The Andover Historical Society will be hosting Steve Taylor as our fall speaker at the society’s annual meeting at 7 PM on Thursday, October 16, at the Highland Lake Grange Hall. His topic will be The Great Sheep Boom and Its Enduring Legacy on the New Hampshire Landscape.

Prior to the talk, there will be a brief meeting to present and approve next year’s slate of trustees.

Here is an overview of Steve’s talk:

“In a brief 30-year period in the early 19th century, the New Hampshire landscape became home to hundreds of thousands of sheep. Production of wool became a lucrative business, generating fortunes and providing the only time of true agricultural prosperity in the state’s history. It left behind a legacy of fine architecture and thousands of miles of rugged stone walls.

“Steve Taylor discusses how farmers overcame enormous challenges to make sheep husbandry succeed and how forces from beyond New Hampshire were to doom the industry with social consequences that would last a century.”

Please join us for what promises to be a lively, informative evening. Refreshments served. Free and open to all. Sponsored in part by the New Hampshire Humanities Council.