Survey respondents value Wolfeboro’s architectural history and character

WOLFEBORO — It’s clear that the Wolfeboro community values the historic character of the town.

According to a recent Wolfeboro Heritage Commission survey, 96% of respondents said that Wolfeboro’s architectural structures and neighborhoods are important to them. And 92% said they would be supportive of additional protections to preserve Wolfeboro’s historic character.

The survey — issued by the Heritage Commission in late September — was made available online and at Town Hall.

The survey followed a September public hearing sponsored jointly by the Wolfeboro Planning Board and the Wolfeboro Heritage Commission and was designed to encourage residents and visitors to share their thoughts on preserving Wolfeboro’s architectural heritage for future generations.

Survey respondents were not shy about listing what historic homes, buildings, neighborhoods, and places in Wolfeboro they felt were especially important to preserve. They were invited to highlight as many as they wanted.

The list included: Downtown Business District, North Main Street, South Main St. from Pickering Corner to Middleton Road, North Wolfeboro from The Nick to the Ossipee town line, Libby Museum, Town Hall, Railroad Station, Wolfeboro Bay/shoreline, and Carpenter School.

Other areas highlighted included: Center Street/Wolfeboro Falls, established neighborhoods (50+ years old), scenic views and vistas, Cate Park/docks/Dockside, the Clarke Museum and its surrounding neighborhood, lake cottages/camps/boathouses, and the Pleasant Street neighborhood.

Also mentioned were Cotton Mountain/Wolfeboro Center churches, the Avery Building, the old fire station/community center, the Lehner Street corridor, Cotton Valley and Pleasant Valley roads, farms and barns, dirt roads, homes in the Brewster area, Sewell Woods, Sewall Road, the Pickering House, and the Abenaki recreation area.

Survey comments from those encouraging preservation included: stopping tear-downs in the community; establishing objective standards for additional protections; educating the public before enacting regulations so residents have a clear understanding of the goals of any town oversight; ensuring that regulations are guided by a fair and open decision-making process; seeing that existing regulations are consistent and uniformly applied and that there is enough manpower to ensure compliance with existing ordinances.

Some of the concerns about enacting new town regulations included: not raising taxes as a result of preservation efforts; balancing the owners’ rights with preservation goals; limiting the focus to public properties; curbing government overreach; protecting small businesses; and balancing economic development with preservation.

Over the next several months, the Heritage Commission will explore options for preserving the historic character of the community. In New Hampshire, towns have three options available to them. They can seek to establish National Register historic districts, locally designated historic districts, and/or neighborhood heritage districts. Designations can be separate or can overlap with one another.

During the evaluation stage, in addition to reviewing the survey results, the Heritage Commission will also further study the results of the historical resources survey that was completed in the town in 2024.

This report includes an overview of town history, architectural styles and representative examples within those historic periods, and building photographs, organized by the major historical periods and further divided into residential and non-residential resources. A copy of the report is available on the Heritage Commission tab on the town of Wolfeboro’s website.

Although the opportunity to complete the survey has expired, residents and visitors are always encouraged to continue to share their ideas with the Commission by emailing heritagecommission@wolfeboronh.us.