This aerial picture of the downtown section
shows Great Bay at the top, and the Lamprey River which flows
through Newmarket on the way to Great Bay. A former textile mill
converted to condos is at the left center. A white church steeple
is in the very center of the picture and the red brick building
in the bottom right is a senior retirement home. The empty space
between the mill building and the church is where the former Newmarket
Town Hall used to stand before it burned down. I ran a contra
dance series there for several years before I left for Nashville
in 1981.
In the bottom left of the picture is a white building with a gray
roof which may have the most interest to musicians. It was formally
a church, but has been converted to a bar and entertainment establishment.
I've been playing music at the "Stone Church" since
1976 in various bands. For a couple of years I ran the Sunday
"hoot" nights, and for a while ran a bi-monthly contra
dance. A winning feature of the church in the 1970's was the free
roast beef dinner offered to any Sunday open mike night performer.