Pinkerton Tavern Update

The former Pinkerton Tavern photographed 2009

In 2009 I wrote a blog post about the Pinkerton Tavern in Derry, New Hampshire.  It was a Halloween story because even though this beautiful building has an interesting history, it is most famous as having a resident ghost!   Please click on the link at the bottom of the page to read this story.


This 270 year old building is back in the news.  The restaurant inside closed a few months ago, and it is now for sale.  However, the building must be moved due to a project to widen Manchester Road in Derry.   Hopefully the building will be relocated nearby, but who knows its fate?  This is a nearly $6 million dollar project being held up while the town negotiated for property from 15 different property owners from Crystal Avenue to Ashleigh Drive.  One of the last parcels is where the tavern stands now. 

There is great concern around town for the building.  Someone even started a “SAVE THE PINKERTON TAVERN” facebook group!    The town of Derry was accepting proposals for a buyer who would move the building and possibly renovate it, and there were several interested parties who toured the building.  No one came forward to move the building.  You can make a proposal at derry-nh.org, or you can make a bid at the town hall.  The town is hoping to begin the roadwork in the fall.  Since no one was willing to relocate the building, the town is now looking for a buyer to dismantle the tavern for parts or to sell it as salvage.  For information or to tour the building, please call the public works department at 432-6144.


Last week the members of the Derry Heritage Commission toured the property for items of interest to preserve for the Derry History Museum.  They plan on producing a local access cable TV show on the 270 year history of the Pinkerton Tavern.  There were not many items worth salvaging, since the building had been remodeled so many times.  Most of the building is new, or not original to 270 years ago.  The curator of the museum, Karen Blandford- Anderson, took a small rock from the original fireplace for display in the town museum. 


My post on the history of the Pinkerton Tavern in Derry, New Hampshire: http://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2009/10/pinkerton-tavern-ghosts.html

http://www.nutpub.net/html/nnmain.html   Nutfield News 20 July 2011, "Residents Find Little to Preserve as Pinkerton Tavern Faces Dismantling"


Derry News, 24 March 2011, column “More tales to tell before Pinkerton Tavern is gone” by Rick Holmes, former Derry Town Historian and author of “Nutfield Rambles”, http://www.derrynews.com/derry/x357288292/Its-the-end-of-the-road-for-tavern-building

Derry News, 15 June 2011 “Buyer- and mover- sought for tavern” http://www.derrynews.com/local/x357067834/Buyer-and-mover-sought-for-tavern

Derry News, 6 July 2011 “It’s the end of the road for tavern building” http://www.derrynews.com/derry/x357288292/Its-the-end-of-the-road-for-tavern-building


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Copyright 2011, Heather Wilkinson Rojo