Q: In what year did Abel and Ethan Allen Crawford create the first trail that led up to Mount Washington?
A: Check out our Facebook page for the answer!
Q: What do Francis Whitcomb and Luke Brooks have to do with White Mountain history?
A: They are credited with discovering the Old Man of the Mountain.
Q: “Devil’s shingle” is another term for what item found on Mount Washington in the late-nineteenth and early-twentieth centuries?
A: Slideboards. The approximately three by one foot boards which fit over the cog rail on which Among the Clouds newspaper delivers would slide down Mount Washington to bring the new edition to the bottom of the mountain.
Q: What was Mount Eisenhower known as before its name was changed in 1972 to honor the United States’ 34th president?
A: Mount Pleasant. There is still a Mount Pleasant Brook on the mountain today.
Q: Who is commonly credited with the phrase, “All weather is good weather, some’s just different” ?
A: Joe Dodge, manager of the AMC hut system from 1928 to 1959.
Q: How many miles of interconnecting trails make up the Maine-to-Georgia Appalachain Trail?
A: Variously described as between 2168 and 2200 miles. Most sources say 2181.
Q: What do William Oakes, Francis Boott, Edward Tuckerman, and Jacob Bigelow have in common?
A: They all were botanists who have extensively studied the plant life in the Alpine Gardens on Mount Washington.
Q:Fill in the blank: The word ______ has been translated to “Living at the Sunrise.”
A: Abenaki.
Q: Mount Agassiz is named after Swiss scientist Jean Louis Rudolph Agassiz. Agassiz was the first to report which detail on the history of the White Mountains?
A:Agassiz realized that the region of the White Mountains had, at one time, been covered by a continental glacier.
Q: Which White Mountains ski area’s name referrers to the Abenaki word for blueberries? And why?
A: It is said that a group of hikers came across many, many blueberry trees when hiking a mountain in present-day Bartlett during the 19th century. According to the story, the mountain the hikers were on became known as Attitash, the Abenaki word for “blueberry.”
Q:The Native American word “Agiocochook” refers to what?
A: Mount Washington. Some translations for Agiocochook we’ve found are: “Place of the Storm Spirit,” or, “Home of the Great Spirit,” or, “the Place of the Great Spirit of the Forest.”
Q: What historic event happened in the White Mountains during the same year that the theaters in London were closed down by the Puritan government and scientist Isaac Newton was born?
A: Darby Field becomes the first person to climb Mount Washington, 1642.
Q: What was Thomas Starr King writing about when he penned, “…at Lancaster he looks humpbacked. In Shelburne he appears heavy and dowdy. From Bethlehem he shows grand height, but unsatisfactory form.”
A: Mount Washington
Q: Who are the four peaks (the summit, the two major subsidiary peaks, and one smaller peak) of Mount Adams named for?
A: The largest, center peak is named after John Adams, the second president of the United States. The next largest is the peak named for John Quincy Adams, John’s son and the sixth president of the United States. Finally, to the west is the peak named for Samuel Adams, known throughout New England as a “Brewer and Patriot.” And finally, the smaller peak was named in 2010 for Abigail Adams, wife of John Adams, and mother of John Quincy Adams.
Q: Who penned the following phrase: “The God who made New Hampshire taunted the lofty mountains with little men.”
A: Ralph Waldo Emerson
Q: What is the link between Giovanni da Verrazano and the White Mountains?
A: He is known as the first European to have reported seeing the White Mountains from off the New England seacoast. This was in 1524.
Q: What was the length of the profile of the Old Man of the Mountain, from the top of the forehead to the point of the chin?
A: About 40 feet.
Q: During what year was Jacob’s Ladder, a Mount Washington Railroad trestle, built?
A: 1868.
Q: What are the four major rivers of the White Mountains?
A: The Connecticut River is the largest, and drains about 3,600 square miles and is nearly 450 miles long. The other three are The Merrimack River, The Androscoggin River, and the Saco.
Q: When was the first effort made to secure the Old Man of the Mountain’s profile to its parent rock?
