Intervale Scenic Vista

The Intervale Scenic Vista in Conway is a great place to enjoy art, history and nature. From here you can view a panoramic scene of Mount Washington, Cathedral Ledge and the Moat Mountains. For more on this 1865 painting by Benjamin Champney see this see link here. 

For directions to the view spot see the map here. 

The vistas are interesting in all their seasons and moods. 

Here is a winter scene showing the old building in a Dick Smith photograph from 1969 in the Conway Public Library's Henney History Room collection. See more into the link here. 

 

Here is another scene in our collection by William Fennell. see the link here. 

 

If you look towards the southwest from here you can see Cathedral Ledge, White Horse Ledge, and Mount Chocorua. 

 

For more on that view, including a video tour, see the Theclio here. 

 

This area was once the center of a number of large hotels. For more on that subject, see our previous blog here. 

 

For more information contact us at the Conway Public Library's Henney History Room. 

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Groundbreaking News!...

 

... from twenty years ago. Twenty years ago Gary MacDonald, Chair Library Trustees and Margaret Marschner ceremoniously broke ground on the expansion of the Conway Public Library. 

The event was free and open to the public. It was announced through the newspaper ...

... and mailed invitations. 

The year is enshrined in stone on the library addition. 

The libray staff and trustees had worked for several years to fundraise and get all of the approvals for the project which culminated on June 5, 2004 with a grand opening celebration. 

As part of our twentieth commemoration of that glorious undertaking we will be presenting a series of blogs, public events, and displays. 

As you enter the main doors of the library please take a moment to view an exhibit on a small number of items from the large collection we have documenting the expansion. 

Please help us remember and work together towards the future of your library!

The Farm's First Harvest

ICE!

Historically, ice was harvested in this area from frozen ponds and lakes using a specific set of tools. 

Thanks to a generous loan from the Freedom New Hampshire Historical Society the Conway Public Library's Henney History Room has been able to present a new program on ice harvesting which we offer free to local schools and community groups.

It starts with laying tools out on tables or the floor in no particular order...

... and inviting the students to then try to figure out the order in which they would have been used, which of course they can not do.

Then we watch the opening scene of the Disney film Frozen and they try again...

...and they are able to figure it out. 

We confirm and expand their understanding of the tools and the ice harvesting process by examining period photos and archival materials from the Henney History Room collection. 

Now they are able to put a name to the tools... such as this ice hook. 

Then the students closely examine the tools and with a little prompting and a few hints they discover that the tools “talk” and through study of details such as shape and wear marks the tools “tell” you how they are meant to be used - in this case, which part was used to push, and which to pull the ice blocks down the channel. 

Then it is back to the "Frozen" film clip to confirm the way that tool was used. 

It is amazing how well the students do with tools they have never touched before

Another student "listens" to the ice tongs and shows how they were used to pull the blocks up out of the water. 

We talk about how the ice harvesting tools fit into the categories of "simple machines" as defined by the ancient Greeks and use terms such as the screw, lever, and fulcrum. 

The film clip also allows for a discussion of the choreographed "ballet" of ice harvesting such as the role of singing while you work, how teams are set up and work together, and the hierarchy within and between the teams. 

We watch the young boy struggle with lifting his block of ice and talk about how he intuitively solved his problem by using the specific density of ice vs water. 

For info on harvesting and storing ice in ice houses see our previous blog on "pond water ice cream" here. 

This program is part of a larger set of programs we offer under the category of "Colony to Country" starting with the King's charter of the Town of Conway in 1765 to the Declaration of Independence in 1776. 

For more info on these programs contact us at the Conway Public Library's Henney History Room.