Glen House, White Mountains, by Kilburn Brothers 3

View from the Glen House, White Mountains, by Kilburn Brothers

Glen House is the name of a series of grand resorts and hotels, dating back to 1852, in

Pinkham Notch Pinkham Notch (elevation 2032 ft. / 619 m) is a mountain pass in the White Mountains of north-central New Hampshire, United States. The notch is a result of extensive erosion by the Laurentide Ice Sheet during the Wisconsinian ice age. Pin ...

very near

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 ...

in the White Mountains of

New Hampshire New Hampshire is a 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 to the nor ...

, USA.

History

The completion of the

Grand Trunk Railway The Grand Trunk Railway (; french: Grand Tronc) was a railway system that operated in the Canadian provinces of Quebec and Ontario and in the American states of Connecticut, Maine, Michigan, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Vermont. The rail ...

in 1851 established a route from

Portland, Maine Portland is the largest city in the U.S. state of Maine and the seat of Cumberland County. Portland's population was 68,408 in April 2020. The Greater Portland metropolitan area is home to over half a million people, the 104th-largest metropo ...

, to

Gorham, New Hampshire Gorham is a town in Coös County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 2,698 at the 2020 census. Gorham is located in the White Mountains, and parts of the White Mountain National Forest are in the south and northwest. Moose Brook St ...

, and brought increased visitors to the area. John Bellows converted a farmhouse into a hotel the same year and then sold it in April 1852 to J. M. Thompson, who renamed it the Glen House and finished work on its rooms. Expanded by 1866, the grand hotel featured views of Mount Washington,

Tuckerman Ravine Tuckerman Ravine is a glacial cirque sloping eastward on the southeast face of Mt. Washington, in the White Mountains of New Hampshire. Although it draws hikers throughout the year, and skiers throughout the winter, it is best known for the ma ...

, and the northern

Presidential Range The Presidential Range is a mountain range located in the White Mountains of the U.S. state of New Hampshire. Containing the highest peaks of the Whites, its most notable summits are named for American presidents, followed by prominent public ...

. Guests could visit Mount Washington on the newly opened Carriage Road (now the

Mount Washington Auto Road The Mount Washington Auto Road—originally the Mount Washington Carriage Road—is a toll road in southern Coos County, New Hampshire that extends from New Hampshire Route 16 in Green's Grant, just north of Pinkham Notch, westward across Pink ...

) to its summit, visit other natural attractions in the area, or recreate in the hotel's game rooms, parlors, library, listen to an orchestra, dance, play lawn tennis, fish, play

croquet Croquet ( or ; french: croquet) is a sport that involves hitting wooden or plastic balls with a mallet through hoops (often called "wickets" in the United States) embedded in a grass playing court. Its international governing body is the W ...

, hike, horseback ride, enjoy a guided carriage ride, or take in a theater show.Grand Hotels of New Hampshire
New Hampshire Notes Guests included

Albert Bierstadt Albert Bierstadt (January 7, 1830 – February 18, 1902) was a German-American painter best known for his lavish, sweeping landscapes of the American West. He joined several journeys of the Westward Expansion to paint the scenes. He was not ...

, and the

Bierstadt Brothers Edward Bierstadt (September 11, 1824 – June 15, 1906) was a photographer of portraits and landscapes as well as an engraver in the United States. Early life Bierstadt was born in Solingen, Rhine Province, Prussia on September 11, 1824. He ...

captured stereoscopic photographs of scenery in the area including a bear. John P. Soule, G. W. Woodward,

Nathan W. Pease Nathan W. Pease (1836–1918) was an American photographer in North Conway, New Hampshire, North Conway, New Hampshire, United States. Works He produced many dozens of stereoscopic images with scenes from his home state. He also produced o ...

, and the Kilburn Brothers also captured stereoscopic images from the area, including mountain landscapes and other scenery as well as some of the grand hotel and its interior spaces. In 1869, Albert Bierstadt discovered hotel proprietor Col. Joseph Mariner Thompson's body down river from his sawmill following a heavy fall rainstorm. Ownership was then taken over by the Milliken brothers. This first Glen House was completely destroyed by a fire in 1884. Rebuilt and expanded over the next few years, the second Glen House burned again in 1893 and was not rebuilt. Property ownership was subsequently acquired by the Libby family of Gorham who converted the existing servant's quarters into the third Glen House, a 40-room hotel, that was also destroyed by fire in 1924. In 1925, a smaller fourth Glen House was constructed, now serving winter sports enthusiasts as well as summer travelers. In March 1967, this hotel also caught fire and burned to the ground. The fifth Glen House opened at the base of the Mount Washington Auto Road in September of 2018.
Conway Daily Sun

References

{{Coord, 44, 17, 20, N, 71, 13, 27, W, type:landmark, display=title

History

References

Further reading