THE UNIVERSITY 
 OF ILLINOIS 
 LIBRARY 
 
 From the collection of 
 Julius Doerner, Chicago 
 Purchased, 1918. 
 
 91142 
 
 Cl4v 
 
Return this book on or before the 
 Latest Date stamped below. A 
 charge is made on all overdue 
 books. 
 
 U. of I. Library 
 
 rite l P'J < 
 
 11148-S 
 
THE UNIVERSITY 
 OF ILLINOIS 
 LIBRARY 
 
 From the collection of 
 Julius Doerner, Chicago 
 Purchased., 1918. 
 
 91142. 
 
 C74v 
 
ISSUED BY THE 
 
 PASSENGER DEPARTMENT 
 
 OF THE 
 
 CONCORD & MONTREAL R.R. 
 
 General Offices: CONCORD, N.H. 
 
 BOSTON PASSENGER AGENCY 
 
 207 Washington St., 
 
 BOSTON, MASS. 
 
 h 
 
 Vistas on the C. & fll. 
 
 T. A. MacKinnon, 
 
 GEN'L Manager, CONCORD, N.H. 
 
 F. E. Brown, 
 
 Gen’l Passenger and Ticket Agent, CONCORD, N.H. 
 
 Geo. W. Storer, 
 
 Asst. Gen’l Passenger Agent, BOSTON. 
 
 Sent by mail on receipt of TEN CENTS in postage to Boston Passenger Agency, 207 Washington St., Boston 
 
I 
 
c 'i 4 ^ 
 
 IflTf^ODUCTIOfl. 
 
 f HE Sketches an <i illustrations contained in this little volume are of features and localities in the beautiful 
 scenic region of New Hampshire. By far the greater part of them are of situations among the mountains- 
 but occasionally the equally attractive and impressive lowlands constituting their approaches have been 
 drawn upon to furnish materials for this collection. It is not pretended that the list of superlatively beautiful spots 
 n the White Mountains and their neighborhoods has been exhausted in this presentation, or that, from artistic 
 s andpomts, the very best of these that could have been selected are here given ; it is only intended that herewith 
 shall be given in a simple and yet fairly attractive way, illustrations and descriptions outlining, as it were the vast 
 repository of beautiful and fascinating natural gems of which this region is the casket, so to speak. In every part of 
 e mountains and gorges, the ravines and notches, the sloping river bottoms and the hillside sections there are 
 points and localities of interest of which the representations here afforded are but the feeblest types ’There are 
 wonderful formations, the results of convulsions or eccentricities in natural action, -manifestation of the graces as 
 v-ell as the forces, of nature lavishly supplied m every part of these wonderful scenic sections of the Old Granite 
 surrounding^ 11 lllUStratl0HS are Slmply the indices . the suggestive guide-posts that direct to more satisfactory 
 
 lea ^rrr Ple S " PPOSe that ir \ New H a«Pshire scenery the mountain neighborhoods are alone of interest or at 
 least that these sections contain about all there is of satisfaction and gratification for the novice or occasional visitor 
 or the Sequent sojourner as well. The mistake is naturally enough made, but it is a mistake nevertheless The 
 pastoral neighborhoods of southern and middle New Hampshire ; the unrivalled valleys of the Merrimac and other 
 rivers; the vicinities of the great lakes and inland waters, -all these have peculiar charms of theHivn whkh 
 ascinate as thoroughly and satisfy as completely as the actual presence of the more rugged features of the mountain 
 
 700814 
 
sections can possibly do. Especially is this the case when the mountain peaks appear, outlined in grandeur and 
 impressiveness at greater or less distances, as they frequently are, within full view of these less strongly marked 
 localities, as though they were thus irregularly strewn about by Dame Nature to render her scenic pictures in this 
 state more marvellously attractive. Indeed, it will be found — and it is the testimony of almost every traveller in 
 this region — that the mountains are the sections for excursions, and the valley and lowland districts, or lake and 
 river shores, for sojourning or protracted residence. 
 
 It is without doubt true, however, that the White Mountains have a peculiar fascination of their own that 
 appeals strongly to tourists and travellers of every name and condition. While this section of New Hampshire has 
 been often compared with other similar portions of the earth’s surface, and is not infrequently written or spoken of 
 as “the Switzerland of America,” it has very little in common with that European type of mountain lands, and 
 differs as widely in all features and characteristics of scenery from that European country as the Merrimac differs 
 from the Amazon. While not wanting in all the elements of grandeur and impressiveness that distinguish sections 
 that have been torn and rent and upthrown by natural forces, these mountain neighborhoods have a certain charm 
 of summer delights about them that appeals to every lover of nature under unusual conditions of awe-inspiring 
 situations and mysteries that supply no end of incentive to their discovery and seeking-out. The White Mountains 
 are mountains indeed, and not simply elevations of earth possessing a few mountain features and characteristics; 
 and this will soon be understood by the visitor who makes their acquaintance or who essays to know them 
 thoroughly in every part. But they are from first to last open to exploration, though this may be attended by 
 difficulties ; and their make-up does not suffer in comparison with that of any other chain or grouping in the world, 
 while they are within the limits of possible familiar acquaintance to every one who cares to study them or test their 
 experiences. Their situation includes every kind of mountain formation except the active volcanic ; and they present 
 under different circumstances and relations clearly defined chains and ranges, magnificent groups, large and 
 small,— and isolated bodies and peaks that stand as natural monuments for the wonder of the races, even as the 
 pyramids of Egypt artificially distinguish the plains of that section of the world. 
 
 But if the mountains have thus fascinations of their own for all comers, and abound in delights unique and ever- 
 satisfying for the summer seeker especially, the lake and river neighborhoods of the state have no lack of these 
 characteristics, though they appear in widely different forms. Glorious old Winnipesaukee ! that magnificent water 
 sheet, for which the Indian native could find no more fitting designation than “the Smile of God,” —can there be 
 found in state or country anywhere a vision of more perfect rest and peace and natural beauties than the bit of 
 scenery made up of this lake and its surroundings flashes upon the visitor ? Its placid waters, mountain-locked and 
 
island-dotted, and clear and limpid as the streams from which they are fed. have as readily commended themselves 
 and proved as irresistible to the poet and painter since their acquaintance was first made as have the waters and the 
 shores of the Mediterranean for centuries past. Here mountain and lowland scenery, the grandest land and water 
 effects, blend in a way unequalled and rarely rivalled elsewhere on the earth’s surface. And this is the situation 
 not alone with regard to Winnipesaukee and its neighborhoods, but in countless sections on every side of the White 
 Mountains in this state, the localities taking place under myriad features and conditions of surroundings and 
 circumstances, but always essentially presenting the characteristics that distinguish that upon which the Creator 
 so signally smiled. 
 
 Into this region, and traversing all these sections, the Concord & Montreal Railroad system penetrates as minis- 
 tering and beneficent agency in the development, service and visitation of them all. It follows the valley of the 
 Merrimac and the windings and turnings of that beautiful river from the state line of Massachusetts to the lake — 
 old Winnipesaukee — in which it takes its rise. Still farther northward it runs along the banks of the Connecticut 
 River on the extreme west of the great mountains and ranges ; pursues the course of the Ammonoosuc from its 
 mouth to its sources on the side of hoary Mt. Washington ; threads the valley of the Pemigewasset, among its 
 crooked pines and crossing its mad streams ; traverses the tablelands among and north of the Ammonoosuc neigh- 
 borhoods ; and winds in and out among the grand old mountains, skirting their bases and puffing its smoke and 
 steam-clouds among the trees that rise along their sides in every direction. Its connections are with every trunk 
 or direct line leading into the mountain region from any point of the compass. Its service is of the best known in 
 transportation, — frequent, rapid, comfortable, safe ! On all sides and for every desirable nook and corner and sum- 
 mering-place in this grand old state it is a direct and ever-ready highway. 
 
JUj4CTIOfi. 
 
 JTjijTHE southern terminus of the Concord & Montreal Railroad system is at Nashua, N.H. At this point is a 
 "p> union railway station, upon the site known as Nashua Junction, and into it lead the lines of the Nashua and 
 Acton Branch of the Concord & Montreal, the Southern and Worcester, Nashua and Portland Divisions of the 
 Boston & Maine Railroad, connecting with Providence, Worcester and Fall River, and the main line of the Concord 
 & Montreal as aforesaid. Nashua lies upon the line between the States of Massachusetts and New Hampshire, and 
 is at the confluence of two rivers, the Nashua and the Merrimack. In olden times the territory of this city formed a 
 part of the town of Dunstable, and some of the fiercest of the ravages of King Philip and his Indian followers were 
 experienced in this neighborhood. The present Nashua was not settled by the whites until considerably within 
 the present century ; and, with all its thrift and attainments, it is really one of the youngest community establish- 
 ments in New Hampshire, or in New England. The place is a lively manufacturing centre, the water-power being 
 furnished by Nashua River, through a canal three miles long, sixty feet wide and eight feet deep, with a fall of 
 thirty-six feet. Nashua became a city in 1853; and it is hard to realize that so late as 1803 its site was a “pine 
 barren ’’ — a sandy plain covered with pine trees. At present its streets are broad and well lighted, with fine shade 
 trees in every part and upon the estates adjoining. Its community is progressive and of the true New England 
 type. Its situation is rural and eminently healthful, and its suburb and neighborhoods have very much of the 
 peculiar beauties that distinguish New England localities. Its territory is hilly and rolling, and numerous roads 
 leading in every direction afford the finest drives. The Merrimack River runs directly through the centre of the 
 territory. On either side of it for miles, northward and southward, this river shows the marked peculiarities and 
 beauties which have made it the delight of poets and imaginative mortals for centuries. In closing his apostrophe 
 to the Merrimack, Whittier says : — 
 
 “O stream of the mountains! if answer of thine 
 Could rise from thy waters to questions of mine, 
 
 Methinks, through the din of thy thronged banks, a moan 
 Of sorrow would swell for the days which have gone. 
 
 “Not for thee the dull jar of the loom and the wheel, 
 The gliding of shuttles, the ringing of steel ; 
 
 But that old voice of waters, of bird and of breeze, 
 The dip of the wild fowl, the rustling of trees.” 
 
LiAI^E JVTASSABESIC. 
 
 f HE traveller for the first time entering the city of Manchester, via the Concord & Montreal Railroad, will 
 be likely to fancy that here is no summering establishment, no attractiveness of nature or community in 
 this locality, that would be likely to woo the visitor to any protracted sojourn or tarry at this season of 
 the year. Looking upon the long lines of brick-built factories and mills succeeding each other in seemingly 
 endless provision on the banks of the river, and the equally compact and elaborate rows of buildings of the same 
 material that occupy entirely the side-hills on the east, — the fitting adjuncts of this immense aggregate of mill 
 construction, — he will be apt to conclude that the city has usurped the place of the country hereabouts, and that 
 the centre is one of hard, dry, thriving business interests, rather than of rural and pastoral delights and pleasures. 
 
 But even a short experience in investigating the merits and features of the place will show him how great a 
 mistake he has made in thus concluding. In this part of the valley the Merrimac has cut its way, by the action of 
 centuries, through what was once an elevated plain ; and it now occupies a gorge of its own making, its waters 
 tumbling many feet, within a comparatively short distance, over and among ledges and crags and rock-masses — the 
 noted Amoskeag Falls, which the Indians knew and named long enough before any representatives of the whites 
 had made settlement in the region. The plain thus cut in twain is now occupied by the city whose factories almost 
 entirely hide the ancient falls from the view of the passenger on the railroad train. 
 
 But the sojourner in Manchester soon discovers that he has not far to go to find the city limits, and that outside 
 these, even before he has passed beyond the sight of red brick walls, there are natural beauties and situations that 
 would prove attractive anywhere ; and that the environs of ancient Amoskeag have countless beauties of their own 
 for the delectation of all who care to explore them. 
 
