2. The Concord Mill Dam Company, 1826

In his book Houses and People in Concord, 1810-1820, under the heading, “General Condition of the People,” Edward Jarvis wrote: “All the stores and mechanic’s shops which were in town previous to 1830, have been destroyed or converted into dwellings or other uses.”

At least in the center of Concord, the transition from a haphazard collection of colonial businesses to an orderly early nineteenth-century commercial area was brought about by the Concord Mill Dam Company, a real estate partnership that invested money in developing and improving the center of town. It was incorporated in 1828, but had begun conducting business in 1826. The extant documents list the incorporators as Nehemiah Ball, John Keyes, Ephraim Merriam, Abel Moore, and Daniel Shattuck, who served as treasurer. Beginning with $20,000 in capital, the company bought land on both sides of the mill dam. The mill pond was drained, while the former site of the dam was widened and a road built on it.

Here the owners sold building lots and erected a number of structures themselves. The construction of the Concord Bank-Middlesex Mutual Fire Insurance Company building (1832) is a significant example of the Mill Dam Company’s activity in Concord center. The present Anderson Market building was part of the original phase of development, making it one of the oldest buildings in the center of Concord.