We continue our series looking at the original Kezar Falls Village businesses and public buildings still in existence by looking down Federal Road to the building at 31 Federal Road next to the library. It is now an apartment building owned by Leslie Croteau.
This old building has been part of the Kezar Falls Village scene on the Parsonsfield side since the 1880’s. At that time it was the “Corporation Store”. By 1903 it was Net Cotton’s boarding house. From 1908 – 1911 it was the “White Mountain Calendar Company” where the “Ossipee Valley Weekly Newspaper” was printed before it moved to Cornish. There were apartments on the second floor for the families of the manager and foreman. It later became an apartment house.
This picture of the dining room in Net Cotton’s boarding house was taken in 1903.
In 1971 the building was purchased from the Kezar Falls Woolen Company by Fred and Carol Leavitt who had a grocery store on the first floor for a short time. Denise Day then had a gift shop here. In 1986 it was followed by the “Peppermint Stick Restaurant” owned and run by Sandra and Wayne Mills for six years. In 1989 it was purchased by Chester Munro who ran “The Country Falls Restaurant” here until 2009. Today it is an apartment building owned by Leslie Croteau since 2015. The “Country Falls Restaurant” sign still hangs on the front of the building but no longer exists. A new roof and other improvements have been made. We hope the building will continue to serve a useful purpose in the village for years to come.
Welcome to the new location for our BLOG Local History Matters. We have discontinued using the blogspot.com site where we have been posting local history information since 2012. Thank you Patricia Turner for managing the site for so long. However it will remain for the near future so that you can look back at archived articles. We will now continue on with posting here on our website once or twice a month.
We are currently doing a series looking at the old original Kezar Falls Village businesses and public buildings that still exist and are looking at the Parsonsfield side of the village. This time we are featuring the library building located at #2 Wadleigh Street at the corner of Federal Road. Although this building is not quite as old as some of the other buildings in the village, it will be 100 years old this year.
This picture was taken about the time it was built. The building looks much the same today with the exception of landscaping, sign, painted trim and handicap ramp. The library itself was established in 1896 by the Ladies Magazine Reading Club in one room on the second floor of the Stanley Building across the street. In 1919 it moved to a small building next to the Norton Hardware Store. In 1925 the above building, designed by the architectural firm of John Calvin Stevens, was erected on land donated by the Kezar Falls Woolen Mill and with much help from the Garner family. All the years since the dedicated volunteer directors of the library have done a wonderful job of maintaining the building and keeping it up to date and the library itself relevant to the times. We are fortunate to have such a library to serve our community today in this special little building that is still used for the purpose for which it was built. With continued dedication of the staff and the board of directors and support from the community it should remain well into the future.
Preserving the Past, Embracing the Present, Anticipating the Future
