MAIN STREET, CONWAY VILLAGE
TOWN HALL
“One of the best small towns in America” ~ Small Town, USA
CONWAY LIBRARY
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Welcome to our celebration of Conway NH’s 250th Anniversary!
Hidden within our logo “Celebrating Conway’s Legacy” are the initials CCL, the Roman numerals for 250. It is these kinds of insights and attention to detail we hope will surprise and enlighten you.
The nature of a commemorative souvenir booklet should be short and sweet; like New England’s spring maple sugaring season, the dog days of August for enjoying refreshing swimming holes, the blazing glory of autumn leaf peeping, or a fresh powder day on the ski slopes. The purpose of this booklet is to highlight the many resources available at the Conway Public Library, the North Conway Librarythe Conway Historical Society, Conway Town Hall and other archives and collections. It is intended as an overview and a guide to the Town’s history and its historical resources. It is not meant to replace the many wonderful books, articles, and historical archives already published about Conway. It is not a complete history of the town. It focuses on the 1765 granting of the town and the early efforts to build a community. On the occasion of Conway’s 200th anniversary fifty years ago, Barbara S. Lucy and Robert Kennett, Co-Chairs of the Conway Bicentennial, wrote “So in this year 1965 we all pause and reflect. We respect those in the past
who helped our town develop. We thank those in the present who made the town’s welfare their concern. We salute those in the future who will follow in our footsteps.” Today, we thank our predecessors for their “salute” to us and look forward to our next 50 years.
Hope to see you in 2065 at our 300th Anniversary! ............................. TABLE OF CONTENTS Henry Seymour Conway Saco River & Covered Bridges The History of Our Libraries Expansion to Year-Round Resort White Mountain Art Hotels as a Resort Attraction Did You Know Fun Facts A Year of Celebration Conway’s First Schoolhouse Conway 250 Sponsors & Committee Conway 250 Commemorative Cards Early Mills Conclusion About the Author/Acknowledgements
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250 - Celebrating Conway’s Legacy - Conway, NH
Congratulations, Conway, on your 250th Anniversary!
For over 150 years the Cranmore Inn Bed and Breakfast has hosted White Mountain travelers in country style comfort. In fact, it’s the oldest continuously operated inn in North Conway, New Hampshire!
Congratulations on Your 80 Kearsarge Street, North Conway 603-356-5502
Your home away from home in the heart of North Conway Village
250th From Your Friends at Bartlett Historical Society
The Creation or Granting of the Town of Conway occured through the signing of a legal document in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, on October 1, 1765 As specified in the 1765 charter, farming was central to the conditions of land grants in Conway. Our town’s name memorializes Henry Seymour Conway, an English statesman who is said to have been gifted, handsome, distinguished, acclaimed, loved and honored alike by friend and foe. Though commander-in-chief of the British Army, he was an ardent champion of the liberties of the colonists. The charter was a legal document that followed a traditional form and included elements common to most grants of land for New Hampshire towns during the colonial period. Much of the fancy, flowery language and legal jargon on Conway’s charter can also be found in other town charters. It was arranged like a “fill-in-the blank” template. This was followed by a long description of the boundaries that included four boundary trees with distance measurements and compass directions and listed the number of acres included. There was a provision for holding two market fairs and for establishing a town meeting to elect officers. Then there were five conditions, for “every Grantee, his Heirs or Assigns.” They were required to “plant and cultivate five acres of land within the term of five years for every fifty acres contained in his or their share or proportion of land in said township, and continue to improve and settle the same by additional cultivations.” If they failed to farm their land, they faced “Penalty of the Forfeiture of his Grant or Share in the said Township, and of its reverting to Us, our Heirs and Successors, to be by Us or them Re-granted to such of our Subjects as shall effectually settle and cultivate the same.” An early lot map shows farming as a key organizing principle in laying out the town. A comparison of the lot map with modern geographical and topographic maps shows that many of the lots were irregularly shaped and arranged to maximize farming potential.
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For example, along the Saco River, many of the lots are so-called French “long lots,” with a long thin shape with a narrow section along the river, allowing a larger number of lots to have water access for livestock. According to Merrill’s History of Carroll County, early taxes were often paid in “articles of produce and home production.” The value of each article was fixed by the town at the annual meeting. There was a storehouse built with scales and measures to redistribute grain, flax, salts, pot and pearl ashes, sugar, meats, cloth, etc. Farming was sometimes a risky business. In October 1785 sudden and heavy rains flooded the Saco River. The floods “greatly injured many farms, totally ruined others, drowned many of the cattle, (and) carried off almost all the produce of the town.” There was a detailed “Report of Losses Sustained In This Freshet” listing among the casualties, “two barns carried away with all the hay and grain in them,” ten oxen, twelve cows, eighty sheep, two horses, twenty-five swine, “one saw mill and grist mill together with dams carried off.” Corn was one of the staples for many years. In 1874 Conway ranked fourth in the county in valuation of agriculture, and first in the production of corn. At one time there was a large corn factory in Conway, located on the site of Farrington Street. This was destroyed by fire in the early 1930’s.
