The Industrial Revolution, so visible in Newmarket’s large granite mill buildings, also spurred some inventions that were just plain fun. By the mid-19th century, the design of roller skates had improved enough that public rinks had begun to spring up in the larger cities of Europe and North America. In the 1880s they began to be mass produced, which generated a “craze” that lasted several decades.
The Newmarket Advertiser articles show that it took a while for this craze to be totally accepted by the older folks in town:
Feb. 9, 1883: Caverly & Noyes opened their roller skating rink in the town hall Tuesday evening, but our people, who somehow do not seem to take kindly to any sort of innovation, failed to patronize it as liberally as they ought. Those who did attend, however, enjoyed themselves. Music was furnished by the Newmarket Cornet Bank, who played very creditably.
The following year, Jan. 11, 1884: Mathes & Carr’s skating rink opened on Saturday evening with a small audience, who, however, seemed to be having a good time. Tuesday evening the attendance was larger, but it is evident that roller-skating has not yet gained many devotees in Newmarket. Rather queer, as it is all the rage in other places.
One week later, on January 18, 1884: Mathes & Carr’s skating rink was well patronized on Friday and Tuesday evenings, and the people here seem to be taking more interest in the beautiful and popular pastime of roller skating, and several of our young people are getting to be quite proficient upon the rollers.
Three weeks after that, on Feb. 8, 1884: The town will receive more money from the rent of the town hall this year than ever before, and if roller skating continues to be popular, enough revenue will be realized from the renting of the hall for this purpose to lay a new hard-wood floor another year. The hall is engaged for five nights out of the six next week.
Skating was becoming so popular that on the day before Valentine’s Day 1884, a party of 50 people from Newmarket hired the Exeter skating rink and went up on the 6 o’clock train, returning in a
special car attached to the midnight freight. They all reported that it was “the best time of the season”.
When Newmarket businessman Attorney Charles. H. Smith saw what was happening, he sought a downtown venue here that could be open day and night and make money. The stable nestled behind and between the hotel and the Community Church was owned by the Newmarket House (at that time managed by Smith’s friend Patrick Haley).
Smith refurbished the large stable and revamped the upstairs, painting the interior, and installing galleries and a birch floor to create a skating venue “as good as any in this vicinity.”
Announcement of Feb. 22, 1884: Work has been rapidly pushed on Smith’s roller skating rink the past week and it will be ready for use this Saturday evening. A very fine hard wood floor has been laid, the walls and roof kalsomined in various colors. Entrance will be obtained by passing through what was formerly the stable office in the front of the building. The rink is considerably larger than the town hall.
Attorney Smith first leased the management out to The Mount Desert Skating Rink Company. Then in February 1885, not adverse to taking risks, C.H. Smith leased the building to two young Newmarket men George F. Evans and Arthur L. Davis who promised to make the rink a pleasant resort for the public. Both were known about town for their valor, strength and work in the Newmarket Fire Department, as well as for their skill at the local pool tables. The paper at the time described Evans and Davis as two young enterprising men, perhaps the youngest rink managers in all of the country.
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In pursuit of liberal patronage, their weekly ads in the paper stressed that:
1) the rink was doing a fine business;
2) it was open every afternoon and evening;
3) it had competent and courteous instructors provided free for those skating for the first time and…
4) “Special Attention is given to ladies and beginners. The best of order is preserved at all times, and roughness of any sort is not tolerated. Those who wish an innocent and healthful amusement should try roller skating.”
They printed this last assurance in rebuttal to an earlier pronouncement written in 1885 and continually mentioned in sermons coming from the Baptist pulpit. It was also printed in the Christian Witness, a weekly newspaper printed in Newmarket by editors affiliated directly with the Baptist Church. It had a nationwide distribution.
Evidently the editors of The Newmarket Advertiser agreed with Mr. Smith and the skating public. In 1906 there was a notice published in the paper announcing the Annual Meeting of the Free Baptist Society. The notice was followed immediately and in bold type with:
“FREE ADMISSION TONIGHT AT THE SKATING RINK
COME IN AND LOOK AROUND”
In later editions of the paper, whenever the roller rink announced special events such as roller dancing competitions or novelty costume parties, or when a band (especially the Sexette Skating Band) was featured, these ads were usually placed adjacent to a Baptist Church announcement of a church-sponsored event.
Particularly galling to the church fathers was the:
1909 Christmas Eve Skating Special with Hurdy-Gurdy Music.
Roller skating remained popular up until around 1909—especially in the wintertime. As bicycling and motoring became the latest fads, from 1907 through 1910 Newmarket’s rink opened only sporadically; by 1911 it was no longer in use except by Boy Scout cadets who used it for drill exercise.
Before the old stable was demolished, the rink was resurrected as a pool hall; and after that, Ai Varney transformed the space into a bowling alley. This dropoff could have been due to the Baptists defaming it from the pulpit, but it more likely had to do with increased access to automobiles. The rink above the old stable was no competition for the larger, more up-to-date facilities in the bigger towns. Dover’s rink remained in business until the 1970s. 
During the rink’s heyday, roller skates were on sale at A.T. Stackpole’s blacksmith shop. The New Market Stone School Museum has one, donated by Claire Hamel in 1990. It was taken from a bushel basket of skates brought out of the rink by Ralph Haines and Walter Harrison when they demolished the building.