Nature & Scenery | Farming | Culture | History | Recreation | Railroads Products & Services
Lancaster is located in a broad floodplain of the Connecticut
River between the high plateau of Vermont's Northeast Kingdom and the peaks
of the White Mountains of New Hampshire. Considered the Gateway to the Great
North Woods, Lancaster is the largest population center south of one of the
wildest and most scenic portions of northern New England. Traditions of working
outdoors and opportunities for four-seasons recreation flavor regional life.
Settlements founded on logging and farming still convey the feel of their 19th
century roots while they also support a lively modern culture. Among them, Lancaster
retains its historic architecture in its revitalized downtown.
Lancaster is the Waypoint community for an area that includes the towns of Northumberland,
Stark, Jefferson, Whitefield, Dalton, Randolph, and Littleton, NH, and Lunenburg,
Guildhall, and Maidstone, VT. Its Waypoint Interpretive Center is located downtown
in an historic building just a block off Main Street with a backyard view of
the winding Israel's River.
The designated Byway routes in the Lancaster area are Route 3 and 135 in New Hampshire and Routes 102 and 2 in Vermont.
Viewed from the west, Lancaster's downtown is seen against
the dramatic backdrop of the Presidential Range of the White Mountains, snow-capped
from November to May. Nearby, atop 2,059-foot Mount Prospect, the former summer
estate of John Wingate Weeks testifies to the work of one of the leading environmentalists
of the early 20th century.
For all its colorful history, the 19th century logging industry in the northern
Connecticut River Valley created an environmental disaster. The sale of all
public lands in New Hampshire to logging interests by 1876 resulted in such
widespread deforestation that a state commission was appointed in 1881 to investigate.
One of the outcomes of the destruction was the founding, in 1901, of the Society
for the Protection of New Hampshire Forests.
Weeks, a conservationist, a U.S. congressman and senator (and Secretary of War
under Presidents Harding and Coolidge) saw that all the forest lands in the
eastern half of the United States were privately owned, and many were in poor
condition. Largely due to his efforts, in 1911 the U.S. Congress passed the
Appalachian-White Mountains Forest Reservation Bill, also known as the "Weeks
Act." The law empowered the federal government to purchase private lands
and create a system of eastern national forests to protect watersheds and their
natural resources.
Week's legacy is visible from the Mount Prospect Tower, built in 1912, employed
as a fire tower, and named a National Historic Lookout in 1992. The State of
New Hampshire has preserved the house and grounds as the John
Wingate Weeks Historic Site, they provide a 360 degree panorama of mountain
splendor, including the Presidential Range of the White Mountains, the Green
Mountains of Vermont, the Kilkenny Range, the Percy Peaks, and the upper Connecticut
River Valley. The site is part of Weeks State Park.
Nearby in Whitefield, New Hampshire, is the remarkable natural area known as Pondicherry. The Audubon Society of New Hampshire, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and N.H. Fish and Game Department have protected this large pond and its surroundings, providing opportunities for wildlife viewing, canoeing, kayaking, and hiking. For more information about birding and nature observation in the area, visit the Connecticut River Birding Trail.
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Maple syrup production in Lancaster is well represented by two family businesses, Christies’ Maple Farm and Maple Museum and Martin Meadow Maples.
The Rocks Estate
combines agriculture and conservation on land in Bethlehem owned and operated
by the Society
for the Protection of New Hampshire Forests.
There the Society grows and sells the fragrant "rocks balsam" tree.
In the Lancaster area you can buy many agricultural products directly from the
producers.
Farmers Markets |
Farm Stands and Pick Your Own
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Culture
The aroma of fresh-cut logs and lumber have filled the
air since the hey-days of the grand hotels of the mountains, and the same combination
still invigorates the region. The recently restored and reopened Mountain
View Grand in Whitefield is the oldest grand hotel in the White Mountains.
On a smaller scale, the 1850 Greek Revival-style Thayer's Inn in Littleton, NH,
was built in anticipation of the arrival of railroads and tourism in the nearby
White Mountains. In Bethehem, a resort town of the late 1800s, the 1888 Shingle-Chateauesque
casino built for the Maplewood Hotel included dance floors, bowling alleys, theater,
and headquarters for a nearby golf course.
