For a great write up of our walking tour, please check out this blog.

Heartbeat of Haverhill

10 Fascinating Stories Learned While Walking through Rocks Village, Haverhill

by Alison Colby-Campbell

Discover the riverfront neighborhood of Rocks Village, once a bustling community of stores, taverns, and wharfs, settled in the late seventeenth century. Hear tales of merchants, shipbuilders, a purported witch, and more.

Explore local landmarks such as the Rocks Village Bridge and 1840 Hand Tub House (fire station), and learn the stories of those who lived, loved, and worked here.

Presented in partnership Historic New England is the oldest, largest, and most comprehensive regional heritage organization in the nation. HNE shares the region’s history through vast collections, publications, programs, historic proper- ties, archives, and family stories that document more than 400 years of life in New England.

$10

Registration recommended. Please call 617-994-5970 for more information or register online.  Two times to chose from:  10:30 -11:30am or 1:00 – 2:00pm

The Rocks Village Memorial Association received a grant for 2017 from the Festival of Trees.

This money will be used to re plaster the interior that has water damage from when our roof leaked.

You will also see work being done on the exterior of the building this year as we will be re glazing the windows and repairing and painting the trim.  Also with Festival of Trees money.

The Methuen Festival of Trees organization has invested over $1,500,000 in funds to preserve our area’s historic treasures.

Please join us for the next RVMA meeting scheduled for March 19th

Location: 28 River Road

Time: 4:00 – 5:30pm

Topics:
Toll House Historical Display
Memorial Day Brunch
Earth Day: April 22nd
Walking Tour: April 22nd

The RVMA donated a tree to the Methuen Festival of Trees this year with the team of Through the Ages.  The tree included original art from Susan Bailey, Wimberley Burton, and Bill King.  Dee Rowlands, Jennifer Rowland Clapp, Dee’s daughter, and Lydia Harris contributed decorations to the tree.

We would like to thank Home Depot for the donation of the tree and Historic New England for the beautiful books they donated to go along with the tree raffle.

The RVMA would like to heartily thank everyone who joined in helping during the yard sale, clean-up, and walking tour.  Thanks to the many customers, generosity of donors, and walking tour participants, we are closer to our goal of glazing the windows and painting the trim of the HTH.

Clap Your Hands for the Hand Tub House

Kudos to the Rocks Village Memorial Association and their preservation of the Hand Tub House! Essex Heritage Trustee and Haverhill City Councilor Tom Sullivan invited Essex Heritage CEO Annie Harris to visit the restoration project last Friday where she was impressed to see how much has been accomplished by this entirely volunteer organization. They raised over $80,000 to restore the historic tub house and meeting hall dating from the 1830s, but there is more to be done. The goal is to create a museum on the first floor of the property and restore the meeting room on the second floor.

Save the Date:  Big Doings in the Village on Saturday, October 15, 2016

8:30-3:00 Yard Sale – all sales go towards restoring and preserving the Hand Tub House. Contact Cindy@rocksvillage.org.
9:00-2:00 Fall Clean-Up – Get your hands dirty with preparing Hand Tub House Park for Winter. Contact Christine@rocksvillage.org
10:30-11:30 and 1:00-2:00 Historic Walking Tour – Register Here
6:30 -8:30 Annual Fall Feast – Enjoy a festive pot luck in one of the Village Houses. Contact Cindy@rocksvillage.org.

September 18^th. The annual meeting of the RVMA will be held at 3:30 PM at The Hand Tub House. Exciting things are happening in the village, the HTH landscaping has made great strides, and an electrical upgrade has been done to the HTH. Peek in and see the new lighting. Upcoming projects for the HTH will be discussed as well as events for the coming year. This is your village, please join us.

Save the Date:  Big Doings in the Village on Saturday, October 15, 2016

Taking into account everyone’s busy schedule the RVMA has decided to group the Fall activities together on one day this year.

8:30-3:00 Yard Sale
9:00-2:00 Fall Clean-Up
10:30-11:30 and 1:00-2:00 Historic Walking Tour
6:30 -8:30 Annual Fall Feast

Yard Sale: Item Donations are being accepted now. Please contact one of the RVMA members to open the Hand Tub House for your drop off. Some of the activities to assist in preparation for the yard sale are: Signs and flyers distribution and table set up. Volunteers are also needed during the yard sale. Please contact Cindy@rocksvillage.org to volunteer.

Fall Clean-up: The work that has been going on over the summer on the HTH grounds is a must see. Work needs to be done to prepare the area for the winter season. Please contact Christine@rocksvillage.org to volunteer.

Historic Walking Tour: We are repeating the walking tour this fall. Let your friends, families, and colleagues know so they can learn about the history of the village. If you have any historic information you would like to contribute to the tour please contact Lydia@rocksvillage.org or Susan@rocksvillage.org.  Click Here to register.

Annual Fall Feast: The fall feast will be held at 59 Wharf Lane. It is Potluck and BYOB. With the number of villagers attending each year increasing, a head count earlier rather than later is helpful. It is not necessary to decide what you will be bringing at this time. Please contact Cindy@rocksvillage.org.

Any amount of time that can be contributed to any of the activities is a great help and very much appreciated.

*** Save this date, too: September 18^th. The annual meeting of the RVMA will be held at 3:30 PM at The Hand Tub House. Exciting things are happening in the village, the HTH landscaping has made great strides, and an electrical upgrade has been done to the HTH. Peek in and see the new lighting. Upcoming projects for the HTH will be discussed as well as events for the coming year. This is your village, join us. ***

Check us out at our website: www.rocksvillage.org and the Rocks Village facebook page.

Thank you. Hope to see you on Sunday, September 18^th and Saturday, October 15, 2016.

The Rocks Village Memorial Association cannot thank The Home Depot enough for all that the team did for our project.  

On June 29th, a team from Plaistow New Hamphshire’s Home Depot worked on the Hand Tub House project.

New Plants/trees donated to RVMA from Home Depot are:

Plum tree
Cherry tree
Regal Oak Tree (2)
River birch tree (2)
Flowering Pear (2)
Cercus Rising Sun (2)
6 2 gallon rhododendron
3  5 gallon rhododendron
10 2 gallon ornamental grasses
3 5 gallon willow shrubs