Off to Explore History at the Clark House Museum

Story & Photos by Kathi Caldwell-Hopper

I like history and I enjoy thinking about what the Lakes Region might have looked like 200 years ago, what an average day was like for a typical person, and what stores and taverns and churches and schools were in each town.

These are interesting things that might not be important to some people, but for a history buff like me, the past is part of what makes life fascinating. I firmly believe we can only enrich our present-day lives by now and then looking back into time.

That is why I enjoyed a recent trip to the Clark House museum complex at 233 South Main Street in Wolfeboro. If you are like me and have visited Wolfeboro, you likely have driven by the pretty whitewashed buildings of the complex and seen the Clark House sign at the edge of the property near the street. And, if like me, you may not have stopped by, because you were busy with other things.

However, I would encourage you to visit the Clark House on a summer’s day and take a tour – leisurely to make sure you see everything and ask lots of questions of your tour guide.

I visited on a June mid-week day, for the Society. He can tell you about a historic table in the Clark House (likely owned at one time by Governor Wentworth, who had a summer home in Wolfeboro before prudently exiting the area during the Revolutionary War due to his ties to England.)

Lush also knows all the little details of each building, what used to be in the area long ago, and even why linen made from flax was preferable for soldiers during the hot Civil War summers.

Lush had just finished a school group tour when I visited and he was still Amoskeag

• Day Tripping continued on page 36 with warm weather and bright sunshine quite a treat after the seemingly never-ending rain of weeks past.

The Clark Museum Complex is owned by the town of Wolfeboro and has been leased by the Wolfeboro Historical Society since 1927. The Society offers guided tours of the museum buildings each summer and brings history to life for visitors of all ages.

The first museum building I toured with Wolfeboro Historical Society docent, Mark Lush, was the firehouse. Lush knows a lot about the buildings in the museum complex and is a treasure