Fabyan House Dining Room, White Mts, by Littleton View Co

Fabyan House was a grand hotel in the White Mountains of

New Hampshire New Hampshire is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Gulf of Maine to the east, and the Canadian province of Quebec t ...

, constructed by

Sylvester Marsh Sylvester Marsh (September 30, 1803, Campton, New Hampshire – December 30, 1884, Concord, New Hampshire) was the United States engineer who designed and built the Mount Washington Cog Railway. Biography He grew up on a farm, which he worked on, ...

who also built the

Mount Washington Cog Railway The Mount Washington Cog Railway, also known as the Cog, is the world's first mountain-climbing Rack railway, cog railway (rack-and-pinion railway). The railway climbs Mount Washington in New Hampshire, United States. It uses a Rack railway#Mars ...

. The hotel burned during construction in 1868 and was rebuilt in 1873. It was destroyed by fire in 1951. In 1841, Horace Fabyan bought outright the Old Moosehorn Tavern, which he had been leasing since 1837. It had previously been owned and run by Ethan Allen Crawford after being initially created by his grandfather, Eleazar Rosebrook. He renamed the inn as Mount Washington House and both upgraded and extended it. It burned down in a fire in 1853 and the derelict site was bought by Sylvester Marsh in 1864. Marsh's first attempt to build a hotel on the site came to nothing when the part-complete building burned in 1868 during construction. After transferring the property to the Mount Washington Hotel Company, in which he was a partner, it was possible to raise 200,000 for construction and Marsh eventually managed to open a hotel there in 1873, called Fabyan House. The construction was not without controversy because such a large enterprise necessitated the levelling of a well-loved local feature called Giant's Grave, which was a prominent mound on the site. The 500-person hotel had a livery stable, post office, bowling alley, and billiard hall. Its parlour measured and its dining room was . In particular after 1878, when it was leased by the Barron family, the hotel gained a reputation for its hospitality. It provided views of

Mount Washington Mount Washington is the highest peak in the Northeastern United States at and the most topographically prominent mountain east of the Mississippi River. The mountain is notorious for its erratic weather. On the afternoon of April 12, 1934, ...

. A fire destroyed it in 1951. The area was served at Fabyan Station by the Boston, Concord & Montreal Railroad from 1874 and the Portland & Ogdensburg Railroad the following year.Sylvester Marsh and the Mount Washington Railway
The place name "Fabyan" is still in use at the location of the hotel in the town of

Carroll, New Hampshire Carroll is a town in Coös County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 820 at the 2020 census. The two largest villages are Twin Mountain and Bretton Woods. Carroll is an important access point for recreational areas in the White M ...

, one mile northwest of

Bretton Woods Bretton Woods can refer to: *Bretton Woods, New Hampshire, a village in the United States **Bretton Woods Mountain Resort, a ski resort located in Bretton Woods, New Hampshire *The 1944 Bretton Woods Conference, also known as the "United Nations Mo ...

; the location is now the junction of

U.S. Route 302 U.S. Route 302 (US 302) is an east–west spur of U.S. Route 2 in northern New England in the United States. It currently runs from Montpelier, Vermont, beginning at US 2, to Portland, Maine, at U.S. Route 1. It passes through the states of Verm ...

and the Base Station Road leading to the Cog Railway. The

Conway Scenic Railroad The Conway Scenic Railroad is a heritage railroad in North Conway, New Hampshire, United States, owned by Profile Mountain Holdings Corp. The railroad operates over two historic railway routes: a line from North Conway to Conway that was for ...

now offers rail excursions from

North Conway North Conway is a census-designated place (CDP) and village in eastern Carroll County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 2,116 at the 2020 census. A year-round resort area, North Conway is the second-largest village within the town ...

through

Crawford Notch Crawford Notch is a major pass through the White Mountains of New Hampshire, located in Hart's Location. Roughly half of that town is contained in Crawford Notch State Park. The high point of the notch, at approximately above sea level, is at ...

as far as Fabyan Station. The Fabyan was one of many grand hotels built during the second half of the 19th century in the area.

References

{{coord missing, New Hampshire Defunct hotels in New Hampshire Hotel buildings completed in 1872 Buildings and structures in Coös County, New Hampshire Carroll, New Hampshire Burned hotels in the United States

See also

References