A Brief History of the Folkway

On February 28, 1975, Jonathan and Widdie Hall opened The Folkway, a restaurant and coffee house, in an old Victorian era home at 85 Grove Street in Peterborough. Creating this business was a labor of love—a love of folk music.   It was not long before The Folkway became known as one of the best venues in the northeast for folk music. And the food was pretty good, too.
 
At first, the performers were many different local musicians, most of them pretty talented.   Customers liked what they heard and ate, and continued to come, even to hear new, unknown artists. Going to The Folkway was always a good experience for the audience. And the musicians appreciated the especially attentive and respectful audiences that filled the cozy dining/listening room. 
Within a few years of opening, musicians were coming from all over the country (and the world) to share their music. The Folkway became a rich community for musicians and their audiences to get to know each other. It also became a place where many new friendships blossomed and flourished. People came from a wide region to be at The Folkway and for many it and “The Folk Station” WSLE-FM were major reasons why they came to settle in this area during the 1970s and 1980s. 
The Folkway first closed shortly before Widdie Hall passed away in 1988. She had run the business as a single mom for close to 10 years. This was a devastating blow to everyone involved and in response to the loss, a year later volunteers came together to form The Folkway Foundation, a non-profit that would reopen and operate The Folkway again. After fund-raising and reconstruction, The Folkway reopened in 1990 and once again served the Monadnock Region with great music and other performing arts, food, crafts and fellowship – until 1996, when operating costs forced a second closing.
 
The Folkway contributed to Peterborough’s cultural and social life in many important ways. It retains a warm place in the hearts and minds of many people throughout the Monadnock Region. Musicians near and far still speak fondly of it. Memories have not faded.