Monadnock Trails, Monadnock Mountain, Monadnock History, New Hampshire Trails, Maps, Mount Monadnock, Jaffrey, Monadnock, Hiking New Hampshire, Mt Monadnock, NH
Monadnock History
Above: The Ark, now a Bible Conference
(1808-today)
Monadnock's History of
Pleasure and Protection
First Recorded Ascent
The first recorded ascent of Monadnock was July 31, 1725 by Captain Samuel Willard and his men during the Indian Wars and discovered 26 ponds surrounding the mountain.
Original Ownership
The ownership of the land goes back to a John Mason Grant in 1629 which included the southern 2/3's of New Hampshire. In 1746 a syndicate known as the Masonian Proprietors bought out for £1500 the southwestern part of the state and in 1749 investors opened the Monadnock townships of Dublin and Jaffrey divided them up into lots for settlement. One of the last remnants of the Masonian proprietorship is the Masonian Reservation in a trail-less valley between Dublin and Pumpelly trails. The Masonian tract was later granted to the Society for the Protection of New Hampshire Forests to be kept forever in a wild and primeval state.
The Halfway House
At the present day Halfway House Site in 1860 a two story structure for guests was built known as the Mountain House. In 1866 a three and a half story hotel modeled from the finest in the day opened known as the Halfway House and burned down that fall. In 1867 a small successor was built about the size of an A. M. C. hut. In 1868 a two and a half story hotel opened later expanded and became a center of hiking trails to many scenic places on the mountain. Times changed in the 20th century and the hotel deteriorated and burned down in 1954. A refreshment stand and rest area was at the site but after being vandalized was torn down in 1969.
Above: Point Discovery
Half Way House Trail History
Prior to the Halfway House Hotel, Fassett’s Mountain House had rustic accommodations in 1858 near the Halfway House Site on the now Fairy Spring trail. The Half Way House was the name of the hotels that occupied the Half Way House Site from 1866 to 1954 where guests would spend summers there and laid out an abundant network of trails that emanated from the hotel to the many vistas and scenic places on the mountain. Since the Halfway House hotel burned in 1954 the state park stopped maintaining a number of paths. There are some interesting and scenic paths no longer on the mountain such as the Smith Marlboro Link or the Muncy Trail. Many trails have faded and are now quite blind for example the Link or the Tenderfoot Trail. Others are no longer on state park maps that are still fairly clear paths such as Paradise Valley Trail. There is still a fine network of maintained paths for peaceful and scenic hiking away from the crowds of the main trails on today’s state park maps without doing any wild exploring. Printed in 1910 Scott Smith made an early map of the Half Way House trails laid out from 1894-1909. Most of these trails are still on the state park map and most of the network is still clear today. In 1930 Allen Chamberlain laid out a more modern map of the Half Way House network. In 1952 an updated Halfway House Trail map came out but two years later the Hotel burned and a number of paths were not kept on state park maps. Many of the trails are depicted on the current GPS map.
The Ark
A large farmhouse was built on the southeastern side of the mountain, in 1808 known as the Ark now a bible conference at the bottom of Poole Road. With the popularity of the mountain in summertime the Ark started taking in guests in the 1870's due to the Ark being located on the southeast side of the mountain. Early trails dating from the Ark are the Pasture Trail in 1897 and another the Red Cross Trail in 1909 along with some other paths which were mapped by E. J. Harling in 1916 and are much different than today's State Park trails and started up from the Ark. Poole Road to the State Park was built over the lower section of the Red Cross Trail around 1920 to where people today park their cars. Several of the older routes from the Ark to headquarters have long been disused and some are lost.
19th Century
In 1800-1820 a series of uncontrolled fires burned the upper slopes of the mountain bare. The mountain at this time was already an attraction and in 1825 traffic was enough that Dinsmore's Tavern was built high on the mountain to serve spirits to visitors located just north of Bald Rock.
Thoreau and Emerson made Monadnock famous in the 1850's and 1860's with their poetry and descriptions of the mountain.
A hotel on the southern side of the mountain known as the Halfway House nearly legally acquired the land to the summit however some concerned citizen's searched records and found the original heirs and had the land from the summit south to the hotel granted to the town of Jaffrey in 1884 just prior to the Halfway House quit-claim deed reached 20 years.
Above: Former Hinkley Trail
20th Century
The protection of Monadnock has occurred in many ways in the 20th century. In 1904 a landowner who owned land on the southeastern side of the mountain where several popular trails went through was interested in logging the land and that summer the state of NH took by eminent domain with the help of donors and was largely underwritten by the Poole family now is the State Park. Another significant tract of land to the north where the Pumpelly trail crosses was to be developed with a road and houses up the ridge. In 1915 Judge ruled that the Masonian heirs owned the land on the ridge and the developer the land north of the ridge. Along with a 125 acre tract of land from the Derby family 775 acres of land was transferred in 1916 to the SPNHF and Monadnock's northern slopes were protected from development to be kept in a wild state. In 1940 a road to the summit was defeated. Plans for an unsightly radio tower were defeated in 1945. There was a small structure on the summit from 1912 to 1972. Now is a square cut into the rock on the summit. Due to litter problems the mountain adopted the first carry in carry out philosophy in 1984 to the Monadnock State Park and removed trash barrels. Dogs were banned in 1986 due to too many dogs defecating, fighting each other, biting hikers and trampling and harassing wildlife.
21st Century
Busses were recently banned from the Old Toll Rd. due to lack of facilities for large groups and are diverted to headquarters. Also group hiking is now limited and now 1500 kid days on the mountain are thankfully history. The mountain currently gets over 100,000 visits a year. A campground is being built over by Gilson Pond.
Monadnock Today
The protected land has expanded over the years and surrounds much of the mountain except for the start of the Pumpelly Trail which is an area which is in need of protection and permanent trail access. SPNHF has a map of currently protected lands. Protecting Monadnock and public pleasure has long been a part of Grand Monadnock's history.
Researched and Composed by Frederick Pitcher 2008 (see contact author)
Sources (all but one are out of print):
Annals of Grand Monadnock©1936 (SPNHF) Allen Chamberlain
Monadnock Records of 3 Centuries©1925 (Stratford Press, New York) Helen Cushing Nutting
Monadnock, More than a Mountain©2007 (Surry Cottage Books) Craig Brandon
Monadnock Guide©1970 (SPNHF) Henry I Baldwin
Below: Former Halfway House
Monadnock Trails, Monadnock Mountain, Monadnock History, New Hampshire Trails, Maps, Mount Monadnock, Jaffrey History, Monadnock, Hiking New Hampshire, Mt Monadnock, NH