Hollis is a town in Hillsborough County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 7,684 at the 2010 census. The town center village is listed on the National Register of Historic Places as Hollis Village Historic District.
Hollis has a number of town traditions and celebrations characteristic of old New England towns, including two harvest festivals and the annual celebration “Old Home Days.”
Old Home Days
Hollis Old Home Days is “an annual weekend celebration of the days of ‘Hollis Past’.” “Old Home Days” were originally established in New Hampshire in 1899, by then Governor Frank West Rollins, in an attempt to draw people back to New Hampshire towns. Hollis Old Home Days was reestablished in 1996 in commemoration of the town’s 250th anniversary. The 2010 event included “amusement rides, parade, barbecue, silent auction, booths, fireworks, live music, balloon rides, pet parade, heritage craft demonstrations” and various other activities. It is generally held over the second weekend in September at Nichols Field in downtown Hollis.
Hollis Strawberry Festival
The annual Strawberry Festival each June comprises a concert by the town band accompanied by a variety of strawberry-based treats for sale including strawberry shortcake, pie and ice cream made from locally grown strawberries.
Hollis Apple Festival
The Hollis Apple Festival is held each year in October and includes a concert by the Hollis Town Band. The festival previously included the Applefest Half Marathon, first run in 1983. In 2008, it was named “Race of the Year” by New England Runner. The Applefest was co-hosted by the Hollis Women’s Club.
There are four schools in Hollis, two of which are part of the Hollis/Brookline Cooperative School District. Hollis Primary School serves kindergarten through third grade, and Hollis Upper Elementary School serves grades four through six. Hollis/Brookline Middle School serves seventh and eighth grade and Hollis/Brookline High School serves grades nine through twelve. For many years, the current primary school was known as Hollis Elementary School and served kindergarten through grade six. The current Middle School (known as Hollis/Brookline Junior High School until 2001) was formerly Hollis/Brookline High School but proved far too small for the number of students attending. A new building was built and became the Hollis/Brookline Junior High School. However, the three buildings were still insufficient, and a new high school was opened in 1998. The former high school became the current middle school, the former middle school became Hollis Upper Elementary, and the former Hollis Elementary became Hollis Primary. Recently, with the finishing of the newly constructed Montessori building, a new method of education has opened with the school.
The historic Farley Building (formerly known as simply the “White Building”) is the original Hollis High School built in 1877 and continued to be used as a school building through the 2005-2006 school year. During this last year for the Farley Building, it contained classrooms for English, social studies, art, French, and Spanish. The Town of Hollis acquired the Farley Building from the Hollis School District in August, 2007.
Content courtesy of Wikipedia.org