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Within Reach of Your Headlights
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Hail to the Hitching Post
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Top level
What's New
City Wide Treasures
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You've passed them too many times to count, all the while they've begged to tell you their stories...
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Granite grazing...
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No, the hitching post is not a common sight here in Manchester, nor any other New England city. What they represent, when they are seen, is the Victorian era's equivalent of the the park position of your automobile.
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Almost on the fringes
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Many of the examples extant in the city are of granite construction; obelisks of rectangular proportions, they grace the sidewalks of homes once host to horses which carried their masters to their destinations.
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Likely one of the last installed
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What are they to us now? Simply put, they stand as tokens of a by-gone era that modern-day folks give little consideration to. They were once a means of securing one's transportation.
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Post to Cobblestone
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Most of the hitching posts found in Manchester exist north of Hanover St, where the more affluent settled years ago. An attempt was made to quantify these, though after a couple dozen were found, and the gas was burned up, the hunt drew to a close. Many were found to be very similar in shape size and materials, suggesting a common source of the granite, suppliers and time frame of their installation.
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Different Material, Same Function...
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Still, the uncommon example can be found as seen in this steel specimen. No matter the material, location or cost, the hitching post's function remained the same.
In the present day, some examples are merely decorative. These are seen as clean, smooth-cut and more simple granite posts devoid of the rust stains below the steel loops.
Gone are the horses in Manchester, but their anchor points remain to greet the occasional admirer with their simple stories of the past.
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