FREEDOM NH

FREEDOM NH

"The Bandstand"

Town Office Grounds

Built - c. 1904

Freedom is located near the state's border with Maine. It used to be part of the town of Effingham but, following an influx of new settlers from Maine who had religious and cultural conflicts with the Freedomites, that part of Effingham separated into a town of its own.

Freedom has been the setting of a couple of stories including one for a childrens' fantasy book called "The Enormous Egg." published in 1956 and also one for a This American Life broadcast, "The House at Loon Lake," more recently in 2001. The town is also home of the sites of "Nature's Classroom."

Freedom's century + old bandstand is located on a hill by the town offices once formerly an elementary school and is the first and only one the town has ever had. The structure has very little information about it on file but it is known that it has been used extensively over the years by the Freedom Coronet Band, Moose Mountain Jazz Band and other brass bands throughout the area. The structure hosts the town's special Old Home Week Celebration for concerts and used as a "jail' for a fundraiser. It has also been used for local resident interviews by a Maine TV station for the "Growing Up in Freedom" program and also always has been used by the school children to play in.

A special feature of the structure has always been the gold ball atop the spire which is a symbot for the community of Freedom.

INFORMATION SUPPLIED BY:
Karen Hatch, Administrative Assistant