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THE SUGAR RIVER REGION: Where history and hospitality flow together
Nestled between the shimmering waters of Lake Sunapee and the mighty Connecticut River, which divides New Hampshire and Vermont, the Sugar River and its tributaries flow past picture-perfect towns and cities.
The region’s history echoes New England’s. And while Yankees are not generally ones to boast, you’ll discover the residents have steadfast pride, deep roots and tireless love for the place they call home.
These communities quietly pour energy into preserving what matters — whether that’s a historical opera house, a family-run business or making every visitor feel like they’ve just come home.
“We have a great story,” said Larry Huot of Newport, president of LaValley Building Supply. “The more you learn, the more interesting it gets.”
There are plenty of ways to immerse yourself in the history and culture of the area. Local experts are happy to guide your trip.
THE HEADWATERS OF HISTORY
Water was a key resource for the indigenous people who first inhabited this region. They used Lake Sunapee, or Soo-Nipi, meaning “Goose Lake,” and the Sugar River Trail to navigate. By the mid-1700s, many of the native people had died from colonial diseases or conflicts, while others migrated to Canada as settlers pushed inland from the coastal areas.
European settlers migrating from Massachusetts and Rhode Island were among the first to set up agricultural homesteads in what would be the towns of the Sugar River Region.
“They just came and on their own sheer will, created a space for themselves, then they thrived,” said Alissa Bascom, interim director of the Fort at No. 4, a living history museum that recreates Charlestown’s first settlement built in 1735.
Sunapee, first known as Wendell, saw its first settlements in the 1780s.
“The original settlers had to start by clearing land to farm, and then discovered it wasn’t particularly good farming land, but they persevered,” said Becky Rylander, president of the Sunapee Historical Society, with Barbara Chalmers, the vice president. The ground was rocky, and the lake made it difficult to raise livestock. Back then, properties along the shore were among the last to be bought.
Agriculture continued to play a role in the region for centuries. Albert St. Pierre’s grandfather relocated his 14-member family from Canada to Claremont in the 1930s.
“They were farmers, and the little bit of history that I learned was that the farm was owned by Mr. Joy, which was Joy Manufacturing in Claremont before it went worldwide,” St. Pierre said. His family worked the farm until the 1960s when the property was sold to Tambrands and St. Pierre’s father started a gravel pit business, which he now runs. As a descendant of large French-Canadian Catholic families, St. Pierre said 17 of his 35 employees are relatives.
While the lake wasn’t seen as an asset by the early farmers of the region, the utility of the lake shifted to one of great benefit in the early 1800s. As villages began to take shape, the residents harnessed the power of the waterways, constructing dams and mills. The industrial age had arrived.
Grist and sawmills were the first powered by the water flowing out of Lake Sunapee. The 1800s saw more than five industries and 20 mills producing cloth, woodworking, pulp and paper, excelsior wood shavings, harness parts and more.
When the railroad arrived in Newbury in 1877, it was even easier to ship off those goods. And those trains also helped to launch the region’s tourism era.
FROM GRAND HOTELS TO QUIET DISCOVERY
After disembarking at the Newbury Harbor train station, passengers would board ferries at the dock and head by water to the grand hotels, inns and cabins of Lake Sunapee.
Lake Sunapee still maintains three lighthouses that guided the steamboats ferrying summer residents between ports.
The large hotels of that era are gone, lost to fire or time. The Ben Mere Inn, which opened in 1890, was among the last and was torn down in 1968. The property is now a green where a gazebo sits overlooking the harbor. However, many of the “cottage colonies” remain, some transformed into private homes or historical inns.
In the age of the automobile, train travel dwindled. Lake Sunapee’s visitors shifted from tourists to part-time residents.
“It’s interesting, because driving through on Route 11, you’d never know there was a lake right here,” Rylander said. “Because you just don’t see it.”
Despite easy access to Interstates 89 and 91, this region remains less crowded than other New Hampshire lakes and beaches with more visual prominence.
As the grand hotel era wound down, more efforts were put into Mount Sunapee State Park, which opened in 1948 as a year-round commercial venture. It featured a 3,500-foot chairlift that could carry 400 passengers an hour, plus a 1,200-foot rope tow. The state park beach area was acquired in 1950.
PACKED WITH PERSONALITY
Storyteller and TV personality Fritz Wetherbee has lived in New Hampshire for most of his life: Nashua, Milford, Portsmouth, Peterborough, Hancock. But for more than 20 years, he’s lived in Acworth.
“I had gone up and down Route 10, many, many times. One day, just went over here and came up and found the old cemetery,” Wetherbee said. “In that cemetery, there is a grave. It says, ‘This is to the memory of Bezaleel Beckwith. Alas, he is no longer here. His body was stolen from the grave,’ on — get this — Halloween.”
As Weatherbee was leaving, he passed an 18th-century house that was for sale. He bought it, and he’s been there ever since.
“These towns have all sorts of characters in them,” he said. When the 850 residents were asked to raise $1 million to save the steeple of Acworth Center’s church, they did.
“They put the church back together again, and it’s gorgeous,” Wetherbee said.
Hard work and a spirit of community have helped to preserve historic landmarks and foster growth in business, arts and recreation. It’s a place where family-owned companies like LaValley Building Supply sit next door to international manufacturers like Ruger.
LaValley itself has been buoyed by that growth since 1962, when Harold and Gerry LaValley first purchased a former sawmill in Newport, and today it has 17 locations in the state. It, in turn, has fostered community improvement whether that’s by donating significantly to a new community recreation center, supporting an opera house production or providing employees with job training support.
“In the region, there’s a culture and mentality that we build, we create, we have resources. We have resourceful people that are making a difference,” Huot said. “In the history of the woolen mills that were here, the shoe factories that were here, the agriculture that was here.”
BEST OF BOTH WORLDS
Roz Caplan is the broker-owner and president of Century 21 Highview Realty in Claremont, the sole city amid the Sugar River Region towns. She relocated here years ago from Boston.
“I think there’s a community feeling, a warmth, a friendship, a friendliness,” Caplan said. “There’s a lot of history here, and it’s pleasant.”
While maintaining that small-town feel, the city provides proximity to transportation, employment opportunities, health care hubs, educational institutions, arts organizations and more.
Interstates 89 and 91 bookend the Sugar River, with Route 103 running alongside it. Claremont is home to the only Amtrak stop in western New Hampshire. It makes it easy for visitors to access the region and for residents who wish to commute to reach outside communities.
Caplan has recently seen more people who grew up in the area and moved away starting to return. Programs at the Claremont Opera House, new restaurants and niche shopping experiences offer lifestyle amenities that prospective residents are seeking, while the industrial park and downtown have space for startups to launch.
“It’s a small town with some big things in it,” Caplan said. “Things have changed over the years, and I really feel that Claremont has progressed very nicely in many ways.”
A REGION ON THE RISE
For a long time, the Sugar River Region has been a bit out of sight, out of mind. Yet, it’s far from being off the beaten trail. Here, authentic New Hampshire recreational and cultural opportunities are easily accessible, affordable and uncrowded.
Come experience the history and community, and you might find yourself wanting to extend your stay. Whether you’re kayaking a quiet lake, visiting a historic fort, or talking to a craftsman whose family has lived here for generations, the experience feels refreshing.
“You come here, and you go, ‘wow, this is the way it was 50, 100 years ago. This is amazing,’” Wetherbee said. “Yet, this is not overcrowded. ... Sullivan County is more accessible, so a lot of people like living the rural life, and they come here for that.”
It’s a place where history is present, communities cooperate and visitors are encouraged to linger.
