WOLFEBORO, NH, HISTORY Gazetteer
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WOLFEBORO, NH, HISTORY Gazetteer Originally Published as part of Bowers’ History of Wolfeboro, Vol. II, 1995 Updated 2021 Wolfeboro Place Names and Origins Wolfeboro, NH A gazetteer and compilation with histories, descriptions, and orthographies of Care Facilities Children’s Facilities Commercial Blocks Developments Districts Hills and Mountains Islands Monuments Multi-Tenant Buildings Museums Natural Features Parks Ponds and Lakes Post Offices Postal History Prominent Buildings Railroad Stations Recreational Areas Retirement Facilities Roads and Streets Routes Settlements Streams Trails Wolfeboro Town Facilities and other places and geographical names PAST AND PRESENT * * * Over 1,800 Listings * * * Compiled and written by Q. DAVID BOWERS, 1995 * * * Updated by GENE DENU, 2021 Introduction The following is a listing of town of Wolfeboro streets, geographical features, developments, business and commercial blocks with multiple tenants, graveyards, parks, monuments, and place names from the earliest days to the present. This is the most ambitious gazetteer of Wolfeboro ever attempted. Not included are schools, school buildings, or churches, which are treated in other sections of Volume II. Wolfeboro has its share of interesting names including Raccoonborough, Goose Corner, Upper Shoe Island, Dead Horse Hill, Frogg Crossing, Bellywhack, Coffin Shore, Laundry Hill, Skunk’s Misery, Dishwater Pond, and Stamp Act Island. Early Nomenclature In the early days, roads were often described by where they went, rather than by specific names. Examples: “Road leading from Frost Corner to Brookfield.”1 “Road leading by David Piper’s house to the Tuftonborough line.”2 “Voted to discontinue the road leading from the road near where Moses Thompson, Jr., now lives to where the Pickering factory lately stood.”3 In the absence of specific names, such roads are not listed in Wolfeboro Place Names. However, some are mentioned inter alia; see comment under New Garden Road for another road extending from it, as an example. Standardizing Names In the year 1890, there was a call for standardizing names, an effort led by Benjamin F. Parker. Around that time, what are now in the 1990s called North and South Main Street were usually called, collectively, Main Street, or West Main Street and East Main Street, or occasionally, North Main Street and South Main Street. In the 1890s the same pond was called Sargent’s, Duncan, and Lily. Numerous other examples could be cited. On January 19, 1890, the Granite State News4 reported street names proposed by a recently-formed committee. In some instances the committee simply formalized names that had been in use earlier. Bay Street is an example. Arthur F. Chamberlin commented:5 “It amuses me to read how many different names there are for the same place. If one is in Wolfeboro Center and going to Sanbornville, one takes the Sanbornville Road. Then, when one gets ready to come home, he takes the Wolfeboro Road. This is true of every road that goes to a place with a name. I once remarked to Town Manager Guy Krapp that I knew two and often three names for every road on my plow route.” In The Granite State News, June 22, 1907, the editor discussed the penchant for changing street and place names in certain sections of the town and noted: “But we would ask if these changes in names are not considered to be an improvement. These local names signify but little to the general public and are more like nicknames used by schoolboys. There is a lack of dignity about such.” On the same subject, note Mabel Fullerton Hatch’s commentary under the Dishwater Pond listing. Over the years, numerous geographical features, natural and man-made, have changed names. Examples: What was once Smith’s Pond is now Lake Wentworth. 1 Town records, November 21, 1822. 2 Town records, 1835, p. 122. 3 Town records, March 1843, p. 289. 4 Abbreviated as GSN in Wolfeboro Place Names entries. 5 Arthur F. Chamberlin, letter, November 1, 1993. What used to be Factory Street is now Lehner Street. Mud Island is now known as the more euphonious Melody Island. If neither of these suits you, how about Brown’s Island? Mill Village of years ago, nicknamed Slab City, is now Wolfeboro Falls. Webster Street of the 1960s became part of Lakeview Terrace, name later changed to Old Lakeview Terrace. What was once Spruce Acres on Wolfeboro Neck became Embassy Estates in the 1980s. In 1992 local land owners abolished the Embassy Estates name; now there is no specific designation for the area. On December 7, 1994, the selectmen changed to Sky Lane the name of a road that had been known earlier as Penn Air Road, Penn Air Estates Road, and, at one time, Avifauna Lane. The name of a way known as Old Camp Road was changed on October 7, 1992, to Waterside Lane, but not for long. On October 3, 1993, it became Fullerton Shore. What