I previously wrote about the history of this resort
Set 01 of the Iron Mines
Bob Jensen at
Trinity University
In Summer of 2017 a
friendly stranger walked up our drive
He introduced himself as Ron Resden, a gunsmith from Guildhall, Vermont
He recalls both the 1807 iron mines of Sugar Hill, NH and the 1880 Sunset Hill
House Resort torn down in 1974
Our cottage sits where
the main hotel of 1880 SHH Resort was built
I previously wrote about the history of this resort
Historic Photographs (Set
01) of the Sunset Hill House Resort Shared by Gunsmith Ron Resden from Vermont
http://www.cs.trinity.edu/rjensen/Tidbits/Resden/01ResdenSSH.htm
Historic Photographs (Set
02) of the Sunset Hill House Resort Shared by Gunsmith Ron Resden from Vermont
http://www.cs.trinity.edu/rjensen/Tidbits/Resden/02ResdenSSH.htm
Historic Photographs (Set
03) of the Sunset Hill House Resort Shared by Gunsmith Ron Resden from Vermont
http://www.cs.trinity.edu/rjensen/Tidbits/Resden/03ResdenSSH.htm
Now I will share four of Ron's iron mine pictures of the nearby Sugar Hill iron
mines and related pictures
New Hampshire's Sugar Hill (Franconia) Mines should not be confused with the
Sugar Hill Mines of Bartow County, Georgia
Slightly over three miles (up a walking trail) south of our cottage are boarded
up iron mines in what is known as Ore Hill
Ore Hill's high-quality iron ore veins were discovered in the 1790s
Beginning in 1807 the mines supplied iron ore by pack mules to where oxen carts
could be loaded to haul ore downhill to a nearby Franconia smelters
The iron ingots were then melted down two iron works plants in Franconia that
manufactured highest-quality stoves and iron parts
The only remaining iron works factory shut down before the Civil War and later
started up once again around 1859
It's not clear just when this factory shut down again, but it ceased operations
before 1870
All the remaining iron factory buildings burned down in 1884 after attempting to
start up again
http://whitemountainhistory.org/Franconia_Iron_Works.html
This is Ore Hill as seen from my desk
It's one of the more scenic foliage hills in New Hampshire since it's still
undeveloped hardwood forest
It's springs still provide water to the nearby Inn on Sunset Hill
Kinsman Range mountains in the background are clouded over in the pictures below
taken from my desk
Roger Aldrich, a long-time resident of
Sugar Hill, died in November of 2017 about 140 years after the closing of
the iron mines
https://www.legacy.com/obituaries/unionleader/obituary.aspx?pid=173360734
Roger's wife Nancy was pioneer Polly's descendent who carried on managing the
well-known Polly's Pancake Parlor farm restaurant about a mile north of our
cottage
The daughter (Kathy) of Roger and Nancy Aldrich currently manages the extremely
popular breakfast and lunch restaurant on Route 117 between Franconia and Sugar
Hill
http://www.cs.trinity.edu/rjensen/Tidbits/2009/Tidbits090105.htm
Video: Roger Aldrich Talks in considerable detail about the historic iron
mines in Sugar Hill ---
https://vimeo.com/19520554
Click on the video start link center picture
Roger points out is how the mines were a complex of relatively short
shafts and tunnels following the highest-grade iron veins
formed by a volcano millions of years before humans walked the earth
Among other things Roger points out that the abandoned mines are still
home to brown bats that should not be disturbed
In Summer 2017 a Vermont gunsmith name Ron Resden sent me pictures of when he
was a young lad in these parts
and worked for the the Sunset Hill Resort that was torn down in 1974
He and his friends hiked in these hills and explored some of the iron mine
tunnels
Soon thereafter the mine entrances were boarded over
This is a recent message from Ron Resden
Hi Bob,
The photo was taken by me in 1963, likely in August. The person on the left is Chuck Robinson from Littleton. Center person is Steve Dicks from Revere Mass, and the fellow on the right is John Mitchell from Haverhill or N. Haverhill NH. All teenagers at the time and summer employees of the Sunset Hill House. I’m not aware of any other photos taken in the mines so quite happy to see you are recording these for history and all interested parties to see.
A new disk is being readied with about a dozen SHH cards not on the disk I gave you last October.
Also a disk with the best copies of the mine photos.
As Always,
Ron.
The next two photos show a young Ron Resden at the deepest point that could be
reached in this tunnel
Today the historic 1764 village of Franconia only has a few business
establishments (no longer any iron works factories)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Franconia,_New_Hampshire
In
the south Franconia picture below you can see some of Cannon Mountain's ski
slopes
The
Catholic Church and Town Hall are located south along the Gale River not far
near where the Franconia Iron Works factories eventually burned down
On the north side of
Franconia today is a where there's a walking bridge over the river to where part
of the Besaw Iron Furnace still stands
You can read more about this Besaw Iron Furnace here
http://www.franconianh.org/iron-furnace.html
Roughly 10 miles west
toward Lisbon there was a kiln that turned wood into charcoal for the smelters
http://www.newhampshire.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/99999999/NEWHAMPSHIRE0310/110429615
There were two separate iron works factories in Franconia, NH
during the 19th century
The earliest started about 1801, and in one form or another, operated until
after the Civil War
The second company started in 1808 and lasted it burned down in1828.