 About four miles eastward from the city, ensconced among fine wood-growths and fair New England hills, is 
 Lake Massabesic, which forms one of the foremost of the natural attractions of the Manchester neighborhoods. 
 No water-sheet could possibly exceed this lake in irregularity of outline ; for, though only four miles across in its 
 widest part, it has thirty-one miles of winding shore-line. Practically Massabesic presents a pair of twin lakes, 
 divided by a narrow ridge of sand beach, the opening at the upper end of which furnishes the only water connec- 
 tion between the two parts. In this lake are fish in plenty, of the kinds usual in the large ponds of northern New 
 England. On its shores and the lands receding from them the summer establishments of cottages, chalets, villas, 
 boat-houses, and the like are strewn abundantly, and the most is made of a situation delightsome in all its features, 
 and which combines in its attractions the best characteristics of summer life in New England. A view of a section 
 of this lake faces this sketch. 
 
HOHTH WEARE BRAHCfl. 
 
 f HE branches of the Concord & Montreal Railroad that are offshoots of its main line below, or southward 
 from Concord possess very largely the characteristics of the Merrimack Valley route, so far as territory, 
 scenery natural situations, etc., are concerned. They have mostly rivers and water systems of their own, 
 with the usual accompaniments of valley, meadow and intervale lands, and rural and country attributes generally. 
 Along these branches towns, villages and hamlets, farming and manufacturing establishments, and the almost 
 invariable manifestations accompanying New England life in all sections, succeed continually. In these portions of 
 territory are found the real town life of the State, where summer and winter its communities pursue the even tenor 
 of their way progressive, thrifty and strongly attached to and believing in their commonwealth. In summer time 
 these sections become the temporary abodes of thousands of visitors to the State ; and it is doubtless true that the 
 farmhouses and homesteads of the southern half of New Hampshire attract more sojourners every year than does 
 the more wildly picturesque mountain region, celebrated and widely known as it is. The summer homes of the 
 Old Granite State are in its quiet, peaceful and healthgiving valley and farming portions. 
 
 Of these branches of the lower Concord & Montreal system, that running from Manchester to North Weare 
 comes as nearly as any within the descriptions above given. This branch extends northwestward between the 
 noints just named, and includes the villages of Weare, Goffstown, Bedford, etc., within its service The road is laid 
 through the valley of the Piscataquog River, following closely the windings of the stream ; and these villages form 
 a nart of the valley community establishment. None of them are large m population, business, or manufacturing 
 interests ■ but they succeed each other so closely that the branch may be said to be laid from end to end through 
 one continuous village, with convenient points for stoppage provided along the whole way For summer homes, 
 and temporary abiding places during the outing season, these neighborhoods are unsurpassed anywhere. They are 
 sufficiently near the mountains to be influenced by their clear, cool breezes by day and night. All the conditions 
 
 are of rest, soothing and renovation for humanity. _ 
 
 On the line of this branch, and about five miles from Parker’s station, is the little village of New Boston. New 
 Boston is a typical portion of the section in all the characteristics of temporary homes for summer visitors and 
 soiourners, and is one of the most charming nooks imaginable, with natural attractions of the kind most sough by 
 weary and jaded humanity. This locality receives its full quota of guests from the outside world with the return 
 
 of every summer season. 
 
HOOKSETT. 
 
 7TOHE valley of the Merrimac is almost uniformly characterized by rural, pastoral scenery and its distinguishing 
 ^ natural qualities are those of quiet and restfulness on every hand. The river indeed is swift-running but t 
 1 is rarely tumultuous or of rapid descent : while its banks slope gently upwards on either side, the land swell- 
 ing into undulations and hill formations incessantly succeeding as they recede, this form of scenery often occupy ’“ g 
 for miles together with no striking or unusual departure from the rule to mark its prevalence. Occasionally, how- 
 ever this monotony is relieved or wholly broken by manifestations more or less nearly approaching the reverse 
 these Wild disorder takes the place of serene quietude; ragged and rugged semi-mountainous heights app 
 instead of fairly rounded hilltops ; and the waters are found rushing and tumbling over obstructions or throug 
 gorges or channels deep-cut in rocky beds, their surfaces flecked with foam masses, or torn and rent ate the man 
 S f 6 pet ranids The river scenery at such points becomes no less interesting- and attractive to the beho de . 
 S.rvma“oYroS.t is planted I. the midst of one of these oee.sion.f depart.,,. ™ 
 
 scenery of the Merrimac. It is a manufacturing centre of considerable importance; and some of its prmc p 
 scenery of tne m ma sses ^ rushm strugg i lng waters and wild 
 
 cTnoenttS a. though*. mini.ture fra B „e„, from the hear, of Franconia or the 
 bases of the Presidential Kan t e had been transported hither, to remind the visitor that not alone the softest features 
 , 4 i „„„„ the face of the Old Granite State. Some distance above the village the river begins to fall, 
 
 TnTlsitVasses though the settled portion, it tumbles sixteen feet over rocks and ledges that convert its waters 
 into’ a most picturesquJ fall, while their descent gives them large power for manufacturing purposes. Below he 
 falls the river courses furiously for some distance before it resumes again its usual quiet and smooth-flowing hab . 
 
 Near the left bank of the river going north, and in the west part of the territory of Hooksett Pinnacle Mountain 
 rises ragged and monumental in appearance to a considerable height above its .surrounding. s > apP& ^ 
 
 height is largely an exaggeration, growing out of the lowland features in the midst of which it is found. This 
 
 hi 
 
 with the main line of the Concord & Montreal at this station. 
 
PITTSpIEIiD. 
 
 « y~\ j o_ TVTnntrpal 'Railroad leading off the main line south of Concord, the Sun- 
 
 F the branches of the Concord £ acc g OU nt of its natural scenery and fine village sites 
 
 cook Valley Branch . ,. the Suncook Valley lies along the course of the Suncook River; 
 
 and improvements. As the name f f offl Hooksett to Centre Barnstead, 
 
 and the branch taking this nam ^ Chiche ster and Pittsfield in its route. The junction of this branch with 
 
 ;r 1Ud Se'ifi 0 Su“ ook ..o«L above Hooksete and sixty-eight mile, from Boston. Snncook is not a town, 
 
 both river nd min 
 
 “ c™eLd beautifully bordered with eims and shade tree, and 
 through most attractive aceoety allttie way. drM.nceof ^ fonn ,j riv „ bottoms 
 
 The scenic fea ures . , picturesque This valley is eminently a dairy neighborhood, and 
 
 ~n ne.hborhood. Xhis va.iey i, one o, the 
 
 finest in the State for aumme. ““.ThttS’the LISTthe picture facing this sketch, one of 
 Twenty mile, from Hooksett on tbisbmnch he, Mtth^ ^ ^ Ume (ia ^, Pitls6eia is 
 
 the most thriving, enterpns g, P ce „ tre of qu ite extensive business and trading enterprises. The 
 
 the home of the Governor of the S , „„ ro . P w hich in the course of centuries, it has cut in the hilly 
 
 Suncook River at th ^ P °^\l° WS ^ n ™^ u p - eTasteep bluff overlooking this gorge, with its manufacturing establish- 
 formation hereabouts, and the tow P remar £ ably beautiful> and the place has become very popular as a 
 
 ments near the water-side. The situ farms wbere numer ous summer visitors are entertained every 
 
 “Sima'S""- ridge known a. 'catam.n.t Mountain, from the top of which the ocean 
 and many Northern mountain peaks may be seen. 
 
COHCOIRD STATION. 
 
 ™hE passenger station at Concord of the 
 
 kind known among the railways.. Its en ire e serviceable and convenient of buildings. 
 
 1 in design, construction and ^ ^ depot presents a very striking picture, and the 
 
 Tn noint of finish, ornamentation and arch favorable to every onlooker. 
 
 impression produced by its general appearance is pleasing building is 2 g 0 f e et long and 65 feet wide, 
 
 The style of the building is of the English renaissanc constructed of dark red brick, with 
 
 and contains three completely finished stones a basement and an attic.^ ^ ^ red ot ta 
 
 : Ti. — - — - - * - part,cuary 
 
 rotunda ia open to tire roof, exposing tie massive oak ^timbera ove corre ,p„„ding with the general style 
 
 natural woods, with maps and traeenes upon > the wf « » paceful iron wort lead to galleries of the 
 
 of the edifice The floor is tiled with marble. Staircases ot g general offices of the company in the 
 
 ,n " ,i,i ” a * par, ” e ” ,s ' e “ h part in k “ pi " e "" y ; 
 £ ^rS^tlon any tfud o, station husiuess dud per, ee, 
 
 facilities at this point. 
 
CONCORD — THE STATE JiOtJSE. 
 
 , . , •_ hllilt alonK the west bank of the Merrimack 
 
 /CONCORD is the capital of the State of New Hamps > ire, d i t River . The city was originally 
 
 g River, at a point abont equidistant its territory. At that time this section of 
 
 called Pennacook, from the Pennacook Indians ^ ^ , the Ind ians soon after vacating. 
 
 New England was a part of Massachusetts, ut was ^ ran resided here for many years, and who left his 
 
 In , 733 L place was ca„ed Rnmford, «ro„ C»». ^ ka , ev „ do «. Al.eewa.d. 
 
 impress upon the institutions, memorials and history of t y cUim[ the place ; and before the whole matter 
 
 the place was called Bow, the proprietors of the town of that 1 grant had no va i U e, all parties 
 
 could be settled, the New Hampshire courts . io „ who decided in favor of the people of Rnmford 
 
 In 05 “ 
 
 W “co™oS“““b‘aS,Mly .itua.cd o. high groun d that i. leveM 
 
 elevation. It. outlook, are over man, m.le. of the f.>r«st vall.ja of Hew England scenery, 
 
 by the Merrimack and other water surfaces, andp resell % . as the wagon works, the largest in the world, 
 
 Within its limits are the headquarters of many manufactories, harnesses, etc., etc. Within its limits 
 
 the products of which are known in every country furn ^ ^ tfae constr uction of public buildings in 
 
 are inexhaustible quarries of finest granite, which has be g Y pennacooki within the northern borders of 
 
 various sections. Its water supply is unusually fine ^ the city h as grown considerably on the east side 
 
 the city. Numerous bridges cross the Merrimack at th ® ^ J are b g f0ad and attractive, great numbers 
 
 of the river within recent years. The streets and thoroug f ^ Public buildings and institutions are of fre- 
 
 of venerable shade trees enhancing their otherwise tall thousand)) am ong which the State Asylum for the 
 
 quent occurrence, relatively to the size of the population (fift th ^ are prom inent. The Capitol is a fine 
 
 Insane, St. Paul’s School, the Union Railroad Station and [ t £ uponM ain Street. The architecture 
 
 ££2; s o. — .nd 
 
ST. PAUli’S SCHOOIi. 
 
 TaN the little village of Millville, two miles out westward from the business centre of Concord, is the educational 
 I establishment known as St. Paul’s School. Millville is beautifully situated naturally, with surrounding hills 
 receding in successions on almost every side, a lakelet and a diminutive river within the basin or intervale in 
 which it is ensconced, and the fairest pastoral and varied rural scenes characterizing the outlooks m all directions. 
 The school establishment is the centre of an intensely busy and progressive, but thoroughly quiet and peaceful, 
 country life, a hive of industry set up in a retired nook as it were, whose inmates and belongings and interests have 
 apparently little to do with the outside world, but where the hum of continual enterprise never ceases. 
 
