LAND UTILIZATION IN NEW HAMPSHIRE 7 



Each of the sample towns was incorporated during the last third of 

 the eighteenth century, reached its population peak before 1850, and 

 declined steadily after that date. A diversified subsistence agriculture pre- 

 dominated during the early years of settlement, and cleared land reached 

 its maximum at about the time of the Civil War. Small local industries 

 flourished during the middle of the nineteenth century, but gave way 

 gradually to the competition of larger industrial centers to the south. 

 During the period of small industry, local farmers found outlets for sur- 

 plus products in Boston and other nearby cities. The nation's agriculture 

 shifted to a commercial basis during the latter part of the nineteenth cen- 

 tury, and the volume of agricultural production in the three towns de- 

 clined, owing to competitive pressure from the new and fertile agricul- 

 tural areas of the west. As the local economic base declined, and more 

 promising opportunities appeared in other regions, there began a long 

 process of selective emigration, which has left its imprint on the social 

 organization of the present day.' 



During the years of the nineteenth century a new type of land utili- 

 zation was gaining importance in the three towns as in other broad areas 

 of northern New England. Residents of the expanding urban centers 

 to the south were turning to northern New England as a recreation re- 

 treat. In Sanbornton, during the second half of the nineteenth century, 

 "certain temporary summer lodges were made upon the banks of the 

 rivers and bays by those who had much earlier come within the limits 

 of Sanbornton for fishing." During this period in Tuftonboro, "in the 

 summer season the farmhouses in the vicinity were filled to overflowing 

 with visitors from the cities seeking rest and recreation far from the 

 crowd and confusion of the large hotels." Families and individuals came 

 by train or stagecoach, and stayed for a week or two, or for the entire 

 summer. Summer boarders were an important source of farm income up 

 to the first quarter of the twentieth century. Then summer visitors be- 

 gan to acquire summer homes for private use during vacations. Accessi- 

 bility by train or stagecoach was influential in the selection of the earliest 

 summer homes. Consequently village homes, or those located on or near 

 the main highways, were most common in early days. As transportation 

 and highway conditions improved, settlement extended into the more 

 remote back areas of rural towns. A major transformation of the rural 

 economy was being effected. 



Physically, the three towns are better adapted to recreation than to 

 the earlier agricultural production. Topograph)" is rough, marked by 

 steep hills and valleys. Forest cover predominates. Numerous lakes, 

 ponds, and streams afford opportunities for swimming, boating, and fish- 

 ing. Average elevation is high. Climate is cool and snowfall is heavy. 

 The growing season is short, ranging from 115 to 120 days. Soils are 



7 For more detailed accounts of the characteristics and causes of economic decline in rural areas 

 of northern New England, see (1) Wilson. H. F., The Hill Country of Northern New England: 

 Its Social and Economic History, 1790-1930, Columbia University Press. New York, 1936. 



(2) Woodworth. Abell, and Holmes. Problems in the Back Highland Areas of Southern Grafton 

 ( ounty, New Hampshire Agricultural Experiment Station Bulletin 29S. June 1937. pp. 46-53, and 



(3) Clayton and Peet. Land Utilization as a Basis of Rural Economic Organization in 13 Hill 

 Towns of Vermont. Vermont Agricultural Experiment Station Bulletin 357. June 1933. pp. 15-21. 



8 Runnels, M. T., History of Sanbornton, Volume I. 1882. 



9 Merrill, G. D. (ed.), History of Carroll County. 1889. 



