The signs entering Peterborough proclaim this Monadnock hideaway and venerated arts colony as “a good town to live in.” The signs don’t lie. Nor do the senses.
For more than a century, artists and visitors have converged on Peterborough, captivated by its seclusion, incomparable views and a timelessness that summons memories of Norman Rockwell. Nestled between Temple Mountain and Pack Monadnock, Peterborough’s topography has kept most major development from coming in. That seems to be the way folks like it around here.
A stroll down Main Street is a reminder of what inspired playwright Thornton Wilder to pen his Pulitzer Prize-winning “Our Town” during a stay at the MacDowell Colony, the nation’s oldest artists retreat. No trip is complete without a visit to the classically-columned Peterborough Town Library – the oldest free library in the United States, founded in 1833 – or to Roy’s Market, the town’s tiny but fully-stocked grocery mainstay since 1956, where the guys behind the butcher counter still greet you with red jackets and a knowing smile.
Peterborough remains a town rooted in tradition and home-grown commerce. You’ll want to have your scissors handy and lots of space in your car when you stop by Rosaly’s Farm Stand, the state’s oldest organic farm, where visitors emerge from the fields with baskets full of vegetables and fresh-cut flowers.
It is impossible to visit Peterborough without taking in its thriving arts scene. The wooded studios of the MacDowell Colony have hosted everyone from Leonard Bernstein to Alice Walker and I.M. Pei since opening in 1907, giving birth to some of the nation’s most lasting works. On the first Friday night of every month, meanwhile, visitors and locals alike fill the streets of eclectic Depot Square to enjoy good food and the work of locally-grown artists at places like Sharon Arts Center. Elsewhere in town, the Peterborough Players continue to put on some of the region’s finest summer theatre in their renovated barn, hosting award-winning performances from Shakespeare to Shaw.
