Society’s annual 4th grade study of NH History. New partnerships are envisioned with Gilmanton School educators and students. Thoughtful planning, excellent preservation strategies and team enthusiasm contributed to bringing this little building back to life.

Read about the rest of our 2022 Preservation Achievement Award Winners here.