Marion Blodgett Museum

Please note: The Museum is currently closed for renovations.

Listed on the New Hampshire State Register of Historic Places in 2010, the Stratford Hollow Methodist-Episcopal Church building overlooks the Village of Stratford Hollow in Stratford, Coos County, New Hampshire.

The former church building was donated to the Cohos Historical Society in 2002. The Society is working on a long-term plan to create the Marion Blodgett Museum, which will serve the community as a regional historical society museum, cultural center and gathering space.

History of the Stratford Hollow Methodist-Episcopal Church

Planning for the Greek Revival-style building occurred during the winter of 1853-54 and construction of the church was completed in the fall of 1854. With a seating capacity of 200, this new church building was the third church built in Stratford.

Throughout the years several changes were made to the original building. The church bell was added in 1866, and 1872-73 saw significant interior renovations, including a new pulpit.

1896 brought the most drastic changes to date: The building was gutted to the framing then rebuilt in the shingle-style. The renovation included construction of a nine-foot addition—housing a new alter and vestry—to the rear of the building, and an entry vestibule to the front. The bell tower was renovated at this time. In 1896-97 three paired memorial stained glass windows were added to the nave. On May 22, 1897, the newly renovated building was re-dedicated.

Shortly after the rededication, two sets of stained glass windows, the rose window above the altar and the trefoil window above the entry, were added. After his death in 1909, a memorial stained glass window dedicated to Rev. Lucian Williams Prescott (1831-1909) was installed at the southwest corner of the nave. Around the turn of the 20th century a final trefoil window was added over the entry.

Heat from a fire in 1922 at the general store to the west of the church caused significant damage to the stained glass windows on the church’s west side. Louvered panels were added to the previously open belfry shortly after the fire.

About 1985, the historic double doors in the front of the building were removed and replaced by a pair of modern doors.

Cohos Historical Society Renovations

Upgrades and improvements to the former church building began after the building was transferred to the Cohos Historical Society in 2002, with the goal of transforming the space into a museum. Upgrades to the electrical wiring began in 2003 and the louvered panels were removed from the belfry sometime after 2009.

Funding from a 2010 grant from the Neil and Louise Tillotson Fund of the New Hampshire Charitable Foundation enabled the Society to make repairs to the steeple, sills and foundation and to install a drainage culvert. In 2018 the historic exterior double doors were reinstalled.

The museum is now known as the Marion Blodgett Museum of the Cohos Historical Society, after Marion Blodgett, a long-time resident of Stratford.

Historical information was obtained from a 2019 building condition assessment report prepared by Mae Williams, Architectural Historian & Historic Preservation Consultant.

The report was funded, in part, by a grant from the New Hampshire Preservation Alliance, which receives support for its grant program from New Hampshire’s Land and Community Heritage Investment Program (LCHIP).

Historical Research Resources

The New Hampshire Genealogy & History at SEARCHROOTS is a website that can be used as a guide for anyone interested in the history and genealogy of New Hampshire. The website has an interactive map to help with your search by county. It can be accessed at the following URL: http://www.nh.searchroots.com/coos.html.

The copyright is held by Janice Webster Brown and can be contacted by email at: nh@searchroots.com.