 St. Paul’s School is a Concord institution. The grounds upon which it stands were originally known as the 
 “ Shattuck Farm,” and were given to the institution at its founding in 1855, by Dr. G. C. Shattuck, of Boston. In 
 the years that have passed since its beginning it has become widely known as one of the finest schools for boys in 
 the country,- in the world in fact,- and the great cities of the Union have sent representatives of their best families 
 thither ever since its foundation. Its special province is the preparation of boys for all colleges and universities, 
 and its work may be said to be exclusively in this branch. Essentially it is an Episcopal foundation, and its 
 
 present establishment, endowments, government and management are all within that denomination 
 
 At present St. Paul’s has three hundred and fifty pupils. It is divided into Upper and Dower Schools for which 
 four large buildings have been provided, the pupils being classified according to years A large school building 
 for the older boys was added in 1891. There are also special buildings for the youngest boys, the extremes of age 
 being carefully kept apart. For other buildings there is an infirmary ; a gymnasium completely fitted, with a large 
 hall in its upper story ; buildings for dwellings, fitted up in every respect like the largest first-class hotels a " d cot ' 
 tage residences for members of the Faculty. The old Chapel still remains ; but two years ago the Chapel of Saint 
 Peter and Saint Paul was built at a cost of $100,000. This chapel has a surpliced choir of forty boys one of the 
 finest in the denomination. A large farm forms part of the establishment, which furnishes vegetables, fruits, 
 dairy products, etc., far in excess of all the needs of the school. Every modern appliance and convenience for 
 school and domestic life is to be found in this establishment. The drive out to St. Paul’s, from the city centre, is 
 one of the finest in the neighborhoods of the latter. 
 
TILiTOH. 
 
 was here situated, at the head of Eittle B y. q{ students . Here, also, upon a breezy 
 
 the New Hampshire Seminary and Female Co e S e > w f Disabled Soldiers, of recent estab- 
 
 and most beautiful site a few miles out from the village, i the State Home ior Dg ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ 
 
 lishment, but of most thorough and effective place . and witbin this ha ll are the portraits of Samuel 
 
 Esquire, the present representative o Tn every nart of the town the generosity and benefi- 
 
 and Alexander H. Tilton, from whom the name desce, "^”"1 eat variety and beauty. The Winnipe- 
 cence of the Tiltons are tllustrated by establishmen railroad station and within the village, npon 
 
 saukee River flows through this town ; and as or is an Tnt Upon lofty heights overlooking the 
 
 an island in this river, is a charming summer house built ^Napoleonic Triumphal Arch of 
 
 village stands a granite arch, a reproduction, m m P . ^ sc ’ attered about in various localities within 
 
 the Champs Elysee in Paris. Statues an gur bo me attachments of the representatives of the 
 
 the streets and public places, all testifying to t e pu P outlooks from the hilltops and high lands are 
 
 Tilton name. The territory of the site « broken a cha rming Merrimack and its valley, 
 extremely fine. At this place the traveller ^^ery of the mountain region. At East Tilton 
 
 *e landscapes, and large bodies of water close at hand from the 
 
 the m T n T of the Concord & Montreal Rail_ 
 
 road. This branch has recently been completed, and runs through fine rural section . 
 
GA$DriEt*’S g^oVE. 
 
 f HE Tilton and Belmont Branch is the title of one of the latest offshoots from the main line of the Concord 
 & Montreal Railroad. As the name implies, this branch connects the towns of Tilton and Belmont, and is 
 only about seven miles in length. Belmont lies well up among the foothills of the Belknap Range, and with 
 Guilford and Gilmington occupies an intervale section between the Winnipesaukee River and the mountains of 
 unequalled loveliness and attractions in summer — the very Acadia of pilgrims from abroad. 
 
 The characteristic community life of these sections is of farm and country homestead establishments. Though 
 near the centres of the busy world, and within easy distance in every part of the lines of the great railroad above- 
 mentioned, the hamlets and villages along this branch and under the shadow, as it were, of the beautiful mountain 
 range that alone lifts its peaks south of Rake Winnipesaukee, present the very epitome of all that is restful and 
 rural in New Hampshire summer home life, and offer charms to the health or recreation seeker impossible to be 
 resisted when recognized. In all directions the country is broken and rolling, with the best of carriage roads wind- 
 ing over or around the successions of hills, and with lake or river or mountain never too far away to render these 
 objective points for beautiful drives or pedestrian excursions, and offering the finest rewards to the visitor when 
 
 they have been reached. 
 
 About half-way between Tilton and Belmont, and near the line of this branch railroad, is Gardner’s Grove : one 
 of those primitive, woodsy, naturally prepared localities of the old Granite State that seem to have been designed 
 especially for the delectation of excursion makers and picnicers, and which apparently serve no other earthly 
 purpose than to furnish a theatre for the delights and pastimes of the summer season. No grove is complete with- 
 out its accompanying water-sheet; and Gardner’s Grove is peculiarly favored in this respect, having a beautiful 
 pond, or lakelet, in its midst, with fine sandy beach shores and excellent scenic qualities on every side. . Upon the 
 shores the cottages and camping stations of its regular summer visitors are to be found, with such buildings and 
 constructions as are necessary for the entertainment of the summer population of the neighborhoods. Facilities for 
 boating on the pond, and for every description of appropriate sporting and pastime on the land or water, are in full 
 provision. For camping parties here and hereabouts the attractions are numerous indeed ; and so retired and 
 primitively natural is the locality that one can easily believe himself within the ancient wilds of the region, although 
 he may be scarcely beyond the shrill warning of the locomotive, or the dull roar of the passing train. 
 
nflcor4ifl. 
 
 WiROM the southwestern corner of hake Winnipesaukee a chain of lesser lakes or large ponds extends south- 
 W ward for many miles, until they find a limit in the northern part of the Tilton territory. _ The outlet of 
 Winnipesaukee is through this chain of lakelets; and the final collection of their waters is m that swift- 
 moving stream, the Merrimack River. The largest body of the constituents of this chain is that nearest the 
 great lake itself, and is usually known as Great Pond, but more properly as Take Winnisquam an Indian title 
 signifying “beautiful water.” Winnisquam is about nine miles in length, and is two miles across at its widest 
 point “Beautiful water” indeedit is, dotted with lovely islets in all its upper portions, surrounded by finely 
 wooded hills, the reflections of which in its waters make series of the finest summer pictures ; and a centre, m sum- 
 mer and winter alike, of delights and sports and pastimes such as no inland water-sheet in New England can excel. 
 
 Along the eastern shore of Take Winnisquam lies the town of Tacoma, its northern limits only a mile or two 
 removed from the mouth of Winnipesaukee, while on the east its territory reaches into the Belknap sections 
 and on the south joins Tilton. A town of factories and varying industries and artificial productions is this, full of 
 the life and energy that characterize such centres, and presenting, it must be owned, some strong contrasts with the 
 wonderfully fine natural scenery surrounding. Nevertheless, within its village lines are fine headquarters for the 
 summer visitor or sojourner, from which excursions as frequent as desired may be made to points where nature 
 still holds her primitive forms, wears her primeval vestments, and appears under the sun as when fresh from the 
 
 a half to the northeast, and so near the south shore of Take Winnipesaukee as to fairly over- 
 look it ancient Mount Belknap lifts its head, one of the most symmetrical and nicely proportioned of mountains 
 The ™t“ok S from Mount Belknap fairly .nrpas. those from Red Hill, and include, beaide, W,„„,pe..uke. and 
 the lakes and mountains adjacent, fine views of the Presidential and Franconia ranges and even a section o 
 the Atlantic coast scenery along the Maine, New Hampshire, and Massachusetts shores. The hills about Tacoma 
 village also afford excellent views over great sections of country, that enhance the natural attractiveness of tlieir 
 situations. The intervales between Take Winnisquam and the bases of the Belknap Range comprise rich farm- 
 ing lands and are made up of those restful, quiet, and winsome localities which have so largely gained or ew 
 Hampshire its reputation as a summering state. In all these sections the summer boarding-house forms a most 
 important and characteristic feature. 
 
IiAI^E SfiO^E 
 
 f NTIL very recently the entire south shore of Lake Winnipesaukee, from Lake Village on the west to Alton Bay 
 on the east —a distance of nearly twenty miles, — had been left, with a few exceptions, in the unreclaimed and 
 primitive state which characterized it when the Indian alone formed the population of the region and called 
 himself sole owner of its sections. Here and there along this border land there came to be in the course of time a 
 few settlers’ or farmers’ establishments, appearing not half so frequently, however, on this shore as did mighty 
 mountains in the magnificent view on its opposite. The lake fishermen, the sportsmen, and the pedestrian tourist 
 also learned to know this adjunct of the lake more or less intimately, and always with the result that these wan- 
 derers had remarkable tales to tell of magnificent outlooks over the most fascinating scenes, — grand pictures of the 
 lake and its islands from standpoints such as could be found nowhere else, and new revelations of the wealth of 
 beauties belonging to old Winnipesaukee that characterize this shore. And they were right. Level and monotonous 
 almost to tameness in comparison with every other of the surroundings of this wonderful lake, the immediate 
 vicinities of its southern shores have yet an interest and attractiveness superior in some respects to anything that is 
 presented elsewhere on its coasts. The views of mountain tracts and peaks and sides afforded all along the upper 
 half of this shore have no superior in the mountain region. Even those from the Jefferson and Lancaster highlands, 
 and from many similar famous points, must be regarded as in many respects far inferior. 
 
 The general outline of this shore is not very ragged or broken ; indeed, it is almost as regular and symmetrical 
 upon close view as it appears from distant standpoints. It presents many clear, sandy beaches, glistening white and 
 clear in the sunshine or under the moon’s rays ; an occasional bold bluff in miniature, or stretch of semi-cliffy 
 formation ; and here and there alternating meadow and light woodlands, rolling down to the very edge of the water 
 mark. There is the minimum of rock and ledge outcropping here ; nor are there boldly jutting points, nor long- 
 drawn tongues or spurs of shore indenting the waters in any part. Within a few miles of the western terminus 
 of this shore, however, within the territory of Guilford, though not very near its thickly settled portion, is a sort 
 of half-ambitious promontory that makes out into the waters of the lake farther than any other of its kind on the 
 whole shore, and which is known as Carr’s Point. Upon and about this point an establishment known as Lake 
 Shore Park has been planted, its grounds laid out systematically into building-lots, pleasure and recreation in- 
 closures and reservations, hotel sites and the like, and every advantage taken of the natural situations presented 
 for summer homes and sojourning for large numbers of people. It is of the shore lands of this park and the 
 outlines of its distant views that the following page gives a picture. 
 
TH e U1EI1RS — Uill^NlPESfllJKHE. 
 
 , .. tVl . pvtreme west shores of Lake Winnipesaukee, and takes its name from the 
 
 TXTHE Weirs is a station on T „, ; _ ^crhhorhood. particularly the Winnipesaukee and 
 
 
 west snuicb ui »» . , A 
 
 ■ — . , . hv the Indians of the neighborhood, particularly the Winnipesaukee and 
 
 fact that m days long g ? fishing season and filled the shallows near the outlet of the 
 
 Ossipee tribes, encamp , . . ^ Here the Winnipesaukee tribe passed weeks 
 
 lake with fish-weirs, in which they too s mac m gr y Indians in fishing were spread along rude 
 
 structures were st.udiu, W utter ttre p.uce 
 
 spot , and evert at 
 
 scope, as indicated in tne cur iacmg _ . .... tvucirles the great army of summer 
 
 societies and organizations of every kind religmus, y delig htsome ’ Grand out-door meetings and con- 
 
 visitors that throughout the season fin y P , , „ roves on the hillsides, the members often 
 
 ventions of the organizations above referred to are held m l ^ “LelRnt provision. The 
 camping in the vicinity, or distributing among Qwn liere = the west s i de of the Concord & Montreal 
 
 New Hampshire Veterans’ Association has a gr v religious meetings are held is between the track 
 
 Railroad track; while the beautiful grove m which most of the reh, station , on lhe shore ap- 
 
 tTe^ndico* Rock,” a big bowlder 
 
 steamer “Lady of the Lake” makes daily trips to 
 
 Centre Harbor, Cong Island and Wolfeboro. 
 
