Derryfield Town Pound

I've photographed several town pounds nearby, and here is another one.  All that is left here is the gate for the Derryfield Town Pound, which can be seen at Derryfield Park in Manchester, New Hampshire  It is near the corner of Belmont Street and Reservoir Avenue.

TOWN POUND

MDCCCXLI

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MOLLY STARK CHAPTER

D.A.R.

1916

In colonial times, the town could hold stray cows and pigs and other farm animals in the pound and collect fines.  It was customary for farmers to brand their animals and let them loose to feed on common land.  If the animal was a nuisance, or wandered into fields during harvest time, the town had an elected official (known as pound keeper or hog reeve) who would impound the animal and collect a hefty fine from the owner.  This town pound was built in 1741, with stone walls to keep in the livestock.  Some famous local pound keepers were John Goffe and Archibald Stark.  It was a lucrative enterprise!



[from Early Records of the Town of Derryfield, 1751 - 1782, page 40]



Londonderry, NH Town Pound
https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2010/04/wordless-wednesday-1730-londonderry.html

Hudson, NH Town Pound
https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2012/07/hudson-town-pound-1772.html

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Heather Wilkinson Rojo, "Derryfield Town Pound", Nutfield Genealogy, posted September 15, 2017, (https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2017/09/derryfield-town-pound.html: accessed [access date]).