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Wednesday, October 19, 2011

Birthplace of American Skiing

N Conway Map
That’s the name given to North Conway, a year-round resort area, and the largest village within the town of Conway, which is bounded on the east by the Maine state line. North Conway is located in the White Mountains, with Mount Washington located to the northwest. Today, it’s known for numerous  outlets, which we (thankfully) missed on our visit.
Conway NH collageChartered in 1765 by Colonial Governor Benning Wentworth, North Conway is named for Henry Seymour Conway, son of a prominent English family, who was elected to the House of Commons at age 20 and later became Secretary of State. Early settlers called the area Pequawket  after an Abenaki Indian village.Conway NH collage3In the 19th century, the area became popular with artists whose landscape scenes, known collectively as White Mountain Art, attracted visitors to the area when the Portsmouth, Great Falls & Conway RR extended service to North Conway in 1872. Inimage 1874, the railroad built the North Conway station designed by noted Boston architect Nathaniel J. Bradlee. The Victorian-style North Conway station was a showcase since the town was a prestigious summer resort and served as the northern terminus of the Conway Branch. In 1932, snow trains began running to the town as the sport grew with the development of ski lifts in the area. (Conway Historical Society photo.)

Automobile travel brought the decline of rail service, then in 1961, the Boston & Maine RR, abandoned passenger service to the area. The station was boarded up and in general disrepair for years.
N Conway train stationIn 1974, the Conway Scenic Railroad restored and reopened the station to provide seasonal excursion train service in the Mount Washington Valley. The station is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
cedar millNH 1019 (2)cedar millNH 1019
We rode the excursion train with a stop at the White Mountain Cider Company where the apple cider donuts were delicious with pumpkin spice coffee. (Train enthusiast Grenville will have a railway post later.)

10 comments:

Montanagirl said...

Apple Cider donuts and Pumpkin Spice coffee sound pretty good right about now!

Sara said...

You captured this area with some spectacular pictures. Glad you got up there.

If you make it to Littleton ask around to find the Littleton Coin Company. They give free tours at specific times on certain days. Also stop by Chutters downtown. I think they claim the world's longest candy counter :)

Christine said...

What a wonderful place to visit! Those apple cider donuts look yummy this morning!

Beatrice P. Boyd said...

Mona & Mama-Bug, the donuts were very good and more so because they were freshly made at the cider mill. Sorry, there were no leftovers to share.

Hi Sara, thanks for the tips. I checked on Littleton Coin Co. but the tours were only listed as thru Sept. We may try to get to see Chugter's. Thanks for the tips and the comments :-)

MadSnapper said...

I enlarged the first collage, and i love the streets and buildings, not many old towns like this in Florida. and i would love to taste an apple cider donut. and you know i like all things Train.

Out on the prairie said...

I wondered about the snowball store.You can buy one and peg a wayward friend or passing car?LOL

Anonymous said...

Beautiful place and I can see why it became popular amongst artists!

I'm not a big fan og donuts but this one sounds delicious :-)

Have a great day!
Christer.

Anvilcloud said...

This post has it all: donuts, railroad, history and scenery.

Connie said...

Lovely mountain scenes. It's nice that they restored the train station. It's good to preserve history when it is possible to do.

Beatrice P. Boyd said...

Sandra, that's why we like roaming around these little and older towns ourselves - we like the architecture as well.

Steve, good catch cause i had not noticed that before - not sure if the store does sell actual snowballs, what a thought!

Christer, the donuts were good, trust us on this one.

AC, yes it does and the donuts were the tastiest part and the pumpkin spice coffee was good as well!

Daisy, glad you enjoyed the post. Thanks for the comments!