Photograph from old postcard depicting the
Ayer House that sat on the site of the later
built Riverside Inn.
Riverside Inn, the focus of this story, was not the first public lodging to be famous in Hooksett. Before the American Revolution travel to this part of New Hampshire was often accomplished by boat. The boatmen and passengers would stop at inns and taverns in the area that were built near the water, with the sale of liquors being popular. The River Road (now called Riverside Drive) that ran alongside the Merrimack River became part of the prominent Merrimack Valley Road system, an early main route between Manchester, Concord and the White Mountains. Continue reading
