Backyard Tourist: Old Number 6 Book Depot

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Last week I had the amazing opportunity to visit my brothers family in New Hampshire. I spent my childhood, the times where you really make some good memories, in a little town called Weare. 13 years ago, my family moved to Utah while I was in high school. For the first time, I was able to go back and visit.

I was told by my sister Megan that I had to visit this bookstore in Henniker. I’m always up for bookstores, but wasn’t really expecting anything extraordinary. Let’s just say…I could have spent the whole day there.

Let me introduce you to Old Number 6 Book Depot in Henniker, New Hampshire. If you live anywhere in New England, or plan on visiting I would recommend you drop by.

Can you see where this is going?  You might be thinking, oh that’s nice, lots of dusty shelves, concrete floor, not the nicest bookstore ever. BUT, if you’re anything like my family, the surroundings don’t matter. These are used books, at varying prices and editions. For example, where else are you going to find these…

I should have looked at these closer, but I do believe these are all first editions! I pulled out the Pickwick Papers I to gently look through, and perhaps see if it was affordable…not so much in my budget at $300. However, for the edition and condition, this book is worth every penny of that cost. 
If you are visiting in the winter in the back of the store I found a comfy looking area to curl up with whatever book you happen to choose
While I was taking this photo, the collection of Zane Grey novels jumped out at me. Some of the best western romance (clean) novels I’ve ever read. I’ve got my own small collection, but nothing like this. Too bad I could not remember which ones I own, or I would have purchased a few more to come home with me. 
To be honest, I needed more time to really get into this store. My first visit was much more of a discovery of the store and layout than actual books I’d want to read. Oh it was fun though. If you happen to have children and still want to visit, no worries, there’s a childrens section of books, and some toy bins to help keep them entertained. 
Quite literally the books are stacked floor to ceiling. You will find no wasted space at the Old Number 6. I’m pretty sure my eyes were going cross eyed the whole time, so very few actual book titles stuck out to me, that’s ok though. Just knowing a place like this exists is wonderful. 
By the way….there’s an upstairs to this place too. I can tell you that was a complete surprise, and cause for burst of excitement when stumbling across the staircase hidden behind a couple of bookshelves. You’ll find more world histories and politics on the second floor. 
On the staircase itself you’ll find some college textbooks and college/university histories. Off to the left of the stairs as you go up is where you’ll find the Charles Dickens collection. If you want more old books like those you’ll find plenty scattered throughout the store depending on the subject. The following shelves however were my favorite to just gaze at though. I mean really. Old books are such a delightful find. 
If you can read that note, you’ll realize just how old some of these books are; 1700’s old!! My heart be still. I don’t care that they are condensed reports of the supreme court which I would probably find boring for today’s records, but these. Let me open you and immerse myself in another time. 
Shortly after finding these books, I decided it was probably time to purchase the Issac Asimov book I found, and continue on our sightseeing day. Only problem I wasn’t entirely sure which book aisle I needed to turn down to get out. Thank goodness for the simple Exit signs down at eye level. 
I hope you enjoyed this tour of Old Number 6 Book Depot in Henniker, New Hampshire. If you ever get to visit, or have been there before, I’d love to hear about it!  
What old bookstores are near you?

6 thoughts on “Backyard Tourist: Old Number 6 Book Depot

  1. I am a kindle reader so I must confess to not going to bookstores often enough. We do have one independent shop a town over. When I lived in NYC I would often visit the Strand which is a great used bookstore. Sounds like such a wonderful shop you visited.

  2. The bookstore is about a 3-hour drive for me, but always worth it! Thanks so much for posting so many pictures; gives readers a great sense of the shop.

    By the way – I do wonder if $300 was for the multiple volumes of Dickens?

    I went prepared when I visited this past Saturday – I photographed my collection of Roger Pilkington books (so I knew what I had) and could buy one copy of his Small Boat series that I was missing without buy the WRONG title in the series. I plan on doing that with several book series.

    k

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