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250 - Celebrating Conway’s Legacy - Conway, NH
250 - Celebrating Conway’s Legacy - Conway, NH
An Important Central Feature Seen on Most Maps of Conway is the Saco River Winding its Way Through Town
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Its flooding resulted in rich farmland and the brooks that flowed into it provided the water power that formed the foundation of life for the early settlers.
The Saco River presented significant challenges to the very settlement it flowed through. These challenges resulted in the building of covered bridges, the most celebrated feature of the early road system. These structures were made with a variety of techniques. Some were built like barns with large framed timbers. Others were built of patented trusses using smaller sizes of lumber but constructed to be as strong or stronger than the large timber styles. They had to be high, wide and strong enough to carry a large, fully loaded, hay wagon. The earliest method of crossing rivers and brooks was to simply find a shallow place to wade across. A number of White Mountain paintings feature wagons fording the rivers and brooks in the area. The early town reports are filled with votes or discussions about river crossings. According to Horne and Hounsell’s, Conway, “Before the Bridges were Built”, the road entering Conway Village from the southwest passed directly down through the Kennett High School athletic field and crossed a ford in Swift River. That would now be the Kennett Middle School athletic fields. They point out that the road and ford was again used after both the Swift and Saco bridges
were swept away in the freshet of 1869. The rivers and brooks tended to flood on a regular basis, washing out the bridges that had been built to cross it as well as the homes and barns of those who did not read the landscape and head the warnings seen there in the oxbows and terraces of the Intervale. Conway is blessed with two remaining covered bridges, but we had several more in the past. Perhaps the most notorious covered bridge was near the center of town running between the mills on Conway Lake and Meeting House Hill in what is now Redstone. Over the years, it has been called the Smith-Eastman Bridge, Joel’s Bridge, the Redstone Bridge and Morrill’s Bridge. It was built in 1846 and was the longest one in town. Joel Eastman and John Smith, land owners on either side of the Saco, hired Peter Paddleford to build this bridge at their expense. Later the town reimbursed them after the towns people had used it for a year. This bridge burned on the Fourth of July 1975 by “partying” youths and only the stone abutments remain. A year later, on July 5, 1976, as part of the Bicentennial
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Continued from page 7
activities, a bronze plaque was unveiled commemorating the history of the Smith-Eastman Covered Bridge. In 1875 a covered bridge was built leading from North Conway to Cathedral Ledge near what is now called Hussey’s field and “first bridge.” In 1951 it was replaced by a modern steel and concrete bridge. There were two covered bridges built for railroads. Both were built in 1903. Railroad bridge #290 was replaced in 1921 and bridge #35 was replaced in 1954. The Swift River Bridge is open only for pedestrians and has been assigned the World Guide Number: 29-02-05 and the New Hampshire Number: 47. It is supported by a pair of Paddleford trusses. The first bridge on this site was built by John Douglass in 1850. It gave much needed access to the north using West Side Road and served local commerce well until the spring of 1869. At that time, heavy rains swelled the river and the raging waters lifted the bridge from its foundation, turned it around, and sent it rapidly downstream into the Saco
River Covered Bridge knocking it off its moorings. Both damaged structures broke up and came to rest two miles downstream. In a striking demonstration of Yankee thrift, much of the lumber salvaged from these two bridges was used in the building of the new Swift River Covered Bridge constructed by Jacob Berry and his son Jacob Jr. in 1869. The current bridge was bypassed when a new concrete and steel bridge was built nearby in 1974. It is now closed to vehicular traffic. has picnic table, nice place for a picnic. The nearby covered bridge over the Saco is still open for vehicles. It is built with two pairs of Paddleford trusses. The current bridge is the fourth one to be built on that site. In 1850, Jacob Berry and Peter Paddleford built a covered bridge to replace a crudely framed log bridge that had collapsed at this site. The 1850 bridge stood until the Swift River covered bridge crashed into it in 1869. The Saco River covered bridge was rebuilt by Allen and Warren of Conway but it was destroyed again by a tannery fire in 1890. The current bridge was built by Charles Broughton and his son Frank in 1890.
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250 - Celebrating Conway’s Legacy - Conway, NH
Black Cap Grille North Conway • 603-356-2225 Cafe Noche Conway • 603-447-5050 Cider Company Glen • 603-383-9061
Christmas Farm Inn Jackson • 603-383-4313 Darby Field Inn Albany • 603-447-2181
Delaney’s Hole In The Wall North Conway • 603-356-7776 Horsefeathers North Conway • 603-356-6862 Josephs Spaghetti Shed Glen • 603-383-6680
J-Town Deli & Country Store Jackson • 603-383-8064 Margarita Grill Glen • 603-383-6556
Max’s at Snowvillage Inn Eaton Center • 603-447-2818
Congratulations Conway on your 250th Birthday Celebration! For all of life’s celebrations choose a Valley Originals restaurant!
McGrath’s Tavern North Conway • 603-733-5955
The Valley Originals offers a true local food experience at eateries unique in ambiance, recipes and service.
