Story Archives of 'White Mountains'

Officials from the North Country are looking for more ways to increase tourism.

But the White Mountains have already attracted one new group of tourists, adventure racers.

While they seem to be looking for shots of adrenaline, local businesses are hoping they will give the economy a little rush.

NHPR correspondent Chris Jensen has the story.

In the 19th century, the do-no-wrong philosopher Henry David Thoreau accidentally set the White Mountains on fire. Of course, most people don't know that. Tonight on the Front Porch, we're going to find out all kinds of things people don't know about New Hampshire's most famous peaks. Hundreds have died on their slopes, and thousands have been drawn there to paint and ski and hike. We're going to look at their mystique, their legacy, and the dramatic appeal they have on the artistic mind.

Our guest is Christopher Johnson, author of This Grand and Magnificent Place.

***This interview originally aired November 3rd, 2006***

The New Hampshire Tourism office is expecting around 7-point-6 million people to visit the state to check out the fall foliage this season.

To help keep all those tourists in the know about when and where to check out the best colors, the state picks 22 residents from different regions to serve as “Official Leaf Peepers”.

New Hampshire Public Radio correspondent Shannon Mullen went for a ride with one of the longest-serving leaf peepers, and she sent us this profile.

In our third installment in our Granite State Stories series we look at the history, mystery and the legends of our White Mountains through the pages of Lucy Crawford's "History of the White Mountains". Written during the booming expansion of America in the 1800s, when economic profit was to be had by those with a pioneering and adventurous spirit, Crawford's autobiographical tale recounts their family's struggles and triumphs as they work to settle the White Mountains. Lucy and Ethan Allen Crawford's story encapsulates this greater idea of "manifest destiny", that America would and should expand it's frontiers into new and uncharted territory. Today, much of what is known about the White Mountains comes from this first history of the region and its first family. We'll learn about the history of the White Mountains, the lives of Lucy and Ethan Allen Crawford and the role that the Whites play in our New Hampshire heritage today. Laura's guests are Charles Jordan, Editor of Northern New Hampshire Magazine and the Colebrook Chronicle and author of several books, including "Tales Told in the Shadows of the White Mountains", Robert McGrath, Professor Emeritus of Art History at Dartmouth College, who has written a book on the art of the White Mountains called "Gods in Granite" and John Mudge, owner of Durand Press, a company which publishes many books on the White Mountains, including the latest edition of Lucy Crawford's book, for which John edited and wrote the forward. He owns a large private collection of images and information on the White Mountains and is a frequent lecturer on them.

Charles Jordan has spent many years keeping his ear to the ground for stories of the weird and wonderful of northern New Hampshire. He's collected tales varying from Native American apparitions, witches, ghosts, local characters and cranks, to murder and even the apocalypse in his new book, Tales Told in the Shadows of the White Mountains. As writer and editor of Northern New Hampshire Magazine, Charles has covered many stories concerning strange, eerie, and supernatural tales of the region. The book presents fourteen stories featuring unsolved mysteries, supernatural meanderings, and other tales of intrigue?some well known and the stuff of local legend, others newly unearthed.