By Nicholas Brown
Staff Writer

The Old Allenstown Meeting House, which once helped define the town center before the Industrial Revolution, may self-destruct if its roof and trusses aren’t replaced this year, according to a group that’s been raising money to save the building.

Recent record rainfalls haven’t been kind to the old church and town meeting house, as mold and rot pervade upper portions of the 1816 structure, said Old Allenstown Meeting House Steering Committee member Armand Verville.

Verville said the building, which sits behind a green historical marker off Deerfield Road inside Bear Brook State Park, is in danger of collapse unless trusses supporting the roof can be either lengthened or replaced.

The trusses, which Verville said are about 2 to 2-and-a-half feet too short, were replaced in 1985, after an arsonist sparked a fire that devastated the roof and a small corner portion of the rectangular building.

A large tarp has rested atop the building, which is listed on both the state and national Register of Historic Places, since last December, but Verville said some of the heavy rain made its way inside and has caused considerable mold and some rotting.

“The tarp has really saved us,” said Verville, “but it definitely needs a new roof this year.”

The group hopes kick off the renovation by Aug. 1, and has about $12,000 saved. But Verville said they need another $18,000 to pull off the roof reconstruction.

Earlier this year, voters rejected a warrant article asking for $2,000 for the meeting house project.

“Unfortunately there may be a lot of people who may drive by and say, ‘Gee, why don’t they tear that old building down,’” said Verville. “But there’s a lot of history here that’s not replaceable.”

The white building was originally built by Allenstown residents and members of the burgeoning Church of Christ in 1821, after being conceived of 14 years earlier.

Funds were raised for the building’s original construction by selling box seats, or box pews, that line the walls of the one-story building to people, and deeding the pews to them.

Even today, after 185 years, an arson and a 1914 forest fire, many placards still hang on the box pews, displaying the names of families who contributed to the building’s construction.

Many common area names like Bachelder, Rand and Burgin are represented.

Until 1876, when many east Allenstown residents left for what is now the Suncook Village, to pursue jobs in the new mill buildings, the building served as both a religious center and as the town’s primary meeting house.

In 1909, the town voted to transfer the house to the Buntin Chapter Daughters of the American Revolution, who cared for the building until 1991.

At that time, the building was given to the state, but limited state funding for such historical and cultural endeavors left the building somewhat neglected, until the town petitioned for its ownership two years ago.

“The town realized if we didn’t take it back it was going to be lost,” said steering committee member Carol Martel.

Since then the Old Allenstown Meeting House Steering Committee has been laboring to protect the historic structure, which Verville said is still largely structurally sound.

“There’s no reason it couldn’t last another 200 years,” he said. “But we have to do something about the roof now.”

The group is accepting donations of money and supplies, and will be circulating pledge sheets both in the mail, and at the town’s 175th anniversary celebration, scheduled for Saturday, July 29, at Bear Brook State Park.

Tax-exempt donations can be mailed to Allenstown Revitalization Association OAMH Friends, P.O. Box 539, Allenstown, NH 03275, or call 485-4437.

Upcoming fundraising events for the meeting house project include a July 15 and 16 yard sale at 1 Verville Road. Armand Verville said he’s also hoping people will donate items for sale.

Also contributing to the project are proceeds from the sales of two local history books: “The History of East Allenstown New Hampshire and Bear Brook State Park,” penned by Martel, and “As We Witness: A Collection of Memories from Allenstown, New Hampshire,” by Harriet Bean.