STARK This tiny town in the upper North Country threw itself a big party this weekend. According to town records, the land was granted in 1774 and named “Percy,” after Hugh Percy, 1st Duke of Northumberland and later incorporated in 1795. In 1832, the town was renamed “Stark,” after Gen.
John Stark, the hero of the Revolutionary War battles of Bunker Hill and Bennington, who also wrote the words that became New Hampshire’s motto, ‘Live Free or Die.’ ” The town may be tiny — it has just under 500 residents, as of the 2020 Census — but possesses an immense amount of natural beauty. Located on N.
H. Route 110, just east of Northumberland, Stark Village is famous for its visual trifecta of the Stark Covered Bridge, which spans the Upper Ammonoosuc River; the Union Church; and the Devil’s Slide cliff, which looms over both. A bronze statue of Gen.
Stark stands in the John Stark Park in the village center. At a ceremony in the park on Saturday morning, State Rep. Arnold Davis, R-Milan, quipped that “You guys look really good for 250,” before presenting the Board of Selectmen with a proclamation from the House of Representatives.
Cindi Boivin, a member of the Town of Stark’s 250th Celebration Committee, gave Davis a commemorative semiquincentennial license plate before also bestowing one upon Francis Keddy, the Town’s oldest resident. Keddy’s daughter, Joanne Reed of St. Johnsbury, Vermont, revealed that her dad was originally from Massachusetts and se.