Travel Back in Time: The Common Man

Local legends say the house where The Common Man restaurant is located has been haunted for years by the spirit of the man for whom it was built, according to local historian Anita Creager, president of the Merrimack Historical Society.

"If you believe that kind of stuff, some talk about town says it's haunted by James Thornton's spirit because he killed himself," Creager said.

The house at 304 Daniel Webster Highway was built by one of Merrimack's most famous residents, Matthew Thornton, in 1797, as a wedding gift to his son James, Creager said.

It was operated in the early 1800s as a tavern, by James Thornton, before he committed suicide. The historic home moved about from various descendants over the years, including James Bonaparte Thornton and the Greeleys who owned it for "many, many years," Creager said.

"The last Greeley shows in 1936," Creager said.

For most of that time and into the 20th century, the home was just that.

A real estate agent bought the home in 1956 and it became a boarding house for a while, Creager said.

"When I moved here in 1962,  it was not in good condition," she said.

In 1977, Charles Mulch bought the house and renovated it, she said. He decided to try to make it look as it did in the 1700s and he did a good job of it, she added. He was able to scrape down to some of the original wall paper, he found the old columns from the house in the barn out back and restored them to the front doorstep.

Following the renovation, he turned it into a restaurant called The Signer's House, which didn't last very long.

In the 1980s, the house became home to Hannah Jack's Tavern, named after Matthew Thornton's wife, and in 2004, it was purchased by The Common Man family of restaurants and continues to operate for lunch and dinner and the upstairs is home to the bar.

The building is still home to many of the original features, including some of the exposed beams and the fire places that back up to two rooms, which helped keep the house warm before modern heating methods.

It also still features the various rooms throughout the house, making for a quieter dining experience in some of the front rooms that hold only four or six tables.
 
A very busy area of town these days, the home sits in what was a well traveled area even back in Merrimack's early days, Creager said, with Thorntons Ferry just down the hill from the house.

Today, The Common Man sits between Daniel Webster Highway and the F.E. Everett Turnpike, the two main thoroughfares through Merrimack.

"It's hard to see it as the historic neighborhood it used to be," Creager said.

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