One local Strafford history; A History of Strafford, New Hampshire  and two local Barrington histories have not been published; A History of Barrington, NH  and Barrington New Hampshire 1772-1972 . Oral histories have been obtained from Harlan Calef and Mike Helfgott .

The Isinglass was a part of the lives of both the pre-European inhabitants who lived near it and the European immigrants who took their places. The earliest human inhabitants of this area used the lakes, rivers, and streams for water, fishing, and for the wildlife that depended on the habitat. The territories of indigenous bands and community groups roughly followed watershed boundaries. The Isinglass area would likely have been part of the territory of the Cocheco band of the Piscataqua tribal group, whose presiding great sachem or sagamore at the time of the earliest European settlement was the well-known Passaconaway.

Ample evidence exists that native peoples occupied the Isinglass watershed prior to the European immigration. Artifacts have been found along the shores of Bow Lake in Strafford and along the Isinglass River below the current Bow Lake Dam. Evidence also suggests that an established Indian village at Nippo Pond, whose outflow runs into the Isinglass, was still in existence in the “contact period” when indigenous people and Europeans both lived in this region. The group at Nippo Pond may have been Penacooks.

Until sometime after 1000 AD, the people who lived in this region subsisted entirely by foraging for food. Those who depended upon these resources actively managed wild game, fisheries, and local plant populations. Typically, people came to the lakes and rivers in the spring and fall to fish and collect plants that could be stored for later use. Based upon what is known about the importance of Lake Winnipesaukee to native economies, we can assume that the Isinglass, with what was then Bow Pond at its head, would have been key to the survival of nearby indigenous peoples.

Another indication of the significance of the Isinglass is that the pre-European inhabitants used a trail that follows the River. Province Road, that currently runs along ridges near the River, was said to have largely been laid out over these trails. Chester Price’s Map of Historic Indian Trails shows a trail running along the Isinglass from Bow Pond to the River’s confluence with the Cocheco in what is now Rochester. A number of trails met at this point.

The next chapter in the history of the Isinglass was quite different. With the growth of the colony, interest in the Isinglass watershed grew despite its rocky, swampy terrain. Pines for masts were harvested from its banks (Hale Wood). Locke’s Falls on the Isinglass is demarcated on a map of the “Piscataqua Saw Mills” made for King William and Queen Anne (circa 1700) and currently displayed at Strawbery Banke. The Cocheco River (Quochecha on the 1700 map) made it possible to transport goods from the inland to the Piscataqua River and Great Bay. The Isinglass itself was too shallow and rocky to be useful for transport along most of its distance. In the winter, mast lumber was transported by land.

The Isinglass provided waterpower, a significant attraction to homesteaders. In addition to sawmills, woodsmen needed bread and the gristmills could provide flour to make it. In 1722, based in part on the availability of water power from the Isinglass, surveyors from the coast mapped boundaries and lot divisions for what became Barrington and Rochester (Strafford was part of Barrington until 1820). The lines they drew had no connection to existing land uses or land formations. As the communities grew, a few fulling mills were built to clean, shrink, and dye homespun cloth. One of these, the Tuttle Fulling Mill, built  circa 1770, was washed away by a flood in 1835. No trace was left save for its records which provide many details of this step in a lumber town’s development. A Barrington history offers an example with instructions “To Coller Cotten or lineon Bottle Green.”
 
The early mills on the Isinglass and its tributaries were numerous. Their numbers, the quality and accessibility of their ruins, and their significance in the pre-Industrial economy suggest their potential as a registered historic district. Several of the mills formed the centers for village settlements, including Bow Lake, Critchett Mill (where a post office building still stands), and Locke Mill. The latter was built as a sawmill. Later a gristmill was erected opposite. A small village grew up around the mills, including a tub and firkin factory and a boarding house for employees. Later, a fire destroyed the factory and the mills were closed. In 1898, a flood washed away all evidence of this community with the exception of the mill ruins.

The most ambitious project to make use of the River for power was the construction in 1824 of the Bow Lake Dam to harness energy for the mills in Dover. The original dam was breached several years later when a larger, stronger dam in a different location immediately replaced it. The new dam, completed in 1832, raised the level of the lake by about twenty feet. However, the contours of the original pond are easily seen when looking at a map of Bow Lake.

In the mid-1830s, the Cocheco Manufacturing Company acquired water rights to the lake and to the Foss Mills in Strafford and held them until 1909 when they were sold, along with the millworks and other sites downriver, to Pacific Mills. Pacific Mills did little with most of these properties before it lost them during the Great Depression. During the 1960s, the water rights reverted to the State of New Hampshire.

Remnants of the millponds and of the dams that created them remain and can be accessed by the public. The homes built by millowners Francis and Darius Winkley still stand along the River and are in fine condition, as is a mid-nineteenth century home at Locke Mill. Unlike contemporary builders, earlier residents respected the River’s potential for flooding and set their homes well back from the banks.

In the generations that followed, other activities took place in the mill sites. The property at Locke Mill later became a fruit orchard. Its produce was shipped to markets in Boston; Charleston, South Carolina; and England. Francis Winkley III invented the alemite (grease) bearing. Another Isinglass River homestead, the Swedish Farm, situated by the bridge over the historic road to Rochester, was not associated with a mill. Early in the twentieth century, it was operated as a small farm, at one point supplying Leon Calef (of Calef’s Country Store) with chickens for their customers as well as for shipping to other markets from East Barrington Boston & Maine railway station.
 
 The population of the towns along the Isinglass corridor declined with the end of the mill economy. However, two nineteenth century one-room schoolhouses along the Isinglass were still in use into the 1930s. The remnants of these and of the small houses along the River can be seen today. By 1980, the population of the three Isinglass communities began to grow at a rapid rate once again as they have became affordable “bedroom communities” for the Seacoast region.

Local Town Histories, Oral Histories or General Historical Knowledge

(b) Community Resource

Briefly describe how the river is recognized or used as a significant community resource. If the river’s importance is recognized in any official town documents, such as a master plan

In Barrington, the Isinglass has been recognized in every community survey of valuable assets, most particularly in Barrington’s contribution to the State’s  “Cornerstones Project,” in the Regional Environmental Planning Report, and in Barrington's Natural Heritage Committee’s Special Places. The Town of Barrington Master Plan  makes specific reference to the significance of the Isinglass; its zoning regulations singled out the River by specifying a 100' setback for all buildings along the River. Barrington recently acquired a piece of land on the River to protect it from development and to provide public access.

 Strafford’s zoning regulations acknowledge the need to protect wetlands and surface water, including those of the Isinglass and its tributaries. The Town of Strafford has leased the land surrounding the Foss Mill site as well as the mill to ensure public access.
 Rochester acquired an easement along a threatened stretch of the River and is involved in the restoration of the Squanamagonic area (see Open Space section and the Recreation Sites and Conservation Lands and Unfragmented Lands maps). Both of these areas, on the northwestern side of the Isinglass, were selected as significant resources by the Rochester representatives to a Regional Environment Planning Program conducted by the Strafford Regional Planning Commission and a number of state and regional agencies.

 Details of the communities’ zoning regulations as they pertain to surface water can be found below under “Land Use Controls.” Other evidence of the River’s broad use and recognition is found throughout this document.
 

   4. Recreational Resources
   5. Other Resources
 

Final Note: Before submitting the nomination, please check the form for completeness. Nomination forms are reviewed for completeness by the Department of Environmental Services. Be sure to consult Env-C 700 and RSA 483 to make sure that all information requirements have been met. Incomplete nominations will be ineligible for consideration by the State Legislature in the next legislative session.