National Register of Historic Places

Little Boar's Head Historic District

North Hampton, Rockingham County, New Hampshire
Listed
June 2, 1999
Type
District
Period
Listed
Ref No.
99000668

About this property

The Little Boar's Head Historic District encompasses an area of summer resort and beachfront properties in North Hampton, New Hampshire. Located on New Hampshire's seacoast roughly between North Hampton State Beach and Bass Beach, the district is almost entirely residential, consisting mainly of houses built as summer vacation spots in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with associated beachfront amenities. The district was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1999. Little Boar's Head is a glacial drumlin (low steep hill) on New Hampshire's coast overlooking the Gulf of Maine. The historic district extends along Ocean Boulevard (New Hampshire Route 1A), which runs along the beach, and includes properties on Sea Avenue, Atlantic Avenue, Willow Avenue, and Chapel Road. Its southern end is a cluster of bathhouses just south of North Hampton State Beach, northward to the southern end of Bass Beach. There are a few older houses, and the district includes the bathhouses along the beach as well as a series of fish houses located just north of the state beach. Until the mid-19th century, the Little Boar's Head area was a sleepy fishing and agricultural community. In 1845 New Hampshire Senator James Bell purchased coastal land from a local farmer, and in 1862 built Bell's Cottage for his daughter as a summer house; now much enlarged, it stands at 4 Atlantic Avenue, and is the first of the summer properties to be built. Former President Franklin Pierce bought land in the 1860s, which was minimally developed before his death. In 1868 Bachelder's Hotel opened, and became a mainstay of the summer scene until its destruction by fire in 1929. Summer house development continued into the early 20th century, and the area's high-profile visitors included Presidents Chester A. Arthur, William Howard Taft, and Franklin Delano Roosevelt. Massachusetts Governor Alvan T. Fuller had a significant estate here, its house now demolished, in which he created Fuller Gardens, now a public garden managed by a nonprofit. National Register of Historic Places listings in Rockingham County, New Hampshire

Location

North Hampton, Rockingham County, New Hampshire
42.96120, -70.77807

Categories

ENTERTAINMENT/RECREATIONARCHITECTURE
National Register nomination ›
Sources

Property data from the National Register of Historic Places, National Park Service (public domain).

Description adapted from Wikipedia under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

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Overview
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Native Heritage
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Settlement
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Nearby Historic Sites

St. Andrew's By-The-Sea
Industrial
1.1 mi
Beach Club, The
Industrial
1.5 mi
Locke, Elijah, House
Industrial
2.2 mi
Lamprey, Reuben, Homestead
Industrial
2.7 mi
North Hampton Town Hall
Industrial
2.8 mi

Questions about this property

When was Little Boar's Head Historic District listed on the National Register?

Little Boar's Head Historic District was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on June 2, 1999.

What type of historic resource is Little Boar's Head Historic District?

Little Boar's Head Historic District is classified as a district in the National Register of Historic Places.

What is the period of significance for Little Boar's Head Historic District?

The period of significance for Little Boar's Head Historic District is recorded as the listed era.

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