Cellar Holes

The History of Our Cellar Holes

In 1980 Goshen residents Arthur W.  Nelson and Ronald G. Whitney took on the task of searching out the cellar holes of Goshen farms that no longer existed. In their own words:

Only the moss-grown grown cellar holes and the gray stone walls which still bound their adjoining acres remain to remind us that [these Goshen pioneers] ever existed. Most of the houses that stood over [the cellar holes] were constructed between 1790 and 1830. The last of them were gone by the early 1930’s. These venerable farmhouses now long since disappeared into dust, were once surrounded by broad hayfields, fertile croplands, and green pastures.

Because so much of Goshen’s early history is represented by these old cellar holes, we searched them out and mapped their locations for future generations. Each cellar hole has been located on the map and is identified by a number. Included is a brief summary of what we know about its ownership and history.

It was an exciting adventure to search out the cellar holes and trace their history. It was an experience akin to that of stepping into a “time machine” and going back into the past. The mood evoked … is one of respect, appreciation, a touch of nostalgia, and a restful Melancholy. Before them we stand silent, as in the poem Ghost House by Robert Frost:

“… with a strangely aching heart
In the vanished abode there far apart
On the disused and forgotten road”     

List of Cellar Holes cited on
Goshen, NH Cellar Hole Map (click to open)
(For better viewing open map in new Window)