is now known as Kingswood Terrace was denied the use of that name by the selectmen and for a brief time became known as Edgewood Terrace, after which the selectmen allowed residents to call it Kingswood Terrace once again. While efforts to standardize Wolfeboro place names have taken place for over a century, it seems likely that certain designations are apt to continue to change in the future as owners tire of old nomenclature and develop new ideas. Name Origins As a diversion it is interesting to note that many Wolfeboro names fit into certain categories. For example, Clark Road, Lary Road, Lucas Street, Sewall Road, Clow Street, and numerous others are from prominent citizens and land owners. Indian names such as Abenaki, Mohawk, Osseo, and Paugus, among others, are preserved in local geography. All the streets in the Robin Acres development off North Main Street have birds’ names: Dove Street, Finch Street, Lark Street, Loon Street, and Tern Lane. Elsewhere in Wolfeboro bird-related names include: Avifauna Lane (near an airstrip, presumably means fauna of the air; i.e., birds), Cardinal Lane, Chick Road (named for a local resident, not a hatchling), Eagle Trace, Goose Corner, Heron Hollow, Mallard Brook, and Partridge Drive. Some other town place names, past and present, are from fish, insects, and animals: Bass Island, Beaver Pond Road, Chipmunk Lane, Cricket Hill, Deer Run, Fawn Haven Drive, Fox Street, Frog Hollow, June Bug Lane, Mink Brook, Moose Point, Porcupine Brook, Pork Hill, Raccoonborough, Rattlesnake Brook, Turtle Island, and Whale’s Back, Trees, bushes, and plants furnish a particularly rich source for names: Applewood Drive (and Apple Hill Road and Apple Way), Aspen Lane, Bayberry Lane, Beech Pond, Berrywood, Birch Road, Blackberry Lane, Blueberry Hill (and Island), Elm Street, Fern Avenue, Grove Street, Hardwood Estates, Hickory Road, Juniper Green, Laurel Circle, Lilac Lane, Lily Brook, Locust Lane, Maplecrest Road, Oak Street, Orchard Estates, Peach Orchard Road, Pine Hill, Poplar Island, Ryefield Brook, Spruce Road, Sugar Maple Community Playground, White Pine Circle, Willow Street, and Wormwood Road. However, Cotton Valley and other “Cottons” were named after a family, not a fiber- yielding plant. Other places are named after women: Beatrice Street, Florence Rock, Jennifer Circle, Lady Frances Drive, Nancys Way, and Normas Lane. Still others refer to age. Presumably, in Wolfeboro it is more chic to be “old” than “new”: New Road, New Garden Road, and too many “Olds” to list in this paragraph, but including Old Camp Road, Old Lakeview Terrace, and Old Mill Drive. Numerous place names indicate direction or position. A small sample: North Main Street, East Side Road, South Kenney Shore, West Clark Road, Lower Beech Pond, and Upper King Street. If Wolfeboro place names are anything, they are diverse! 1992-94 Name and Number Changes On October 7, 1992, October 6, 1993, and August 17, 1994, the selectmen of Wolfeboro adopted many street name changes, based upon the recommendations of the Street Numbering Committee (appointed February 1992) and input from citizens. The objective was to reduce the number of thoroughfares beginning with such locally common names as Kingswood, Wentworth, etc. It was felt that all current street designations should be distinctive and noticeably different from each other, so that in emergency situations involving the use of fire or rescue equipment there would be no mistakes made. In the process, a number of historical and traditional names were discontinued. Examples include Whitton Road, named after a pioneer land holder, which was changed to Bryant Road (Helen Bryant was a dealer in pigs, chickens, and cordwood in the early part of the century); confusing matters is the fact that earlier in the present century, it was known for a time as Helen Bryant Road. By August 1994, a number of residents had second thoughts about names adopted by the selectmen in 1992 and 1993, and further changes were made. The process continued. An important word about street numbers: Although street numbers do not play a significant part in this book, those using Wolfeboro Place Names may have old addresses they wish to check. On September 1, 1993, the selectmen of the town of Wolfeboro voted to adopt an entirely new numbering system devised by the Street Numbering Committee (the earlier system had been in general use in Wolfeboro and South Wolfeboro since the late 1880s and had been applied erratically). Property owners were given until January 1, 1995 to comply by posting their numbers on their house and/or mailbox, after which the penalty for non-compliance was set a $1 per day.6 Because of the new system, numbers in earlier listings, directories, advertisements, etc., cannot be equated with those in use today, nor is there any formula whereby they can be converted. In any event, old numbers tended to be erratic and inconsistent.