CBpTfm fLRHIBOH. 
 
 vN the northwestern shores of hake Winnipesaukee, on one of the little bays that make into the land m 
 this section lies Centre Harbor, one of the most beautiful localities of the lake neighborhoods. Centre 
 Harbor lies distant from Weirs about ten miles, and is most easily reached by steamboat from that place, th 
 route lying through the most attractive and picturesque portions of the Winnipesaukee scenery. It is also con- 
 nected by excellent carriage road with Meredith, on the main line of the Concord & Montreal Railroad, a few miles 
 north from Weirs ; but the lake route is usually preferred in reaching it, and m the course of it the finest possible 
 nf the lake are obtained and also many charming outlooks upon notable mountain scenes comparatively 
 t W Cento Mor takes its name - although it does not follow the original spelling-from Colonel 
 Senter who settled here in 1757. Besides the advantages of lying along the beautiful shores of the lake this place 
 is a centre from which diverge some of the finest drives in the scenic region of New Hampshire. Centre Harbor 
 Hill Red Hill Shepherd Hill, the beautiful chain of Squam hakes, Ashland, Plymouth, and the mountains of e 
 Sandwich Range -all these points are readily reached by the driveways leading outward from Centre Harbor an 
 Sandwich Ra g directions are always in order and full of delights for the summer visitors to the place, 
 
 excursion f Red t he drive is four miles. Red Hill is upwards of two thousand feet m 
 
 From Centre from the base to its summit. From the top of Red Hill views of 
 
 SaLTn anYts parts, of Mount Belknap and the southern country, and of lofty mountains almost innumerable 
 hand are obtained and richly reward all adventurers who make the ascent. Mount Kearsarge, thirty 
 
 *<*„ summit; and t.dsu the ait is Ceases, add ihe s»„ shmes 
 
 Sente^House^overl^^^^^la^tng^pl^e^f^he^steamb^ats^t Centre" Harbor, is one of the great hotels 
 , • 1 _ _ fhfi mnst attractive sites. Its predecessor of the same name stood 
 
 a f fet\^ fromThTshore than the present building, but was destroyed by fire a few years since. For 
 
 lake and mountain scenery combined, Centre Harbor has no equal m the old Granite State. 
 
SQURJVI $IVER — flSHkflHD. 
 
 , . .. , - i; ne 0 f the Concord & Montreal Railroad, the Meredith 
 
 l 'sSps^=5=SS= 
 
 lively, typical New England community ^ P ed river that, enlarging and spreading out into lake 
 
 PemigewassetRrversumte; j and which are usually known as the Squam 
 formations that succeed f Ashland much of its singular beauty and attractiveness. 
 
 Lakes, gives to the section east and southeast ^esa^S ^ ^even miles; and if more of fascinating 
 
 scenerj^^nade 1 t^of^ountahm^lake^and rive^waters, and intervales of the loveliest description, can he found any- 
 t^Pl^notrth^^Th^ mahnTine > ™f ^the T ^lroad' atove-named^the^^istonce is about five miles. 
 
 F „rZe^, h eL, n ,,^ 
 
 of “ Me'asley food," which is hardly au^eafive of the beautiful sutroundinits 
 
 ,o „o,c h„„ trrs 
 
 road system occupies the shores o rl ^ s ' f th Winn i p esaukee River are reached and crossed, 
 
 leaves the banks of the Merrimack At Tilton the ^waters ot the ^ P is skirte d, which, with its 
 
 A. Laconia, hardly core than a W Joscu U J uke Winnipcautce is reached. 
 
 succeeding water-sheets, gives a bay s g within biscuit-toss of it, the main line stretches to 
 
 Along the whole west shore of Winnipesaukee and always wi ^ YcfSeed shortly aboye Plymoutll the Con _ 
 
 Meredith; and from Meredith to Ashlar. i* t h Ythe Ammonoosuc, from its junction with the Connecticut to the 
 S?SSSn“ almost exactly followed. Nor must the Pemigewasset and other river valleys be for- 
 gotten. Truly this is a great river and lake route. 
 
SQUAGQ 
 
 f HE body, or bodies, of water usually known as Squaru Lake is really made up of a succession of lakelets 
 of varying size and outlines, each well-defined and complete within itself, but all collectively presenting 
 the features of a widely extended long-drawn lake formation. These lakelets are uniquely distributed, and 
 their assemblage is a natural wonder in a section where singular and striking natural features are as common as 
 woods-growth upon a mountain side. In another sketch in this little volume reference has been made to the road- 
 way leading from Ashland, on the main line of the Concord & Montreal Railroad, to Centre Harbor, on the shore of 
 Lake Winnipesaukee. This road runs directly through the Squaru Lake sections for many miles, following closely 
 the shores of the lakelets, and occasionally crossing the river when it is narrowed down to the ordinary limits of a 
 stream connecting the broader water-sheets. 
 
 The revelations of beauty and attractiveness in natural scenery incident to a drive over this road are remarkable. 
 The valley holding the Squam waters is hemmed in on every side by lofty hills, that occasionally rise to the dignity 
 of mountains overlooking the scenes ; and now and then, as the road itself winds over some border hill, great 
 mountain ranges or individual peaks near to or remote from the valley come into view, the never failing objects of 
 delight and exciting experiences to the beholder. The contrast in the landscapes between these broad water- 
 surfaces outspread over thousands of acres of valley lands and the variously rising mountain heights stretching as 
 far away as the eye can see on every hand, fairly captivates every witness of their effects, and fascinates as superb 
 pictures of rarest merit never can. On every side the scenes are wildly beautiful. 
 
 The waters of Squam Lake are of the rarest purity, and they are dotted in every part with islands, the colors of 
 whose verdure and foliage in summer time enhance the attractions of their white, sandy shores and those of the 
 main land bordering upon the lake. About half way between Ashland and Centre Harbor the road passes over 
 Shepard Hill, a boldly rising elevation of goodly height in the very heart of the lake section. Upon the summit of 
 this hill stands the Asquam House, a mountain hotel of the first quality. Riding forward from Shepard Hill to 
 Centre Harbor the road runs very near the base of Red Hill, concerning which a noted mountain writer has said, 
 11 Whoever misses the view from Red Hill loses the most fascinating and thoroughly enjoyable view, from a 
 moderate mountain height, that can be gained from any eminence that lies near the tourists’ path.” 
 
jviehhdith, H-K- 
 
 1V-TEXT north of Weirs, on the main line of the Concord & Montreal Railroad, lies Meredith, one of the most 
 psj picturesque of all the lake towns, and possessed of peculiar attractions and advantages for summer visitors 
 J to New Hampshire. Meredith Village is about thirty-seven miles from Concord and one hundred and twelve 
 miles from Boston. This village is beautifully situated upon an ample bay that makes inland from Lake Winnipe- 
 saukee, and forms its extreme northwest section. Into this bay the small steamers that traverse the great lake 
 enter in summer time affording for Meredith a water route connection with Centre Harbor, Weirs, Lakeport and the 
 havens and harbors at the east end of the lake. Ashland is the next town northward on the line of the railroad, and 
 between Meredith and Ashland there is another charming water-sheet — Lake Waukawan. Also within the terri- 
 tory of this town are numerous lesser lakes and large ponds, with several streams which have been utilized for 
 manufacturing purposes. As will be seen the water features of this place are in great number and most superior 
 character ; and therein lies a peculiar merit of the town as a summer resort. Centre Harbor is distant from Mere- 
 dith about five miles, and the two places are connected by an excellent road, running through fine scenic sections, 
 and forming one of the best driveways in the State. On the north, in the neighborhoods of Lake Waukawan, the 
 outlooks include some fine mountain scenery, Moosilauke, Mount Prospect, Sandwich Dome, Tripyramid, White 
 Face, Passaconaway, and other peaks rising in the immediate foreground. 
 
 Meredith has already become a summer resort of no mean pretensions, and its importance in this regard is 
 increasing with every season that passes. The shores and islands of its manifold lakes are admirably adapted for 
 sojourning and camping purposes, and the facilities it affords for boating, fishing and water sports and pastimes 
 generally, are not surpassed in any other locality in the region. The town has a population of about two thousand 
 — wide-a4ake, progressive and typical New England people, who are intensely interested in developing the natural 
 resources and capabilities of the place, and consequently do all in their power to enhance the pleasures of summer 
 visitors to their sections, and render their sojourn agreeable. Indeed, Meredith has many claims upon the public 
 seeking pleasure and recreation in summer time that are not presented in the foregoing of this sketch, but are 
 directly in line with the situations as already presented. 
 
piiYmoUTH. 
 
 » LYMOUTH, the shire town of Grafton County, may be said to lay fairly within the gateway of the White 
 Mountains region on the west. Situated near the junction of the Pemigewasset and Baker’s rivers, it is 
 indeed a beautiful New England village, in the midst of most attractive scenery ; nor is it without an 
 interesting history of its own. In one of its ancient buildings the voice of the young lawyer, Daniel Webster, 
 was heard making his first plea before a jury. Its territory has witnessed many fierce conflicts between its white 
 settlers and the native Indians, for Indian villages were once more numerous about here than are white residents at 
 the present day. In the great hotel here, Nathaniel Hawthorne met his death in 1864. Though not large in popula- 
 tion the place is a considerable trade centre, and has some manufacturers that have become celebrated in every mart 
 in the Northern United States. 
 
 The mountain scenery about Plymouth is notably attractive. In the near neighborhood is Mount Monadnock, 
 and lofty peaks loom skyward all the way round from this elevation to Mount Moosilauke. The opening into the 
 Pemigewasset Valley is a doorway of the town, so to speak ; while beyond is Mount Prospect, from which the 
 Franconia and White Mountains, Osceola and White Face, the Squam Range, some Sandwich peaks, with the 
 waters of Squam Lake and Winnipesaukee outspread in the intervals, form a succession of grandest features in 
 the landscapes. In the village itself numerous sightly hills are to be found overlooking great sections of the wild 
 country of the region, and no point in the White Mountains territory affords a finer centre from which to make 
 delightful excursions, pedestrian or driving, than does this ancient county seat. The railroad here follows closely 
 the river bank, and the river forms the eastern boundary of the town, while on the far side of its narrow waters the 
 charming intervales and rolling uplands of the town of Holderness are outspread. Just within the Pemigewasset 
 Valley are the picturesque Livermore Falls, in the neighborhood of which is to be found one of the famous fish- 
 hatching establishments of the country. 
 
 One of the finest modern possessions of the town is its great hotel, the Pemigewasset House, a fair specimen 
 of the caravansaries that have of late years been established at the most important central points within the White 
 Mountains territory. This hotel is owned and its operations are directed by the Concord & Montreal Railroad, 
 the express trains of the latter rolling literally to the very doorways of its basement, and making seasonable stop 
 here always for the refreshment of their passengers. The Pemigewasset House is of itself a noted institution of 
 Plymouth. 
 
F^^ricoriifl fotch. 
 
 f ERHAPS no scenery of the Franconia Notch is more interesting than that which lies about its northern 
 opening, — its gateway as it were,— where so many wonderful natural phenomena and manifestations are 
 grouped. Here are mountains on every hand, exhibiting all the features and peculiarities that render the 
 White Mountains region irresistibly attractive to every mortal coming within their influence, and possessing 
 some characteristics of their own that fascinate all beholders. Here is the “Old Man of the Mountain,” his 
 stony face set inflexibly in the mountain-top, as with far-off gaze he looks out over the world, as it were, 
 noting only the flight of time and the vicissitudes of centuries. Here, at the base of the upheaval from which 
 he has looked forth for ages, is Profile Fake ; and across the plateau on the north its twin creation, Echo Fake, 
 of which one has said: “Franconia is more fortunate in its little tarn, that is rimmed by the undisturbed 
 wilderness and watched by the grizzled peak of Fafayette, than in the Old Stone Face from which it has gained 
 so much celebrity.” Between the two lakes, and occupying the diminutive plateau aforesaid, is the hotel 
 establishment known as the Profile House, as notable in the artificial as are its surroundings in the natural 
 world Here Fafayette and Cannon, and Eagle and Bald Mountains, and heights that are little else than per- 
 pendicular rock-masses, lofty and serrated, look down majestically upon every situation they enclose, and upon 
 every living, moving thing that passes before their portals, or ventures into the ravine they guard perpetually. 
 Hereabouts cascades fall, and silvery streams, taking their rise upon the mountain-sides, begin courses that are 
 continued among scenes even more picturesque and grandly beautiful than can be found at this marvellous 
 
 gateway. . 
 
