Mark Terra-Salomão | Assignment 2: Crawford Notch Culture

Because I like to mess stuff up, and because I've been to the Crawford Notch area before, and because it's boring to say something someone has already said (and said well), I want to show the ways in which the Crawford Notch culture is not about roughing it on the AT. Disclaimer: I do not actually believe the White Mountains should be about commercialization. But, as a New Englander, I find it my duty to inform you that is what many people do believe.

We heard a lot about how in addition to the Subarus at the AMC Highland Center Lodge, there are BMWs. But even before there were automobiles, Crawford Notch had some swank guests. And there is somewhere not too far away where there are Bentleys. Let me explain:

The Crawford family was certainly responsible for the Crawford Trail and the Crawford Notch being called Crawford Notch, which is pretty cool. They were some of the first people to climb Mount Washington (the real one in New Hampshire, not that silly hill in Pittsburgh), to help other people climb Mount Washington, and to house and feed settlers to the area well into the nineteenth century. At the same time, they were apparently horrible businesspeople. For example, Thomas Crawford began building a hotel called Notch House to the west of Elephant Head in 1850. He "overextended himself financially" and had to sell the place before it was even finished. Some dude called Ebenezer Eastman bought it, and then Joseph Gibbs bought it in 1859, and then finally Asa Barron bought it in 1870. Now, this Barron guy took his last name really seriously (ignoring the extra "r"), and apparently, he was really good at business. That, and the fact that after the railroad came in in 1875, all Barron had to do was sit back and hire other people to shovel money into his bank account. Crawford House Hotel was a huge success, until it was shuttered 100 years later in 1975 and burned in 1977.

Here's how fancy Crawford House was:

Alas, the bigger they are, the longer they burn. RIP.

But despair not! Just 3.5 miles up Highway 302 in Bretton Woods (even the name of the town is swank) sits the beautiful Mount Washington Hotel.

The Mount Washington Hotel carries on the legacy and history of the "grand" Victorian hotels with gusto. I have been to the Mount Washington with my great-aunt and -uncle many years ago. In the front driveway, valets hand-washed Bentleys and Ferraris. Everyone was on the porch sipping ice teas. It's what I imagine all you guys from Long Island live like every day.

Even God is pleased.

And there are other grand hotels still out there: the Mountain View Grand Resort in Whitefield, the Wentworth by the Sea in New Castle, and others. Rich people can still enjoy the mountains without actually having to get to them on their feet. Hiking is for, like, peasants. It's all about the Gucci spa, you guys.

See these sites for more info:
http://whitemountainhistory.org/The_Crawford_Family.html
http://whitemountainhistory.org/Crawford_Notch.html
http://whitemountainhistory.org/Crawford_House.html
http://www.outdoors.org/lodging/lodges/highland/index.cfm
http://brettonwoods.com/
http://www.mountainviewgrand.com/