Wesson Plans to Rebuild

Thomas Wesson wasted no time in rebuilding his Middlesex Hotel. As reported in the Concord Freeman for August 1, 1845, he engaged the services of contractors Nathan S. Hosmer (father of photographer and early Thoreauvian Alfred Winslow Hosmer) and Ephraim C. Wetherbee and laid a foundation as soon as the rubble was cleared away. The projected date of completion was December 1, 1845—a deadline that appears to have been more or less met, since a ball in celebration of the new Middlesex Hotel was held on April 20, 1846.