White Mountains History


White Mountains, New Hampshire history, the abandoned and forgotten places in the White Mountains help tell the fascinating story of our heritage. These articles, blog articles, essays, photographs, and pages showcase the abandoned places, forgotten 19th-century farming settlements, 20th-century ghost towns, railroads, and tourism history (hiking, grand resorts, Mount Washington, waterfalls, etc.) in the White Mountain National Forest and the surrounding region.


North Fork Spur Line, Thoreau Falls Trail

Harp Switch Stand - East Branch & Lincoln Railroad
North Fork Spur Line, Thoreau Falls Trail - Located along the Thoreau Falls Trail, deep in New Hampshire’s 45,000-acre Pemigewasset Wilderness, is an interesting piece of East Branch & Lincoln Railroad history. In operation from 1893-1948 and originally owned by James E. Henry, this was a logging railroad in the towns of Lincoln and Franconia. Just before the North Fork Branch of the railroad crossed the East Branch of the Pemigewasset River at North Fork Function, a spur line branched ...

Camp 9 Spur Line, Franconia Brook Trail

Owls Head - Franconia Brook Trail, Pemigewasset Wilderness
Camp 9 Spur Line, Franconia Brook Trail - When the Franconia Brook Branch of the East Branch & Lincoln Railroad (1893-1948) was in operation, a spur line traveled through this wetlands area along today's Franconia Brook Trail in the Pemigewasset Wilderness; it was not always wetlands. Beavers have been active over the years. The Franconia Brook Branch of the railroad began at trestle No. 7 and ended at logging Camp 13. The Franconia Brook Trail utilizes the railroad bed right-of-way...[Continue ...

Cable Car, Wilderness Trail

Cable Car - Pemigewasset Wilderness, New Hampshire
Cable Car, Wilderness Trail - During the mid-1900s, the Wilderness Trail in New Hampshire's Pemigewasset Wilderness began on the southern side of trestle No. 17, along the East Branch & Lincoln Railroad, near logging Camp 17. The Cedar Brook Branch of the railroad also began at this location. With the exception of the Cedar Brook Branch operation, which ended in 1946, the railroad track along the Upper East Branch of the railroad, above trestle No. 17, was removed by 1940...[Continue ...

Ice Pond, Black Pond Trail

Ice Pond - Lincoln, New Hampshire
Ice Pond, Black Pond Trail - Located at the abandoned site of logging Camp 7 of the East Branch & Lincoln Railroad (1893-1948), near the junction of today's Lincoln Brook Trail and Black Pond Trail in Lincoln, New Hampshire, is a pond known as “Ice Pond”. Many hikers pass by this pond on the side of Black Pond Trail without even noticing it; it looks more like a parcel of dead trees than a pond...[Continue reading] ...

Split Rock, Boott Spur Trail

Split Rock - Boott Spur Trail, Mount Washington
Split Rock, Boott Spur Trail - Pictured here along Boott Spur Trail is Split Rock; this interesting glacial erratic is split in half. The scenic Boott Spur Trail begins off of the busy Tuckerman Ravine Trail and ends at Davis Path. If you are hiking Mount Washington and want extensive alpine zone exposure and breathtaking views, this trail is a great choice. Because most of this route is above treeline, hiking it on a perfect weather day is the best ...

Madison Boulder, New Hampshire

Madison Boulder - Madison, New Hampshire USA
Madison Boulder, New Hampshire - Considered to be one of the largest known glacial erratics in North America, Madison Boulder weighs roughly 4,662 tons. It is 87 feet long, 23 feet wide, and an impressive 37 feet high. It's worth mentioning that the size of the boulder ranges from source to source. If you enjoy the geology of New Hampshire, this boulder is worth a visit. It is massive!..[Continue reading] ...

Shelter Rock, Old Osseo Trail

Shelter Rock - Old Osseo Trail, Lincoln
Shelter Rock, Old Osseo Trail - Shelter rock is a large boulder on the side of the old Osseo Trail in Lincoln, New Hampshire. Cut in the early 1900s, this section of the Osseo Trail began near the East Branch & Lincoln Railroad’s logging Camp 3. It traveled up through the Clear Brook drainage to Osseo Peak (Whaleback Mountain) and then on to Mount Flume. This large boulder is an interesting feature of the trail...[Continue reading] ...

Noyes & Goddard Stove (historical artifact)

Noyes and Goddard stove - White Mountains, New Hampshire
Noyes & Goddard, Swift River Railroad - Seen here in 2010 is an old stove at the site of the Holland camp along the abandoned Swift River logging Railroad in the New Hampshire White Mountains. This is a Noyes & Goddard stove (1886-1902 +/-) produced in Waterville, Maine. The stove model is "Maine". Incorporated on March 25, 1903, and operated by the Conway Company, the roughly twenty-five mile long Swift River Railroad was in operation from 1906-1916...[Continue reading] ...

O.G. Thomas Stove (historical artifact)

Profile & Franconia Notch Railroad - Franconia, New Hampshire
O.G. Thomas Stove, Profile & Franconia Notch Railroad - Seen here in 2012 are remnants of an O.G. Thomas stove made in Taunton, Massachusetts, at an abandoned dwelling site along the Profile & Franconia Notch Railroad in the New Hampshire White Mountains. This O.G. Thomas stove stove piece is considered to be an artifact, and the removal of historical artifacts from federal lands without a permit is a violation of federal law..[Continue reading] ...

Sentinel Pine Covered Bridge

Sentinel Pine Covered Bridge - Franconia Notch State Park
Sentinel Pine Covered Bridge - Located in New Hampshire’s Franconia Notch State Park is the picturesque Sentinel Pine Covered Bridge. Built by the Society for the Protection of New Hampshire Forests in 1939, the roughly 60 foot long covered bridge crosses the Pemigewasset River just above a natural basin knonw as "The Pool”. The covered bridge is named for a massive old white pine tree that once stood on the cliff above the pool; it watched over the pool much ...