Ask an old-timer about the handsome architecture that Concord lost on the way to progress, and he or she is likely to bring up the old Boston & Maine railroad depot. Here’s a South End landmark that served thousands of Concord residents, a structure whose tale will be told in “Crosscurrents of Change,” the history of Concord in the 20th century. What was it?

Pillsbury Hospital, the first general hospital in New Hampshire, was built on South Main Street in October 1891, and the cross street bears its name. It was at the end of the public trolley line and named after George Pillsbury, a nineteenth-century Concord mayor. The hospital made its mark by pioneering new surgical techniques that demanded cleanliness - and saved lives by preventing infections.

The Pillsbury Hospital is remembered today as one of the office buildings on the Concord Hospital campus. The story of how Concord matured into a regional health care center is a fascinating one, told by the Concord Historical Society in Crosscurrents of Change, the history of Concord in the twentieth century. The book is scheduled for publication later this year.

For more information about the hospital, see The Concord Insider February 9, 2010.