27: Piscopo Block

Built in 1924 by Benjamin Piscopo, on the site of a livery stable.  The neo-classical commercial block is three stories high with businesses on the lower level, and offices and apartments on the upper floors.  It was one of the many business ventures of Benjamin Piscopo that helped make Main Street more commercial. A drug store, a bookstore, music stores, Sawyer’s Jewelry, a First National grocery store, and several other businesses have occupied the site over time.  

Benjamin Piscopo, the original developer of the Colonial Theater complex, was a stone cutter from Italy who emigrated to Boston. He became a successful real estate developer and moved to Laconia, where he developed a number of the city’s business buildings and was an investor in the Tavern Hotel.