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Native Americans, a British politician/soldier, trains, and skiing all form a part of the history of North Conway, New Hampshire, a village in Carroll County of only 4.3 square miles and a population of 2,069.

The earliest inhabitants of North Conway were members of the Abenaki tribe, who summered there and named their community Pequawket. The name Abenaki originated from the Algonquin, meaning 'people of the dawn.' Although at one time there may have been up to 40,000 Abenaki, epidemics such as typhus, spread by European fishermen in the 1500s, thinned their ranks. The 17th century saw outbreaks of smallpox and influenza further decimate the Abenaki population. In Abenaki mythology, Gluskab, a god born from the dust of Tabaldak's (the creator's)hand, taught people how to hunt, fish, build shelters, and imparted knowledge of art and science. When Gluskab left, the Golden Age ended, but the Abenaki awaited his return. They wait still; today only about 2,500 Abenaki survive in Vermont and New Hampshire.

Governor Benning Wentworth officially named the town of Conway after an Englishman, Henry Seymour Conway. Born in 1721, Conway was the son of the first Lord Conway, brother of the first Earl of Hertford, and cousin to Horace Walpole, a politician and writer. As a teenager, Conway was a lieutenant in the 1st Foot Guards and fought in the Jacobite Rebellion and the Seven Years War, before serving in the House of Commons from 1741-1774 and again from 1775-1784.

During his political career, Conway, a Whig, always showed support for the young American colonies. As Secretary of State Conway helped repeal the Stamp Act in 1772; as Governor of Jersey, he opposed Britain's attempts to suppress the United States' revolt, and was instrumental in the unsympathetic Lord North's resignation as Prime Minister. Conway died July 9, 1795.

Trains were important in North Conway's history, later becoming linked with skiing, which was also an integral part of the past. The Portsmouth, Great Falls & Conway Railroad began service in 1871. In 1874, Boston architect Nathaniel J. Bradlee designed North Conway's train depot in a Second Empire style, a type of architecture with towers and mansard roofs, often used for insane asylum buildings. The train depot is now listed on the National Register of Historic Places. In 1929, 'Snow Trains' began arriving from Boston to North Conway's White Mountains. Hannes Schneider, an Austrian skiing champion and ski instructor, made skiing in North Conway even more popular in 1939, when he arrived.

Imprisoned by the Nazis during Adolf Hitler's annexation of Austria, Schneider was freed through the efforts of Harvey Dow Gibson, a North Conway businessman who had cleared the slopes of Mt. Cranmore. Schneider subsequently opened a ski school using his own techniques called the Arlberg Method, and Cranmore became a well-known ski resort.

As the more convenient automobile became widely used, railroads began to decline. In December of 1961, Boston & Maine Railroad, which had bought Portsmouth, Great Falls & Conway, stopped passenger service to North Conway, and 11 years later, on October 31, freight service also ended.

Today, however, trains are back with the Conway Scenic Railroad. A steam train travels from North Conway to Conway, while the diesel Notch Train goes through Crawford Notch, a spectacular gorge in the White Mountains. A cog railway takes visitors to the 6,228-foot summit of Mt. Washington. Visitors can feel like they have traveled back in time and they too are part of North Conway's history.

Learn more about this author, Andrea Kreidler.
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