New Hampshire Facts and Trivia

New Hampshirites are known for their fiercely independent nature, born of necessity in the early 1600s when European settlers established outposts in this mountainous and heavily forested region.  This natural beauty is still in evidence, in the soaring peaks of the White Mountains, the pristine water of Lake Winnipesaukee, and the small, but scenic coastline.

New Hampshire Facts and Trivia

1. Of the thirteen original colonies, New Hampshire was the first to declare its independence from Mother England -- a full six months before the Declaration of Independence was signed.
2. The highest wind speed recorded at ground level is at Mt. Washington, on April 12, 1934. The winds were three times as fast as those in most hurricanes.
3. The first potato planted in the United States was at Londonderry Common Field in 1719.
4. In 1833 the first free public library in the United States was established in Peterborough.
5. New Hampshire adopted the first legal lottery in the twentieth-century United States in 1963.
6. On December 30, 1828, about 400 mill girls walked out of the Dover Cotton Factory enacting the first women's strike in the United States. The Dover mill girls were forced to give in when the mill owners immediately began advertising for replacement workers.
7. The Irish-born American sculptor Augustus Saint-Gaudens lived and worked in Cornish from 1885 until his death at age 59 in 1907.
8. The Mount Washington auto road at Great Glen is New Hampshire's oldest manmade tourist attraction.
9. New Hampshire's State House is the oldest state capitol in which a legislature still meets in its original chambers.
10. The very first motorized ascent of the Mount Washington auto road was by Feelan O. Stanley, of Stanley Steamer fame, in 1899.
11. Augustus Saint-Gaudens from Cornish was the first sculptor to design an American coin. His commission became fraught with difficulties related to Saint-Gaudens' desire for high relief relative to the demands of mass production and use.
12. America's Stonehenge is a 4000 year old megalithic (stone constructed) site located on Mystery Hill in Salem and presently serves as a leisurely, educational tour for the whole family.
13. The Memorial Bell Tower at Cathedral of the Pines in Rindge has four bronze bas-reliefs designed by Norman Rockwell. The bell tower is specifically dedicated to women's military and civilians who died serving their country.
14. The Bavarian-style hamlet of Merrimack is home to the famous eight-horse hitch, and the Clydesdales maintained by the Anheuser-Busch Brewery.
15. Cannon Aerial Tramway is the first aerial passenger tramway in North America. It was built in 1938 at Franconia Notch.
16. New Hampshire's state motto is "Live Free or Die". The motto comes from a statement written by the Revolutionary General John Stark, a hero of the Battle of Bennington.
17. As leaders in the revolutionary cause, New Hampshire delegates received the honor of being the first to vote for the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776.
18. The granite profile "Old Man of the Mountain" is one of the most famous natural landmarks in the state. The Old Man's head measures 40 feet from chin to forehead and is made up of five ledges. Nature carved this profile thousands of years ago. The natural sculpture is 1,200 feet above Echo Lake.
19. It takes approximately 40 gallons of sap to make approximately 1 gallon of maple syrup.
20. Wallace D. Lovell built the Hampton River Bridge in 1900 called the "mile-long bridge". It was reputed to be the longest wooden bridge in the world.
21. Captain John Smith named New Hampshire after the town of Hampshire, England.
22. New Hampshire has a changeable climate, with wide variations in daily and seasonal temperatures. The variations are affected by proximity to the ocean, mountains, lakes or rivers. The state enjoys all four seasons. Summers are short and cool; winters are long and cold; fall is glorious with foliage. The weather station on Mount Washington has recorded some of the coldest temperatures and strongest winds in the continental United States.

Driving Around Vermont

Big Falls, North Troy

The area around Troy is lovely with the farms and small towns

Old Round Church, Richmond -

16-sided two-story frame building built in 1813, the reason for its shape is not certain.  Local lore says it was to keep the devil from lurking in corners.  Another suggestion is that 16 men each built a side and a 17th added the belfry.  A page from the account book of William Rhodes, the master builder, lists 17 workers in addition to himself.  But the most likely explanation is that it was modeled after a round church in Claremont, New Hampshire, where Rhodes's parents lived.

Calvin Coolidge State Historic Site, Plymouth -

In the early hours before dawn, on August 3, 1923, Vice President Coolidge, who was vacationing at his boyhood home in Plymouth, was awakened when a courier brought word that President Warren G. Harding has suddenly died.  By the light of a kerosene lamp in the sitting room, Coolidge was sworn into office as the new president by his father, a notary public.

During his five years as chief executive, Coolidge returned here for vacations.  Content with the simplicity of the house and its air of peacefulness, it was not until 1932 that he installed electricity and other modern amenities.  He was buried, as he requested, in the cemetery nearby in 1933.

President Chester Arthur State Historic Site, St Albans -






Smugglers Notch -

The drive was lovely albeit 25mph and switchback turns.



Marsh-Billings-Rockefeller National Park -

This is the only national park to tell the story of conservation history and how land stewardship has evolved in America.

Mount Washington and a scenic drive

Franconia Notch and Flume Gorge

Avalanche Falls is a 45-foot waterfall formed during the great storm of 1883, which washed away the hanging boulder.  The waterfall creates a roaring sound as the Flume Brook enters the gorge.

