The stone cottage shown here is located in back of the former Ross Manor. It was built by Burgess and Hallie Ross for their own use. When they sold the property to Atlantic Union College, college president Lewis N. Holm occupied the home.
Longtime residents may remember shopping at Hubby (Hue-bee) Rowell's Grocery Store on the south side of Prescott Street in South Lancaster. This view shows the interior in the mid-1940s, shortly after the store began operating under Rowell's name. Rowell's was well known locally for its 5¢ ice-cream cones. The Trolley Stop, a pizzeria, is now located on the site.
Planted in 1853 (the year of the town's 200th anniversary), this commemorative tree withstood many storms, including the Hurricane of 1938. However, the tree had been deteriorating for a long time, and the trunk was nearly hollow.
When the Rowlandson locker was purchased by the Lancaster Town Library in 1876 with money bequeathed by native Mary Whitney, it no doubt awakened an interest in the early history and daily lives of settlers. An unidentified woman, dressed in period garb, works an ancient spinning wheel in the foreground of this late-19th-century photograph.
On the rotunda floor in the main entrance of Haskell Hall is the school's seal with the phrase Fiat Lux, meaning "Let there be light." The words reflect the vision of the school's founder, Stephen H. Haskell, who wanted the light of the gospel to spread to the entire world.
Located on Main Street in South Lancaster, this house was the former parsonage of poet and minister Edmund Hamilton Sears, known for writing "It Came Upon a Midnight Clear." Florist G. Frederick Chandler then acquired the property, and it was later inherited by the Hosmer family. In 1944, AUC moved the building to "Faculty Row" on Hill Road. This view shows the house when owned by G. F. Chandler.
This road, which actually has seven bridges, was built sometime after 1800 as a toll road or turnpike. It was not accepted as a town road until years later. The view of what is present day Route 117 shows some very low land on the Nashua floodplain.
The Theatre Lancaster Social Union presented a revival of the English drama She Stoops to Conquer on May 6, 1885. Members of the cast are, from left to right, as follows: (front row) Charles Vickery, Mary Dix, and John Cunningham; (back row) Will Cunningham, Herbert Parker, Nannie Cunningham, Chester Damon, Fanny Chandler, and Marion Green. The dog, belonging to Charles Vickery, was named Max.
As part of the 300th anniversary celebration, several townsmen enacted the signing of the 1653 town covenant. This photograph shows, from left to right, Frances Burgoyne, John Gilmore, John Freeman, Walton Kilbourn, William Sonia, Fred Willruth, and John P. Lynch.
In this 1981 photograph, longtime Lancaster resident Robert L. Culley Sr. (1924-2005) actively participates in a "water cross" competition at his snowmobile ranch along Route 117. The Snowmobile ranch was founded in 1963.
In the late 1930s, the South Lancaster Riding School, operated by Henry (Hank) St. Jacques, was located near the Southern New England Conference Office on Sawyer Street. Shown here are Hank's sister Alice St. Jacques Mason and Hank.