but pleads for more to place its future beyond a peradventure. Within, its inmates, after a well-spent life, find a quiet retreat, shielded from adversity. George Kent once offered to Concord a park of five acres, bounded by Rumford, School, Merrimack, and Pleasant Streets, provided it should be accepted and fenced. He formerly kept deer within the enclosure. It was to have been named Rumford Park. This was the house in which Thompson and Whittier were hospitably received when the door of the town-house was shut in their faces.
The old State prison, built of imperishable granite, is a monument of the past,—its interior converted into a voluntary boarding-house; its workshops utilized by artisans and machinists; its high wall removed, and forming the underpinning of recently built houses.
The New-Hampshire Historical Society, organized over sixty years ago, own the old bank building at the north end, and have converted it into a library, in which have accumulated books, pamphlets, manuscripts, newspapers, paintings, and works of art and historical interest, all of rare value for the student of the present and future.
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EXCHANGE BLOCK.
The city and county own together the city hall and court-house, a building of pretentious architectural claims, which awaits the artist who can relieve its painful ugliness. It occupies a noble site, and some time it will reflect credit on the city and county.
Some of the most noticeable features of the city are the spacious lots assigned to private residences, and the shade-trees which overhang the streets. Ancient elms are very common; while the oak, maple, horse-chestnut, and sycamore abound. Concord was the original home of concrete pavement, and the sidewalks are smooth and pleasant to walk upon. They are a joy to the bicyclist. Hydrants at convenient distances, and lamp-posts at every cross-
