History of Concord Police Department (Pre 1853) - Police Department

"The City Marshal shall, under the Mayor, have the control and direction of the police of the city; shall collect the taxes, and attend upon the Mayor and Aldermen when required; and shall be, by virtue of his office, constable and conservator of the peace."

Concord City Charter, Section 15. - March 10, 1853

Early Settlers
Concord's history dates back thousands of years to Native American settlements along the banks of the Merrimack River. Pennycook, "the crooked place", was the original name the Indians gave the land surrounding the winding turns of the Merrimack River. Settlers from the English colony of Massachusetts, attracted to the valley by the good soil for farming as well as the easy transportation provided by the river, made their way north beginning in 1725.

The township of Penacook, as all of Concord was known, had been established in 1726, early settlement was concentrated at the north end of North Main Street in the central village. By 1732, the area became known as the parish of Rumford.

On June 7, 1765, the province of New Hampshire enacted a law granting a town described as ‘a Parish of Bow…by the name of Concord.'

Town records dating back to 1732 show that during town meetings the residents elected a Constable who also served as tax collector. By 1850 the number of constables being elected had increased to 14. If you were selected at the town meeting as constable and chose not to serve, you were required to buy your way out (one individual had to pay 5 pounds in 1739). Many well known Concord names such Walker, Eastman, Rolfe, and Kimball are represented on the list of Constables.

By the mid 1830's, there were also 7 police officers serving Concord. They were appointed to their positions by the town selectmen.

The first city charter, "An act to establish the City of Concord", was enacted by the NH general court in the June session of 1849 and was voted upon and approved by the voters of Concord on March 10, 1853. The law and it’s adoption by the town meeting dissolved the town, and created the city on that date.

Section 15 of that charter created the City of Concord Police Department by stating: "The City Marshal shall, under the Mayor, have the control and direction of the police of the city; shall collect the taxes, and attend upon the Mayor and Aldermen when required; and shall be, by virtue of his office, be constable and conservator of the peace."

The 1853 annual report shows that just before Concord became a city, there were night watch and night police.

Concord Police Department (Post 1853)

Historic Buildings
Concord and Penacook residents take great pride in their city, and much has been done to preserve its history. Some of Concords earliest houses, including the 263-year-old Reverend Timothy Walker House, can be seen today at the north end of Main Street. Walker was Concord's first minister and founding father, and his 1734 home is considered the oldest two-story house between Massachusetts and Canada.

In the city's early days, it was surrounded by Rumford Garrison, erected for the protection of the community's first nine families. Downtown is a historical gold mine of buildings such as The Eagle Hotel (which accommodated Andrew Jackson, Benjamin Harrison, Jefferson Davis, Charles Lindbergh and Eleanor Roosevelt), Eagle Square (home of the Museum of New Hampshire History), Phoenix Hall (built on the spot where Abraham Lincoln spoke just prior to being elected president), New Hampshire State Library (the oldest of its kind in the nation), Bicentennial Square (a former 1890 police station), the First Baptist Church (its bell was made at Paul Revere's Foundry) and the First Church of Christ Scientist (opened five years after Baker Eddy moved to Concord from Bow in 1892).

Seat of State Government
In the years following the Revolutionary War, the city’s central location made it a logical choice for the state capital and, in 1808, Concord was named the official seat of government. Today, the State House, built of local granite in 1819 by state prison inmates, is the oldest state capital in which the legislative branches meet in their original chambers.

Industries Leave Legacies
Penacook's early industry included small lumber mills, a grist mill and a carding and cloth finishing mill that ushered in the woolen manufacturing industry that thrived in Penacook for nearly a hundred years. Other important industries to emerge included furniture manufacturing as well as electrical production and instrument manufacturing.

In the 19th Century, one of the city’s best-known industries was carriage manufacturing. The Concord Coach, often seen in western movies and credited with opening the American West, was made here and one is on display at the Museum of New Hampshire History.

Granite quarrying earned the state its nickname, The Granite State. Local stone from nearby Rattlesnake Hill was used for the Library of Congress in Washington D.C. The quarry remains active and is still a major granite supplier.