The Road to Derry: A Brief History

When the Ulster Scots arrived in New Hampshire in 1719, there were no roads in Derry (then called Nutfield). Led by the Reverend James McGregor, the Moses of the Scotch-Irish in America, the entire congregation of Aghadowey had trekked from their home county of Londonderry, Ireland, to start their lives anew, undeterred by British prejudice or Anglican intolerance. These hardy men and women were great walkers, and during the eighteenth century a warren of footpaths crisscrossed East Derry Hill. Richard Holmes retraces their footsteps, walking the road of Derry’s history from its rough-and-tumble politics and early educational institutions through its dramatic split from Londonderry Parish to the sprawling shoe factories of the Industrial Revolution. In this first history in decades, Holmes demonstrates that the hometown of Robert Frost and astronaut Alan Shepherd is also home to a hardworking, free-thinking, vibrant community.