Moat Mountain Smokehouse North Conway • 603-356-6381
Dedicated to helping keep the Valley a vibrant and thriving community, The Valley Originals supports LOCAL organizations, charities and activities... in a big way!
Merlino’s Steakhouse North Conway • 603-356-6006 Notchland Inn Hart’s Location • 603-374-6131 Oxford House Inn Fryeburg • 207-935-3442
Priscilla’s North Conway • 603-356-0401 Red Parka Steakhouse Pub Glen • 603-383-4344
Shalimar Of India North Conway • 603-356-0123 Shannon Door Pub Jackson • 603-383-4211
The Shovel Handle Pub Jackson • 800-677-5737
Traditions Madison • 603-367-4030 Wildcat Tavern Jackson • 603-383-4245
302 West Smokehouse And Tavern Fryeburg • 207-935-3021
The Valley Originals thevalleyoriginals.com
The History of Our Libraries
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The first library in town was operated by Richard Eastman out of his home where he served as librarian until his death in 1826. His son John Langdon continued the tradtion. The next library in North Conway was the Seavey Circulating Library, started by Miss Hannah W. Seavey and her sister Mary in their home on the west side of Seavey Street. A small public library was established at Center Conway in 1896-1897, which eventually became a branch of the larger Conway library. In 1900 the cornerstone of the Conway Public Library was laid. The building was erected by the widow and the daughter of Thomas L. Jenks, a successful Boston physician who had been born here. The library opened officially on January 1, 1902. The North Conway Public Library, too, was given impetus by a gift, although the initial fund obtained for the library was from life memberships. Fifty people
Like Conway, we’ve changed over the years. Our commitment to community has not. Meet the new generation of professionals at HEB!
HEB Engineers, Inc. Civil | Structural | Survey www.hebengineers.com | 603-356-6936 An employee-owned company in North Conway, NH
contributed twenty-five dollars each. The benefactor who made possible the erection of the present building was Mr. James Schouler, who purchased a lot at the corner of Main and Mechanic Streets as its site. He was made president of the North Conway Public Library, organized on August 4, 1905. The main section of the library was built in 1911. An addition was built in 1917 at the back and in 1988 the north wing was added. Although the library in North Conway is public in its service, it is privately endowed and receives no support from public funds.
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HAPPY BIRTHDAY CONWAY! Proud to do business in our community ... from Main Street to the summit of Mt. Washington!
DW Electrical Contractors, Inc.
provides design/build and installation services for Residential, Commercial and Industrial projects.
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603-733-5333 • www.dweci.com We are always available for any type of service call
PLUMBING | HEATING | AIR CONDITIONING
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Expansion of the Region as a Year-Round Resort came with the development of winter business through the skiing boom.
Skiiing and dog-sled racing were already regional pastimes before awareness awakened their commercial possibilities. It was Carroll Reed of Boston, recovering from a skiing accident in the Memorial Hospital, who was inspired with the idea of forming the “Eastern Slope Ski Club.” In 1936 this club brought to Conway Benno Rybiska, of the famous Hannes Schneider Ski School at St. Anton am Arlberg, Austria. The enterprise was given further impetus by Harvey Dow Gibson. This “local boy who had made good” in the world of New York finance purchased the western slope of Cranmore Mountain and had it laid out for ski runs. George Morton, a local mechanical genius, invented and designed the Skimobile, which operates as a tramway up the mountainside. Hannes Schneider was invited by Harvey Dow Gibson to come to America to start the ski school. Using his financial leverage with Adolf Hitler he was able to get Hannes and his family out of Nazi controlled Austria. Hannes won fame for himself and his ski school and much acclaim for the Skimobile development. His son, Herbert, managed the Ski School after his father’s death and purchased the Skimobile in 1964. Mr. Philip A. Robertson, a native son of New Hampshire and resident of North Conway was selected by Mr. Gibson to be the General Manager of The Skimobile which position he held for twentyfive years. Under his direction the Skimobile gained international attention and skiers from all over the world came to North Conway to ski at Cranmore Mt. and ride the “only skimobile in the world.” Mr. Robertson was retired from Cranmore in 1964 and opened Attitash Ski Area eight miles north of North Conway in January of 1965.
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250 - Celebrating Conway’s Legacy - Conway, NH
250 - Celebrating Conway’s Legacy - Conway, NH
Many of the Major Icons of White Mountain Art are of Conway Itself Perhaps our most important and prolific local artist was Benjamin Champney.
