Sargent's Purchase is a

township A township is a kind of human settlement or administrative subdivision, with its meaning varying in different countries. Although the term is occasionally associated with an urban area, that tends to be an exception to the rule. In Australia, C ...

in Coös County,

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 ...

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

. It lies within the

White Mountain National Forest The White Mountain National Forest (WMNF) is a federally managed forest contained within the White Mountains in the northeastern United States. It was established in 1918 as a result of the Weeks Act of 1911; federal acquisition of land had alre ...

. As of the 2020 census, the population was zero. In New Hampshire, locations, grants, townships (which are different from towns), and purchases are unincorporated portions of a county which are not part of any town or city and have limited self-government (if any, as many are uninhabited).

History

The first known explorer to have set foot in what is now known as Sargent's Purchase was

Darby Field Darby Field (1610–1649) was the first European to climb Mount Washington in New Hampshire. Biography Of English ancestry, Field was born in Boston, Lincolnshire, England. His father was John Field of London. By 1636, he immigrated to Boston, M ...

, who claimed to have made the first ascent 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 ...

in 1642. Sargent's Purchase was granted to Jacob Sargent and others on May 31, 1832. In May 1866, Sylvester Marsh of

Campton, New Hampshire Campton is a town in Grafton County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 3,343 at the 2020 census. Campton, which includes the villages of Blair, Campton Hollow, Lower Campton and West Campton, is home to Blair State Forest and Live ...

, began construction of 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 ...

, primarily in Thompson and Meserve's Purchase, but the uppermost half mile being within Sargent's Purchase. The Cog Railway was completed in 1869.

Geography

The township is in the White Mountains of New Hampshire and includes the summit of

, the highest

mountain A mountain is an elevated portion of the Earth's crust, generally with steep sides that show significant exposed bedrock. Although definitions vary, a mountain may differ from a plateau in having a limited summit area, and is usually highe ...

New England New England is a region comprising six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York (state), New York to the west and by the Can ...

, with an elevation of above

sea level Mean sea level (MSL, often shortened to sea level) is an average surface level of one or more among Earth's coastal bodies of water from which heights such as elevation may be measured. The global MSL is a type of vertical datuma standardise ...

. Other notable summits within the purchase include

Mount Monroe Mount Monroe is a mountain peak southwest of Mount Washington in the Presidential Range of the White Mountains in New Hampshire, United States. It is named for American President James Monroe and is the fourth highest mountain on the 4000 foot ...

, at ; Mount Isolation, at ; and Stairs Mountain, at . The

Appalachian Trail The Appalachian Trail (also called the A.T.), is a hiking trail in the Eastern United States, extending almost between Springer Mountain in Georgia and Mount Katahdin in Maine, and passing through 14 states.Gailey, Chris (2006)"Appalachian ...

crosses the northwest part of the township, including the summit of Mount Washington, as well as the northeast corner of the township. According to the

United States Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau (USCB), officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the U.S. Federal Statistical System, responsible for producing data about the American people and economy. The Census Bureau is part of t ...

, the township has a total area of , of which , or 0.02%, are water. The Ammonoosuc River has its

source Source may refer to: Research * Historical document * Historical source * Source (intelligence) or sub source, typically a confidential provider of non open-source intelligence * Source (journalism), a person, publication, publishing institute o ...

on the west side of Mount Washington and drains the northwest corner of the township, part of the Connecticut River watershed. The northeast corner of the township, drained by the

Peabody River The Peabody River is a river in the White Mountains of New Hampshire in the United States. It is a tributary of the Androscoggin River, which flows south and east into Maine, joining the Kennebec River near the Atlantic Ocean. The Peabody River ...

, is part of the

Androscoggin River The Androscoggin River ( Abenaki: ''Aləssíkαntekʷ'') is a river in the U.S. states of Maine and New Hampshire, in northern New England. It is U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map, ...

watershed. The remainder of the township is part of the

Saco River The Saco River (Abenaki: ''Sαkóhki'') is a river in northeastern New Hampshire and southwestern Maine in the United States. It drains a rural area of of forests and farmlands west and southwest of Portland, emptying into the Atlantic Ocean ...

watershed: the Dry River begins in Oakes Gulf on the south side of Mount Washington, while the Ellis River begins in

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 ...

on the east side of the mountain. The Rocky Branch, a third tributary of the Saco, drains the southern part of Sargent's Purchase.

Demographics

As of the 2020 census, there were no permanent residents in the township.

Notes

References

{{Authority control Townships in Coös County, New Hampshire Berlin, New Hampshire micropolitan area Townships in New Hampshire