 And the situation thus magnificently opened becomes more and more attractive and wonderful as one 
 advances upon it. The delights and revelations and superb natural presentations of the Franconia Notch no 
 word-painting nor descriptive effort can adequately set forth. These must be seen, and seen many times and 
 under varying circumstances, to be entirely appreciated. 
 
 The Notch is about seven miles long from end to end, and opens on the south directly into the Pemigewasset 
 Valley with ancient Pemigewasset Mountain standing like a sentinel to guard the approaches to the latter, The 
 wild scenery of the Notch is fitly continued in the Valley, in different forms and more roomy situations, however. 
 
PEJVUGELUASSET — TJlE VALtEEY Af4D TJ4H mOU^TAI^l. 
 
 f ROM Plymouth, on the main line of the Concord & Montreal Railroad above Lake Winnipesaukee, to the 
 Profile House at the head of Franconia Notch, is a distance of about thirty-one miles, at least three-quarters 
 of which is within the picturesque Pemigewasset Valley. Formerly the trip between these two points was 
 made entirely by stage-coach or private conveyance ; but within recent years the Concord & Montreal Railroad has 
 sent out a spur extending throughout the greater part of the valley, or from Plymouth to North Woodstock, which 
 is known as the Pemigewasset Branch. The added facilities have greatly stimulated summer travel in this most 
 wildly beautiful of all the White Mountain sections ; and neighborhoods that were once intimately known only to 
 artists and enthusiastic lovers of nature, have been revealed to thousands upon thousands of delighted visitors, who 
 never tire of recounting their experiences while in this valley, or anticipating the time when they may return there. 
 
 The Pemigewasset Valley has presented superior attractions to the artist and the poet ever since the natural 
 scenery of the Old Granite State began to be known outside its limits. Longfellow and Whittier never failed to 
 find inspiration among its features, and artists without number have admired and studied and pictured its scenes 
 until the stay-at-homes in every part of the country are almost as familiar with its situations as are those who have 
 personally explored its wonders. Mad River; the hills and woods, grottos and caves, about Campton ; the cliffs 
 and ravines and primitive natural scenery in the Thornton neighborhoods; the glorious revelation of mighty 
 mountains more or less remote, isolated or in groups or chains, incident to every part of the valley, but crowding 
 more and more thickly as the way is pursued northward, — these characteristics are full of exciting and delightsome 
 experiences for the traveller or sojourner, and richly reward all efforts made in their seeking. 
 
 The Pemigewasset River, outflowing from Profile Rake at the far end of Franconia Notch, falls upwards of 
 fifteen hundred feet in its course before arriving at Plymouth. The railroad, so far as it goes, and the stage road 
 follow closely the pathway of this river for its entire length. The valley is hardly entered from Plymouth before 
 its wonders begin to become apparent. The river winds sometimes among luxuriant meadow-lands, broad and open, 
 with dark hill borders crowned with the richest forest growths on either hand ; or it dashes through narrow gorges, 
 or wildernesses contracted among cliffs and crags. At various points great mountains come into view— Lafayette, 
 Tincoln, Liberty, Flume, Pemigewasset, Cannon, Kinsman, Little Coolidge, Big Coolidge, the Potash Mountains. 
 Mount Pemigewasset marks the junction of the Pemigewasset Valley and Franconia Notch. 
 
THE FEUf/IE. 
 
 OT far from the lower, or southernmost, end of Franconia Notch, and about six miles below the Profile 
 House is “The Flume,” a wonderful natural fissure in the side of Flume Mountain, upwards of seven 
 hundred feet in length, and walled by precipitous crags and rock masses from twenty to seventy or even 
 more feet in height. Through this gorge a swift-running brook descends, its waters torn to shreds for the whole 
 distance The Flume has been regarded from the earliest days as one of the most remarka e o e na ura 
 features incident to White Mountains scenery ; but it is not now what it once was. Formerly its walls were con- 
 tracted more and more as the beginning of the gorge was neared at its upper end, until the craggy masses rose 
 almost perpendicularly, or slightly overhanging, to their greatest height, and the opening was only a few feet in 
 width between them. At the very top of this opening a huge bowlder, tons m weight, and of colossal dimension , 
 was held in place by the firm pressure of the crags upon it, suspended in such manner that it seemed as if the 
 slightest relaxation of the hold upon it -a jar of the mountain following a thunder-burst, or the crumbling o i s 
 faces through its own weight-would precipitate the mass upon the bed of the brook below. The s “°"^ aS 
 of rare beauty and interest, even in a region where grand and impressive natural scenes are scattered about like 
 ships upon the ocean. The views from the Flume House, on the side-hills opposite the bed of the canon into 
 which the Flume opened at its lower end, were, and still remain, of the very finest m the mountains. 
 
 But in the early part of the last decade, this feature of mountain scenery was changed in the twinkling of an 
 eye ” so to speak. On the 19th of June, 1883, at about eleven o'clock in the forenoon, a terrible rumbling an 
 roaring and thundering was heard at the Flume House. For forty minutes immediately preceding the time above 
 mentioned the terrible natural concert continued, its awful music being distinctly heard at Bethlehem, seventeen 
 miles away ; and all the while torrents of rain poured down the mountain sides. , , ., 
 
 At its conclusion great rents were seen upon the sides of Flume and Liberty Mountains the largest upon the 
 first named. A landslide of tremendous proportions had taken place, with effects impossible to be adequately 
 described The suspended bowlder was gone ; nor has its whereabouts ever yet been discovered with certainty. 
 It was one of the lesser slides from the face of Mount Liberty which passed through the Flume, and dividing into 
 three parts as it neared the river upon which the Flume opens, widened and deepened the gorge of the Flume to 
 much more than double its former proportions, and deposited a debris of rocks and tree-trunks and mountain 
 masses in its course that marvellously illustrate the natural forces that must have been exerted 
 
 But still the Flume and its surroundings constitute one of the most attractive spots m the White Mountains. 
 
F^flricorlm riOTCH- 
 
 f RANCONIA NOTCH is the name given to one of those narrow, deep-set gorges found here and there in the 
 White Mountains region ; and, wherever found, always picturesque, attractive, and presenting the grandest 
 scenic qualities. The general direction of this Notch is north and south ; its length, about six miles.- At its 
 northern opening stands the stately and picturesque Mount Lafayette on the east, with its spur, Eagle Cliff, appar- 
 ently directly across the head of the way ; and Mount Cannon on the western side, with its marvellous stone face 
 looking into the far distance, as though its gaze was fixed upon some object outside the limits of the world. Here 
 are Echo Lake and Profile Lake, with the Profile House establishment occupying the diminutive plateau between 
 them, while Lafayette and Cannon rear their huge forms from almost within the very shadow of this caravansary. 
 Lafayette is monarch of the Franconia section, being 5,200 feet in height — the highest elevation, in fact, of the 
 White Mountains outside the Presidential Range. 
 
 Echo Lake empties its waters into the Ammonoosuc River on the north. The overflow of Profile Lake flows 
 directly southward through the Franconia Notch and the Pemigewasset Valley, to mingle at last with the waters of 
 the Merrimac. Its descent from the northern to the southern openings of the Notch is upwards of five hundred 
 feet, or about one hundred feet to the mile ; and, consequently, it is throughout a brawling, noisy, aggressive 
 torrent in miniature, eating into the ledges and rock-masses at myriad points along its course, and scooping out 
 for itself numberless pools and basins and deep-sunken channels as it flows. It is one of the most picturesque 
 streams in the region, and exceedingly attractive to study. 
 
 One of the finest of mountain roads follows the course of the brook throughout the entire length of the Notch, 
 never more than a few feet away from its channel, and usually threading close upon its edge. After leaving the 
 Profile House this road very nearly skirts the shore of Profile Lake ; and, from the wooded knolls between it and 
 the head of the lake, the best possible view of the Old Man of the Mountain is to be had. The brook and the road 
 together occupy about the whole width of the base of* the Notch, the Franconia Mountain rising abruptly like a 
 barrier wall on the east all the way ; while a group of detached elevations, of which Mount Kinsman and Cannon, 
 or Profile Mountain, are on the west. The scenery is wildly grand for the entire distance, and the drive one of the 
 finest in the White Mountains. The Notch, too, affords a fine route for a pedestrian excursion, and robust walkers 
 of either sex can easily pass from end to end of its gorge on foot, while its myriad and ever varying attractions 
 make one unmindful of all the fatigues of the exercise, and thoroughly compensate for all the time and effort spent 
 in the passage. 
 
BAKER’S VflMiEV. 
 
 t FTER leaving Plymouth and the entrance to the Pemigewasset Valley, the main line of the Concord & 
 Montreal Railroad runs for twenty miles through the valley of Baker’s River. In this valley the railway 
 has stations at Rumney, West Rumney, Wentworth and Warren, four villages whose picturesque and rural 
 situations are not surpassed by any of their kind in New England. The intervales are bordered by ranges of high 
 hills, and these arise occasionally into mountain elevations fair to gaze upon, and looking out only over the fairest 
 scenery. In Rumney is Stinson’s Mount; at Wentworth, Carr’s Mountain on the east and Cuba Mountain on the 
 west; and venerable Mt. Moosilauke lies only a short five miles from the village of Warren. Within this valley 
 thus embowered in hills the Indians once roved and exercised their free will ; and, in later times, after the whites 
 had begun their settlements, committed some atrocities too, as Stinson’s Mount and Lake can testify. But the 
 scenes are peaceful enough nowadays, and wonderfully attractive with the quiet beauty that characterizes the river 
 lands of the old Granite State in every part. 
 
 Rumney is about sixty miles from Concord, and has a population of a little more than one thousand souls. 
 Looking northward the extreme of the Mount Carr range is upon the left, and beyond the lofty elevations in 
 the town of Ellsworth tower. On the right is old Stinson, and in the distance Rattlesnake Mountain— appropriately 
 named when its title was bestowed. The elevations about West Rumney are known as the Groton Hills. Went- 
 worth was so named in honor of Gov. Benning Wentworth, and is a thriving, typical New Hampshire town. Warren 
 is perhaps the most picturesque of all the towns in this neighborhood, being mountainous on every side, and 
 greatly diversified and varied in its scenery. A peculiarity of its territory is the great number of clear running 
 brooks found within its limits, all of them attractive, and many of them broken in cascades. Perhaps the finest of 
 these is Hurricane Brook, which descends from Mount Carr, a tumbling, hurrying, scurrying, miniature torrent, 
 whose impetuosity has gained for it its suggestive name. Mount Moosilauke and Mounts Carr, Waternomee, 
 Kineo, Mist, and Webster’s Slide are all in full view from Warren standpoints, and the objects of excursions of the 
 summer visitors to this place. In the northern part of the territory of this town is the ridge which forms the 
 highest point crossed by the main line of the Concord & Montreal Railroad, and which divides the waters of the 
 Merrimack and its contributors from those of the Connecticut on the immediate west. The summit of this ridge is 
 1063 feet above the level of the sea. The summit passed, the descent towards the Connecticut River is at once 
 begun, and the scenery becomes somewhat changed in character. 
 
JVTOOSmHUKE. 
 
 OUNT MOOSILAUKE, tlie distinguished peak of the western White Mountains region, is situated upon the 
 >/&i- line between the towns of Benton and Warren, the greater portion of it being in the town first named; 
 
 but it is reached from the Warren station of the main line of the Concord & Montreal Railroad by a carriage 
 drive of about five miles. Moosilauke is entirely isolated from other mountains, is 4,811 feet in height, — the highest 
 peak west of Mount Lafayette, — and commands views from its summit as extensive and varied as those from Mount 
 Washington, and by many persons declared to be even superior to those of that king of the mountains. 
 
