Franconia is a

town A town is a type of a human settlement, generally larger than a village but smaller than a city. The criteria for distinguishing a town vary globally, often depending on factors such as population size, economic character, administrative stat ...

in Grafton County,

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. The population was 1,083 at the 2020 census. Set in the White Mountains, Franconia is home to the northern half of Franconia Notch State Park. Parts of 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 ...

are in the eastern and southern portions of the town. 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 Tra ...

crosses the town.

History

Town status was first granted in 1764 by colonial Governor

Benning Wentworth Benning Wentworth (July 24, 1696 – October 14, 1770) was an American merchant, landowner and colonial administrator who served as the List of colonial governors of New Hampshire, governor of New Hampshire from 1741 to 1766. He is best known ...

as "Franconia", a name widely applied to the region by 1760 due to the terrain's resemblance to the

Franconian Switzerland Franconian Switzerland (, ) is an upland in Upper Franconia, Bavaria, Germany and a popular tourist retreat. Located between the River Pegnitz in the east and the south, the River Regnitz in the west and the River Main in the north, its relief ...

Upper Franconia Upper Franconia (, ) is a (administrative 'Regierungs''region 'bezirk'' of the state of Bavaria, southern Germany. It forms part of the historically significant region of Franconia, the others being Middle Franconia and Lower Franconia, wh ...

Bavaria Bavaria, officially the Free State of Bavaria, is a States of Germany, state in the southeast of Germany. With an area of , it is the list of German states by area, largest German state by land area, comprising approximately 1/5 of the total l ...

, Germany. Upon claims that a settlement was not made within the time prescribed under the terms of the charter, it was regranted in 1772 by his nephew, Governor John Wentworth, as "Morristown". Sometime between 1779 and 1782, after a legal battle over the two grants, the first grant was recognized and the original name of the town was resumed. The town sits on a rich

iron Iron is a chemical element; it has symbol Fe () and atomic number 26. It is a metal that belongs to the first transition series and group 8 of the periodic table. It is, by mass, the most common element on Earth, forming much of Earth's o ...

deposit, and the region once produced

pig iron Pig iron, also known as crude iron, is an intermediate good used by the iron industry in the production of steel. It is developed by smelting iron ore in a blast furnace. Pig iron has a high carbon content, typically 3.8–4.7%, along with si ...

and bar iron for farm tools and

cast iron Cast iron is a class of iron–carbon alloys with a carbon content of more than 2% and silicon content around 1–3%. Its usefulness derives from its relatively low melting temperature. The alloying elements determine the form in which its car ...

ware. Franconia is home to the Cannon Mountain Aerial Tramway, which rises to the summit of Cannon Mountain. Built in 1938, it was the first passenger

aerial tramway An aerial tramway, aerial tram, sky tram, cable car or aerial cablecar, aerial cableway, ropeway, téléphérique (French), or Seilbahn (German) is a type of aerial lift which uses one or two stationary cables for support, with a third movin ...

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere, Northern and Western Hemisphere, Western hemispheres. North America is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South Ameri ...

. From the time of its construction in 1938 to its retirement in 1980, the original tramway carried 6,581,338 passengers to the summit of Cannon Mountain. The original tramway was replaced by a new 80-passenger tram in 1979. Construction and testing of the new tram were completed in February 1980, and the red and yellow tram cars are still running year-round today. Around 1940, actress

Bette Davis Ruth Elizabeth "Bette" Davis (; April 5, 1908 – October 6, 1989) was an American actress of film, television, and theater. Regarded as one of the greatest actresses in Hollywood history, she was noted for her willingness to play unsympatheti ...

vacationed in Sugar Hill, the town bordering Franconia to the west. On a solo hike to Bridal Veil Falls at the western foot of Cannon Mountain, she got lost in the woods. Arthur Farnsworth, who worked at Peckett's Ski School, found her and rescued her from the woods. They fell in love and soon married. Farnsworth died unexpectedly as a result of freak accident in

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

. Davis had erected in a rock on the trail to Bridal Veil Falls a plaque to commemorate Farnsworth, in which was inscribed the words "The Keeper of Stray Ladies", although Davis did not include her name in the plaque. The plaque can be seen today on the Coppermine Trail to Bridal Veil Falls. The town was home to Franconia College during the 1960s and 1970s. In the 21st century, Franconia has been known as the home of skier

Bode Miller Samuel Bode Miller ( ; born October 12, 1977) is an American former FIS Alpine Ski World Cup, World Cup Alpine skiing, alpine ski racer. He is an Winter Olympic Games, Olympic and List of Alpine Skiing world champions, World Championship gold me ...

, who has accumulated several Olympic medals.

Geography

According to the

United States Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau, officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the Federal statistical system, U.S. federal statistical system, responsible for producing data about the American people and American economy, econ ...