Long before movies and television, the Kilburn brothers of Littleton helped to
shape the pop-culture habits of the nation. From 1867 to 1909, in their Stereoscopic
View Factory, Benjamin and Edward Kilburn produced thousands of stereoscopic views.
Their collection, largest in the world and collector's items today, provided popular
parlor entertainment for generations.
For an interesting taste of the regional culture, sample the online journal
Northern
New Hampshire Magazine and the exhibitions,
performances, and events offered by the Arts
Alliance of Northern New Hampshire.
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History
The history of the Lancaster region is one of the use –
and conservation – of natural resources, in the form of logging as well as
the protection of forests. A factory in Groveton continues the long tradition
of papermaking, which inspired the logging of the wilderness in the 19th century.
Innovations in technology have led the way to improvements in winter travel, from
snowshoes to snowmobiles. The past feels immediate in places like the Guildhall
Village Historic District and the Old (1799) Meeting House (603-636-1450) on State
Street in Groveton.
A moment in the past can be found at the Wilder-Holton House, now the museum of
the Lancaster Historical Society. The house – the first two-story dwelling
in all Coos County – was built from boards planed and nails wrought on the
site, in 1780.
A few simple cellar holes and foundation stones remain by the side of the road
in Stark where, in 1944, a high fence and four guard towers transformed a former
Civilian Conservation Corps Camp into New Hampshire's sole World War II prisoner
of war camp. Approximately 250 German and Austrian soldiers lived in Camp Stark
while working in the surrounding forest where they cut pulpwood vital to wartime
industry. The camp closed in the spring of 1946 when the prisoners of war were
returned to their homeland.
Among the historic bridges in the area are four covered bridges, including the
Mount
Orne Bridge that spans the Connecticut River
between Lancaster and Lunenberg. The Mechanic
Street Bridge spans Israel's River in Lancaster.
In Northumberland, the Groveton
Bridge with its multiple trusses spans the Ammonoosuc.
The Upper Ammonoosuc in Stark is the location of the Stark
Bridge.
View a list of Historic Markers in the area.
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History on the Connecticut River Byway
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The nearby White Mountains and the forested terrain around Lancaster provide excellent opportunities for outdoor sports such as hunting, fishing, hiking, biking, and snowmobiling. The Nulhegan Gateway Association is a good place to start for local information. A list of New Hampshire trails includes routes for hikes, mountain bikes, ATV's and snowmobiles. The Vermont Outdoor Guide Association maintains a similar list of Vermont trails, greenways and waterways, for hiking, biking, birding, paddle sports, horseback, skiing, snowshoeing, and snowmobiling. Snowmobilers on the New Hampshire side of the Connecticut should check in with New Hampshire snow mobile organizations. Across the river in Vermont, trails are maintained by the Vermont Association of Snow Travelers.
Those looking for a true wilderness trail experience will want to know about the Cohos Trail, a 162-mile remote trail in northern-most New Hampshire. The Northern Forest Canoe Trail, a 740-mile water trail tracing historic Native American travel routes across the Northern Forest, celebrates the region's rich human heritage and diverse natural environment. The Canoe Trail follows the Connecticut River to its confluence with the Upper Ammonoosuc in Groveton.
In the White Mountains, visiting European skiers popularized
skiing at such resorts as Sugar Hill, the site of the first ski school in the
U.S. In 1940, a skiers' guide listed 49 "ski towns" in New Hampshire
and 31 in Vermont.
The Connecticut River in this region is impounded in two reservoirs, which provide
excellent opportunities for boating and fishing, including ice fishing. Moore
Reservoir, at 3,500 acres, is New Hampshire’s fourth largest lake, and
its largest undeveloped lake. The state line is inundated here, and much of
Moore Reservoir is actually Vermont waters. TransCanada Hydro Northeast maintains
many access ramps and picnic areas around the reservoir.
Below Moore Dam, the Connecticut River immediately enters Comerford Reservoir,
another eight miles of excellent boating and fine fishing for both trout and
bass, all with memorable views of the Presidential Range of the White Mountains
to the east. Below Comerford, the Connecticut River becomes narrow, the province
of canoeists and kayakers.
