The Waterloo Historic District encompasses the site of one of the first mills on the

Warner River The Warner River is a river located in central New Hampshire in the United States. It is a tributary of the Contoocook River, part of the Merrimack River watershed. The Warner River begins at the outlet of Todd Lake in Bradford, New Hampshire, ...

, near the Waterloo Falls in

Warner, New Hampshire Warner is a town in Merrimack County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 2,937 at the 2020 census. The town is home to Magdalen College of the Liberal Arts, Rollins State Park and Mount Kearsarge State Forest. The town's centra ...

. The district includes most of the original land grant for the mill site. It extends along Waterloo Street and Newmarket Street for a length of about , from where Newmarket Street crosses the Warner River to where Waterloo Street crosses a brook. In addition to its industrial history, the district is notable for being home to two nationally known politicians:

William E. Chandler William Eaton Chandler (December 28, 1835November 30, 1917), also known as Bill Chandler, was a lawyer who served as United States Secretary of the Navy and as a U.S. Senator from New Hampshire. In the 1880s, he was a member of the Republican "H ...

(1835-1917), who served as

United States Senator The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and powe ...

and as

United States Secretary of the Navy The secretary of the Navy (or SECNAV) is a statutory officer () and the head (chief executive officer) of the Department of the Navy, a military department (component organization) within the United States Department of Defense. By law, the se ...

, and Nehemiah G. Ordway (1828-1907), the seventh governor of the

Dakota Territory The Territory of Dakota was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from March 2, 1861, until November 2, 1889, when the final extent of the reduced territory was split and admitted to the Union as the states of N ...

. This part of Warner was first sold off for development in the 1770s, and the first sawmill was operating by 1789. The oldest surviving house in the district, a -story Cape style house, was built in 1791, and a significant number of houses in the district were built before 1820. William Chandler's house, purchased by him in 1872, was built in 1805, and he purchased a nearby 1820s house for staff he needed for entertaining high-profile guests. Nehemiah Ordway's house, at the corner of Newmarket and Waterloo, was built in 1828, but was restyled in the early 20th century to give it a Colonial Revival appearance. Several non-residential buildings have survived, although most have been repurposed into residences. The Bean Tavern is a Georgian structure built in 1793. Two structures that served as train stations survive, one built in 1849, which was moved a short distance to make way for the second, built in 1910. The principal surviving industrial building is the 1836 Chandler Mill, whose surviving -story portion stands off Newmarket Street between the railroad tracks and the river. Remnants of earlier mill foundations lie nearby. The district also includes a cemetery (1815), and a c. 1810 one-room schoolhouse. The district was listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic ...

in 2003. It also includes the

Waterloo Covered Bridge The Waterloo Covered Bridge carries Newmarket Road over the Warner River near the Waterloo Falls in Warner, New Hampshire. The Town lattice truss bridge was built in 1859–60, replacing an earlier span at the same location, and is one of New Ha ...

, a separately-listed bridge which carries Newmarket Street over the river.

References

{{NRHP in Merrimack County, New Hampshire Historic districts on the National Register of Historic Places in New Hampshire Georgian architecture in New Hampshire Federal architecture in New Hampshire Historic districts in Merrimack County, New Hampshire National Register of Historic Places in Merrimack County, New Hampshire Warner, New Hampshire

See also

References