December History, White Mountains – Here in the White Mountains, December is an exciting month. The ski mountains open for business, hikers are preparing for the official kickoff of the winter hiking season, and snowmobiles are being tuned up. If you enjoy the outdoors, winter is a great time to explore the region.
When it comes to White Mountains history, a handful of events happened in December. J.E. Henry’s mill burns down, a section house was razed, turnpikes were incorporated, and the Underhills became the first people to complete the White Mountain Four Thousand Footers hiking list during the winter. Included here are a few interesting events.
Built in 1893-1894, J.E. Henry's first sawmill in Lincoln was one of the largest in New England. Identified by the five smokestacks, it operated from 1894 until it was destroyed by fire on Christmas Eve in 1898. Henry rebuilt the sawmill in 1899, and mill operations continued. Remnants of Henry’s logging empire can still be found throughout Lincoln.
The Tenth New Hampshire Turnpike was incorporated in December 1803. It began in the area of the Bartlett / Hart’s Location town line and ran for 20 miles west through Crawford Notch, ending in the area of Fabyans in Bretton Woods. The road would later be known as the Old Portland Road. Today’s Route 302 follows the general route of this old turnpike.
The Jefferson Turnpike was incorporated by the state of New Hampshire in December 1804 and started being used in 1811. This toll road traveled from the 10th New Hampshire Turnpike (today’s Route 302) to Jefferson and Lancaster. Today, this route is known as Cherry Mountain Road, a seasonal road with roadside dispersed campsites.
On December 23, 1960, Miriam and Robert Underhill became the first people to complete the White Mountain Four 4000 footers during the winter (final peak was Mount Jefferson). The official White Mountain 4000 footers hiking list, published in Appalachia in June 1958, originally consisted of 46 mountains. Galehead Mountain was added in 1975, and Bondcliff was added in 1980. When this hiking list was created, Franconia Ridge and the Presidential Range were seeing heavy use, and the intent of it was to disperse hikers across the White Mountains. This list may have helped with the overuse then, but because of the surge in peakbagging in the 21st-century, the original vision of this list isn’t working.
The Mt. Willard Section House in Crawford Notch was built in 1887 to house the section foreman James E. Mitchell, his family, and crew who maintained Section 139 of the railroad. In 1903 Loring Evans took over as foreman, and with his wife, Hattie, moved into the Section House. Loring was killed ten years later in a railroading accident at Crawford's yard. However, Hattie remained living in the house until 1942. Unfortunately, because of endless vandalism, the Maine Central Railroad burned the legendary Mt. Willard Section House to the ground on December 13, 1972.
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Bibliography:
Donovan, Erin Paul. East Branch & Lincoln Railroad. Charleston, SC: Arcadia Publishing, 2018.
Donovan, Erin Paul. “Tenth New Hampshire Turnpike.” ScenicNH Photography LLC, https://archive.scenicnh.com/gallery/Tenth-New-Hampshire-Turnpike/G0000tHMAQmld3ws/C0000XZR2_QjgiEA.
Donovan, Erin Paul. “Scenic Backroads, White Mountains.” ScenicNH Photography LLC, 01 Sept 2016, https://www.scenicnh.com/blog/2016/09/new-hampshire-backroads/.
Donovan, Erin Paul. “New Hampshire 4000 Footers.” ScenicNH Photography LLC, https://www.scenicnh.com/new-hampshire-4000-footers/.
Donovan, Erin Paul. “Mt Willard Section House, Crawford Notch.” ScenicNH Photography LLC, 15 Dec 2011, https://www.scenicnh.com/blog/2011/12/mt-willard-section-house/.
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.
ScenicNH Photography LLC
Specializing in environmental conservation and historic preservation photography mainly in the White Mountains region of New Hampshire, Erin Paul’s photography and writing focuses on the history of the White Mountains, and telling the story of abandoned places and forgotten historical sites.