Goffstown Historical Society

18 Parker Station Road, Goffstown, NH 03045  ~  PO Box 284

During 1665, the public libraries started emerging in American colonies when many early colonists brought books from England. The Goffstown library was founded in 1888 with the donation of 150 volumes by Miss Lucy Rogers. The library was originally housed in Goffstown's town hall (a building that no longer stands), until 1907, when construction was begun on this building. However, in 1909 the construction of the library building was completed. At the annual town meeting of 1910, the name was changed to Goffstown Public


The Goffstown Public Library is located at 2 High Street in Goffstown, New Hampshire. The building it occupies was designed by architects Henry M. Francis & Sons and was built in 1909. It is small Classical Revival building built of brick with stone trim, and was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1995.  It is one of the finest examples of Classical Revival architecture in the town, with a three-bay main facade whose central entrance projects slightly, and is topped by a pediment supported by Ionic columns. The Goffstown Public Library is across the street from the Lions Club Popcorn Stand. In 1907, land at the north end of Main Street was donated, and the town appropriated $14,000 for a public library and memorial hall. Dedication exercises for the Classical Revival building as the Memorial Library were held on October 2, 1909. The idea of a library in Goffstown originated with Lucy Rogers' donation of 150 books to the town in 1888. Known then as the Rogers Free Public Library, the collection was housed in the Town Hall building from 1888 to 1907. In 1908 the town borrowed $14,000 to build a public library and memorial hall on land given by Frank Parker who also removed the existing buildings on the site. Work was begun in the spring of 1908 and the building was constructed according to the plans of H.M. Francis and Sons of Fitchburg, Massachusetts who designed libraries in Rindge and Jaffrey, New Hampshire during the 1890s. The Hutchinson Building Company of Concord served as contractors and the building was dedicated in 1909.

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Goffstown Public Library

2 High Street, Goffstown, NH