Helen Lafave

Stratham Helen Lafave

Through carefully selected images, Stratham tells the story of a rural town prior to suburban development. Surrounded by Greenland, North Hampton, Exeter, and Newfields, Stratham has some of the finest farmland in New Hampshire, longtime thriving river commerce on the Swampscott, and road access from early Colonial times. Discover an earlier Stratham in this unique and engaging pictorial collection. Since the 17th century, generations of the same families lived and worked in the community. Barkers, Chapmans, Chases, Gowens, Scammans, and Wiggins, among others, farmed the rich land, built mills, fished, raised and traded livestock, developed a resort, and organized a vital civic life in Stratham. The early residents built schools and a library, held community social functions, and formed a still-existing volunteer fire department. Located between the two early capitals of Portsmouth and Exeter, road, rail, and water transportation linked Stratham to the world. The images in this volume depict all aspects of community life and feature such public monuments as the 1916 town founding Bicentennial Parade, and the long-gone resort, the Elms.