Wolfeboro: Character of Lore, Monte-zuma
Wolfeboro Legend Monte-zuma This is the true story of a character from Wolfeboro Falls called Monte…Monte-zuma in full. This wasn’t his real name but that’s what the local boys used to call him back in the late 1950’s. Anyone familiar with the Smith River Canoe Race in Wolfeboro Falls knows where he lived because it is right on the opposite shoreline in a 12×8′ ft sturdy shack 80 yards down from the rapids. To this day, there is a sunken wooden platform covered in slippery moss that he used to get back and forth across the river. Back then, the wooden platform was above water and Monte covered it with corrugated roofing to keep it from getting wet. The roofing was also nice and loud in case he had any visitors which will come later in the story.Monte was the night watchman and maintenance man for the Wolfeboro Mills that used to exist along that long flat stretch of river across from his shack. He had a pigeon coup right at the edge of the river and he raised the pigeons for food. He also enjoyed eating fish he caught from the river. Monte wasn’t a lean scraggly-old hermit but actually clean shaven and roundly with a receding hairline. He didn’t mind a visitor now and again; he was known to serve his guests soda biscuits and peanut butter from his outdoor stone fireplace. He entertained with a pet racoon and a blue jay that he spoke to as if they were his children. One night some local boys were camping out in Wolfeboro Falls and they decided it would be a good idea to give old Monte a scare. Ronnie Keslar was up for the task and started across the wooden platform on the river until the corrugated roofing gave him up. The shack door flew open and Ronnie ran for his life as he heard the bellow and the hammer of the gun. He ran so fast in the darkness that he stumbled to the ground as a bullet went over his head into the sign post above. Monte wasn’t bothered much at night by the boys again. It wasn’t until a Mr. Malone purchased the mill and it was converted from excelsior to t-shirt manufacturing that Monte was forced to move on. His shack was burned to the ground and all that remains is the sunken wooden platform and stones from the outdoor fireplace. By Jeremy Osgood Author and Photographer Visit my photo gallery PHOTOS 4 NATURE Check Out Jeremy’s Historical Novel Based On the Legend Of Chocorua PHOTOSNATURE Click here to View my Gallery and Purchase Images Instagram Facebook Linkedin Youtube
Heron Breakfast Spot
5:30am at Fernald's Basin, Lake Wentworth.
O-SO-GOOD Barber Stylist
Judy Osgood and Michelle Riley celebrate their 15 year anniversary of cutting hair together this past week at the O-So-Good Barber shop/Hair Salon behind Clarke's plaza. I asked the dynamic duo if they had a name for their team, "Tom and Jerry", and they said it was more like "Archie and Edith". I'll let you decide who's who. They claim they've never had an argument. They've done thousands of cuts and handed out an equal number of lollie pops to children from the shop and playground next door. Judy originally started the shop over 30 years ago out of her home on River Street.
Lake Wentworth Sunrise
A crack of dawn wake-up reward…this photo was taken from the Bridge Falls path where the tracks split Fernald Basin from Wentworth. Wentworth freezes several weeks before Winnipesaukee and usually a week or so before Crescent Lake due to currents from the Smith river canal and the the Smith river dam that drain into Back Bay,Winnipesaukee. Wentworth is also relatively shallow with the deepest point at around 60ft out at Fuller's Deep. The ice must be at least 8 inches thick now because i saw Stu pulling his winnebago "ice Palace" fish house out on the ice this afternoon. I'll get a shot sometime this week.
The Wolfeboro Railroad-Bridge Falls Path
The lead golden is Tucker taking his owner for a walk on the Bridge Falls path Yesterday. I was finishing some Fernald Ice "skating rink" chores and saw a couple of friendly ladies walking their dogs in the late afternoon sun and decided to ask them to be my first post. The railroad has probably done more to shape the town of Wolfeboro over the past 150 years than perhaps any other singular feature. Prior to the Wolfeboro Railroad, tourist, "in their Sunday best", would take the train to Alton and then onto Wolfeboro across Lake Winnipesaukee by Steamboat to the town docks. The Wolfeboro Railroad operated from 1872 to 1985 and created a tourist boom with several large hotels in the downtown area that no longer exist today. It also led to literally dozens of youth camps and many of the classic seasonal cottages dotting the shoreline of Lakes Wentworth and Winnipesaukee. It also helped support the once famous Allen A. Resort, which the old timers tell me was the real boom period of the town. My childhood home abutted the Wolfeboro Railroad and subsequent Bridge Falls Path. I can distinctly remember the whistle in the early afternoon and the night train, the smell of the coal fired furnaces and the smoke, the light rumble beneath your feet upon its approach. I also remember the last tourist coaches in the 1980's when the railroad was shut down. A few years later the corridor was revitalized as part of the rails to trails program. At the time i'm sure my family was ecstatic though the daily routine was so engraved in us the train it might as well have been a passing breeze. When your witnessing the end of an era as a young teenager, nostalgia wasn't one of the first things that comes to mind. When my wife and i returned to Wolfeboro in 2004 to raise a family we bought land adjacent to the railroad/Bridge Falls Path and built our new home. I never really made the whole railroad connection until now though my wife will swear it's a conspiracy. There is hardly a day that goes by that our family is not running, biking or walking the dog on the finished trail that ends out at Cotton Valley Road and tracks beyond toward Sanbornville, Conway, Portsmouth… and judging by the number of people that use the trails daily it has undoubtably become a vital part of the Wolfeboro Community again. Historical facts and credits, History of the Town of Wolfeborough, New Hampshire – Benjamin Franklin Parker – 1901 – pp.511-512 – Reprinted in 1988 – American Offset Printers – Los Angeles Great Links to the Wolfeboro Railroad: http://www.winnipesaukee.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1663 and http://www.trainweb.org/theattic/Wolfeboro.html