 Considerable controversy has taken place over the name of this mountain, and those interested are not yet 
 united in conclusions regarding the same. Many people believe it to have been originally “Moose Hillock,” and 
 the people living in its neighborhoods very generally give it that title. Others regard it of Indian origin, and 
 derived from the words “ moosi ” and “ auke,” signifying a bald place. The poet Whittier evidently inclines to 
 the first-mentioned derivation ; and, in “ The Bridal of Pennacook,” he refers to 
 
 “ Moosehillock’s mountain range,” 
 
 as though he had thoroughly settled upon the proper spelling of the word as a descriptive term. 
 
 Concerning the scenery included in the outlooks from this mountain, a distinguished writer has declared : “The 
 panorama which is spread before you at the summit of Moosilauke is the most extensive I have found in New 
 England, not excepting that from Mounts Washington and Lafayette, over which it possesses many advantages.” 
 Its summit broadens out into a plateau of considerable area, and the sunset and sunrise views from this are wonder- 
 fully fine. The town of Warren is peculiarly rich in scenic points, Carr’s Mount, Webster’s Slide, Owl’s Head and 
 Peaked Hill lying all within its limits, from the last-named of which a fine view of Moosilauke is obtained. Within 
 the Warren territory is also the famous Hurricane Brook, presenting a series of most picturesque cascades, — Fairy, 
 Rocky, Oak, Wolf’s Head, Waternomee Cascades, and Hurricane Falls, with a beautiful basin half hidden in the 
 wilds in contrast, known as Diana’s Washbowl. The outlooks from Moosilauke include the Green Mountains of 
 Vermont, a few Canadian peaks and some portions of the State of Maine for remote views, with the White and 
 Franconia Ranges, Winnipesaukee, the Connecticut Valley, etc., in the foregrounds. 
 
msBOtf 
 
 JJ«;= ISBON is one of the river towns lying west of the principal mountain section of New Hampshire, and is, 
 in situation, exceedingly picturesque and attractive. The Connecticut River and its beautiful valley is 
 reached by the main line of the Concord & Montreal Railroad at Haverhill, a point eighty-five miles north 
 from Concord, and one hundred and sixty miles from Boston. Passing still northward from this point a distance of 
 eight miles, the village of Woodsville is reached, and within this territory the Ammonoosuc River, which takes its 
 rise in Mount Washington, makes junction with the Connecticut River. Leaving now the Connecticut and follow- 
 ing the course of the Ammonoosuc, the main line above referred to passes first through Bath and then Lisbon, the 
 Ammonoosuc being crossed twice after leaving the Connecticut Valley before the Lisbon station is reached. 
 
 Lisbon is in the midst of a mineral region, and within its territory are several gold mines. It is a place of large 
 summer resort also, and possesses several well-known hotels and boarding-houses. The drives thither from Little- 
 ton, ten miles away, from Bethlehem through Franconia, and from other centres, are reckoned among the finest 
 in the mountains. Sugar Hill is in Lisbon ; and many other charming localities within its territorial limits have 
 become popularly known as excursion points or summering places. 
 
 These upper river towns of New Hampshire have many peculiarities of situation and natural resources that 
 render them especially desirable for summer visitation and sojourning. Particularly is this the case with the towns 
 and villages in the Connecticut Valley, and with the settlements along the Ammonoosuc, which indeed are not 
 very plentiful, except for the last few miles of its course, and east of Littleton scarcely exist at all. Indeed, among 
 the White and Franconia Mountains, villages, and even hamlets, are few and very far between ; and such thriving, 
 wide-awake and busy centres as Lisbon are entirely unknown outside the sections above referred to. To make 
 excursions for shopping or banking, or even to consult a physician, requires therefore a drive of several miles from 
 the great hotels, a condition which does not in the least mar the situations in the estimation of the summer 
 populations, and which, it must be confessed, forms one of the leading commendations of this region for pleasure- 
 seekers. Among the community centres thus situated Lisbon is one of the most prominent ; and its thrifty, well- 
 ordered establishment makes favorable impression upon all comers. 
 
SUGAH HIM*- 
 
 J N the adjacent territory lying west and northwest of the White Mountains, and especially in the sections 
 between the Franconia Mountains and the Ammonoosuc and Connecticut rivers, there are many charming 
 bits of scenery, made up of intervale and side-hill with hamlets and villages interspersed here and there, 
 superlatively attractive, peaceful and delightsome. The Bethlehem villages are the largest of these community 
 assemblages on the Ammonoosuc side, while Franconia and the clustering buildings of hotel establishments 
 scattered about from Littleton on the north to Haverhill on the southwest, represent every grade and condition of 
 these centres for summer population. 
 
 To all these centres and sections interest especially attaches in summer time ; for at this season each, with an 
 attractiveness peculiarly its own, draws to itself a constituency that has somehow discovered its claims and merits, 
 and become enamored of its advantages. Through the representations and testimony of those who best know the 
 localities these constituencies increase in volume year by year ; for it is by no means the case that the great cara- 
 vansaries of the mountain region of New Hampshire shelter the larger part of the yearly visitors to that portion of 
 the State. The villages and hamlets, the boarding-houses and farmhouses of just such spots as are here describing, 
 win after all by far the greatest number of patrons while the warm months are on, and the great tide of summer 
 visitation leaves its elements here and there in all parts of the territory it floods instead of depositing its volume 
 in one vast billow upon any particular shore. The great hotels are centres of society and “ stylish ” circles ; but the 
 quiet, popular every-day life of the people finds its manifestations in such localities as are above referred to. 
 
 Passing from Bethlehem village to the Profile House at the head of Franconia Notch, the way lies directly 
 through the little hamlet of Franconia. The distance from Bethlehem to the Notch is about nine miles ; Franconia 
 lies about half-way between the two places. This drive is one of the most beautiful in the whole mountain region, 
 being through gently sloping side-hill or “shelf ” country for nearly the whole distance, with the picturesque 
 sections that characterize Gale River giving variety to the scenes. From the Franconi’a neighborhood the outline 
 of Sugar Hill appears a few miles distant as a horizon, studded and crowned with hotels and summer establish- 
 ments, and presenting natural and artificial features of attractiveness in every part that cannot be ignored or passed 
 unnoticed by any summer traveller. Reversing the situations, the outlooks from Sugar Hill are of superb quality, 
 and the merits of the place for sojourn or summer residence are of the highest order. 
 
MTTLiETOfl. 
 
 ■pjf ITTLETON is a representative New England town, the largest and most complete in its establishment to 
 [fif be found in the New Hampshire sections on the north of the White Mountains. Its original name was 
 Chiswick, and it has still many reminders of that designation among its institutions. It is most beautifully 
 situated upon the Ammonoosuc and Connecticut Rivers, having fifteen miles of territory lying along the last-named 
 stream. Its main village, however, is found at the extreme easterly end of the township on the Ammonoosuc, and 
 it is essentially an Ammonoosuc Valley settlement. This river, as it passes through the town site, flows over 
 masses of rock-bed and projecting ledges, that frequently rise into miniature crags on either bank, upon the 
 levels of which, or along their terraced edges, the buildings of the village stand. The river hereabouts is finely 
 picturesque, and characterizes scenery rarely to be met with outside this section of New England. On the north 
 bank of the river the main street of the village, with its row of buildings on either side, seems to occupy a sort of 
 natural shelf, that has been broadened and levelled to fit it for community uses, and which looks down upon the 
 stream it overhangs as Alpine villages are frequently found occupying in European countries. From this main 
 street steep elevations, that would be called mountains anywhere else, rise to fairly magnificent heights, their 
 sides dotted with hamlets and individual estates, and summer hostelries of greater or less pretensions, among 
 which the village roads and driveways course most attractively, inviting the sojourner to cloud-seeking visits and 
 excursions, and promising most abundant rewards for all efforts made in climbing them. 
 
 From myriad points upon these hillsides, and along their lofty summits, the views obtained are grand indeed. 
 The nearest of the Franconia Mountains are about ten miles away, and from these all along the line of the Fran- 
 conia and White Mountains ranges, and away around to the individual noted peaks in the northeast, the heights 
 that have made this region famous are visible in their most representative members — an unbroken line of peaks, 
 any one of which might form a study for a world. Between these mountains and the Littleton points of observa- 
 tion lies an enclosed section of miles in extent in any direction, over which the vision ranges with peculiar 
 satisfaction and delight. The valley of the Ammonoosuc is revealed from end to end. Sections of meadow, 
 pasture, intervale, and rolling uplands lie outspread, with groves and miniature forests at intervals, and foot hills 
 climbing ambitiously almost within the shadows of the mountain sides. On every hand the scenes are grandly 
 beautiful. 
 
UUHITEFIHLaD. 
 
 f o those interested in the business or economic pursuits of' New Hampshire the town of Whitefield stands 
 as a grand centre of the lumbering interests of this State. But for thousands of persons who have discovered 
 or experienced that the sections lying immediately northward of the main body of the White Mountains are 
 filled with the fairest farming villages, the most fascinating and picturesque scenery, and the most inviting retreats 
 for over-wearied mortals needing rest and recreation, Whitefield and its neighboring community establishments 
 represent a far different condition of things. It is entirely true that the business interests of this little township 
 are of considerable importance, and are largely in excess of those usually found in connection with New England 
 little-town life ; and the place derives a peculiar characterization from this fact. But the constituency that visits 
 this locality having regard to business matters alone is exceeding small, when compared with that larger body 
 of the interested who find in all this section a summer paradise that year after year attracts them, as the woods and 
 lake attract the sportsman, or the ocean the sailor. 
 
 Within this town begins the Whitefield & Jefferson Branch of the Concord & Montreal Railroad, which here 
 leaves the main line and runs off at right angles in a direct easterly course to a terminus in Jefferson. By an 
 extension of this Branch, to be made the present year, a new route will be opened to the Glen House, via 
 Glen Road, by which passengers from New York can reach the Glen House the same day, and which will afford 
 a direct route from Saratoga, Rake George, Rake Champlain, and the Adirondacks. At the intersection of this 
 branch with the main line the railroad lies along a steep, almost precipitous bluff, overlooking finely situated 
 valley lands and rural scenes suggestive of the best conditions for summering. The Whitefield village lies in 
 this valley about a mile below the railroad, and, as the illustration facing this sketch indicates, is dotted in the 
 most unconventional and picturesque way upon the gently sloping hillsides, with outlooks upon long-drawn 
 mountain ranges and a series of open plains forming a grand intervale between. The scenery all the way along 
 this branch, or by the highway, which affords a most delightful drive from Whitefield to Jefferson, is characterized 
 by a constant succession of these views, plain and pasture and plateau alternating in the intervale that slopes 
 away so broadly from the mountain bases. 
 
 Nevertheless, comparatively few people who visit New Hampshire in summer fully understand the advan- 
 tages which these northern sections present for sojourning or residence in summer time. Within the full view of 
 the mountains as they are, — almost overshadowed by them, in fact, — they have still many of the distinguishing 
 features of the valley lands in the southern portion of the State, — fine farms, rural and rustic surroundings and 
 belongings, and the delightful situations that render New England village life so attractive to the summer-seeker. 
 They are within the mountain region, and yet in a certain sense not of it. 
 
IiAfiCASTEJ*. 
 
 ANCASTER is one of the famous summer resorts of Northern New Hampshire, its situation and character- 
 istics reminding strongly of the Bethlehem site farther south and nearer the centre of the White Mountains. 
 In one peculiarity, however, it differs from that celebrated health resort: it is completely surrounded by 
 mountains, which form a natural wall not at all contracted, or having the appearance of limiting the liberties or 
 dimensions of the place, but rather of forming a natural barrier within easy distance, and its parts arranged in 
 “ open order,” as though this favored and enchanting spot had been set apart from the world in general, and its 
 privacy secured by provision of Dame Nature herself. 
 
