Picturesque Peterborough

With a passion for photography and a deep love for his hometown, Peterborough resident Dan Millbauer has been creating the Peterborough Places photo calendar since 2022. Millbauer's project began as a small personal journey to create family calendars filled with snapshots from throughout the year and gift them to relatives during the holidays. "One of my family members, my brother-in-law, asked me one Christmastime if I could make a calendar without the family type stuff. I made one with beautiful pictures from all of our travels — as a family we love to travel — there were photos from national parks and Hawaii, things like that that we've been to," explained Millbauer. That conversation sparked an idea: Why not create a calendar focused on local scenes? He ran a poll on Facebook asking friends and family whether they preferred a calendar of Peterborough landmarks or broader landscape photography. The responses were mixed, but Millbauer ultimately followed his instincts. "I take pictures of Peterborough all the time because I live here and I love it," he said. He assembled a collection of his favorite local images — places he found especially beautiful or intriguing — and shared the first version with a coworker. Their enthusiastic reaction came with a suggestion: bring it to the Toadstool Bookshop in Peterborough. "I went down there and the owner at the time, Willard, liked it and said he would sell it." Millbauer partnered with local printer Silver Direct, to produce a larger batch, and the calendar has been on Toadstool's shelves every year since 2022. He soon expanded to Steele's Stationers and a few other shops around Peterborough and Jaffrey. This year, the calendar is also available in the gift shop at the Monadnock Center for History and Culture. Over the years, Peterborough Places has featured a wide range of scenes. One of Millbauer's favorites is a striking image of a large red barn on Old Jaffrey Road. "The Morison family is a founding family of Peterborough and one of them lives up the street and they have a beautiful big, red barn. The original barn burned down around 2010, and they built a new barn and it's just really magnificent. I managed to catch it one day when it was snowing. With the red barn against the snow, the background almost looks black and white." The Peterborough Town House frequently appears for its iconic silhouette, and Millbauer said he always includes All Saints Episcopal Church — not for religious reasons, but for its architectural charm. "It's an English Country Church and it's been in almost every edition from one angle or another," he said. Other familiar landmarks have made their way into the collection as well, including the Peterborough Diner and scenic spots like the Fremont Field Conservation Land on Old Jaffrey Road. "I always try to make it a recognizable location. I am trying to target people who live here and love where they live, or people who want to share with friends who have visited." Though Millbauer doesn't maintain a website, he shares many of his photographs on Instagram at @originalmillbad. For more information or to request a copy of the calendar, he can be reached at millbad@msn.com.