In 1850 one could have board and room at Samuel Willey Thompson’s Tavern in North Conway for $3.50 a week. The board must have been very satisfactory, since the artists Benjamin Champney and John Kensett liked it so well that they induced about a dozen of their artist friends to join them at Thompson’s Tavern during the following summer of 1851. It was the sale of thousands of paintings of the Saco Valley by Kensett, Champney, and their friends, that drew so many people to North Conway during the next three decades, to behold these natural beauties first hand. From that time on this area became one of the most popular resorts in New England. Historic photographs have played a large role as both research tools and as a means of illustrating information for this project. Many historical photographs have lost their original context, including the name of the photographer and the date taken. While we are not always able to connect a specific image to a specific photographer or studio, I would like to acknowledge as complete a list as possible of Conway area photographers:
• Bruce Bedford • Dr. Samuel A. Bemis
• James M. Bray • L. Leslie Buck • Bob Duncan • Jamie Gemmiti • Gordon Holland • James Hunting • Dr. Leo Kann (Duck’s Head Studio) • Bob Knapp • J. Lazarus • Harold Orne • Nathan W. Pease • Mike Roberts • Guy Shorey • Don Sieburg • Dick Smith • Richard G. Smith • Frank W. Swallow • Noel Wellman • Gabriella F. Eddy White • Thomas Edward Mulliken White • H.C. Williams
They deserve a lot of credit for preserving Conway’s history.
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250 - Celebrating Conway’s Legacy - Conway, NH
The Conway Area Humane Society Serving the Animals and the People of The Mt. Washington Valley Since 1999
PO Box 260, 223 E. Main St. Conway, NH 03818 (603) 447-5955 • www.conwayshelter.org
Congratulations, Conway on a long and proud history!
CANNELL’S COUNTRY STORE Since 1884
Minnie Cannell, Frank Cannell, Raymond Cannell, Lydia Cannell, John Cannell
The Hotel was a Utility Before it Became a Resort Attraction
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The history of hotels has been well documented by David Emerson. Numerous hotels had flourished and declined long before the heyday of the so-called tourist business. The earliest hotels appeared in Center Conway. Captain Joshua Heath was the first innkeeper in town. In Center Conway, too, Lieutenant Bamett Walker in 1780 built a home which later was operated for over a century as a hotel, known as the “Center House.” Andrew McMillan’s home became an early hotel. It was located across from what is now the Red Jacket Hotel. However, it was Samuel Thompson, who, in the midnineteenth century, really set North Conway on its road to preeminence as a summer resort. He carried mail weekly on horseback between Conway and Littleton and instigated a new stage route from Portland to Fabyans. But his most significant contribution was the impetus he gave to the influx of artists into the region. Following Benjamin Champney and Kensett, whom he had met at Sebago Lake and enticed to North Conway, artists flocked to the region. Once they had discovered it, they celebrated its beauty in their works, and the ball of publicity had started to roll. Mrs. Abraham Lincoln was the first president’s wife to visit New Hampshire (except for Mrs. Franklin Pierce,
Kearsarge House, North Conway who lived here). On August 3, 1863 Mary Todd Lincoln, with her sons Robert and Thomas, came to Conway by stagecoach from Center Harbor. At Conway Village the Lincolns transferred to private carriages and drove to the Kearsarge House in North Conway, where they spent the next two days. Mrs. Lincoln later said that she was delighted with the elegant and unobtrusive attention which the guests in North Conway had given them. Their next stop was the Glen House. On August 6, Mrs. Lincoln and Robert rode to the Tip-Top House on Mt. Washington over the carriage road which had been constructed just two years earlier, in 1861. There were 130 visitors on the summit that day. Apparently they were much pleased with the trip, as both Robert and his mother rode to the Tip-Top House again on the following day.
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Did You Know? • One of the first medical schools in the United States was a run by an interesting combination of artist, doctor and entrepreneur at the site of the current Eastern Slope Inn Playhouse. • In the 1880’s, the Kennett Spool Mill was the largest of its kind in the world and was active until fire destroyed it in 1934. • Mrs. Abraham Lincoln was the first president’s wife to visit New Hampshire (except for Mrs. Franklin Pierce, who lived here). • At the turn of the nineteenth century there were at least two dozen trains daily carrying hundreds of passengers to and from the Conways. All passenger trains were met by big hotel coaches, some of them drawn by eight horses. At that time most of the hotel guests came for the entire summer. • One industry created a town: the industry, quarrying; the town, Redstone. It was George A. Wagg, the Road Master of the Maine Central Railroad, whose enthusiasm over the remarkable quality of granite used in Conway bridges prompted the formation of the Maine and New Hampshire Granite Company in 1884. The stone from the quarry was of such high grade that it was sought in the construction of numerous well-known buildings, among them Grant’s Tomb in New York City. • Corn was one of the staples for many years. In 1874 Conway ranked fourth in the county in valuation of agriculture, and first in the production of corn. At one time there was a large corn factory in Conway, located on the site of Farrington Street. This was destroyed by fire in the early 1930’s.
Congratulations Conway, NH!
NORTHEAST AUTO BODY, INC. 37 years of fixing wrecks! Professional Auto Body Repairs 603-356-5808 530 Eastman Road, Conway
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250 - Celebrating Conway’s Legacy - Conway, NH
Happy Birthday, Conway!
We are always here for you... since 1975 ServiceMaster of Carroll & Coos Counties
The clean you expect! The service you deserve!
