Bretton Woods is an area within the town of Carroll,

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

, United States, whose principal points of interest are three leisure and recreation facilities. Being virtually surrounded by 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 ...

, the vista from Bretton Woods toward Mount Washington and the

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

includes no significant artificial structures other than the Mount Washington Cog Railway and the

Mount Washington Hotel The Omni Mount Washington Resort is a historic luxury resort hotel in Bretton Woods, New Hampshire, United States, near Mount Washington. It was designed by Charles Alling Gifford. In 1944, it hosted the Bretton Woods Conference, which establi ...

. Bretton Woods was the site of the

United Nations Monetary and Financial Conference The Bretton Woods Conference, formally known as the United Nations Monetary and Financial Conference, was the gathering of 730 delegates from all 44 allied nations at the Mount Washington Hotel, in Bretton Woods, New Hampshire, United States, to ...

in 1944 which has given its name to the

Bretton Woods system The Bretton Woods system of monetary management established the rules for commercial relations among 44 countries, including the United States, Canada, Western European countries, and Australia, after the 1944 Bretton Woods Agreement until the ...

and led to the establishment of both the

World Bank The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans and Grant (money), grants to the governments of Least developed countries, low- and Developing country, middle-income countries for the purposes of economic development ...

and the

International Monetary Fund The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is a major financial agency of the United Nations, and an international financial institution funded by 191 member countries, with headquarters in Washington, D.C. It is regarded as the global lender of las ...

in 1945. The Bretton Woods system ended in 1971. Bretton Woods is located along U.S. Route 302, east of the village of Twin Mountain and through scenic

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 a ...

northwest of the town of Bartlett. In 1772, King

George III George III (George William Frederick; 4 June 173829 January 1820) was King of Great Britain and King of Ireland, Ireland from 25 October 1760 until his death in 1820. The Acts of Union 1800 unified Kingdom of Great Britain, Great Britain and ...

granted Sir Thomas Wentworth of Bretton Hall, a country house in

West Bretton West Bretton is a village and civil parishes in England, civil parish in City of Wakefield, Wakefield, West Yorkshire, England. It lies close to junction 38 of the M1 motorway at Haigh, Yorkshire, Haigh. It has a population of 546, reducing to ...

West Yorkshire West Yorkshire is a Metropolitan counties of England, metropolitan and Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England. It borders North Yorkshire to the north and east, South Yorkshire and De ...

, and 82 others, a parcel of of land to be laid out as a plantation in the White Mountains. The plantation became the town of Carroll, and the southeast corner of the land retained the name "Bretton Woods", after the estate.

Points of interest

The

and Resort is one in the last surviving handful of

grand hotels, and includes two

golf course A golf course is the grounds on which the sport of golf is played. It consists of a series of holes, each consisting of a teeing ground, tee box, a #Fairway and rough, fairway, the #Fairway and rough, rough and other hazard (golf), hazards, and ...

s, alpine and Nordic skiing, a spa, sled rides, dog sled rides, tennis, horseback riding and much more in its facilities. The Bretton Woods Mountain Resort ski area serves both downhill and

cross-country skiing Cross-country skiing is a form of skiing whereby skiers traverse snow-covered terrain without use of ski lifts or other assistance. Cross-country skiing is widely practiced as a sport and recreational activity; however, some still use it as a m ...

, primarily in the Rosebrook Mountains, located in

Bethlehem Bethlehem is a city in the West Bank, Palestine, located about south of Jerusalem, and the capital of the Bethlehem Governorate. It had a population of people, as of . The city's economy is strongly linked to Tourism in the State of Palesti ...

to the south. The downhill resort is the largest in New Hampshire, with 101 trails. In the early twentieth century heyday of northern U.S. resorts for the elite, rail passengers would travel from Boston on the

Boston and Maine Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and financial center of New England, a region of the Northeastern United States. It has an area of and a ...

's ''Mountaineer.'' From New York City, passengers took the ''Connecticut Yankee'', ''Day White Mountains'', ''Night White Mountains'', or ''Overnighter.'' The tracks of the Cog Railway and its associated buildings lie up the slope of Mount Washington, in nearby Thompson and Meserve's Purchase. The "Base Road" from Bretton Woods and Fabyan's is the preferred route to the lower end of the tracks (the Base Station of the Cog), except in those winters when the Mount Clinton Road is instead the only

plow A plough or (Differences between American and British spellings, US) plow (both pronounced ) is a farm tool for loosening or turning the soil before sowing seed or planting. Ploughs were traditionally drawn by oxen and horses but modern ploughs ...

ed road to their intersection. (The closing of the lower end of the Base Road had been traditional into 2004.) The Cog was operated during the winter seasons of 2004 to 2006 to take wilderness skiers partway up the mountain.

References

External links

Bretton Woods ResortTwin Mountain-Bretton Woods Chamber of Commerce
{{Authority control Unincorporated communities in Coös County, New Hampshire Unincorporated communities in New Hampshire Carroll, New Hampshire

Points of interest

See also

References

External links