Somersworth Machine Company Stove, Swift River Trail – Pictured here in 2010 at an abandoned campsite in the Horne Brook drainage in Livermore, New Hampshire, is an old stove made by the Somersworth Machine Company in Great Falls (today's Somersworth), New Hampshire. This stove is a protected artifact; the removal of historical artifacts from federal lands without a permit is a violation of federal law.

Incorporated in 1848, the Somersworth Machine Company went bankrupt in 1898, and the stove foundry closed without any plans for reopening. It was then purchased in 1901 and renamed the Somersworth Foundry Company.

Horne Brook is likely named for Conway physician Dr. B. Frank Horne (1864-1930). Born on June 20, 1864, in Acton, Maine, Horne arrived in Conway in the 1890s. His wife was Ruth Burnham Davis (1878-1963), author of Conway Through the Years and Whither (1963). During the early 1900s, Horne had a secluded cabin, known as “Horne’s Camp”, along the Swift River Trail.

Built in 1903 by James Sturgis Pray (Appalachian Mountain Club’s Councillor of Improvements from 1902-1904), the Swift River Trail began at Albany Intervale. It ran along the Swift River for a number of miles and then followed a logging road to Camp 6 on the Sawyer River Railroad. From Camp 6, it traveled between Mount Kancamagus and Mount Huntington and then down to the Hancock Branch of the East Branch & Lincoln Railroad. Today, this trail no longer exists, and the Kancamagus Highway travels through the area. The first four miles of the trail, more or less, followed the last four miles of the Swift River Railroad. At the end of the railroad, in the general area of Horne Brook, there were a few logging camps.

Operated by the Conway Lumber Company, the Swift River Railroad was a logging railroad in operation from 1906-1916. Beginning at Conway Lumber Company's mill in Conway, the 25-mile-long railroad traveled into the Swift River valley and ended at the base of Mount Kancamagus. There were over 20 logging camps associated with this railroad logging operation, and remnants of these camps can still be found today.

Because the brook is named Horne Brook, it leads one to believe that the physician’s camp was on the brook. However, his camp may have been on one of the nearby brooks; there is a known abandoned campsite on Pine Bend Brook, and other brooks in the area also have abandoned campsites along them. The Pine Bend Brook and Horne Brook area was known for having extremely large pine trees, and early settlers and loggers nicknamed the area "Pine Bend".

Reference to Horne's camp can be found in at least one book. Passaconaway in the White Mountains (1916) by Charles Edward Beals, Jr., refers to the physician’s camp as Horne’s Camp in one chapter but then refers to it as Pine Bend Camp in another chapter. Beals mentions that the camp was about four miles from the hotel at Albany Intervale. He also writes, “A few years ago this famous camp was destroyed by fire.” Using this information, Horne's camp burned down around 1913/1914.

While this possibly could be the remnants of the physician's cabin, the artifacts at the campsite indicate that it could have been a logging camp. As for the stove predating the railroad, the simplest explanation is that the railroad acquired an older stove. The history of this camp is unclear, but hopefully, future research will reveal its background.

More reading:
Preserve History, Don't Remove Artifacts
The Swift River Railroad
Historical Artifacts, Stoves

Happy image making..

© Erin Paul Donovan. All rights reserved | Historic Information Disclaimer | White Mountains History
To license any of the photographs above for usage in print publications, click on the photograph.

Bibliography:
Appalachian Mountain Club. Guide to Paths in the White Mountains and Adjacent Regions, 4th edition. Boston, MA: Appalachian Mountain Club, 1920.

Beals, Charles Edward, Jr. Passaconaway in the White Mountains. Boston, MA: The Gorham Press, 1916.

Horne, Ruth B. Conway through the years and whither. Conway, NH: Conway Historical Society, 1963.

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.