Mount Washington Valley History: New Hampshire Farms for Summer Homes


New Hampshire Farms for Summer Homes, 2nd edition, 1904

In a previous blog we did a survey of summer lodging in the White Mountains that focused mostly on hotels and inns. We continue our celebration of summer with an item of pure gold... gold lettering on the cover that is. It is a booklet from 1904 entitled New Hampshire Farms for Summer Homes.

This recent donation represents the other extreme opposite end of the accommodation spectrum from Grand Hotels to so called "summer cottages." While often rustic on the outside, for example with wooden columns that retained bark and branches on them, these cottages sometimes included large dining rooms, indoor squash courts, music pavilions, astronomical observatories, art studios, bowling alleys, boat houses, ice houses, tennis courts, stables, and quarters for maids, nannies and chauffeurs.

This booklet is part of a series published for the NH Department of Agriculture intended as a sales and promotional tool, now a tool for history. It was designed to capture interest many people who stayed in the Grand Hotels decided to purchase their own piece of paradise.

The Conway Public Library's Henney History Room has an early example from 1891 entitled Lakes and Summer Resorts in New Hampshire.

Lakes and Summer Resorts in New Hampshire, 1891

The author of this, and many of the other booklets, was N. J. (Nahum Josiah) Bachelder, who held the interesting title of New Hampshire Commissioner of Agriculture and Immigration.

The text for this edition was very simple, basically listing the summer resorts, name of the proprietor, post office address and costs per day and per week. Here are the listings for Conway.

One of the few photos included in this booklet is a panoramic pull out view of Lake Winnipesaukee. Here is a photo of Walker's Pond, now Conway Lake.

Here is the caption that went with the photo.

The library also has an 1891 book entitled Adopting an Abandoned Farm.

The book includes chapters on attending auctions, buying a horse, starting a poultry farm, prose, peacocks,and how to deal with ghosts. Part of the fun of old books can be clippings and inscriptions found within the covers (click on images to enlarge them).