A: 1915. The expert stone mason, Edward H. Geddes, spent 8 12-hour work days installing a system of turnbuckles and lewises in hopes of fastening the profile to the mountain.
Q:July 3, 1869 is an important date in Mount Washington’s history. Why?
A: It was when the first train reached Mount Washington’s summit successfully.
Q: The locomotive Old Peppersass got its name because its upright boiler reminded people of a peppersauce bottle. What was it originally christened as?
A: Hero.
Q: The image of the beloved “Old Man of the Mountain” is a widely recognizable symbol of New Hampshire. His wasn’t the only profile in the White Mountains. Can you name some of the other rock profiles throughout the region?
A: Here are the ones we have come up with so far: Indian Head, Martha Washington, George Washington, Old Man of the Valley, Imp Face, Elephant’s Head, Lion’s Head… If you think of more, please let Catherine or Lindsay know!
Q: When his grand resort hotel burned down in 1923, Karl Abbott decided not to rebuild and instead sold his property, which, in 1928, became part of The Franconia Notch Forest Reservation and Memorial Park. Any idea which hotel we refer to?
A: Profile House. Although Abbott had first planned on rebuilding, his father convinced him that the site should become part of a state park. The property sold for $400,000; half of the money coming from the State of New Hampshire, and the other half coming from The Society for the Protection of New Hampshire Forests.
Q: In 1880 Bethlehem had 24 hotels. How many guests do you guess they accommodated, total?
A view of the Upland Terrace in Bethlehem during the early 20th century. Its capacity was between 150 and 200 guests.
A view of the Sinclair House in Bethlehem around 1880. Its estimated guest capacity was 350.
A: 1,450 guests could be accommodated in Bethlehem’s 24 hotels in 1880. Bethlehem had the most recorded number of hotels for any town in the White Mountains in 1880. To compare, Jackson had only 4 hotels accommodating 200 guests, total. Jefferson had eleven, accommodating 665 total guests.
Q: Do know which northern New Hampshire town was known as Chiswick when it was first chartered in 1764?
A: Littleton. In 1770 the area was re-chartered as Apthorp. It wasn’t until 1784 that it became known as Littleton.
Q: Built in 1858 by the Trickey family, what was the first hotel to operate in Jackson?
A: The Jackson Falls House. In 1885 it was determined that the Jackson Falls House was not big enough to accommodate the increasing number of tourists visiting the area. The entire hotel was raised onto blocks in order to install a first floor underneath the original structure. The Jackson Falls House was dismantled in 1971 and the last remaining part of the Jackson Falls House property, the Trickey Barn, was disassembled in 2008 to make room for a new town building. It was recently reassembled and is now the new home of the Jackson public library.
Q: What was the name of the newspaper once printed in the Tip-Top House on Mount Washington from 1877 to 1884?
A: Among the Clouds. An established White Mountain photographer of his day, Henry M. Burt, was the editor of Among the Clouds. Men would travel down Mount Washington on 3′ x 1′ “slideboards” at an average rate of 3 miles every 10 minutes!
Q: Originally the Oak Lee Ski Lodge and Barracks, then the Maple Cottage, what is the current name of this property in Jackson?
A: Purchased by the Mulkerns in the early 1950s, the property was turned into the Irish pub we know today, the Shannon Door!
Q: What is another popular name for the Jackson covered bridge?
A: The Honeymoon Bridge. Spanning the Ellis River, it was built in 1876 by Charles A. and Frank Broughton. The lovely bridge is said to have become known as the Honeymoon Bridge because of the tradition with newlyweds in Jackson having their picture taken by it.
Q: What does the Abenaki word, Pemigewasset mean?
A: Rapidly moving.
Q: Who was the first man to ride a horse up Mount Washington…and how old was he?
A: The first man to ride a horse up Mount Washington was Able Crawford, known also as the, “Patriarch of the Mountains.” It was done in 1840 when he was seventy-five years old! His son, Tom, held the reins.
Q: Many years before the legendary Native American Chocorua had an influence on its name, the easternmost peak of the Sandwich Range was known and recorded as what?
A: Conway Peak.