 Lancaster is the shire town of Coos County, a farming and lumbering section of no mean pretensions. Its 
 topography is made up of meado:/ and table-lands and river bottoms, with swelling undulations rising into hills 
 environing, from which the most enchanting outlooks are to be obtained in many directions. Its roads and drive- 
 ways are among the finest in the State. Israel’s River, coming down from Cherry Mountain, flows directly through 
 the Lancaster site and village, uniting with the Connecticut River within the territory of the town, and affording 
 excellent water power for various manufacturing enterprises which have of late years developed here. “Israel’s 
 River” the early settlers of the section called it; but the Indians, following their invariable custom of applying 
 names to places and things interpretive of their qualities, knew the stream as Singrawack, or “ the Foaming Stream 
 of the White Rock.” 
 
 Lancaster is among the handsomest villages of Northern New Hampshire, having beautiful streets bordered 
 with magnificent old elms, dwellings nicely kept and of modern build, and public institutions scattered throughout, 
 indicating the presence of a New England community in the forefront of the civilization of the region. Here Starr 
 King wrote very many of his famous descriptions of the White Mountains and their surroundings ; and he held 
 the place in the highest estimation for its quiet, peaceful and recreative influences as well as for the surpassing 
 beauty of its scenery. Of it he says: “In the combined charm, for walks or rides, of meadow and river — the 
 charm, not of wildness, but of cheerful brightness and beneficence — Lancaster is unrivalled.” This is high praise, 
 but not in the least undeserved. 
 
 Just across the Connecticut River, and within the State of Vermont, lies the beautiful town of Lunenburg, the 
 nearest neighbor of Lancaster on the west. From the heights of Lunenburg magnificent views southward and 
 westward may be had, and these heights are within easy distance of the Lancaster village. The Lancaster out- 
 looks are upon the lordly Presidential Range of the White Mountains in the southeast, the finely tinted Pilot 
 Mountains on the north, with Cherry and other isolated peaks grandly looming within the circle of observation. 
 
DlXVmiiH JSiOTCH. 
 
 TSTLTHOUGH Dixville Notch is not directly upon the line of the Concord & Montreal Railroad, it is reached 
 )/!± readily from Lancaster, where connection is made with the Maine Central Railroad, and thence to Cole- 
 brook, the route lying through some of the most beautiful river and intervale sections in the State. It 
 may be said in passing that all these sections traversed in reaching Dixville Notch are the natural home of the 
 trout, and that the fishing in all these neighborhoods is excellent. 
 
 The land of the township out of which Dixville Notch opens was once owned by the father of Governor Dix of 
 New York, and from this family name the place takes its title. As a situation remarkable for the character of its 
 scenery this locality takes high rank among the natural attractions of New Hampshire, and the Notch has been 
 variously described by numberless writers whose pens have won more or less of fame in similar occupations. Thus 
 one says : — The Notch is not a mountain pass, but a wonderful ravine among high hills, whose impending cliffs are 
 worn and broken into strange forms of ruin and desolation. At Dixville all is decay, wreck; the hopeless sub- 
 mission of matter in the coil of its hungry foes. Of it Theodore Winship has written, “The Dixville Notch is, 
 briefly, picturesque — a fine gorge between a crumbling, conical crag and a scarped precipice — a place easily 
 defensible, except at the season when raspberries would distrait the sentinels.” 
 
 The grand lookout point within Dixville Notch is Table Rock, reached by a stairway of stone known as Jacob’s 
 Ladder. This rock is 561 feet above the road, 2,450 feet above the level of the sea, and projects 167 feet, its sides 
 being ragged and serrated, and projecting in points and angles in all parts. From the top of this rock the view 
 embraces a wide sweep of country — the territory of Maine and Vermont, with a full view of old Monadnock lying 
 just across the river in the last-named State, portions of the Dominion provinces, and nearer at hand the entire 
 panorama of the Notch. Above Table Rock a pathway leads to the Ice Cave, where in a deep chasm snow and ice 
 may be found throughout the entire year, like the deposits of Tuckerman’s Ravine under Mount Washington. The 
 rock formations all about are in spires and pinnacles and ragged, splintered monumental shafts, each of which 
 seems to vie with all others in presenting rugged and shattered forms in ledge and individual rock deposits. The 
 Flume, where a brook runs through a gorge in the rock, and the Cascades are picturesque attractions, and in the 
 very heart of the Notch there is a rustic grove, where excursion parties rest and lunch. 
 
JEFFH^SOJSl. 
 
 ^JEFFERSON is one of the earliest settlements of the White Mountains, receiving its first community of whites 
 QJ as long ago as 1765. The valley and meadows of Jefferson occupy territory that is scooped out like a gigantic 
 saucer between lofty mountains for miles in extent, with a fair river (Israel’s River) traversing the bottom 
 of the hollow, and Jefferson perched upon its upper rim on the side of Mt. Starr King. Starr King rises 2,400 feet 
 above the river and 3,800 feet above the sea on the north of the valley. On the south, Cherry Mountain, which 
 forms the other boundary of the valley, rises 3 ,670 feet above the sea. The road through the valley crossing Cherry 
 Mountain is the oldest highway among the mountains. Of this road Rev. T. Starr King wrote : “For grandeur and 
 
 for opportunities of studying the wildness and majesty of the sovereign range, the Cherry Mountain route is with- 
 out a rival in New Hampshire.” In riding over Jefferson Meadows, for five miles of the distance every peak in the 
 White Mountains chain is within full view, with Mt. Washington dominant over all. 
 
 The situation of Jefferson is very like that of Bethlehem, and the place has the same characteristics of pure air 
 and water, exceeding healthfulness, and immunity from and curative properties for certain diseases of the respi- 
 ratory organs that characterize that famous health and pleasure resort. Catarrhal complaints and hay fever almost 
 immediately give way before the climatic influences of this place. The Jefferson village occupies the high slopes 
 of Mt. Starr King, along which its street runs for considerable distance, bordered by hotels and summer boarding- 
 houses for the whole way, for ancient Jefferson has become a famous summer resort, and thousands of visitors 
 now yearly claim the hospitality and entertainment of those whose enterprise makes temporary homes for the 
 strangers and pilgrims in this charming spot. The town has two sections: Jefferson Hill, referred to above, and 
 Jefferson Highlands and Meadows, the latter in the east part of the town. Both villages are, however, a collection 
 of farms, hotels and boarding-houses. Jefferson Hill village is eight miles from Lancaster, twelve miles from the 
 Fabyan House, and seventeen miles from Gorham. Unquestionably the views from this village are the finest that 
 are to be had from any community establishment in the mountains region. 
 
TJ1E TLUHSl mOUflTAHSl. 
 
 f HE title, or heading, under which this writing is placed is here used more particularly with reference to the 
 mountains of that name ; but ordinarily when it is heard in the mountain sections, or met with in printed 
 matter, it is ten to one that it refers to the famous hotel known as the “Twin Mountain House,” which the 
 Rev. Henry Ward Beecher rendered notorious by his annual visits continued through a long series of years, his 
 Sunday services there, and by his firm belief that there was the only place where he could be entirely exempt from 
 the attacks of hay-fever in its season. 
 
 The Twin Mountains are a pair of noble elevations, presenting the general appearance that is indicated by their 
 name. They belong to the Franconia Range, and are situated well to the eastward of Mount Tafayette, and in the 
 direction of the Crawford Notch. The Twin Mountain House is on a lofty terrace almost overhanging the Ammo- 
 noosuc River, and about five miles from Fabyan’s. The Twin Mountains are about six miles southward from the 
 Twin Mountain House, and are reached only through some of the wildest, most primitive and difficult situations in 
 the region. The surrounding forests are extremely aged, dense and rugged, the territory broken and full of 
 obstacles, so that it is only by hard and persistent “roughing it” that even the base of these mountains is ap- 
 proached, to say nothing of climbing their steep and craggy sides. They are about five thousand feet in height, and 
 some of the streams which finally unite and form the Merrimack River may be traced to them. Southward from 
 them, and beginning at their bases on that side, are the great wildernesses of the Pemigewasset sections, stretching 
 away with their adjuncts of similar characteristics to the neighborhoods of the Sandwich Range. 
 
 The pair of peaks in full view from the Twin Mountain House, and apparently just opposite that hostelry, do 
 not belong to the mountains above referred to, but are in reality the “Baby Twins,” so called — elevations of afar 
 different order, and much nearer the Ammonoosuc than the real Twin Mountains. The scenery outspread within 
 view from the Twin Mountain House is excedingly varied and captivating, embracing the wildest and most im- 
 pressive mountain features, contrasted with the pastoral and valley neighborhoods of the Ammonoosuc River, visible 
 for miles in extent. The White Mountains Branch of the Concord & Montreal Railroad follows closely the myriad 
 windings and turnings of this river for its entire length, and lies along one or the other of its banks for the whole 
 way from Fabyan’s to its junction with the Connecticut River at Woodsville. The lower falls of the Ammonoosuc 
 are about half-way between the Twin Mountain House and Fabyan’s. 
 
BETHliEHEJVI — UflDEI* TJ-lE EliCQS. 
 
 B ETHLEHEM is a rambling old township, extending irregularly in unexpected directions. The Mount Pleasant 
 House, situated on the line of railroad between the Crawford House and the Fabyan House, is in Bethlehem ; 
 but the Fabyan is not. North, east and west from the Bethlehem village and Maplewood the driveways are 
 abundant and of surpassing attractiveness. The trout streams of the Bethlehem neighborhoods are sufficiently 
 numerous to tempt enthusiastic anglers. 
 
 A chief attraction of Bethlehem will always be found in its healthfulness — the positive recreative qualities of 
 its air and sunshine, especially in catarrhal and bronchial affections, hay-fever and the like. From the mountains 
 and hillsides flow numberless springs of the purest water, having remarkable curative properties inseparably con- 
 nected with their purity. With pure air, pure water, and pure sunlight, this place may well be said to possess a 
 beneficent star of attraction, like that other Bethlehem of which the world has taken note. 
 
 Bethlehem has grown to its present proportions within the last two decades. Its single thoroughfare, which 
 everybody who has ever been there knows as “the street,’’ is broad and well-built, and skirted on both sides within 
 the limits of the village with hotels, boarding-houses and summer dwellings. Shade trees abound on every hand, 
 as seen in the picture facing this writing. The place receives its name from the fact that it was originally peopled 
 by settlers of the Bethlemite religious sect, who formed here a church which still exists. 
 
 Eastward of the village, and distant a mile or such a matter from its limits, is the Maplewood Hotel establish- 
 ment, a princely collection of buildings under one management, and forming a little hamlet of itself, as is often the 
 case with the larger caravansaries of the White Mountains region. While many of the White Mountains hotels are 
 situated in the very midst of the mountains, and some of them are fairly enclosed thereby, Maplewood is on a broad 
 undulating plain, with mountains all around more or less distant, so that the horizon on every hand seen from this 
 section of Bethlehem presents a great natural wall, magnificent beyond description. 
 
 The outlooks from Bethlehem are over miles in extent of territory, and include nearly all the famous peaks of 
 the White and Franconia Ranges. From the neighborhood of Maplewood, one looking across the valley of the 
 Ammonoosuc can see in a clear day the Stratford Hills, forty miles away in Vermont, and also the Green Mountains 
 in the same State. 
 
fiETHliEHEJVI. 
 
 B ETHLEHEM enjoys the distinction of occupying the most exalted height (1,450 feet) of any village in New 
 England. It is reached by a little spur of the Franconia Notch Railway, which leaves the White Mountains 
 Division of the Concord & Montreal Railroad at Bethlehem Junction for the service of this place, about three 
 miles distant. The village occupies a broadened ridge, and its outlooks are across the valley of the Ammonoosuc, of 
 mountain peaks far distant, many of which are among the most celebrated of the region, and upon other mountain 
 elevations nearer by, the nearest of which is Mt. Agassiz, at the foot of which Bethlehem may be said to lie. 
 
