LAKE WINNIPESAUKEE HISTORICAL SOCIETY


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THE ISLANDS

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OF LAKE WINNIPESAUKEE

 

Reprinted from Lake Winnipesaukee, Compiled & Published by By Ronald W. Gallup, 1969

The word "island" has an undying ability to whet the appetite of most people, conjuring up visions of adventure or privacy as well as fine scenic glimpses. Lake Winnipesaukee is indeed outstanding in its island numbers and terrain, from the smallest bare knob to village-sized meadows and forest.

The oft-repeated saying implies that there are 365 out-crops large enough to be isles; however only about 274 are habitable, and of these the most important count to nearly 70, none owned by the State. Your navi­gation chart will give you needed locations and names for your cruise, whether by sail, excursion boat, yacht, or US Mailboat. If you drive or hike to the tops of the many look-outs around the Lake, or ride the chair-lift to the aerial view from Gunstock Mt., you will be thrilled indeed by the island-beauty spread far and wide across Lake Winnipesaukee. Few spots in the world compare with this panorama of grandeur.

Some island facts starting out of Weirs Bay and traveling clock­wise: Stonedam with a height of 216 ft., harbors the Indian pitch rock, only Indian owned island in 18th century, later had a stone causeway across Sally's Gut; Horse was named for the shipwrecked horse that did not want to leave; Bear of 750 acres, second in size, with an old Indian "carry" trail, is heavily populated, site of the first submarine power cable terminus and the first armored phone cable underwater, and once home of Aunt Dolly of hand-operated ferry fame; Three Mile, for over 60 years a summer home of the Appalachian Mt. Club; Beaver that was once owned by Ben Ames Williams and friends; One Mile where the Mount Washington I ran ashore in the fog in 1910; Becky's Garden, just off Moultonboro First Neck, once had a "playhouse" placed each year; Black Cat with year-around access by bridge; Steamboat, where the steamer "Belknap" was wrecked in November 1841 (first such disaster) ; Long, 1138 acres, Winnipesaukee's largest, bridged, once with a flourishing community, plus the mansion home of Dr. J. A. Greene, who caused the Diamond Island Hotel to be moved to the Weirs, whose fortune was based on "Nevura" fame; Guernsey, settled in 1821, made famous as the first home of Guernsey cattle in America and named Cow Island, site of the only windmill gristmill in the region, 519 acres, home of famous Camp Idlewild, terminus of the second longest submarine power-cable; Sleeper, with the Graystone Castle of Hale estate fame; Rattlesnake named for its former snake population, fifth largest, virgin Pine logged off in 1915, and highest at 390 feet, being part of the geologic formation of the Belknap Mts.; Diamond, a favorite resort of the early steamboat days, from which Dr. Greene moved the hotel across the ice to the Weirs to start the old Hotel Weirs around 1881; Witches, a scattering" of rocks, famous for their hazard to navigation and the "witches legend"; Governor which once belonged to Gov. Wentworth (whose mansion burn­ed in 1870), site of Davisville a prosperous hamlet where the 1834 Millerite 'sect craze took place, Davis Island bridged 1820, location of the German Embassy summer mansion before 1915, 495 acres and fourth largest.

The days of boundary disputes, timber piracy, mansion estates, and island farms have been replaced by summer cottages and children's camps; but the varied and numerous islands of Winnipesaukee are little changed, retaining a unique pristine allure.

 







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The Lake Winnipesaukee Historical Society is a non-profit organization.