Thanks to thorough research from Dr. Robyn Griswold, NCC’s Vice President of Academic Affairs who retired in December 2024, we have a clear picture of how this 66 acres of land became a public community college. The following is an excerpt from Dr. Griswold’s paper, titled “A Remarkable Gift.”

The origins of Nashua Community College go back to the late 1960s – a time of tremendous transition for the people of Nashua. Since 1826, the economy of Nashua had been largely dependent on textile manufacturing. That would all change after World War II. The availability of cheaper labor in the south, the shift from water to coal power, and outdated facilities in Nashua led to a fateful announcement on September 13, 1948 – the mills would be shut down. The “sheeting operations” at the Jackson Mill were the last to go in December 1951. One thousand factory workers lost their jobs at that time.¹

In the midst of this economic catastrophe, civic and business leaders joined forces to find a solution that would sustain Nashua into the future. They organized the Nashua-NH Foundation to raise capital to purchase the vacant mill space. The final price was $500,000. Along with the Chamber of Commerce, the Foundation worked to attract new businesses and to establish a diversified economy that would provide long-term growth and employment opportunities. Their efforts soon began to pay off. Even before the final closure of the Jackson Mill, Sprague Electric Company set up shop in Nashua in 1948. This firm was involved in the manufacture of products such as “ceramic capacitors, printed circuits, and resistors.”  In 1952, another electronics firm called Sanders Associates moved into most of the former mill space on Canal Street. More businesses would follow. ²

Nashua’s economy transforms

The transformation of Nashua in the 1950s and 1960s can also be linked to larger political developments. The advent of the Cold War and the ensuing space race provided ample federal dollars to support the growth of “technology-related industries” along the Route 128 corridor in Massachusetts.  Nashua’s close proximity to this area, favorable tax rates, available labor force, and warm welcome from local leaders lured high tech firms to the city. Sanders Associates is perhaps the best example. With 3,000 employees working in Nashua by 1962, the company developed products like missile guidance systems, radar technology, computer circuits, and microwave components.³ As one local historian observed, these new companies attracted workers to Nashua in the 1950s and 1960s “just as the mills had done before.” ⁴ Between 1950 and 1960, Nashua’s population increased by 11%. Demographic changes during the next decade would be even more pronounced. There were 39,096 residents of Nashua in 1960. By 1970, that number had grown to 55,820 – an increase of 42.8%! Nashua had lost its “small town atmosphere” and become a “medium-sized city.”⁵

During the 1960s, Sam Tamposi, Sr. and Gerald Nash were among a group of savvy local developers who sought to take advantage of this favorable economic environment. They recognized that this growing population would need to have places to live and shop. With the increasing prevalence of the automobile, homes and businesses could be located away from the city center. Tamposi and Nash began purchasing land on the outskirts of the city to construct industrial parks, shopping centers, and residential developments. ⁶ Amherst Street (then known as Milford Road) was an attractive prospect. At the time, this was a rural sector of the city. Farms lined the quiet, two-lane road which would be unrecognizable to today’s commuter who sits in the daily traffic jams on Route 101A.

The Cadorette Farm at Amherst Street and Thornton Road

One of the farms on Amherst Street belonged to Ovila and Leona Cadorette. Located on the corner of Thornton Road, the Cadorettes ran a dairy business on 66 acres. Sometime around 1968, Sam Tamposi offered them $250,000 for the property. His plan was to build condominiums.⁷ Two hundred and fifty thousand dollars was a lot of money in the late 1960s. In 1968, the average price of a new home was $24,600. The median household income was $7,143. The average cost of a new car was $2,750 and a gallon of gas cost around 33 cents. ⁸ Sam Tamposi’s offer must have been very tempting for the couple.  According to Beatrice and Leo Provencal, relatives of the Cadorettes, their lives had not been easy.

The couple married in Nashua on August 7, 1922.¹⁷ After marrying Ovila, Leona continued to work at the Jackson Mill in downtown Nashua. Transportation was a challenge because Leona never learned to drive. Her niece reported that she befriended an engineer whose train passed by the farm early each morning. He would allow her to board the train thus saving her a long journey into Nashua by foot.¹⁸

Like many of their neighbors, Ovila and Leona must have found the years following World War II to be extremely challenging. It is likely that Leona was one of the 1,000 people who lost their jobs when the Jackson Mill closed in 1951. A few years earlier, the family’s ice business had been threatened by the widespread adoption of electric refrigeration. Ovila’s half-brother, Roland, attempted to revive the business by expanding into home oil delivery. The firm’s name changed to Round Pond Oil and Ice Company to reflect the new focus.¹⁹ At age 54, Ovila decided to leave the family business. 

In 1947, Ovila and Leona purchased 66 acres of land across Amherst Street to establish their own dairy farm.²⁰ They even moved their house from one side of Amherst Street to the other.²¹ Much of the property was wooded and they faced the arduous task of clearing the land. A 1949 newspaper article described the process used by the Cadorettes. First, the timber was cut and sold. Next, the stumps were bulldozed and then pulled from the ground by tractors. Through this process, the loss of topsoil was minimized.²² Like most farmers, their business was diversified. In addition to producing milk for sale, their relatives reported that they raised pigs. 

But life on the farm was not easy. Leona’s niece, Beatrice, explained that Leona had a particularly “miserable” time. Because Ovila suffered from diabetes, illness often prevented him from working. Much of the responsibility for milking the cows would fall to Leona. Her nephew, Leo, explained that things would be especially difficult when a cow was sick or when they were calving. In those cases, Leona would need to stay up all night in the barn tending to the animals. Ovila and Leona never had any children and their relatives do not recall them ever having hired help.  The burden of running the farm was theirs alone.²³