Disaster Restoration Services Residential/Commercial Cleaning Services North Conway, NH • 603-986-4277 SVMSnellBros.com
A family owned, independent insurance agency providing Home, Auto, Business and Life insurance products to businesses and individuals throughout New Hampshire and Maine
Conway NH Office Norway ME Office 603-447-5123 • 888-292-2174 207-743-6554 • 800-734-3247 info@infingerinsurance.com I
PROFESSIONAL ASSOCIATION Certified Accountants Certified Public Accountants 10 North Conway, Conway, NH NH03860 03860 10Duprey Duprey Road, Road, North (603) www.lmrpa.com (603) 356-6358 • www.lmrpa.com
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Congratulations to the TOWN OF CONWAY David & Diane
Desk Solutions Mobile Solutions Network Solutions
Your local solution for all of your computer needs. 1130 Eastman Road, Center Conway, NH 03813 Phone: 603-356-7161 info@computerport.com
SMITH Happy Birthday, Conway!
71 Hobbs Street, Suite 301 Conway, NH 603-447-1000 kim@debitone.biz www.debitone.biz
• Weekly, monthly and quarterly bookeeping and payroll services; • Tax returns for individuals, small business (schedule C), partnerships, etc.; • Clients include but not limited to restaurants, homeowner association, non-profits, retail
A Mt. Washington Valley Service Club
serving our community with international efforts in health and education.
Rotary Club of North Conway P.O. Box 2034 • North Conway, NH, 03860
The Premier Kitchen and Bath Source in Mt. Washington Valley SINCE 1976 Whether you’re building a new home or remodeling your kitchen, Country Cabinets, etc. would love to be a part of it. East Conway Road, North Conway, NH 603-356-5766 countrycabinetsetc.com
Happy Birthday, Conway! h ar d c i R
L. Heath & Sons Since 1964
excavation
A LAWYER WHO WORKS HARD FOR YOU!
I nc .
Specializing in
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Robert Young, Esq. - The Young Law Firm 47 Washington Street, Conway, NH - 603-662-0177 Attorney Advertising | Admitted to Practice in NH and NY
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250 - Celebrating Conway’s Legacy - Conway, NH
250 - Celebrating Conway’s Legacy - Conway, NH
A re-enactment of the historic arrival of Austrian skimeister Hannes Schneider on Feb. 11, 1939 from Nazi-held custody in Germany took place January 3 at the Conway Scenic Railroad’s North Conway Train Station. The Schneider family portrayed Hannes, Ludwina, Herbert and Herta Schneider. Tom Eastman of The Conway Daily Sun portrayed Benno Rybiza, Eastern Slope Ski School’s first ski school director while George Cleveland of the Gibson Center for Senior Services played the role of Harvey D. Gibson.
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250 - Celebrating Conway’s Legacy - Conway, NH
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• Unique • Personal • Custom Designs
2448 Main Street, North Conway • 356-5819
By Emily & Greg Mossman
Celebrating Our 45th Year
HAPPY BIRTHDAY CONWAY, NH e years have been good to you but the best is yet to come! From your iends at
Enjoy our comfortable family-style restaurant with a full menu, sure to please the palate of every age. Wilderness Grill Little Hiker’s Menu Trail Stompin’ Sandwiches Mountain Burgers e Wildest Garden Salad in the Valley Fisherman Fred’s Coastal Favorites Ribs Smothered in our Own Blackberry BBQ Sauce
2344 White Mountain Highway, North Conway, NH 603-356-7696 | muddymoose.com Gi Certificates are available
250 - Celebrating Conway’s Legacy - Conway, NH
What a year!
We hope you were able to attend some of these great events celebrating Conway’s 250th! November 2014: Old Fashioned Christmas, North Conway December 2014: Conway Village Parade and Holiday on Ice Skate Show, Conway January 2015: New Year’s Eve February 2015: Winter Carnival May 2015: Guided Historical Village Tours and Education Fair at Pine Tree School July 2015: Celebrating the Nation’s Birthday, July 4th Old Fashioned Baseball Game and First Responders BBQ, Firemen’s Muster presented by the North Conway Firefighter’s Association and Annual Arts Jubilee Pops Concert with special tribute to Conway 250th. July – October 2015: Conway Historical Display presented by Conway Historical Society August 2015: White Mountain Musical Arts Bach Festival September 2015: Ribbon Cuttings at Marshall Conservation Land, Redstone Quarry and Abenaki Site See page 33 for Ribbon Cutting photos October 2015: Commemorative Ceremony and Autumn Concert, presented by Mountain Top Music
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NORTH CONWAY, NH
Where your adventure begins! Mt. Washington Valley’s only all-suite hotel The Residence Inn by Marriott offers you all the comforts of a modern home, while providing you with touches of
“Service So Memorable”. Located in the heart of the majestic Mount Washington Valley, this hotel is within close proximity to shopping, dining, adventure parks, and four season fun for all ages.
www.NorthConwayResidenceInn.com
Zebulon Northrop Tilton | 1866 - 1952
It is only fitting that Zeb’s General Store be named after a person who embodies the spirit and character of a true New Englander. Zeb was the captain of a coastal schooner that delivered cargo by sail up and down the New England coast from the late 1800’s to 1940.