 The distinguishing feature of Bethlehem and its neighborhoods is its quality as a natural sanitarium. While 
 all the community centres in this part of New Hampshire territory that rejoice in being situated upon elevations far 
 above the level of the sea — as Jefferson, Eaneaster, the Twin Mountain establishment, etc. are largely free from 
 that distressing summer complaint, hay fever, Bethlehem most nearly enjoys complete immunity from it. 
 
 But it is by no means solely on account of its health advantages that Bethlehem has thus become a summer 
 centre. It is one of the prettiest villages in the world, and its site is unrivalled for fascination and beauty of natural 
 surroundings. Its elevated plateau slopes very gradually away northward and eastward to the bottom of the valley 
 through which the Ammonoosuc, busiest of mountain streams, flows brightly to its union with the Connecticut. 
 Away beyond this river the rising uplands climb slowly again to a similar level, and then pass far beyond it into 
 stupendous mountain heights, that appear clean cut and fairly pictured against the sky and horizon from the 
 Bethlehem eyrie. On the south lies Franconia, and ten miles away is the northern opening of its celebrated 
 Notch with Lafayette and Garfield and their associated peaks grandly looming. Five miles away, on the Ammo- 
 noosuc is busy Littleton, lodged on the terrace overhanging the river. Sugar Hill, with its magnificent outlooks, 
 lies westward seven and a half miles. The Presidential Range stands fairly outlined directly 111 the east . «e 
 nearest link of its chain being distant fifteen miles from the Bethlehem standpoint. The Appalachian Clu 
 authorities pronounce this view of the Presidential Range the very best with regard to obtaining an idea of the 
 mountains in their true relations to each other as to height, proportions, shape, etc. 
 
 To all these points excellent driveways extend ; indeed, the facilities for driving excursions are in greater 
 variety and number above Bethlehem than at almost any other point in the mountains. The Hay Fever Associa- 
 tion has its headquarters here. Here also is a coaching club, and it is estimated that there are often from ten 
 thousand to fifteen thousand persons in Bethlehem in one season, who remain as sojourners for days, and many 
 of them for weeks, together. The forest growths about the place are broad and inviting. 
 
mOUftT PLiEASAHT. 
 
 f HE main line of the railroad through the White Mountains section runs from the gateway of the Crawford 
 Notch to Fabyan’s, a distance of not far from four miles. After leaving the little plateau which opens fan-like 
 from the gateway afore-mentioned, and upon the easterly side of which stands the Crawford House establish- 
 ment, this line follows the bases of a semi-mountain range on the left hand side going towards Fabyan’s, while on 
 the right hand side is outspread the broad basin or wooded intervale lying between these bases and the Presidential 
 Range, and through the midst of which runs the branch line of the Concord & Montreal Railroad leading from 
 Fabyan’s to the base of Mount Washington. This natural basin or intervale is from four to five miles across from 
 Fabyan’s to Mount Washington, and is apparently nearly circular in shape. 
 
 Within a half-mile of Fabyan’s, on the main line of railroad above referred to, is the Mount Pleasant House, 
 lying, like Fabyan’s, over against the Presidential Range and the mighty peaks adjacent, and forming one of the 
 quintette of famous hotels for many years within the enterprise of the Barron family. From both Fabyan’s and 
 the Mount Pleasant House fine views of the Presidential Range from base to summit of its members are to be had, 
 while some neighboring mountains are also within the scene, the whole presenting a gigantic mountain wall, sym- 
 metrical and comparatively near at hand, such as is not to be looked upon elsewhere from similar standpoints on 
 
 the face of the earth. _ . 
 
 One of these lofty peaks, neighboring to those of the Presidential Range, is that of Mount Pleasant (giving name 
 to the hotel just above-mentioned). From Mount Webster, forming the eastern wall of the Crawford Notch, to its 
 head, the order of the line of peaks to Mount Washington is as follows: Webster, Clinton, Pleasant, Franklin, 
 Monroe, Washington. Mounts Franklin and Monroe belong to the Presidential Range, of which Mount Washington 
 is the centre and chief, Mounts Clay, Jefferson and Adams, continuing the line northward, being its remaining 
 members. 
 
 Among these elevations Mount Pleasant takes place a full peer, and sometimes indeed appears to be a king, as 
 from some standpoints it towers considerably above all others, even Mount Washington itself, as, for instance, from 
 the head of Beecher’s Falls, near the Crawford House. It is a smoothly rounded, evenly proportioned summit, 
 fair to look upon and attractive in all its features as its name indicates, and overlooks the valley from the verge of 
 which it rises, not the least impressive of the mighty sentinels there posted. 
 
TfiE flmmofioosuc. 
 
 E |^ROM the Crawford House, at the head of the Crawford Notch, there is a footpath, much used by venture- 
 g some travellers, leading to the summit of Mount Washington. This pathway runs over Mount Clinton, 
 along the crest of the bare and rocky ledge between Mount Clinton and Mount Pleasant, thence around the 
 peak of Mount Pleasant, then through the Ammonoosuc Valley and up Mount Franklin, from thence to Mount 
 Monroe. Between Mount Monroe and Mount Washington there is a valley-like depression ; and in the midst of 
 this, about one and a half miles southward from the peak of Washington, are two diminutive lakelets — the “Take 
 of the Clouds ” and “ Star Take,’’ deep reservoirs filled with crystal mountain water. These lakelets outpour their 
 superfluous water down the mountain-side to the west, the stream thus caused being known as the Ammonoosuc 
 River. 
 
 From beginning to end of its course the Ammonoosuc is a tumbling, brawling, rapid stream. Three miles down 
 the side of Mount Washington from the summit, measuring the distance by the line of the Mount Washington Rail- 
 way, lies the little hamlet of Ammonoosuc, or Marshfield, the rendezvous of lumbermen in the winter, and trout 
 fishermen in the summer time. This place is distant from Fabyan’s about six miles. The mountain railway has 
 its terminus not far below it; and near at hand the Ammonoosuc infant stream rushes through clefts and tumbles 
 over bowlders and ledges, making the picturesque “ Upper Ammonoosuc Falls,” so well known to visitors to this 
 part of the mountains, and one of the most beautiful bits of natural scenery in the world. This river in all this 
 section, and the little streams feeding it as it descends, has always been noted for its trout, and is perhaps one of 
 the most assiduously fished streams of the country. Crossing the intervale between the Presidential Range and 
 Fabyan’s, and being joined in the latter neighborhood by the little stream that flows out of Take Ammonoosuc, 
 near the Crawford House, it flows more quietly than before, but still retains enough of ripple and dash to illustrate 
 its characteristics as a native mountain river. Not far westward from Fabyan’s, or about half-way between that 
 hostelry and the Twin Mountain House, it takes another tumble, and descends rapidly for considerably distance 
 over a rocky bed, confined within narrow and crooked limits. This descent is known as the “ Tower Falls ” of the 
 Ammonoosuc, once exceedingly beautiful, but now the site of a saw mill establishment. From this point to its 
 union with the Connecticut, the Ammonoosuc has sufficient description in other pages of this booklet. 
 

IVIOUfiT MSHiriGTOfi. 
 
 THHE Concord & Montreal has the only line of railroad running into the base of Mount Washington. This 
 J® is a branch or spur which, leaving the main line of the Concord & Montreal at Fabyan’s, traverses the 
 intervening lowlands between this station and the foot of the Presidential Range, a distance of about four 
 miles, finding a terminus at Ammonoosuc station, at the foot of Mount Washington, a point of itself 2,668 feet 
 above the sea. Mount Washington, the highest of the New Hampshire mountains, is 6,293 feet above the level of 
 the sea. Of the views from its summit, and the outlooks afforded while climbing its steep and dangerous sides, 
 volumes have been written, and the wonders and perils incident to the summit of this lord of the ranges have been 
 recounted in every land and tongue. 
 
 To ascend Mount Washington is a feat of great difficulty at best, and not unattended with risk of life and limb, 
 so far at least as the bridle and foot paths leading to the summit are concerned. The number of these pathways is 
 limited. There is one from the Crawford House, at the head of Crawford Notch, requiring a toilsome ascent of 
 twelve miles and a whole day for its pursuing. There is another from Fabyan’s ; and from the east of the range the 
 ascent is made from the Glen by stage and six horse team. 
 
 But of late years, or since 1869, the ascent of Washington has been usually made by the famous cog railway, the 
 invention of Mr. Sylvester Marsh, of which there are only three in existence in the world. Within the past twenty 
 years thousands of passengers have been annually taken up and down the mountain by this railway, and never an 
 accident of any kind by which one of them was injured has taken place. The Concord & Montreal trains over the 
 branch line from Fabyan’s to the Base connect directly with the trains of the mountain railroad. 
 
 From the station at the base the cog railroad ascends to the summit of Washington in a line a little more than 
 three miles in length. Within this three miles the track rises 3,625 feet, or with an average grade of one foot in 
 every four and a third feet, and a maximum grade of one foot in every two and two-thirds feet, equal to a rise of 
 1,980 feet to the mile. The track is laid upon heavy sleepers and trestles, and has three rails, the centre being the 
 heavily notched iron rail into which the cog-wheel of the locomotive plays, securing the movement of the train. In 
 making the ascent the passenger coaches are pushed before the locomotive ; and the safety appliances for securing 
 the stoppage of the train, should any accident threaten, are so many and various that disaster would be impossible 
 under any circumstances. 
 
THE C^ALUFO^D. 
 
 ^jvTANDING upon the piazza of the Crawford House, and looking out over the plain which slopes gradually 
 from the apex of the water shed, the view is grand indeed. The situation is as though one were within 
 a vast fortress, with sky-high walls crowned with battlements and great rock towers. The hotel itself and the 
 railroad are the only artificial elements entering into the picture ; and these are so grandly overshadowed by the 
 natural features, and the entire absence of the turmoil and tumult of ordinary, every-day life is so apparent, as to 
 render the place to the weary, overworked fugitive from busy life what the city of refuge was to the over-sinful of 
 olden times. 
 
 Here are neither farms nor factories, marts, barns, nor storehouses. Here are neither village nor hamlet, nor 
 any of the manifestations of the jurisdiction of man by which he usually manifests his controlling influence. Not a 
 touch, even of the artist’s finger, has been placed anywhere upon these everlasting hills to mark man’s conceit and 
 his conception of his supremacy over nature. Here are entire rest and quiet. 
 
 In ancient times, close down by that marvellous gateway of the Notch, more magnificent and far grander than 
 any that monarch or potentate ever constructed, ‘ ‘ Tom ’ ’ Crawford set up his hostelry — a genuine Y ankee home for 
 travellers. This ancient Crawford House then stood looking into the Notch, the gate of which was then just as 
 Nature made it, but little more than twenty feet in width, and frowning on both sides like the bastions of an- exag- 
 gerated castle. It has not, indeed, changed essentially since. 
 
 Of the enclosure in front of the present Crawford House, Saco Lake is a beautiful feature ; and from this lake 
 the Saco River takes its rise. This lake is much larger than formerly, but even now is hardly more than twice the 
 size of the pond on Boston Common. However, its dimensions are as ample in proportion as any other department 
 of the view within this mountain enclosure. Two figures would nearly tell the acreage of all the land outspread in 
 this plain: yet from its boundaries upstart some of the finest elevations of the mountain region. Mount Webster 
 o’erhangs the Notch gate, and forms the eastern boundary of the Notch itself. Mount Willard uprises from the 
 western and southern sides of this little plain, standing over against Mount Webster, and filling the whole head of 
 the Notch. There is no finer view on the mountains than that from the summit of Willard, revealing every part of 
 the Notch and its surroundings. From the grounds near the Crawford House the “ Crawford Path,” the first bridle 
 path ever opened to the summit of Mount Washington, begins. Tourists via the Concord & Montreal Railroad 
 reach the Crawford House via Fabyan, where connection is made with the Maine Central Railroad.