Photo Travel Essay of Downtown Exeter, N.H.
"A Main Street USA Look Lends Charm to This Southeastern New Hampshire Town"

Downtown Exeter, N.H. 

Article and photo by Eric H.

Downtown Exeter, N.H., has that effect on us, and, up until now, I had no idea why. Putting on my better-late-than-never thinking cap on and pondering why Exeter seems like a hometown to people like us from another area, I first thought of the mix of tree-lined streets, the charming hodgepodge of municipal and commercial buildings, the quintessential New England town gazebo, the leafy feel of Phillips Exeter Academy (a private university/preparatory school) and the locally-owned shops and restaurants that residents come out in large numbers to fully utilize. Back where I come from, people don't utilize the downtown because the strip malls, superstores and other elements of town perimeter gentrification make things more convenient. That's not a bad thing, but it shouldn't be the only way. How nice it is to stroll downtown and take pride in a thriving central district where you can have a cup of coffee (in my case, tea), say hello to people passing on the street, and know you are in a one-of-a-kind place that has been well-preserved and enhanced with a vision. That's the Exeter way, and we look forward to fully exploring this gem of a town in southeast New Hampshire.

In the New England town I grew up in the 1960s and 1970s, it was a lot like Exeter. You could could see your neighbors right in the heart of your own community, not in a stretched out town where you have to drive to everything.  You simply don't see too many towns like Exeter anymore  -- developed but ultimately sleepy and "small-townish". Exeter makes us glad that we can travel from our home to arrive "home." Beautiful, authentic New England place, indeed!