History Of The White Mountains

Since the time of pioneer settlers Abel and Ethan Allen Crawford, explorers and adventurers have been lured by the stunning peaks and lush valleys of New Hampshire's White Mountains. In the nearly two centuries since the Crawfords constructed their first crude footpath onto the heights of Mount Washington and the Presidential Range, the White Mountain trail system has evolved into an intricate network featuring more than 1,400 miles of marked paths. Retrace the steps of early mountain guides such as Charles Lowe and Allen "Old Man" Thompson and learn how these early path-makers made New England's most popular and extensive mountain trail system possible. Longtime northern New Hampshire hiking columnist and guidebook author Mike Dickerman traces the fascinating story of this evolution with this new collection of profiles and reflections on the early trails and trailblazers of the region.

Built by James Everell Henry, the East Branch & Lincoln Railroad (EB&L) is considered to be the grandest and largest logging railroad operation ever built in New England. In 1892, the mountain town of Lincoln, New Hampshire, was transformed from a struggling wilderness enclave to a thriving mill town when Henry moved his logging operation from Zealand. He built houses, a company store, sawmills, and a railroad into the East Branch of the Pemigewasset River watershed to harvest virgin spruce. Despite the departure of the last EB&L log train from Lincoln Woods by 1948, the industry's cut-and-run practices forever changed the future of land conservation in the region, prompting legislation like the Weeks Act of 1911 and the Wilderness Act of 1964. Today, nearly every trail in the Pemigewasset Wilderness follows or utilizes portions of the old EB&L Railroad bed.

A sweeping environmental history of a quintessential American wilderness.

This 224 page book identifies more than 200 places in the White Mountains -- streams, mountains, trails & many other locations & traces the history of the region from colonial days to present times. The book also includes reproductions of important photographs of the region. The author is a veteran hiker & long time visitor to the White Mountains who spends as much time as possible up there hiking the mountains that he loves. "And visitors to New Hampshire's mountains can settle arguments by consulting The White Mountains, Names, Places & Legends." Yankee Magazine. "The beauty of the book is that one can opt to read it alphabetically or simply open it anywhere." Northern New Hampshire Magazine. "A little encyclopedia of everything you'd ever want to know about this well-loved mountain range." Summit Magazine.