Old Meeting House in Francestown, New Hampshire - Weathervane Wednesday

 Today's weathervane was photographed in Francestown, New Hampshire. 

The Old Meeting House of Francestown is across the street from the Francestown town hall.  It's construction was begun during the Revolutionary War, but halted during the conflict and a building was not finished until 1801.  The bell was hung in 1808.  The steeple was added in 1837, when the building was lifted and turned to face the crossroads.  A new steeple with a tall spire was added in 1855, with a new bell and a clock.  I'm guessing that the weathervane dates from this time of this new addition. 

In the 2007 town report for Francestown, New Hampshire the town historian, Kris Holmes, stated that the Old Meeting House had some renovations, including repairs to the steeple and weathervane, several doors and a new bathroom.   In the Francestown Heritage Museum you can see an old ball (the gilded globe from the top of this weathervane) that was removed from the weathervane for repairs in the 1980s.  This gilded ball must be a replacement.

The meetinghouse was completely repainted, from the base to the top of the steeple in 2018.

This weathervane is more simple than the one across the street on the town hall. It is gilded from the ball to the arrow, including the letters for the cardinal points.  It is about 10 to 15 years older than the town hall weathervane, which could have been mass produced at a weathervane factory in Massachusetts. 

The Old Meeting House, Francestown, New Hampshire - https://www.francestownmeetinghouse.org/  

The Old Meeting House Facebook page -  https://www.facebook.com/Old-Meeting-House-103313896437756/   

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Cite/Link to this post: Heather Wilkinson Rojo, "Old Meeting House in Francestown, New Hampshire - Weathervane Wednesday", Nutfield Genealogy, posted December 16, 2020, (  https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2020/12/old-meeting-house-in-francestown-new.html: accessed [access date]).