, the town has a total area of , of which are land and are water, comprising 0.47% of the town. Franconia is drained by the Pemigewasset River, the Franconia Branch of the East Branch Pemigewasset River, the Gale River, and the Ham Branch of the Gale River, in addition to Lafayette Brook. The north-western two-thirds of Franconia lies within the

Connecticut River The Connecticut River is the longest river in the New England region of the United States, flowing roughly southward for through four states. It rises 300 yards (270 m) south of the U.S. border with Quebec, Canada, and discharges into Long Isl ...

watershed, while the southeastern portion which drains to the Pemigewasset and its branches lies in the

Merrimack River The Merrimack River (or Merrimac River, an occasional earlier spelling) is a river in the northeastern United States. It rises at the confluence of the Pemigewasset and Winnipesaukee rivers in Franklin, New Hampshire, flows southward into M ...

watershed. The area of Franconia Notch is well known for its natural features, including Profile and

Echo In audio signal processing and acoustics, an echo is a reflection of sound that arrives at the listener with a delay after the direct sound. The delay is directly proportional to the distance of the reflecting surface from the source and the lis ...

lakes, the Basin, Mount Lafayette, Mount Lincoln, and Cannon Mountain. Mount Lafayette, at above

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

, is the highest peak in Franconia and in Grafton County, as well as the second-most prominent peak in the White Mountains, after Mount Washington. The Old Man of the Mountain, a profile-like cliff on the side of Cannon Mountain which inspired

Nathaniel Hawthorne Nathaniel Hawthorne (né Hathorne; July 4, 1804 – May 19, 1864) was an American novelist and short story writer. His works often focus on history, morality, and religion. He was born in 1804 in Salem, Massachusetts, from a family long associat ...

to write " The Great Stone Face", collapsed on May 3, 2003. In addition to the mountains around Franconia Notch, there are several other

four-thousand footers The Four-thousand footers (sometimes abbreviated 4ks) are a group of forty-eight mountains in New Hampshire at least above sea level. To qualify for inclusion a peak must also meet the more technical criterion of topographic prominence important ...

within the town limits: Mount Garfield, Galehead Mountain, South Twin Mountain, and Owl's Head. Image:Franconia Notch, NH Looking North.jpg, Franconia Notch, Image:Forest Hill House, Franconia, NH.jpg, Forest Hill House, Image:Echo Lake, Franconia Notch, NH.jpg, Echo Lake Image:DowAcademy.jpg, Cannon Mountain rising over Franconia village in 2007

Demographics

As of the

census A census (from Latin ''censere'', 'to assess') is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording, and calculating population information about the members of a given Statistical population, population, usually displayed in the form of stati ...

of 2000, there were 924 people, 384 households, and 243 families residing in the town. The population density was . There were 702 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the town was 97.51%

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no chroma). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully (or almost fully) reflect and scatter all the visible wa ...

, 0.11%

African American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...

, 0.65% Native American, 0.87% Asian, 0.11% from other races, and 0.76% from two or more races.

Hispanic The term Hispanic () are people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or broadly. In some contexts, Hispanic and Latino Americans, especially within the United States, "Hispanic" is used as an Ethnici ...

or Latino of any race were 0.32% of the population. There were 384 households, out of which 27.1% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 53.4% were

married couples Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognised union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children (if any), and b ...

living together, 7.8% had a female householder with no husband present, and 36.7% were non-families. 28.9% of all households were made up of individuals, and 8.6% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.23 and the average family size was 2.76. In the town, the population was spread out, with 20.0% under the age of 18, 4.5% from 18 to 24, 21.9% from 25 to 44, 33.1% from 45 to 64, and 20.5% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 47 years. For every 100 females, there were 88.6 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 82.5 males. The median income for a household in the town was $40,114, and the median income for a family was $46,979. Males had a median income of $29,500 versus $24,000 for females. The

per capita income Per capita income (PCI) or average income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. In many countries, per capita income is determined using regular population surveys, such ...

for the town was $20,351. About 7.8% of families and 8.9% of the population were below the

poverty line The poverty threshold, poverty limit, poverty line, or breadline is the minimum level of income deemed adequate in a particular country. The poverty line is usually calculated by estimating the total cost of one year's worth of necessities for ...

, including 10.1% of those under age 18 and 4.9% of those age 65 or over.

Sites of interest

* The Frost Place, former home of poet

Robert Frost Robert Lee Frost (March26, 1874January29, 1963) was an American poet. Known for his realistic depictions of rural life and his command of American Colloquialism, colloquial speech, Frost frequently wrote about settings from rural life in New E ...

* New England Ski Museum * Franconia Notch State Park & Cannon Mt Aerial Tramway * Bridal Veil Falls * Profile House * Franconia Iron Works

Notable people

* Elisabeth Elliot (1926–2015), Christian author, speaker * Jessica Garretson Finch (1871–1949), daughter of minister of the Congregational Church in Franconia, suffragette, founder of Finch College *

(1874–1963), four time

Pulitzer Prize The Pulitzer Prizes () are 23 annual awards given by Columbia University in New York City for achievements in the United States in "journalism, arts and letters". They were established in 1917 by the will of Joseph Pulitzer, who had made his fo ...

-winning poet * Sel Hannah (1913–1991), skier, ski area architect *

(born 1977), Olympic gold medalist skier * Ernest Poole (1880–1950), author * Annie Trumbull Slosson (1838–1926), author,

entomologist Entomology (from Ancient Greek ἔντομον (''éntomon''), meaning "insect", and -logy from λόγος (''lógos''), meaning "study") is the branch of zoology that focuses on insects. Those who study entomology are known as entomologists. In ...

References

External links

* * *
New Hampshire Economic and Labor Market Information Bureau Profile

Franconia Notch Regional Chamber of Commerce
{{authority control Towns in Grafton County, New Hampshire Towns in New Hampshire 1764 establishments in New Hampshire