Monday, July 2, 2012

Hudson Town Pound 1772






The Hudson, New Hampshire Town Pound is located at the intersection of Melendy Road and Pelham Road.  Nearly every town used to have a town pound, and some towns had more than one.  The town officials could place lost livestock in the pound for safekeeping.  There was a more insidious purpose, too.  In 1791 a law was passed that allowed officials to confiscate livestock from scofflaws who did not pay their taxes.  At this time, your livestock was probably your most valuable possession.  Animals were kept in the town pound until the taxes and fines were paid, or auctioned off to the highest bidder. 


A previous blog post about the 1730 Londonderry Town Pound:

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Copyright 2012, Heather Wilkinson Rojo

1 comment:

  1. So very interesting, my direct ancestor is Timothy Smith who was the keeper of this Pound and whose home was apparently near here in 1772

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