Museums and Galleries in Concord

Concord is New Hampshire's capital, and like most capitals it carries more history than its size suggests. A president lived here. The founder of a worldwide religious movement lived here. The State House, on North Main Street, still holds the legislature, the Governor and the Executive Council. For a visitor interested in history and the arts, the city rewards a slow day on foot.

This guide covers the city's historic houses and history organizations, a restored theatre, and two places where you can see or make art. It skips the big-city museum model. Concord's cultural life is spread across small, specific places, and each one tells a piece of the story.

The Pierce Manse

The Pierce Manse is a historic house museum that was home to Franklin Pierce, the 14th president of the United States, from 1842 to 1848, a few years before his presidency. Pierce is the only president from New Hampshire, which makes this a natural first stop for anyone interested in the state's history.

The house sits on Horseshoe Pond Lane in Concord's historic district, at the north end of North Main Street. It is run by the Pierce Brigade and offers guided tours, including group and school tours. A historic house tour is a different experience from a museum gallery. You see the rooms where a family lived, which makes the history feel close. Check the Manse's site for its touring season and how to arrange a group visit.

The Mary Baker Eddy house

Longyear Museum keeps a series of historic houses connected with the life of Mary Baker Eddy, and one of them is in Concord at 62 North State Street. Eddy founded the Church of Christ, Scientist, in 1879 and later founded The Christian Science Monitor, in 1908.

Longyear opens its Concord house for tours by appointment during its visiting season, and it asks for advance notice when you schedule. That makes this a stop to plan ahead rather than one to drop in on. For visitors interested in American religious history, journalism or women's history, the chance to see where Eddy lived is worth the planning. The museum's site also has virtual tours and articles if you want background before you go.

The Concord Historical Society

The Concord Historical Society is a nonprofit, founded in 2003, that works to build public understanding of Concord's history and traditions. Its activities include public programs, exhibits about the city's past, and guided field trips to historic sites. It also collects and preserves material about Concord's history and advocates for historic buildings.

For visitors, the society's website is a resource in itself. It hosts a timeline of Concord history, a video archive, a Christa McAuliffe video archive and a guide to researching the history of your own house. Start there if you want to understand the city before walking it. Then look at the society's site for programs or field trips during your visit.

The Capitol Center for the Arts

The Capitol Center for the Arts is Concord's main performance venue. Its theatre seats 1,304 people and was designed with an Egyptian motif. The center opened in its current form in 1995 after a multi-year renovation of the Capitol Theatre, which had operated on the same site from 1927 to 1989. The venue can host major touring Broadway shows, and its stage has welcomed musicians, comedians and authors.

Even if you do not catch a show, the building is part of Concord's cultural story. A 1920s theatre that closed and was brought back is the kind of place that tells you how a city values its downtown. The center's site lists its venues, which include the main Swope Theatre and smaller spaces, along with its current season.

Go Native Gallery

Go Native Gallery sits on North Main Street, right in the downtown stretch near the State House. The gallery sells paintings in several media, including watercolor, pastel, acrylic, oil and colored pencil, along with blown glass lamps, rugs and carpets, and fine antiques and furnishings. It carries the work of a roster of artists.

A gallery like this is a good counterweight to the historic houses. It shows what artists are making now, and it is easy to fit into a walk down Main Street between other stops.

Black Olive Pottery Studio

If your idea of a cultural day includes getting your hands dirty, Black Olive Pottery Studio on Loudon Road offers pottery classes, workshops and studio memberships. It is a working community studio rather than a gallery, which means the art here is made, not just viewed.

A single workshop is the easiest way in for a visitor. Pottery usually needs to dry and be fired before it can be taken home, and the studio has set pickup hours for finished work, so ask how that works if you are visiting from out of town. Check the studio's site for current classes.

Planning a museum day in Concord

Concord's downtown is compact, and several of these stops sit along or near North Main Street. The Pierce Manse is at the north end, the Concord Historical Society's address is on North Main, Go Native Gallery is downtown, and the State House is in the middle. You can park once and walk a good part of the day. The pottery studio on Loudon Road is a short drive across the river.

May is a good time to visit. Many historic house museums in New England open for the season in late spring, the weather is good for walking, and the summer crowds have not arrived. Some places in this guide keep limited or seasonal hours, and the Eddy house in Concord is by appointment, so check each one's site and book ahead where needed.

Sample itineraries

History day. Start with the Concord Historical Society's online timeline over coffee. Tour the Pierce Manse in the morning, walk down Main Street past the State House, and finish with an appointment at the Mary Baker Eddy house.

Arts day. Browse Go Native Gallery, take an afternoon workshop at Black Olive Pottery Studio, and see an evening show at the Capitol Center for the Arts.

Mixed day for a couple. Pierce Manse in the morning, lunch downtown, the gallery after lunch, and a show at night.

Tips for visitors

• Plan the appointments first. The Eddy house and group tours of the Pierce Manse need to be arranged ahead. Build the rest of the day around them.
• Check seasons. Historic houses often keep seasonal schedules. Confirm on each site.
• Walk Main Street. The stretch between the Pierce Manse and the State House ties the history together.
• Read ahead. The Concord Historical Society's timeline gives you context that makes every stop more interesting.
• Leave time for a show. An evening at the Capitol Center turns a day trip into a full outing.

Why Concord for museums

Concord does not have one large museum that takes a whole day. Instead, it has a set of small, focused places, each tied to a real person or a real part of the city's past. That suits visitors who would rather stand in Franklin Pierce's house than read about him on a wall. It also suits visitors who like to mix history with the present day, since the city's galleries, studios and theatre are only a short walk or drive from its historic houses.

Frequently asked questions

What museums are in Concord, NH?

Concord's historic and cultural stops include the Pierce Manse, the Mary Baker Eddy house kept by Longyear Museum, the Concord Historical Society, the Capitol Center for the Arts, Go Native Gallery and Black Olive Pottery Studio. The McAuliffe-Shepard Discovery Center is a science museum in the city as well.

Can you tour Franklin Pierce's house in Concord?

Yes. The Pierce Manse is a historic house museum offering guided tours, including group and school tours. Check its site for the touring season.

Is the Mary Baker Eddy house in Concord open to visitors?

Longyear Museum opens its Concord house by appointment during its visiting season and asks for advance notice.

What is the Capitol Center for the Arts?

It is Concord's main performance venue, a 1,304-seat theatre with an Egyptian motif, reopened in 1995 after the renovation of the 1927 Capitol Theatre.

Where can I take a pottery class in Concord?

Black Olive Pottery Studio on Loudon Road offers classes, workshops and memberships.

Sources

• Concord, New Hampshire, Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Concord,_New_Hampshire
• The Pierce Manse, Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Pierce_Manse
• Franklin Pierce, Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Franklin_Pierce
• Mary Baker Eddy, Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_Baker_Eddy
• Capitol Center for the Arts, Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capitol_Center_for_the_Arts
• New Hampshire State House, Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Hampshire_State_House
• The Pierce Manse: https://www.piercemanse.org/
• Longyear Museum, historic houses: https://www.longyear.org/visit/historic-houses/
• Concord Historical Society: https://concordhistoricalsociety.org
• Capitol Center for the Arts: https://www.ccanh.com/
• Go Native Gallery: https://www.gonativegallery.com/
• Black Olive Pottery Studio: https://blackolivepottery.com/