Day One highlights on Rob and Lizzy’s jaunt to the Concords in NY and PA….
The restart of the Concord Project appropriately began in New Concord, New York. It’s a stone’s throw from the Mass Pike, so it was a perfect spot to break up the 7 hr. drive to Concord, NY. We passed through twice. Once on our way toward Buffalo, and we returned three nights later to spend the night.
The restart of the Concord Project appropriately began in New Concord, New York. It’s a stone’s throw from the Mass Pike, so it was a perfect spot to break up the 7 hr. drive to Concord, NY. We passed through twice. Once on our way toward Buffalo, and we returned three nights later to spend the night.
The impact of COVID lingered:
“Should we shake hands?”
“Should we wear masks in your car?”
Despite the initial awkwardness, Rick our host in New Concord, couldn’t have been more welcoming.
“Should we shake hands?”
“Should we wear masks in your car?”
Despite the initial awkwardness, Rick our host in New Concord, couldn’t have been more welcoming.
Two tidbits: New Concord was the childhood home of the suffragette, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, and New Concord may be the third oldest of all the Concords.
Rick, Christine, and Molly
I ask everyone two questions: What’s the best thing about your Concord? and How has it changed?
Rick loves the sense of community in New Concord. The biggest change in New Concord was a personal one. “We are no longer ‘Weekenders’”
Christine gave the two quickest answers ever to my two standard questions. The best part? “The quiet.” (They abut an 18th-century graveyard) How has it changed? “Too many New Yorkers!” She added with a smile, “I’m a New Yorker, too.”
I ask everyone two questions: What’s the best thing about your Concord? and How has it changed?
Rick loves the sense of community in New Concord. The biggest change in New Concord was a personal one. “We are no longer ‘Weekenders’”
Christine gave the two quickest answers ever to my two standard questions. The best part? “The quiet.” (They abut an 18th-century graveyard) How has it changed? “Too many New Yorkers!” She added with a smile, “I’m a New Yorker, too.”
On the way back to Massachusetts, we once again stopped in New Concord. This time we stayed at a bed and breakfast and had a ramble down the various streets that radiated out of the town green. Our host also provided us with PT Vieilette’s 150-page, An Early History of New Concord,
According to Viellette, the area had been settled by Mohican Indians before it was claimed by both Dutch and British colonists. The first royal land grants were issued in the 1760’s, ironically making New Concord, New York, one of the oldest of the many Concords in America. New Concord was settled by a mix of Connecticut and Massachusetts farmers. The only local government was provided by the one Congregationalist church, which gave the community a puritanical, conservative tone.
During the Revolutionary War, the town split along Patriot and Loyalist lines. Even within families, some stayed true to the King, while others took up arms for independence. The losers paid a price for their beliefs. They lost their lands and possessions and were banished from New Concord. While the physical makeup of the hamlet is little changed over the past 200 years, the composition of the community has changed as more New Yorkers moved in. By the 1980s, New Concord was split between the “Old-timers” and the “Weekenders.” To bridge this divide, Vielette formed “The Society of New Concord.”
The SNC held regular community events largely around the goal of purchasing and preserving the former Dutch Reform Church and adjoining meeting house. Though New Concord consists of only 38 homes, through steady fundraising, pot-luck dinners, and much donated labor, the New Concord Meeting House was saved and became the hub of the community.
Today, the picturesque village green, historic houses, and surrounding verdant hills and woods attract an eclectic mix of residents who mingle with life-long residents, young weekenders, and senior weekenders who have turned into full-time New Concordians. I spoke with about a dozen folks in town, and all of them commented that the sense of community was what kept this hamlet vibrant. “I came for the beautiful homes and surroundings, but I stayed because of the people.”