Logging on the Pemigewasset River

Book details logging history along Pemigewasset River

LITTLETON, N.H. -- A little more than a century ago, in the watershed of northern New Hampshire’s Pemigewasset River, stood some of New England’s finest and most bountiful virgin timber. With the nation growing, and demand for construction lumber increasing by the day, it was inevitable that these vast tracts of old-growth timber would ultimately attract the attention of the region’s largest logging tycoons.

The resulting golden age of lumbering and railroading in the historic Pemi Valley of New Hampshire’s White Mountains is the subject of a newly published book authored by popular logging historian Bill Gove. Published this month by Littleton, N.H.-based Bondcliff Books, Logging Railroads Along the Pemigewasset River examines the history of the various logging operations that worked the Pemi watershed for a period of nearly 50 years beginning in the late 1800s. Among the logging railroads covered are the Gordon Pond, Woodstock & Thornton Gore, and Beebe River Railroads, plus the timberland operations of the Johnson Lumber Company, Woodstock Lumber Company, W. D. Veazey and Company, and Parker Young Company.

Complementing Gove’s lively account of this unique era in White Mountains history are more than 225 vintage photographs showing nearly every aspect of the lumbering operations, plus more than a dozen original maps and charts drawn and compiled by the author.

According to publisher Mike Dickerman, Gove’s book is the result of more than 30 years of research by the retired Vermont forester and longtime rail buff. “Like his previous books on logging and railroading in the White Mountains and northern New England, Bill manages to once again capture the color and the flavor of an era when timber was truly the king,” said the publisher.

Gove, who retired from the Vermont Department of Forests and Parks a decade ago, is the author of numerous magazine articles related to logging in the New England states. His previously published books include J. E. Henry’s Logging Railroads, Logging Railroads of the Saco River Valley, and Log Drives on the Connecticut River. Other books to his credit include Sky Route to the Quarries and the recently published Logging Railroads of the Adirondacks.

For more information on the newly released Logging Railroads Along the Pemigewasset River, contact Bondcliff Books by writing to P.O. Box 385, Littleton, NH 03561, by calling 603-444-4880, or by e-mailing the publisher at bondclif@ncia.net.

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