The Bartlett Historical Society (BHS) Board of Directors is conducting a major project to renovate the former St. Joseph Church building in Bartlett Village.  The building will be transformed into the “Bartlett History Museum,” a multi-function public museum to celebrate the history of Bartlett, Hart’s Location and Livermore, NH.  We are very excited about this project and hope we can enlist your support for this project.

 

St. Joseph Church, built in 1890, was the first Catholic Church in the Mount Washington Valley.  It served the spiritual needs of its parishioners until 1999 when the church was closed and the parish consolidated into Our Lady of the Mountains Church in North Conway.  The Bartlett School District purchased the building after it was closed and used it as a storage facility.  In 2013, they announced that they planned to demolish this historic building.  After much committee debate and studies, it was decided that this building would make a great community museum for the Bartlett Historical Society.

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In June 2016, we signed a long-term lease with the school district to become tenant “owners” of the building with the clear understanding that we intended to renovate the building to become our museum.  In November 2019, we purchased the building and actively began renovation work.  We have obtained all legal approvals via the Bartlett Planning Board and Zoning Board of Adjustments to define our property boundaries and operate the building as a museum.

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Our multi-function museum will:

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• Offer revolving displays of the history of Bartlett, Hart’s Location and the Mt. Washington Valley;

• Be a cultural center for presentations and education on historic topics;

• Provide a learning and research center for Bartlett’s past;

• Provide the ability to research genealogies of local people;

• Be an archive for our collection of Bartlett artifacts and documents;

• Serve as the headquarters for the Bartlett Historical Society.

 

This project is being funded through donations from individuals, businesses, foundations and our own BHS fundraising efforts.  To date, over 400 individuals and businesses have contributed to the project, many giving multiple times.  We have also received several grants supporting our project and our BHS fundraising efforts have also been successful.  We are working to raise $585,000 to cover renovation costs.  To date, we have raised $376,000 toward this goal.  We have added about $280,000 in capital equity value to the building through the renovation work completed to date.  As we complete more work on the building, this value will continue to increase.

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We hope that the information on this site describing our project will inspire you to join us with a generous donation to the effort.  Your support will help the Bartlett Historical Society bring a long-term vision to reality.  Please contact us with any questions at BartlettHistoryNH@gmail.com or email me directly at Phil@BartlettHistory.org.  We Thank You for your support.

 

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Philip Franklin

President