Zeb’s General Store embodies the nostalgia and quality offered by the general stores of yesteryear with a decidedly whimsical flair.
Relive childhood memories while browsing the store and over 5,000 unique products, all presented in an incredible display of antique store fixtures.
White Mountain Highway North Conway, NH • 1-800-676-9294 www.zebs.com
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250 - Celebrating Conway’s Legacy - Conway, NH
RESIDENTIAL • COMMERCIAL
ENERGY-EFFICIENT RENOVATIONS DESIGN / BUILD • SMALL PROJECTS
• Family Owned • Propane & Oil Delivery • Automatic Delivery • Budget Payment Plans • Service Protection Plans • Online Account Management • 24/7 Emergency Support Proud supporter of Mt. Washington Valley Chamber of Commerce
The Art of Building
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CONSTRUCTION MANAGEMENT, INC 46 EAST MADISON ROAD, MADISON NH 03849
Call us at (603)367-8272 or view our portfolio online at www.CormackConstruction.com
PROFESSIONAL TITLE & CLOSING SERVICES RESIDENTIAL & COMMERCIAL (ME OR NH) PURCHASES • REFINANCES • 1031 EXCHANGES • MOBILE CLOSINGS MAIL AWAY OR EMAIL CLOSINGS • FULL TITLE SEARCHES • ATTORNEY ON STAFF
“Large Enough To Serve You; Small Enough To Care” 6 Pleasant Street, Conway, NH 03818 Call Today (603) 447-5836
A Little Log Schoolhouse was Conway’s First
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One was built at the east end of town in what was called the Page Neighborhood and another in North Conway near the site of the present Episcopal Church The Conway Academic School, located in North Conway, was organized in 1828 and erected by subscription. Until 1836-7 the school was “kept” by female teachers, at which time a movement was successfully carried out to up-grade the institution. A college graduate was secured as principal, two departments established, and students “were thoroughly fitted for college.” Attendance ranged from forty to eighty pupils. The year 1874 marked its end. In the 1870’s a private boarding school for boys was operated in North Conway by Rev. Frederick Thompson at “The Three Elms,” just south of the Congregational Church. Two of the people hired by Reverend Thompson were Lady Blanche Murphy and
her husband, Mr. Thomas Murphy, who taught music and French. In the nineteenth century there were three schools, one in North Conway, one in Conway, and one in Center Conway, with one-room schools persisting in outlying districts. The much needed and long deferred central high school was built on the site of the Pequawket House. This was Kennett High School, erected as a memorial to A. Crosby Kennett by his widow and sons. The first class graduated in 1924.
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250 - Celebrating Conway’s Legacy - Conway, NH
RIBBON CUTTINGS COMMEMORATING THE TOWN’S GIFTS TO ITS CITIZENS Thursday, September 10, 2015 was a grand day of celebration for the Town of Conway with three ribbon cutting dedications • Marshall Conservation Land off West Side Road • Abenaki Native American Site in Intervale • Entrance to Redstone Village
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The Villages As the town was being settled, a number of villages, each with its own post offices, schools, churches, some with libraries, cemeteries, etc. were developed. Some of the earliest, Conway Village • Center Conway East Conway • North Conway Kearsarge • Intervale Redstone
250 - Celebrating Conway’s Legacy - Conway, NH
Thank you to the Conway 250 Committee and Sponsors
Gibson/Woodbury Charitable Foundation The Connie Davis Watson Fund
Pequawket Foundation
The Robert and Dorothy Goldberg Foundation Northeast Auto Body Atlas Rotary Club Country Cabinets Mountain Center Physical Therapy Infinger Insurance Settlers Green Anna Stickney Chapter of the DAR North Conway Grand Eastern Propane Pete’s Restaurant Equipment Leone, McDonnell & Roberts
Thank you to our advertisers! We appreciate your support of this commemorative magazine!
Brian Wiggin - Committee Co-Chair Author, Conway Daily Sun 250th Section Jill Reynolds - Committee Co-Chair Chair, Winter Carnival Chair, Commemorative Event
Penny Merrill - Co-Chair, Education Fair at Pine Tree Elementary School Sally Smith - Co-Chair, Education Fair at Pine Tree Elementary School Judy McGinty - Village Tours
Thank you to our guides Mark Hounsell, John Cannell, William Marvel Brian Wiggin, Judy McGinty, Nancy Leavitt, Michelle Brooks Elaine Desjardins & daughters, Betty Hounsell, Arthur King, Dave & Jean Hamilton
Bob Cottrell - Curator, Historical Display at Conway Historical Society Historian, Commemorative Magazine Kris Cluff - Chair, Firemen’s Muster
John Eastman - Chair, New Year’s Eve Fireworks July 4th Celebration Old Fashioned Baseball Game
Janice Crawford - Marketing, Fundraising and Sales Jim Arnold - Committee Member John Cannell - Committee Member Marshall Allan - Committee Member Maureen Seavey - Committee Member
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250 - Celebrating Conway’s Legacy - Conway, NH
PLAY WITH HISTORY
Conway 250th Commemorative Deck of Cards Decks feature 54 cards with photos and anecdotes commemorating greater Conway’s history. You’ll enjoy reminiscing through the years and seeing how the Conway’s have evolved. Decks are just $10 and can be purchased at the Chamber office or the Conway Historical Society. Quantities are limited.
