Dozen Distinctive Destinations
Keene, NH
Year Listed: 2003
Keene is a secret worth sharing. Although its population is small - just over 22,000 - Keene is a giant when it comes to history. Chartered in 1753, the town features an impressive collection of Georgian buildings, including the 1762 Wyman Tavern, local watering-hole of the Keene minutemen. In summer months, Revolutionary War re-enactments are held on the tavern grounds. Because so many of the town's earliest structures have remained unchanged for more than two centuries, it's easy to get lost in time: The 1795 doctor's house is pristine -- as are the 1791 home of Keene's most prominent attorney and the 1805 home of its postmaster.
Center Square in Keene, New Hampshire.
Credit: Jeananne Farrar
Children will enjoy Stonewall Farm, an educational working farm, the Colonial Theatre, and Ashuelot River Park, which has an arboretum, trail system and environmental teaching site. The lush green hillsides surrounding the town are reminders that Keene is the birthplace of one of America's earliest environmentalists, Henry David Thoreau. The summit of Mount Monadnock, the town's most prominent landmark, occasionaly offers distant views of Boston. Views of a different sort can be enjoyed in a drive through the countryside around Keene, where covered bridges adorn a Currier & Ives landscape come to life.
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