2017 Seven to Save Profile: Lancaster's Parker J. Noyes Building
Parker J. Noyes was an enterprising pharmacist and inventor who made a name for himself and Lancaster with products like the sugar coated pill. His company was later responsible for developing the first precision food pellet for laboratory animal use. Thanks to Noyes, by the turn of the twentieth century, Lancaster was an epicenter of pharmaceutical manufacturing, allowing the company to expand and invest in its research, advertising, and Main Street presence. The company also felt strongly about the Lancaster community. During the Great Depression, the Noyes Family constructed a brick oven used to bake bread to donate to neighbors and townspeople.
Following a postwar nation-wide trend, the Parker J. Noyes Company left Main Street for Lancaster’s outskirts in the 1960s. The building was converted into mixed-use, but stayed in the hands of the Noyes Family, who continued to care for and maintain it. Today, the building is in need of rehabilitation and a plan to return its three floors to good use. Lancaster is seeing reinvestment along Main Street and the Parker J. Noyes Building is poised to complement the ongoing efforts of other developers and small business owners.
Because this imposing Italianate block forms the northern gateway into the village, its future is critical to the health of Lancaster. Main Street has lost several buildings – some from fire, others from demolition for Family Dollar. The town has since passed form-based zoning and RSA 79-E, but Seven to Save momentum for this building will be important as the current owner and town look toward their next steps.
For more information, contact Ben Gaetjens-Oleson (Lancaster town planner) at 603-788-3391 or planning@lancasternh.org
