A Patchwork History of Lafayette Road
“What used to be there?” is a question the Historical Society occasionally fields. TD Bank asked, and then used a photo from our collection for its colorized wall mural depicting Brass Betsey, the miniature train that delighted children in the 1940s and 1950s. This amusement was in the vicinity of Al’s Seafood and Lafayette Crossing, tucked in among the pines. Across the road from the bank location, the bank deemed it of more visual interest than the Scott’s Thresher Motor Court.
Numerous people remember and mention the drive-in movie theatre of the 1950s to early 1980s. If anyone has some snapshots, please consider donating them or at least letting us scan them for the collection. Besides the drive-in, North Hampton boasted a bowling alley.
Other recreational spots along Lafayette Road was the sledding hill by Drake’s Bridge where Hubbington's and the Sagamore Golf Center are located; and the marsh at the intersection of Atlantic and Lafayette that froze and became an ice skating mecca.
At one time, some townspeople were keen on attracting a horse racetrack. And, unlike most towns, North Hampton has had an airfield since 1945.
In May 1930 the State had designated Lafayette as its first “through highway” meaning all roads entering it had to have stop signs. A traffic light at the “Four Corners”, the intersection of Atlantic and Lafayette, was installed in the 1950s.
My impression is that Lafayette Road in the mid twentieth century had businesses catering to both residents and summer tourists. There were as many as ten motels and motor courts in North Hampton.
Restaurants included Solari’s Grill and one up by Cedar Road where Home Depot is. The Norton brothers opened a restaurant in 1924 (the Nortons also had a dairy) and Mrs. Ray Merriman a tea room at the corner of Lafayette and Atlantic about the same time. The Clam Shack and White Spot were other eateries. There even was a Cheese House that looked like a wedge of cheese. It was moved at some time to Saco, Maine. North Hampton also boasted a donut shop long before Dunkin Donuts and Donut Love.
There were several gas stations and grocery stores in town. Ken’s Garage, a hip roofed building that is now a wholesale car dealer across from Citizens Bank, was on the corner where the closed Mobil station still stands.
The Post Office moved around and not just back in the day when the political party of the President of the U.S. changed. Several PO locations are now private residences across from Town Offices on Atlantic Avenue. The Post Office then moved to the Village Shopping Center before relocating to its current location.
RiteAid and prior drugstores also were in the Village Shopping Center, occupying some of the space most recently housing Fresh Market. What all this suggests is that businesses come and go. A few remain but whether a family owned firm or a national chain, the only constant has been change.
Going back further in time, it becomes more difficult to visualize Lafayette Road. We know that the Lafayette Tavern by the intersection of Lafayette and Hobbs Roads was founded in 1840 when the stagecoach line switched its route from Post Road to Lafayette Road. Post Road is one of the original roads in town while Lafayette dates from 1830. The stagecoach line, and subsequently the tavern, were doomed when the Eastern Railroad came to town, also in 1840.
Fields and pastures for livestock certainly were present along Lafayette Road into the mid twentieth century. Mary Drake Hale recalls bringing the family cows across Lafayette to the Drake Farm barn. The Nortons had a dairy called Sunny Pines; the Hobbs field across from Throwback Brewery, now scrub, was pastureland all the way to the railroad for Paul Hobbs’ Brown Swiss cows. Sheep grazed not only on the fields adjoining the barn on Hobbs Road but also across the way behind the house at 6 Hobbs Road and Lafayette Road.
And there were residences along the road as there are today. A marker for the geographic center of North Hampton should still exist on the Worden property where possibly the best example of the early twentieth century bungalow style stands. A wood shingled and fieldstone house built by local John Berry around 1910 for J. Harold Hobbs, its front porch with sloping roof and a variety of windows with diamond paned glass are among the features. It reportedly even had a ballroom on the second floor. Atop a knoll, it remains half-hidden behind the pines.
When architectural historian Lisa Mausolf conducted a town-wide inventory of historic resources in 2018, she asked us to invite some North Hampton natives who could fill her in about the buildings and businesses along Route 1. The transcript of the interview is available in the oral history section of our website and much of the information for this blog comes from the recollections of the six narrators; the rest from research for inquiries and the collections.
For instance, two recent donations brought North Hampton Auto Electric to our attention. One is a photo of the business dating from the 1940s; a few weeks later, we accessioned a 1957 Congregational Church cookbook that includes an advertisement for the same business, listing the numerous product lines it carried. Both Kendall Chevalier and Bruce Dow mentioned going there in the Mausolf interview. All agree that it was located where Regal Limousine company is now.
Piecing together the patchwork of knowledge about Lafayette Road continues. Anyone who can help, contact us.