White Mountain Grand Hotels

Many years ago among the White Mountains of New hampshire, there stood some of the grandest resorts ever built in the United States. Over the last two hundred years such enterprising families, as the Crawfords, the Fabyan's, the Barrons, the Greenleafs, and the stickneys, have made this beautiful land into a mecca for the traveling elite of society. The first hotel built north of lake Winnipeseogee, was built near the site of the present Mt. Washington Hotel at Bretton Woods. This place, known as the Moose Head Tavern was built by a native Vermonter by the name of Eleazor Rosebrooks. His daughter Hannah married a man who would come to be known as the Veteran Pilot, Mr. Abel Crawford. Abel Crawford with his sons Ethan Allen , and Thomas Crawford would set up there own respective hotels in, or around the Notch that still bears their name. The Notch House was built around 1826 on the shore of Saco Lake, across from the present Appalachian Mountain Clubs, Highland Center, at crawford Notch. The Highland Center itself stands on a small piece of the footprint of the famed Crawford House Hotel, which occupied the site from 1859-1977 , when it was lost to fire. The next notable family to take over the hotel business from the Crawfords, were the Barron's of Hartford vermont. Asa Taylor Barron was a wealthy land owner , who ran a succesful merchantile , and hotel business at White River Junction, VT. He and his brother Oscar F. Barron soon saw the need for accomadations, for the travelers through the White Mountains, N.H. In 1868 the brothers Barron built the Twin Mountain House , at Carroll N.H. Soon after they leased the Fabyan House, and purchased the Crawford House. Oscar F. barron passed away at the Crawford House in 1879, leaving his elder brother as sole proprieter. The Twin Mountain House would soon become known for it's service and cuisine, as well as it's impeccible manager, asa's son Col. Oscar G. Barron. By the time of asa barron's passing at the Twin mountain House, in the summer of 1887, he had ruled over a hoteldom, of five grand hotels, those not yet mentioned were the Mt. Pleasant, and the Summit House, atop Mt. Washington. After the death of the patriarch Asa Barron, his sons Oscar G. and William A. Barron would carry their fathers torch well int the next century. The Barron dynasty would come to an end nearly eighty years after it was started with the building of the Twin mountain House. Col W.A. Barron sold the Twin Mtn House in 1947, and the Crawford House the following year. These hotels are now long gone. The first victim of the fire bug was the Summit House, perched atop Mt Washington, which was destroyed in 1908, taking with it the presses of the famed mountain newspaper, Among The Clouds. The next to go was the Mt. Pleasant, which was made obsolete by the building of the collosal Mt washington Hotel. The Mt Pleasant was torn down in 1938, never to be rebuilt. Next to go was the fabyan House, built by Joseph Stickney in 1872, this grand hotel was also lost to fire in 1950, just days after the season had ended. Then came the old Twin Mountain House, which was torn down in 1960. The final victim was the Crawford House, which after 118 years of unequaled service, was just left to rot, and finally burned, under questionable circumstances, in 1977. The last of the Mohicans, so to speak is the Mt Washington Hotel, which was built by Joseph Stickney in 1902, and still stand proudly over a century later.