08/26/2026
Park Place Salon
This is the Latchkey Building at 63 Main Street in Meredith, New Hampshire, and records associated with the property date the building to 1870. That puts this little commercial building at roughly 156 years old, standing here before automobiles, before modern tourism transformed the Lakes Region, and before Meredith developed into the destination most of us recognize today. In the 1870s, this village was in the middle of an important period of growth. The Mount Washington began making Meredith a regular stop in 1872, Meredith’s Town House was completed in 1876, and that same year the arrival of Samuel Hodgson’s hosiery operation helped launch more than a decade of industrial prosperity in the village.
What really caught my attention, though, was the name painted across the front: LATCHKEY BUILDING. That is much more Meredith than it might appear at first glance. For generations Meredith has been known as the “Latchkey to the White Mountains,” a slogan tied to the town’s position along the travel routes carrying people north from the Lakes Region toward New Hampshire’s mountains. The Meredith Historical Society records that large “Latchkey to the White Mountains” signs were installed on roads leading into the village in 1927. The latchkey eventually became such a recognizable local symbol that when Meredith celebrated its 250th anniversary in 2018, new welcome signs were installed at the town’s major entrances, each carrying that familiar key.
I cannot confirm that this building itself has carried the Latchkey Building name since its earliest days, so I am not going to sprinkle historical fairy dust on it and pretend otherwise. What we can say is that the name now connects a genuine 19th century Main Street building with one of Meredith’s best known 20th century identities, and I absolutely love that little bit of continuity.
The best part is that the building is not sitting here as some sealed-up relic either. It remains commercial space right in the heart of the village, with small businesses continuing to use the storefronts. White Birch Gifts operates here today, and the barber shop signage hanging beside the building makes the whole scene feel wonderfully old school New England. Businesses change, signs change, windows change and generations of people come and go, but the building keeps doing essentially what a good Main Street building is supposed to do: stay useful.
Meredith may be famous for Lake Winnipesaukee, but Main Street has its own stories. You just have to stop staring at the water long enough to notice them. 😂❤️
