Village of Livermore, New Hampshire – Incorporated by the state of New Hampshire in 1876, Livermore was a logging town in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The village of Livermore was located along the Sawyer River Railroad, on the Sawyer River, in the White Mountains. Both the railroad and town were owned by the Saunders family. At its peak, the population of Livermore was around 150-200 people, but as time progressed more and more people left the town. The town of Livermore was officially dissolved in 1951.

The history of Livermore has been well documented over the years. So instead of repeating what can be easily found on the internet, I will take you on a photo tour of one of the more interesting ghost towns in the New Hampshire White Mountains.

Livermore had a post office, a powerhouse (above), a school, a store, a number of other dwellings, and a saw mill, which burned down a few times. The Saunders family also had a mansion along Livermore’s Main Street. And the Sawyer River Railroad traveled through the village.

Today, the Main Street of Livermore can still be easily identified. In the above image of Main Street, in the area referred to as “Railroad Row”, the Saunder's Mansion would have been straight ahead and would have been visible from this spot. You can see how this part of Main Street looked when the village was still standing here.

Cellar holes can still be found in Livermore, and the most impressive one is at the site of the Goulding house (above). The paper trail of Livermore has allowed historians to identify a number of the buildings, and attach names to some of the cellar holes that remain in Livermore. And there are also sections of the village that are still a mystery, and have yet to be deciphered.

On the south side of Sawyer River was an area referred to as “Little Canada” where some of the mill workers supposedly lived. Little is known about this section of the village, but abandoned cellar holes and artifacts are a testament that buildings did exist in this area at one time.

One history book (Logging Railroads of the Saco River Valley by Bill Gove) references that the legendary construction foreman Levi “Pork Barrel” Dumas was a resident of Livermore. And in 1900 he was working as a carpenter in Livermore. Dumas would move on to the East Branch & Lincoln Railroad and supervise the construction of many of the bridges, trestles, and other structures built along the EB&L Railroad. And one of his greatest building accomplishments, Trestle No.16, still stands today.

One of the more interesting artifacts at the village is a flat steel tire from a wagon wheel (above) embedded in a tree. I have found steel tire wagon wheels at other historical sites in the White Mountains, but not one stuck in a tree.

Nature is slowly reclaiming the village, but some artifacts will exist for many years to come. And those artifacts will remind future generations of what Livermore once was. This is one ghost town worth visiting! Please keep in mind that the removal of historical artifacts from federal lands is a violation of federal law.

To license any of the above images for usage in publications, click on the image. And you can also view more images of the village of Livermore here.

Happy image making..

Connect with us on Facebook | Historic Information Disclaimer | Don’t Remove Artifacts

Bibliography:
Donovan, Erin Paul. “Sawyer River Railroad, New Hampshire.” ScenicNH Photography LLC, 22 Feb 2010, https://www.scenicnh.com/blog/2010/02/sawyer-river-railroad-livermore-nh/.

Gove, Bill. Logging Railroads of the Saco River Valley. Littleton, NH: Bondcliff Books, 2001.

New Hampshire Legislature. Laws of the State of New Hampshire, Passed June Session, 1876: An Act to incorporate a town by the name of Livermore, Chapter V. Concord, NH: Josiah B. Sanborn, 1876, pp. 559-560.

Town and city atlas of the state of New Hampshire: Livermore [map]. Boston, MA. D.H. Hurd & Co., 1892.

Erin Paul Donovan

Owner of ScenicNH Photography LLC

Erin Paul is a professional photographer, writer, and author who specializes in environmental conservation and historic preservation photography mainly in the New Hampshire White Mountains. His work is published worldwide, and publication credits include: Appalachian Mountain Club, Appalachian Trail Conservancy, Backpacker Magazine, and The Wilderness Society.