West Peterborough, New Hampshire, is a village within the town of Peterborough — an unincorporated mill-village center that developed along the Contoocook River’s South Branch at the western edge of Peterborough proper, a place whose identity is inseparable from the industrial waterpower history of the Monadnock Region and from its position as the commercial and light-industrial complement to the more culturally prominent Main Street village a mile to the east. West Peterborough’s character is defined by the river, by the Route 101 corridor that runs through it, and by a cluster of repurposed mill buildings along Jaffrey Road that have been transformed over the past generation into one of the most distinctive small commercial districts in southern New Hampshire — a place where a Japanese restaurant overlooking a waterfall and a beloved neighborhood grill now occupy the bones of 19th-century industrial infrastructure. The village’s most significant cultural landmark is the proximity to MacDowell at 100 High Street — the oldest and most celebrated artist residency program in the United States, founded in 1907 on 450 acres of forest and meadows just above West Peterborough’s river corridor, open to the public once a year on Medal Day in August when visitors can meet writers, composers, musicians, and graphic artists in their studios and attend the medal award ceremony on grounds that former fellows describe as a place they feel infinitely grateful to, having hosted Leonard Bernstein, Thornton Wilder, Aaron Copland, James Baldwin, Spalding Gray, and more than 8,000 artists over its history. The MacDowell Reservoir at the Edward MacDowell Dam just west of the village center is the landscape anchor for the entire West Peterborough watershed — a beautiful, well-maintained Army Corps of Engineers recreation area with picnic areas, a small playground, restrooms with baby changing stations, dog-friendly walking, boating, kayaking, fishing, turtles, and the kind of peaceful green-grass water views described by visitors as so nice and a different sort of place full of pretty water that makes you want to sit and ruminate or roam and wander.
Edward MacDowell Lake at 75 Wilder Street is West Peterborough’s most beloved outdoor destination — a full-tree-canopy lake managed by the Army Corps of Engineers with swimming including free child life jackets, hiking trails beginning near the dam described as magical especially towards the end just before reaching the road, kayaking, canoeing, fishing, picnic areas with beautiful views, no houses visible on the shoreline, very little visitor traffic that makes it perfect for those who value solitude, and a wooded trail loop around the lake ideal for running described as a favorite place to run in Peterborough. Casalis State Forest in western Peterborough near the West Peterborough village provides a complementary hiking experience — easy walking along a beautiful stream, peaceful and refreshing well-marked non-strenuous trails, a unique trail beside a small ravine, beautiful wetlands, and a trail that passes through someone’s yard with miniature horses making it totally worth the couple-hour hike. Shieling Forest State Park at 395 Old Street Road adds a third nearby option with steep and slippery trails along a brook through a small forested area, big boulders, lovely little gardens, a large open field by the parking lot, great spots for a picnic, and a modern Forestry Learning Center available for community groups — three distinct trail environments within a few miles of West Peterborough’s village center that make the area one of the best-served for walkers and hikers of any village in Hillsborough County.
West Peterborough’s Jaffrey Road mill-building corridor has produced two of the most distinctive restaurant settings in the entire Monadnock Region. Kogetsu at the Boiler House at 50 Jaffrey Road is West Peterborough’s most atmospheric dining destination — a Japanese restaurant and sushi bar open Monday and Wednesday through Sunday from 11 AM inside a repurposed mill building with window seats and a deck directly overlooking a cascading waterfall and dam, with gyoza described as the best a visitor had ever eaten — light and crispy — unique special rolls served on bridges and boats, Beijing Duck available as a call-ahead fresh-to-order whole-duck preparation, enormous plates, and an ambiance during fall foliage season described as making the entire day as spectacular views of the falls turn golden and the calming environment soothes even a full dining room. Bantam Grill at 1 Jaffrey Road is West Peterborough’s most acclaimed dinner restaurant — open Tuesday through Sunday from 5 PM in a cozy upscale Italian-American setting described as the perfect combination of upscale restaurant and local pub, with a bartender described as someone who should be working at an upscale NYC cocktail lounge, bacon fat roasted Brussels sprouts, smoky chicken and bacon carbonara, grass-fed spicy Hawaiian burger, grilled ribeye with whipped potatoes and crispy onion straws, short ribs with roasted root vegetables, smoky grapefruit margarita, watermelon margarita described as absolutely delicious, a gluten-free menu, and service described consistently as brilliant across every visit — a restaurant described by one reviewer as hands down one of the best if not the best in New Hampshire. Harlow’s Pub and Restaurant at 3 School Street in the adjacent Peterborough village center rounds out the West Peterborough dining picture as the area’s finest casual pub and live music venue — open most days from morning through midnight with a cool musicians stage, fancy fries with chives and truffle mayo described as absolutely droolable, roasted roots salad with lemon garlic dressing described as very tasty, perfectly prepared French dip, consistently excellent salmon described as tender and juicy, adaptive-friendly accessibility with a notably well-graded ramp, and a fun pub feel with a ton to look at on the walls that makes it the perfect companion stop after hiking Pack Monadnock or visiting the nearby breweries.
