Celebrate North Hampton's Roots Next Week

Three events will highlight North Hampton's history and some iconic parts of the town.

Get Out

'Jump Start' on 375th Celebration This Weekend

Your "Five Things to Do This Weekend" also includes a tavern walk, the end of a special business week, and several games and concerts.

Looking for something fun to do on the Seacoast this weekend? Here are some ideas (and be sure to tell us about the things you did and show us the pictures you took by e-mailing Editor Kyle Stucker at Kyle.Stucker@Patch.com):   1. Celebrate Hampton's Past with Food Specials and History: The Hampton Historical Society is partnering with the Old Salt, the 401 Tavern and the Galley Hatch for a celebration of Old Hampton in the 17th and 18th centuries on Saturday. The Old Hampton Tavern Walk begins at 2 p.m., and at each location costumed history presenters will entertain and enlighten walkers with little known facts of Hampton's tavernkeepers while individuals enjoy 10 percent off their bills (alcohol not included). The event coincides with …

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Board Changes Stance on Town Clock Location

Voters will decide in March whether the old town clock will find a new home in a memorial outside Centre School.

The Hampton School Board will propose a warrant article for the 2013 town meeting requesting voters allow the erection of a clock tower featuring the old town clock in front of Centre School, according to the Hampton Union. The school board was hesitant about the location of the project earlier this summer due to maintenance responsibility and other reasons, although the Hampton Union reported that board members stated during their meeting last week that those issues have been "cleared up" and now unanimously support the warrant article. The project is proposed as a way to commemorate Hampton's 375th anniversary and is estimated to cost around $60,000 to $70,000 — $30,000 of which is covered through a fund created earlier in the process. …

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Walk Through Hampton's History, Eat Some Pie

The third installment of a refreshment-filled historical series is this weekend.

Harvest Ramble and Repast, the third in a series of Hampton historical walks, will take place Saturday, Sept. 15, at 1 p.m.   The walk starts at the Tuck Museum's historic Leavitt Barn with a discussion about the importance of salt marsh hay to the farmers of Hampton. The ramble encompasses Hampton's historic "Ring" where the early settlers established their farms and homes.   We return to the museum to share the harvest from the museum's new 18th-century herb garden, concluding with a repast of pie and cider. Reservations are required, and can be made by calling 603-929-0781 or 603-926-2543. The walk is $10 per person.

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Clock Tower Tribute Planned for 375th Anniversary

A working glass structure will be placed in front of Centre School.

A group of volunteers say they have completed a concept design for a history-rich monument they hope to unveil during Hampton's 375th anniversary celebration next year in order to pay tribute to the town's past. The volunteers presented a design for the structure, which is proposed as a glass and brick housing containing the century-old town bell and clock, to the Hampton School Board on Tuesday. The 1897 bell and clock have been damaged for years since they fell from the Odd Fellows building steeple during a fire in January 1990, although restorations are nearing their completion and the group would like to prominently place the historic items in a working structure in front of Centre School, said former Selectman Cliff Pratt during the …

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Daylight Saving Time Ends This Weekend

Like anyone would forget to turn their clocks back for an extra hour of sleep. But where did it all begin?

Why do we fall back every year, only to spring ahead four months later? Ben Franklin was only kidding when he suggested 227 years ago that towns should employ the use of church bells or cannon blasts, if necessary, to wake citizens at sunrise so they could take full advantage of sunlight – a thrifty alternative to pricy candle power. More than two centuries later, the joke's still on us. Daylight-saving time is no longer just an amusing idea; it's taken hold with a vengeance. Twice a year we're forced to adjust our sleep habits, synchronizing our biological and digital clocks in order to squeeze more sunlight into our waking hours. Meanwhile, sleep researchers insist we should be cutting back on our waking hours if we really want to live …

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