The Stone Church is a live music venue in

Newmarket, New Hampshire Newmarket is a town in Rockingham County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 9,430 at the 2020 census. Some residents are students and employees at the nearby University of New Hampshire in Durham. The densely settled center of town ...

. In operation since 1970, the Stone Church offers local food, a handpicked selection of local and craft beers, and local musical performances, along with national touring acts. The venue is located at 5 Granite Street, atop Zion Hill in Newmarket. It features parking for visitors and an electric vehicle charging station. The Church has had a rather eclectic past, even during its days as a church for Newmarket's mill workers, when the town housed a mill that at one time held more looms in its gigantic factory than any other building in the world. Built in 1832, the church first served as a Universalist meeting house, then 20 years later as a Unitarian meeting house. The

Catholics The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

bought the church in 1865, retaining ownership until approximately the turn of the 20th century when they sold it. The church then acted alternately as a

VFW The Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW), formally the Veterans of Foreign Wars of the United States, is an organization of US war veterans, who, as United States Armed Forces, military service members fought in wars, Military campaign, campaigns, ...

hall, a roller-skating rink, and a shoe-assembly plant, the Newmarket Heel Company, which suffered a major fire in 1968. In 1970, two former

University of New Hampshire The University of New Hampshire (UNH) is a public land-grant research university with its main campus in Durham, New Hampshire. It was founded and incorporated in 1866 as a land grant college in Hanover in connection with Dartmouth College, mo ...

students (Rod Philbrick and John Williamson) and a third person, not at UNH (Arnet Taylor), purchased the burnt-out church and turned it into a venue for live music. From then on, the Stone Church served as a home for local musicians and touring acts such as

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, The Radiators,

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Soulive Soulive is a funk/jazz trio that originated in Woodstock, New York, and is known for its solos and catchy, upbeat songs. The band consists of Eric Krasno (guitar), Alan Evans (drums) and Neal Evans (Hammond B3 organ, bass keys, clavinet). Althoug ...

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, and local acts such as Percy Hill,

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, Thanks to Gravity,

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, an
Truffle

References

Newmarket Historical Society
* Amie Plummer
"The bands will play on at the Stone Church"
''

Foster's Daily Democrat ''Foster's Daily Democrat'' is a six-day (Monday–Saturday) morning broadsheet newspaper published in Dover, New Hampshire, United States, covering southeast New Hampshire and southwest Maine. In addition to its Dover headquarters, ''Foster's'' ...

'', December 6, 2008 * James Buchanan
"Back to Church: Newmarket's lost musical Mecca returns to form"
''The Portland Phoenix'', July 30, 2004 * Jake Ford
"The Stone Church transforms but lives on"
''The New Hampshire'', September 16, 2008 * Steve Morse
"Keeping faith that the music will go on: Famed N.H. club faces foreclosure"
''The Boston Globe'', September 6, 2008

External links

Stone Church home page

Gallery

Image:Interior, The Stone Church, Newmarket NH.jpg Image:Window, The Stone Church, Newmarket NH.jpg Image:The Stone Church, Newmarket NH.jpg {{DEFAULTSORT:Stone Church, Newmarket Music venues in New Hampshire Buildings and structures in Rockingham County, New Hampshire Buildings and structures completed in 1832 Former churches in New Hampshire Newmarket, New Hampshire Tourist attractions in Rockingham County, New Hampshire