Abandoned Places


Abandoned places in the New Hampshire White Mountains. This work focuses on the abandoned villages, granite quarries, lost mountain settlements, and forgotten 19th century hill farming communities that are scattered throughout the White Mountains. Many of these communities were abandoned in the early 1900s. And today the cellar holes, graveyards, and stone walls that remain in the forest help tell the story of a long forgotten era.


Identifying Artifacts, White Mountains

Logging Camp - Sawyer River Railroad, New Hampshire
Identifying Historical Artifacts, White Mountains - If you are picking up trash in the New Hampshire White Mountains during the 2020 human impact issue, please educate yourself about historical artifacts and the laws that protect them. I now know of two instances where do-gooders picking up trash removed artifacts, thinking they were trash, from the White Mountain National Forest...[Continue reading] ...

Abandoned Mills, White Mountains

East Branch of the Pemigewasset River - Lincoln, New Hampshire
Abandoned Mills, White Mountains - During the 1800s and early 1900s, cut-up mills, grist mills, sawmills, and various other types of mills were found throughout New Hampshire. And because of the abundance of water in the White Mountains, there was no shortage of water-powered mills in the region. This blog article showcases a handful of the abandoned mills in the White Mountains...[Continue reading] ...

Crawford House, Gibbs Brook Dam

Gibbs Brook Dam - White Mountains, New Hampshire
Crawford House, Gibbs Brook Dam - If you're familiar with New Hampshire’s grand resort era then you know the historic Crawford House in Carroll. Abel Crawford and his son, Ethan Allen Crawford built the first Crawford House, known as the Notch House, in 1828. Fire would destroy the Notch House in 1854. A second Crawford House was destroyed by fire in 1859. The history of the Crawford House property is a little confusing because some historians refer to the Notch ...

Village of Wildwood, New Hampshire

Wildwood Settlement - Easton, New Hampshire
Village of Wildwood, New Hampshire - When it comes to the abandoned villages in New Hampshire, the logging village of Livermore is often included in the conversation. But, the story of the lesser known village of Wildwood is a fascinating piece of White Mountains history. The area known as Wildwood is located along the Wild Ammonoosuc River in the general area of the junction of Route 112 and Tunnel Brook Road in Easton, New Hampshire. Today’s Route 112 travels through ...

Thornton Gore Hill Farming Settlement

Abandoned Hill Farm Community - Thornton Gore, New Hampshire
Thornton Gore Hill Farming Settlement - The abandoned Thornton Gore settlement is in the New Hampshire White Mountains. Many consider Thornton Gore or the "Gore” to be the northern section of Thornton in the area of where Talford and Eastman Brooks meet. This area of Thornton Gore had a number of farms, a few mills, a school, two cemeteries, and a church. The first settlers of Thornton Gore arrived in the early 1800s. And by 1900, George James and his ...

Updating The Culture & History Portfolios

Willey Brook Trestle - Crawford Notch, New Hampshire
Updating The Culture & History Portfolios - Every year during the month of December most of my time is spent doing “behind the scenes” work. This work (such as keywording 1000 images in the last two days) is not that exciting, but I need to complete it before the end of the year. This time of year is also when I update the image galleries....[Continue reading] ...

Historic Stone Structures, White Mountains

Mount Lafayette Summit House - New Hampshire
Historic Stone Structures, White Mountains - In my work documenting historic sites in the New Hampshire White Mountains I have photographed some interesting and unique stone structures. Visiting an abandoned 1800s homestead in the middle of the forest is a surreal experience. And today I want to share with you some of the interesting structures that....[Continue reading] ...

Preserve History, Don’t Remove Artifacts

Charles B. Keyser Homesite - Benton, New Hampshire USA
Don't Remove Historic Artifacts - Here in the New Hampshire White Mountains, outdoor recreation is growing at an alarming rate. And there has been a huge surge of people exploring the many historical sites that are in the region. For historic preservation to be successful, it is imperative that we create awareness for the laws that protect these historical sites....[Continue reading] ...

Abandoned Dug Wells, White Mountains

The Samuel Wallace Farm - Sandwich Notch, New Hampshire
Abandoned Dug Wells, White Mountains – Today’s blog article focuses on a keyword search term. I chose one search term in this case “abandoned dug well” and searched my image archive for imagery that represents this subject matter. These keyword searches help identify the subject matter I need more coverage of. As a photographer, creating an image of an abandoned dug well that is....[Continue reading] ...

Abandoned Bemis Granite Quarry

Bemis Granite Quarry - Harts Location, New Hampshire
Abandoned Bemis Granite Quarry - I recently photographed the forgotten Bemis Granite Quarry in Hart's Location, New Hampshire. This quarry, located along the Sawyer River (above), is small when compared to other quarries, such as the Redstone Granite Quarry, but the history attached to it is intriguing....[Continue reading] ...