Goss Farm
A Brief Overview of History From the Late 1700s to the early 1900s
Goss Farm in winter. Courtesy of Laurie Holbrook.
Goss Farm barn entrance. Photo by Sandra Goss Munsey, property of Rye Historical Society.
Nathan Goss bought this land from the Locke family. His son, General Thomas Goss, built the house and barn in the early 1790s.
In 1792, Nathan Goss contributed 15 days and 10 gallons of rum to the superhuman effort Rye men made to dig out Rye Harbor to make it more usable for merchant vessels. The Goss family also ran a tidal grist mill near where the Harbor Road bridge is today on the east side of Ocean Boulevard in Rye, NH. There was a second tidal mill just to the east of this one on the marsh, which could been used for grist or lumber products. A third mill for carding wool was located on Locke Road.
In the early years of the Goss Farm, it is quite possible that wheat for bread and oats for livestock were grown, but later it is known that a huge vegetable field was located behind the barn with an especially large asparagus patch. There was also a cranberry bog nearby. An orchard was behind the cottage.
In the 1800s, William Goss was very active on his schooner Otis in sailing Rye agricultural goods to nearby ports and as far away as Boston. Potatoes were especially in demand. [Parsons, 177]
The carriage shed between the house and barn was added at some point. Just behind it was the ice house. Adjacent to the ice house, nearer the barn, was the corn shed and privy (outhouse). About 50 feet behind the carriage shed was a cottage.
The last two residents of the house were former longtime selectman Bob Goss, who died in 1988, and his wife Frances, who died in 2006. Sadly, the house was lost in a mysterious fire in 2009 and then the carriage shed was torn down. After some discussion about developing the land, the majority of the Goss descendants decided to sell the barn and 12 acres of land to the town of Rye, which was purchased with Rye Open Space funds and a grant from the US Dept. of Agriculture. The land is to be used for agriculture only and already two farmers are working to grow crops. There is a community garden and student plantings, as well.
Sally King of the Rye Conservation Commission and Tracy Degnan of the Rockingham County Conservation District spearheaded the effort to get the town to vote “yes” for funding the restoration of the barn.
Today, the barn and land are under the supervision of the Rye Conservation Commission.
Source:
Parsons, Langdon Brown. History of the Town of Rye, New Hampshire: From Its Discovery and Settlement to December 31, 1903. United States: Rumford Print. Company, 1905.