http://whitemountainhistory.org/Franconia_Iron_Works.html
Video:
Well known NH television commentator/hiker Fritz Weatherbee discusses the
history of the Franconia's Upper and Lower Iron Works factories at
http://www.wmur.com/article/fritz-wetherbee-franconia-iron-works/5265250
This video commences automatically after an advertisement
Fritz points out that
there were four short-lived iron smelters in New Hampshire that did not thrive
due to poor quality iron ore
But the discovery of higher grade iron ore in Ore Hill in the 1790s led to a
more thriving mining, smelting, and manufacturing operations in Franconia
He also mentions that there were two iron works factories in Franconia (Upper
Works and Lower Works) and how the Lower Works burned down in a spectacular fire
in 1828
The Upper Works continued for a time making top quality Franconia iron stoves
and some other iron products
https://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowUserReviews-g46088-d7106554-r542322915-Besaw_Iron_Furnace_Interpretive_Center-Franconia_New_Hampshire.html
All this came to an end when the known quality iron veins in Ore Hill played out
Sugar Hill Museum --- http://www.aannh.org/heritage/grafton/sugarhill.php
Franconia Museum --- http://www.franconianh.org/heritage-museum.html
Jensen Cottage
Set 01 of my cottage pictures --- http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/NHcottage/NHcottage.htm
Set 02 inside the cottage --- http://www.cs.trinity.edu/rjensen/Tidbits/2009/Tidbits090723.htm
Set 03 inside the cottage --- www.trinity.edu/rjensen/Tidbits/Cottage\Inside/Set03/Set03InteriorCottage.htm
Set 04 inside the cottage --- http://www.cs.trinity.edu/rjensen/Tidbits/Cottage\Inside/Set04/Set04InteriorCottage.htm
Photographs of Putting a New Rubber Roof Under Our Widow's Walk
http://cs.trinity.edu/rjensen/Tidbits/CottageHistory/WidowsWalk/WidowsWalk.htmIndoor Plants --- http://www.cs.trinity.edu/rjensen/Tidbits/IndoorPlants/IndoorPlantsFavorites.htm
Amaryllis --- http://www.cs.trinity.edu/rjensen/Tidbits/2008/Tidbits080212.htmThe Inn on Sunset Hill (just down from our cottage) ---
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A5cqUX0LcbU&t=9s
Cottage History
Sunset Hill House Resort History Set 01 ---
http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/tidbits/CottageHistory/Hotel/Brochure/Brochure1900.htmHistoric Photographs (Set 01) of the Sunset Hill House Resort Shared by Gunsmith Ron Resden from Vermont
http://www.cs.trinity.edu/rjensen/Tidbits/Resden/01ResdenSHH.htmHistoric Photographs (Set 02) of the Sunset Hill House Resort Shared by Gunsmith Ron Resden from Vermont
http://www.cs.trinity.edu/rjensen/Tidbits/Resden/02ResdenSHH.htmHistoric Photographs (Set 03) of the Sunset Hill House Resort Shared by Gunsmith Ron Resden from Vermont
http://www.cs.trinity.edu/rjensen/Tidbits/Resden/03ResdenSHH.htm
After the Sunset Hill House Resort was nearly all demolished in 1974, our cottage (before it was ours)
was moved in 1977 from the golf course across a tennis court and up to where the former hotel site.
I show pictures of the preparation work prior to the moving the cottage and its four fireplaces
http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/Tidbits/CottageHistory/OldSite/Set01/Set01.htmNext I show pictures of the move to the new site
http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/Tidbits/CottageHistory/NewSite/Set01/Set01.htmNext I show the pictures of a 1980 spectacular fire on one of the remaining three cottages
www.trinity.edu/rjensen/tidbits/CottageHistory/Fire/FireSet01.htmIron Ore From Ore Hill and Historic Iron Works Operations in Franconia
http://www.cs.trinity.edu/rjensen/Tidbits/Resden/IronMine/Set01/01IronMine.htmSunset Hill House Hotel: The American Dream ---
http://www.cs.trinity.edu/~rjensen/temp/SunsetHillHouse/SunsetHillHouse.htmPart 1 of the History of the Homestead Inn Torn Down in 2015
http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/Tidbits/Hotels/Homestead/Set01/Set01.htmPart 2 of the History of the Homestead Inn
http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/Tidbits/Hotels/Homestead/Set02/Set02.htm
More of Bob Jensen's Pictures and
Stories
http://facuolty.trinity.edu/rjensen/Pictures.htm
On May 14,
2006 I retired from
Trinity University after a long and
wonderful career as an accounting professor in four universities. I was
generously granted "Emeritus" status by the Trustees of Trinity University. My
wife and I now live in a cottage in the White Mountains of New Hampshire ---
http://facuolty.trinity.edu/rjensen/NHcottage/NHcottage.htm
Bob
Jensen's Blogs ---
http://facuolty.trinity.edu/rjensen/JensenBlogs.htm
Current and past editions of my newsletter called New
Bookmarks ---
http://facuolty.trinity.edu/rjensen/bookurl.htm
Current and past editions of my newsletter called
Tidbits ---
http://facuolty.trinity.edu/rjensen/TidbitsDirectory.htm
Current and past editions of my newsletter called
Fraud Updates ---
http://facuolty.trinity.edu/rjensen/FraudUpdates.htm
Bob Jensen's past presentations and lectures
---
http://facuolty.trinity.edu/rjensen/resume.htm#Presentations
Our
address is 190 Sunset Hill Road, Sugar Hill, New Hampshire
Our cottage was known as the Brayton Cottage in the early 1900s
Sunset Hill is a ridge overlooking with
New Hampshire's White Mountains to the East
and Vermont's
Green Mountains to the West
Bob Jensen's Threads --- http://facuolty.trinity.edu/rjensen/threads.htm
Bob Jensen's Home Page --- http://facuolty.trinity.edu/rjensen/