The Connecticut River Joint Commissions provide maps of the river that identify
river access and describe other important aspects of boating on the river. In
the Lancaster area, they include:
The North
Country
Moore
Reservoir
Lower
Fifteen Mile Falls
Among the state parks in the area is Lancaster's John
Wingate Weeks Historic Site which includes
the conservationist's summer retreat atop Mount Prospect. Because of Secretary
Weeks' prominent role on the national scene, his house became the setting for
many distinguished gatherings after it was completed in 1913. Among the more
prominent guests was President Warren Harding, who visited for several days
in 1921.
Built as a summer retreat and as a testament to Weeks' affection for the locale
of his ancestry and birth, the Mt. Prospect estate typifies a spirit of private
land conservation often seen in New Hampshire at the turn of the century. At
that time, many of the state's less profitable farms were being abandoned. Private
investors who preserved and maintained the land often purchased these. The Weeks
estate was part of this conservation movement. In 1910 Weeks bought several
farms on Mt. Prospect, including the land at the summit. The Weeks estate is
one of the best preserved of many grand summer homes built in New Hampshire
during this period. Now, house and lands are a public park.
The other state parks in the area are:
Forest
Lake State Park, Dalton, NH
Maidstone
State Park, Maidstone, VT
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Recreation on the Connecticut River Byway
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Railroads
When the Great North Woods were logged in the second half
of the 19th century, unique, narrow-gauge rail lines were set deep into the forest
to bring out the logs. These proved as ephemeral as the old logging camps themselves,
but traces of them remain in the woods as trails, or grown back up with trees.
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Products, Lodging, Dining, Services & Local Links
Call 1-877-CTBYWAY for more information
Northern
Gateway Chamber of Commerce
Littleton
Area Chamber of Commerce
Northeast
Kingdom Travel and Tourism Assn.
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NEW HAMPSHIRE
Lancaster Farmers' Market
Centennial Park, Lancaster. Saturdays, late June -early
October, 9am-noon. Local, fresh produce, homemade baked goods, preserves, crafts,
seasonal plants, eggs and goat cheese. Local entertainment, cooking demonstrations.
Rotary auction and street fair. Rain or shine, 603-788-4879. E-mail: nhmacs@together.net
Littleton Farmer's Market
38 Cottage St., Littleton, NH. Senior Center. parking
lot. Sundays, July - mid-October, 10am-1pm. Fruits, vegetables, eggs, syrup,
goat cheese, dried flowers, sheep and llama wool, candles, jams and jellies.
Rain or shine, 603-444-6561
Farmstands &
Pick Your Own
NEW HAMPSHIRE
Cold Moon Springs
Dan Gates
RR 1 Box 54B, Jefferson NH 03583
603-586-9832
Fax: 586-9837
Email: FDCNH@aol.com
Nine varieties of goat milk cheese, goat milk, eggs & soaps.
Pratt Farm
Leighton Pratt
63 Water St., Lancaster, NH 03584
8am-6pm, Tuesday & Thursday;
8am-2pm, Saturday
603-788-4320
Raspberries & blueberries
VERMONT
Peaslee Smith Vegetable Gardens
Barb Peaslee Smith & Matt Smith
6648 Route 102, Peaslee Farm
Guildhall, VT 05905
Mid-June - October 31
802-328-3879 or 328-4415
Vegetables, farm stand
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NEW HAMPSHIRE
Lancaster, NH – LAKE COOS AND THE PRESIDENTIAL RANGE
Born Lancaster, founded in 1763, lies on the bed of glacial
Lake Coos, formed as the glaciers receded 14,000 years ago. Today, the Connecticut,
an American Heritage River, flows along the bottom of the ancient lake. You
stand at a gateway to The Great North Woods region. To the east, aligned from
north to south, are Mounts Madison, Adams, Jefferson, and Washington, the highest
peaks of the White Mountains' Presidential Range. Mt. Washington, at 6288 feet,
is the highest in the Northeast. The strongest winds ever recorded, 231 miles
per hour, were measured on its summit on April 12, 1934.
Located on US 2, just east of the junction of US 3, at Christie's Maple Farm.
Jefferson, NH – CHERRY
MOUNTAIN SLIDE
On July 10, 1885, at 6 a.m., a slide from Cherry Mountain's
northern peak left a deep gash from Owl's Head to the Valley. A million tons
of boulders, trees and mud loosed by a cloudburst rolled and tumbled a tortuous
two miles, destroying Oscar Stanley's new home and his cattle, barn and crops.
