Fisherville was founded in 1888. This “village” within
Wolfeboro was set up each winter on the ice of Wolfeboro
Bay, a few hundred yards off of the town docks. At first it
was accessed by foot or horse-and-wagon. Then came the
motor age, and cars and trucks made it easier to come and
go.
In the course of skimming and reading through back issues
of the “Granite State News” as part of my History of
Wolfeboro research, I encountered many stories of this
ephemeral collection of vehicles and buildings. The high
point in hilarity seems to have been reached in the winters
of 1938-1939 and 1939-1940. In mock seriousness, streets were
laid out and named, “precincts” were established, officials
were elected, and municipal buildings (town hall, courthouse,
jail) were set up.
“Dusty” Rhodes was chosen as mayor in the winter of ’39-
’40 in an election in which both candidates had this identical
platform:
“If elected I will erect a building in which the residents
may store free of charge their fish-holes through the summer
months. This will save a great deal of confusion when
winter comes, as the holes will be ready to use and no ice
cutting will be necessary.”
This paper carried many other farcical accounts, this excerpt
from “news” published on January 5, 1940, being typical:
“Fisherville is rapidly being rehabilitated after the great
flood that dissolved its very foundations in May and continued
until December 29.… Many new buildings have been
erected during the past season. ‘Yankeemont’ Dunham, architect,
builder and janitor of the Court House, has given
other Fisherville builders a high standard of architecture
to follow.… Precinct Two seems at present to be the main
center of Fisherville.The Municipal Jail, in charge of Sheriff
[J. Frank] Goodwin, has been erected close to the Court
House, while ‘The Palace’ has been taken over as City Hall
until a more suitable building is ready. The population of
Precinct Two is at present 12 houses.…”
In the winter of 1940-1 the “official ballot” for mayor included
this pivotal question: “Will Fisherville be wet in July?”
At the bottom of the sheet was the tag line “Vote early
and often!” The winner was Harry Perkins, who bested his
opponent, Ike Allbee (owner of the Sheridan House hotel),
and went on to serve for many years thereafter. There were
135 registered voters who cast 1,156 votes for Perkins and 979
for Allbee.