Nottingham in 1860 had a population of about 1200 and a broad variety of industries. There were two shoe shops employing 33 workers, sixteen water-powered mills grinding grains, sawing logs and turning out shingles, clapboards and dimension lumber. A turning mill, operated by Daniel Garland, produced wooden bobbins for the growing textile industry in the river towns. In the tanning trade, a mill operated by John Hill used a steam boiler as well as waterpower and produced various grades of leather for harnesses, belting, shoes and gloves. Two stores existed, a Peoples Union and a Protective union, the first also serving as a garment-manufacturing establishment.

Steam power became more evident when the first portable steam engine to be brought into the town was put into operation at a sawmill near the Nottingham-Barrington line. The introduction of this new and unique power source was a major attraction for the town and its neighbors. The railroads were spreading north and westward as well and would run along what is now Rte 125, but not before a massive and destructive conflict split and consumed the states – it would be known as the Civil War.

The war began in April of 1861 and raged until May of 1865. More lives were lost to battles and disease than in any other war in our history. New Hampshire sent some 35,000 men. There were eighteen regiments of infantry, one of cavalry, one of heavy artillery and several smaller units from the state. Sources vary widely in numbers killed and wounded and those who died of disease, but the towns and villages across the state all suffered and would see many years pass before their numbers would reach pre-war levels. The war had also concentrated industry in the large river and seacoast towns. Small mills and farms were gradually abandoned and the opening of the ‘west’ would call away many men and their families. The population of Nottingham steadily declined through the late 1800’s and into the 1900’s to reach a low of about 500 in 1930.