Table Rock is a section of Conway granite that is 500 feet long and 75 feet wide.

Cannon Mountain Aerial Tramway

The Flume Covered Bridge is one of the oldest in the state. Built in 1886

Some of New Hampshire

The Canterbury Shaker Village tour was interesting.  Founded in 1792, and occupied for 200 years, making it one of the longest-lasting communities of this religious group in the country.  The Shaker's received their nickname based on the dancing they did as part of their worship service.  They were very different from the Amish because they embraced technology and believed anything that made their work more efficient was a glory to God.  They invented several items and had patents, such as the first washing machine.

Saint Gaudens National Historic Site -

This national historic site celebrates the life of Augustus Saint-Gaudens, a very brilliant sculpturer.  I had no idea who he was, to be honest.   A couple of his famous works include this famous statue of Abraham Lincoln in Lincoln Park, Chicago, and the Boston Shaw Memorial.


Sculptured Rocks Natural  Area -

The Cockermouth River has worn a chasm some 100 feet long and 30 feet deep.  Mother Nature carved out a fanciful rock gallery of bowls, beaks, curves, and swirls.



Castle in the Clouds -

The castle was the dream of Thomas Gustave Plant, a multi-millionaire whose objective was to have an environment in which he could behold nothing but beauty.  Purchasing 6,000 acres of woodland and sparing no expense, Plant built his mansion on a promontory with views of the island-studded lake below and the White Mountains in the distance.

Paul Bunyan and Blue

Grafton Notch

Mainely coastal

It amuses me how many businesses are named "Mainely" something, ie Mainely Blooms, Mainely Lobster, Mainely Sandwiches, Mainely Rustic, etc.  Hence, the name of my blog post.

A picture of this fish atop a church;  I don't know if the fish symbolized the "loaves and fishes" from the Bible or the fact that it is in Kennebunkport and a fishing community.

Since the borders are so close together, you might see a lot of state crossover in my blogs, because that's how my route went ... 2 or 3 states a day sometimes, but I tried to keep them state-specific as much as possible.  For instance, I crossed the New Hampshire border from Maine and was met with a sign saying 14 miles to Massachusettes!

Apparently, the speed limit in New Hampshire is just a suggestion because traffic moves about 20mph faster than the posted limit and that includes the State Patrol traveling along with us.

I'm here at the peak of the leaf color and there is beauty everywhere you look.  And great fall and Halloween decorations in yards and on buildings; zombies climbing up the side of a house, creative things done with pumpkins and scarecrows everywhere.  Lots of fun to see as I drive around.

Did you know Maine had a desert?

It was a fertile farm from the 1820s until the early 1900s.  Overgrazed and depleted, the topsoil started eroding around 1860.

Also, the LL Bean was open 24 hours a day?



Or that Eartha, the world's largest rotating globe is housed in a three-story glass atrium?  It weighs nearly 6,000 lbs and has a diameter of 41 feet.

 

And the Atlantic Ocean waves are fascinatingly wild .... People were out in droves just to experience and film them.  Definitely more people were interested in the ocean than the lighthouses.

Maine Fun Facts and Trivia

Maine Facts and Trivia

1. Eastport is the most eastern city in the United States. The city is considered the first place in the United States to receive the rays of the morning sun.
2. In Wilton, there's a cannery that imports and cans only dandelion greens.
3. Maine is the only state in the United States whose name has one syllable.
4. Maine is the only state that shares its border with only one other state.
5. The White Mountain National Forest covers nearly 800,000 acres, the forest covers a landscape ranging from hardwood forests to the largest alpine area east of the Rocky Mountains
6. Aroostook County at 6,453 square miles covers an area greater than the combined size of Connecticut and Rhode Island.
7. Approximately 40 million pounds (nearly 90 percent) of the nation's lobster supply is caught off the coast of Maine.
8. Maine produces 99% of all the blueberries in the country making it the single largest producer of blueberries in the United States.
9. West Quoddy Head is the most easterly point in the United States.
10. Augusta is the most eastern capital city in the United States.
11. Mount Katahdin is the state's highest point at 5,268 feet above sea level.
12. 90% of the country's toothpick supply is produced in Maine.
13. Freeport is the home to the L.L. Bean Company.
14. The chickadee is the official state bird.
15. Maine lies farther northeast than any other state.
16. Maine's nickname as the Pine Tree State comes from the pines that once dotted the state's forests.
17. The state flower is the white pine cone and tassel.
18. The coastline boasts so many deep harbors it is thought all the navies in the world could anchor in them.
19. Maine lobsters have won international fame for their flavor and contribution to the culinary world.
20. The nation's first sawmill was established near York in 1623.
21. York became the nation's first incorporated city in 1642.
22. The first ship built by English colonists in the Americas was launched on the Kennebec River in 1607.
23. The first naval battle of the Revolutionary War was fought off Machias in 1775.
24. Maine's blueberry crop is the largest in the nation.
25. The honeybee is the official state insect.
26. Eastport is the only United States owned principality that has been under rule by a foreign government. It was held from 1814 to 1818 by British troops under King George following the conclusion of the War of 1812.