The Straw/Smyth Neighborhood is located in northern Manchester. It is bordered by the Hooksett town line to the north, Interstate 93 to the east, Wellington Road, Bridge and Pearl Streets to the south, and Elm Street and Hooksett Road to the west.
This neighborhood gets its name from two prominent Manchester residents: Ezekiel A. Straw and Frederick Smyth. The Hon. Ezekiel Albert Straw created the blueprint for the lots and streets in the Downtown Neighborhood and assisted in the construction of the canals and dam. Straw was chosen as a member of the first Board of Trustees of the newly established public library, and was Governor from 1872 to 1874. The Hon. Frederick Smyth was a self-made man who served as the City’s Mayor (1852-1854, 1863-1864) and served as Governor of New Hampshire from 1865-1867. Smyth was connected with many of the City’s improvements in the Mid-19th Century. Smyth helped establish the free public library, was responsible for the trees shading the City’s streets, and is associated with the Annexation of Amoskeag and Piscataquog villages. One historian went so far as to call Governor Straw “the ablest man in New Hampshire” (Clarke, 1875). Straw/Smyth is home to the Currier Museum of Art (established in 1929) and McIntyre Ski Area (open since 1971).
SOURCE: Manchester Historic Association