With: Steve Taylor

Class Fee: Free / registration required

Class Size: Maximum of 50 / Adults and children 8+ accompanied by an adult

Strains of elite wool-producing sheep first imported in 1809 led to the greatest period of agricultural prosperity the hill country towns of the Connecticut Valley have ever known. Vast swatches of forest were cleared to provide both pasture and hay crops to support the explosive expansion of sheep flocks. Their wool fueled the rise of textile mills along many New England rivers. Fortunes were made and the economy boomed until a combination of forces brought about the industry's gradual demise. The legacy of that time includes fine architecture and thousands of miles of stone walls, plus economic and social dislocation that would last a century. Sponsored by the Shedd Porter Library.

Steve Taylor is an independent scholar, farmer, journalist and longtime public official. With his sons, Taylor operates a dairy, maple syrup and cheese making enterprise in Meriden Village. He has been a newspaper reporter and editor, and he served for 25 years as NH's commissioner of agriculture. Taylor was the founding executive director of the NH Humanities Council and is a lifelong student of the state's rural culture.