250 - Celebrating Conway’s Legacy - Conway, NH
East Conway Volunteer Fire Department
Gamwell, Caputo, Kelsch & Co., PLLC Certified Public Accountants
Neighbors helping neighbors since 1948.
(603) 447-3356 • www.my-cpa.com
2644 East Conway Road, East Conway NH www.EastConwayFire.org (603)939-7099
“A man travels the world over in search of what he needs and returns home to find it.” George Moore, The Brook Kerith
Congratulations to Conway on their 250th Celebration from the Town Selectmen and Staff
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250 - Celebrating Conway’s Legacy - Conway, NH
It takes a Village to say
Happy 250th, Conway! Advanced Skin Care Hancock Lumber Attitash Realty HEB Engineers, Inc. Autumn Equinox Hooligan’s Restaurant Bangkok Café Horsefeathers Bavarian Chocolate Haus IGuys Tech Shop Beef & Ski Restaurant It’s My Girlfriend’s Closet Beggar’s Pouch Leather Jen Bella Ben & Jerry’s Jewelry by Tim Psaladakis & Friends Boston Brother’s Pizzeria Joe Jones Sun & Ski Sports Chef ’s Bistro Kearsarge Inn Christine Wallace, LCMHC League of NH Craftsment Conway Daily Sun Limmer Dance Center Conway Scenic Railroad Momentum Media Courtyard Café Moondance Massage Cranmore Mountain Naked Bohemian Design Bungalow Nancy’s Alterations Dewey’s Tire & Auto New England Charms & Imports Divinity Salon NoCo Loco Drive Brand Studio North Conway Community Center Eastern Slope Inn Resort North Conway Country Club FAST Taxi North Country Fair Jewelers Fields of Ambrosia Old Red Inn & Cottages Frontside Grind Olympia Sports Funky Bubble Outside Television (RSN) Gibson Center Oxen Yoke Motel Great American Ski Renting Co.
Peaches Restaurant Pinkham Real Estate Pleasant Image Priscilla’s Country Kitchen Residential Mortgage Services Restorative Health & Fitness Richard M. Plusch Antiques Tarberry Company Rugged Mill Sound Advice Audiology Soyfire Candle Spruce Hurricane Spruce Hurricane Steffani Adaska Personal Chef Synergy Sunglasses The Met Coffee House The Penguin Gallery The Shops at Norcross Circle Tola Massage Toy Chest Village Barbershop Vintage Frameworks Wayne Cunningham White Mountain Cupcakery White Mountain Winery World Magic
250 - Celebrating Conway’s Legacy - Conway, NH
Conway’s Early Mills
Early on the falling water of the brooks that led to the Saco River provided water power for many mill. Later that water was heated and the power of steam was unleashed for a period. At different times water produced electricity and that took over before the current reign of petroleum based fuels and the internal combustion engine. In 1763 Captain Timothy Walker was given the right to set up a gristmill and sawmill n the brook below Conway Lake for the settlers’ use. With the help of the Proprietors, Captain Walker had mill machinery brought up the Saco River from Biddeford on a bateau and hired Nathaniel Smith, a millwright, to set up the mills. By 1764 they were in operation. In 1795, Major Stephen Webster established an ironworks below the saw and grist mills. Bog WITH A HISTORY OF EXCELLENCE
SERVING MAINE AND NEW HAMPSHIRE FOR OVER 160 YEARS
A T T O R N E Y S
A T
L A W
Wishes a Happy 250th Anniversary to the Town of Conway
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iron was found on the Coffin farm on the north side of the river and was brought across the fording place, across the Intervale, and up to the mills. Thomas Newman had a blacksmith shop nearby. The ironworks lasted until 1820.
Conway Co. Saw Mill In 1789 Caleb Smith opened a fulling mill and a clothing mill at the west end of the dam on Conway Lake. The fulling mill lasted until 1820. Mills shaped raw materials (trees, grains, flax, iron ore, etc.), these raw materials then refined, processed into finished products by makers such as bakers, blacksmiths, carpenters, coopers, cordwainers, weavers. With locally processed leather, linen, lumber and iron, local mechanics could build cradles and coffins and almost everything you needed in between. The importance of some of these mills reached beyond the town of Conway. The only factory in the world making the ribbon shoe-peg in the 1880’s was Kennett Spool Mill which was the largest of its kind in the world and active until fire destroyed it in 1934.
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250 - Celebrating Conway’s Legacy - Conway, NH
Congratulations Cheers, Conway! Conway on your 250th Birthday!
Wishing you a very HAPPY BIRTHDAY
We’re here for you. At the Furber & White Funeral Home, our understanding of family care comes from three generations working together, growing up with our community, and responding to each family’s needs as if they were our own. We are committed to total care, from our family to yours.
