On nearby Allen Road on December 4, 1939, the New Hampshire Electric Cooperative set its first utility pole, an important event in bringing electric service to the farms, mills, and homes of the New Hampshire countryside. A group of citizens formed the Cooperative and, with funding from the federal Rural Electrification Administration (REA), built and maintained its own power lines. By 2001, the member-owned Cooperative served more than 70,000 members and remained the state's only electric cooperative.