The Powers Stone

The Powers Stone recognizes the location of the first permanent homestead established by English settlers in Hollis, New Hampshire. The homestead was owned by Captain Peter Powers, who lived there with his wife, Anna, and their family. Powers and his sons were involved in the French and Indian Wars, and their descendants later fought in the American Revolution.

Although the stone now sits in Monument Square, the Powers’ homestead was located on Proctor Hill Road, just west of Main Street. The stone was moved to the town common on December 11, 1990. In 2019, the Anna Keyes Powers Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution worked with the State of New Hampshire to install and dedicate a Historical Highway Marker at the actual location of the home site.

The monument bears two brass plaques. The first, placed in 1909, notes the historical significance of Peter Powers and his progeny while the second acknowledges the relocation of the monument to its present site.

Respectively, the inscriptions read:

HERE IN 1730
THE FIRST HOME IN HOLLIS
WAS ESTABLISHED BY
CAPT. PETER POWERS
AND HIS WIFE
ANNA KEYES POWERS
HE AND THREE OF HIS SONS
SERVED IN
THE FRENCH AND INDIAN WAR
AND FOUR OF THEIR SONS
WERE SOLDIERS
IN THE REVOLUTIONARY WAR
ERECTED 1909 BY THE ANNA KEYES POWERS CHAPTER, D.A.R.
AND FRIENDS

And

THIS STONE COMMEMORATING
PETER AND ANNA POWERS
ARRIVING AT
THEIR CABIN HOME IN HOLLIS
WAS MOVED TO THE TOWN COMMON
DECEMBER 11, 1990