Abandoned Concord
Spooky places: Long empty, and full of memories. There's something beautiful about abandoned buildings. Even after human occupation, time still passes. Here in Concord after 250 plus years of post-colonial living, there are lots of cool forgotten places – best observed from afar. The steeped in neglect feel offers a new level of charm. These spots are haunting, and may actually be haunted.
The Sewalls Falls Power Plant
The forlorn buildings of a forgotten hydropower operation loom over a sandy beach near the site of a lost dam. A bit of the old the dam can still be seen in the Merrimack River, and the deep power canal remain a feature of the river. When the dam gave way, it left a lovely beach in its place. Nearby, the former hydroelectric plant and dam are now part of the Sewall Falls Wildlife Management Area, and park with lots of hiking trails. The old brick plant sits empty, and somewhat out of place in the rich green forest.
New Hampshire State Hospital
The former New Hampshire State Hospital buildings began to rise in 1842 to help the state's mentally ill. The large administration building with two wings now serves as state offices. But, in 1892, Dr. Charles Bancroft added as a residential home for female patients. The Bancroft Building was a grand Victorian that felt more like a hotel. Today, the once-elegant Bancroft Building is long abandoned, as well as several of the main hospital annexes. The calm brink exterior hides broken windows, rusty bars, and rotting roofs, as their shadows fall over the empty lawns in lonely way at sundown. Not far away, a former gasholder stands roofless, and full of water.
Gasholder House
The Concord Gas Light Company Gasholder House was built in 1888 to power a bustling city. It is believed to be the only such structure in the United States in which the enclosed gas containment unit is intact. But, in 1952, the building was abandoned as Concord was connected to natural gas pipeline. Now, a large effort is underway to save it from the elements, as the fort-like shape still rises high above the city skyline. Nor far away stand the ruins of railroad yards from the glory days of the Boston and Maine Railroad, a fragile testament to the days when dozens of trains a day steamed thought Concord.
Downtown Concord
Downtown Concord has several striking abandoned relics of the 19th century, such as the majestic International Order of Odd Fellows Hall Building on Pleasants street, that is essentially empty after the ground floor.
The great Phenix Hall on Main Street was built in 1855 as the banquet hall for the Phenix Hotel. There was an enclosed walkway to the hotel. There was also a stairway up to the third-floor hall from Phenix Avenue. But, the 1956 a fire destroyed the top floors of the Phenix Hotel along with the walkway cutting off, Phenix Hall – which now sits empty, awaiting a renovation. The Phenix Hall annex next door, was also cut off by the hotel loss, and is abandoned from the ground floor up.
Down the street, the bold mid century form NH Employment Security building looks straight out of an episode of Madmen, but the City of Concord found it a new owner – and it is doomed to be demolished, after a decade sitting empty.
The City is planning to renovate some other empty properties its owns, including the 19th century former city stable, across from Concord High School, and the former NH Dept. of Transportation Buildings, set right off of I93.
