NH mill that made 1800s-era apple parers on historical list

ANTRIM, N.H. (AP) — A New Hampshire mill complex that dates to the 1800s that made a popular line of apple parers has been added to the National Register of Historic Places.

The Goodell Company Mill in Antrim was at one time the oldest and largest manufacturer of apple parers in the world, the New Hampshire Division of Historical Resources said in a news release Thursday.

David Goodell received his first apple parer patent in 1863. The company’s White Mountain lathe-style model was its most popular parer; 500,000 were sold in 1904, the division said.

Apples were a growing part of the American diet and economy, being turned into apple vinegar, apple butter and apple sauce. Dried apples were being used in pies, puddings, fritters, jelly and marmalade.

The company also made peach and potato parers, cherry pitters, and seed sowers. It offered 1,300 styles of cutlery by 1904, including the Star hunting knife.

Goodell served as town clerk, in the state legislature and as governor for one term. He led the company until his death in 1915 and was succeeded by his sons.

The company was sold to Chicago Cutlery in 1983 and closed in 1989. Its six buildings, several of which retain their segmented arched window openings and original external doors, have been mostly vacant since then.

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