Farm hand Don Walker, rescued from debris of the barn, died four days later;
but Stantey's family was not there and was spared. Excursion trains and carriages
brought people from far and wide to view the tragic sight, which has now almost
disappeared through nature's healing process.
Located on NH 115, south of its junction with NH 115-A, and near the head
of the Owl's Head Trail.
Jefferson, NH – THADDEUS S.C. LOWE (1823-1913)
Born nearby, this inventor and scientist gained unique
distinction as a pioneer aeronaut in the United States. He organized and directed
a military balloon force during the Civil War and later invented a number of
important and basic devices for use in atmospheric observation and metallurgical
processing.
Located on US 2, about 2.7 miles west of its junction with NH116.
Lancaster, NH – WILDER-HOLTON HOUSE
This structure, erected by Major Jonas Wilder, from boards
planed and nails wrought on the site, originally possessing a four-fireplace
chimney and Indian shutters, is Coos County's first two-story dwelling. Construction
was initiated on the noted "Dark Day" of May 19, 1780, which caused
work to cease temporarily. Successively a home, a tavern, a church, and a meeting
place, it is now a museum.
Located at the northern junction of US 2 and US 3.
Lisbon, NH – OLD COAL KILN
A reminder of bygone days, this stone structure was used
to make wood into charcoal for the nearby iron smelters. Pine knots, a waste
material from the adjacent lumber mill, were a prime source for charcoal. Charcoal
production through this kiln, built in the 1860's, was necessary to the iron
mining industry.
Located on the east side of US 302, about 1.8 miles north of its junction
with NH 117.
Littleton, NH – KILBURN BROTHERS STEREOSCOPIC VIEW
FACTORY
Here, from 1867 to 1909, the world famous Kilburn brothers,
Benjamin and Edward, produced and distributed thousands of stereoscopic views.
Their collection, largest in the world and collector's items today, provided
popular parlor entertainment for generations.
Located on the lawn of the old factory, at the intersection of Kilburn street
and Cottage Street (US 302), south of the river, in downtown Littleton.
Stark, NH – CAMP STARK GERMAN PRISONER OF WAR CAMP
In the spring of 1944 a high fence and four guard towers
transformed a former Civilian Conservation Corps Camp on this site into New
Hampshire's sole World War II prisoner of war camp. Approximately 250 German
and Austrian soldiers, most of whom were captured in North Africa, lived in
Camp Stark while working in the surrounding forest where they cut pulpwood vital
to wartime industry. The camp closed in the spring of 1946 when the prisoners
of war were returned to their homeland. Several maintained the new friendships
they had formed with local New Hampshire residents.
Located on the south side of NH 110, about 1.6 miles east of the Stark Covered
Bridge.
Stratford, NH – LOG DRIVES
The dramatic process of conveying lumber logs and pulpwood
from northern New Hampshire forests to manufacturing centers, by driving them
down the Connecticut River, spanned the turn into the Twentieth Century. Hardy
crews of "White-water men" risked life and limb in the hazardous work
on the annual spring drives.
Located on the west side of US 3, about 1.7 miles south of the center of
North Stratford.
VERMONT
Concord, VT – FIRST NORMAL SCHOOL: Pioneer in Teacher
Training
The first recognized school in America for the purpose
of training teachers was conducted near here by the Rev. Samuel Read Hall, 1823-25.
Practice teaching was employed with ‘Lectures on Schoolkeeping’ which
became in 1829, the first professional book for teachers (2.4 miles south at
Concord Corner).
Located on U.S. Route 2, at Concord Corner Road.
East Concord, VT – GEORGE LANSING FOX: One of the
four Dorchester Chaplains
Called from his Gilman parish to serve as a Chaplain
in World War II, First Lieutenant Fox died when the Dorchester was torpedoed
in the North Atlantic. Giving his life jacket to a soldier, he perished with
3 other chaplains, in one of the most heroic acts of the War.
Located at Methodist Church.
Guildhall, VT – VERMONT MAJOR CROSS-STATE ROUTE
U.S. 2 is the major highway between the Atlantic and
Lake Champlain. It leads through St. Johnsbury, the maple sugar center, down
the Winooski River to Montpelier, through the tallest mountains of Bolton Gorge
to Lake Champlain at Burlington, University center and the state’s largest
city.
Located on U.S. Route 2 to Lancaster, NH.
Photos by
Rosamond Orford and courtesy of the Connecticut River Joint Commissions.
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