2925 White Mtn. Highway North Conway, NH 03860 (603) 356-5561 furberfh@hotmail.com www.furberandwhite.com
VARSITY BEVERAGE Your Locally Owned Pepsi Franchise
CONWAY, NH 603-447-5445
History Happens Every Day As long as they keep making Eastmans, Fosters, Kimballs and Morrills we will continue to have an ongoing heritage from our earliest settlers. As long as 4th graders study local history, tourists visit our museums and galleries, people fish, ski, hunt, and kayak, we will be making history. To determine if the quote is true, “Those who fail to learn from the past, are condemned to repeat it” let’s take a look back and forward fifty years. The year 2015 played a key role in the popular film Back to the Future Part 2. Released in 1985, Marty traveled thirty years forward in time, from 1985 to 2015 specifically to the date of October 21, 2015, not far off from when we will celebrate our 250th. Marty’s 2015 was a world of flying cars, self drying jackets, automatic dog walking machines, dehydrated pizza, powerlacing shoes and mini-fushion reactors. While the Conway Daily Sun recently acquired a camera drone, we still don’t have jetpacks. Envision the future with us and help make it happen! Trace the pages of history that will be written by the next generation. Bob Cottrell
250 - Celebrating Conway’s Legacy - Conway, NH
A Short History of the Future That Hasn’t Happened Yet
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• There exists a set of plans drawn to place a dam on the Saco to create a lake that would be used to build a large marina and hotel complex in front of Cathedral Ledge. • There are plans to build a new hotel where Fandangle’s was and Howard Johnson’s was before that. • There were plans to build 11 Yankee Settlement adult housing where the old drive-in movie theater was. • Construction is continuing on the Mount Washington Valley Technology Village near where the Washington Boulder and the old route to the mineral springs stood before it. • Walmart recently expanded and now we have more traffic circles/roundabouts. The Route 16 bypass is still a dream for many and a nightmare for others. • The north-south road waits only to be connected to something. • Bob Goldberg hoped there would be a center for White Mountain Art in Conway. The Conway Historical Society plans to create an exhibit of Conway’s history with permanent and changing exhibits, performances and programs. The society celebrates their 80th year of bringing history to the people this year.
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250 - Celebrating Conway’s Legacy - Conway, NH
About the Author
Bob Cottrell is the Curator of the Nella Braddy Henney History Room at the Conway Public Library and the Executive Director of the Conway Historical Society. He is on the Board of the Tamworth Historical Society and serves as an independent history and museum consultant, (Curator for hire at www.curator4hire.com). He is also a speaker with the New Hampshire Humanities Council. He has a master’s degree from the Winterthur Program in Early American Culture in Delaware. Born and raised in Florida he has worked in the history/museum field since 1980. The Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of American Art in Washington D.C., The Crowley Museum and Nature Center in Sarasota, Florida, the St. Petersburg Historical Museum also in Florida, the Conner Prairie Museum in Indiana and at Bilkent University in Ankara, Turkey are among his many experiences. In 1996 he became the founding Director of the Remick Country Doctor Museum and Farm in Tamworth, New Hampshire. He is married with two children and a Chinook sled dog, New Hampshire’s State Dog breed.
Acknowledgments I would like to acknowledge the many historians, curators, collectors and librarians on whose foundations I have built the content of this commemorative magazine. • Jim Arnold, the Conway Historical Society • Roger E. Belson, White Mountain Art • Racheal Brown, The MountainEar • Mark Butterfield, Gibson Woodbury Foundation • John Cannell and family • Ann Cullinan • Benjamin Durgin Eastman • David Eastman • Tom Eastman, The Conway Daily Sun • David Emerson • Amy Gardner • John J. Henderson • Keith and Nella Braddy Henney • Janet McAllister Hounsell • Ruth Burnham • Davis Horne • Robert Kennett • David Lazar, the New Hampshire Troubadour
• Jeff Leisch, the New England Ski Museum • Barbara S. Lucy • Margaret and Sut Marshall • William Marvel • Ellen McRoberts Mason • Andrea Masters, the North Conway Library • Georgia Drew Merrill • Olga Morrell • Helen Elizabeth Nute • Dan Noel • Betty Parker • Richard M. Plusch • Frances Woodard Richardson • Rick Russack, White Mountain History • Carol Saunders and family • Frances Shaine • Ed Stevens.
I would also like to thank the generous staff and volunteers at the American Antiquarian Society in Worcester, Massachusetts, the Mount Washington Valley Chamber of Commerce, and the New Hampshire Historical Society in Concord. I am indebted to David Smolen, the director of the Conway Public Library, for supporting me in the development of this commemorative magazine. Significant help was provided by volunteer scanners Lorena Hoyt, the principal of Relative Echoes Genealogy and Historical Research Consultants, as well as Debbie Cottrell, Lee Pollock, Doug Sommerville and Curtis Tinker. Any errors or omissions are my own. Dedicated to my wife, Debbie, for her love, patience, and understanding.
1 town, 6 villages 250 years of history
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