Atop Abenaki Tower, you could see for a century

Story Produced by Laconia Daiy Sun, a Member of

MELVIN VILLAGE, NH — On Wednesday morning, Sean McGovern and Emily Badger, visiting from Kentucky, parked their vehicle and took a short walk, then climbed a twisting wooden staircase so they could savor a view of Lake Winnipesaukee. It’s an experience the pair, and countless others, have repeated for years. Thanks to the efforts of a group of volunteers, the experience is expected to be available for many more years to come.

The Abenaki Tower is marking its 100th birthday from noon to 3 p.m. on Saturday, Aug. 10, with a rain date of Sunday, Aug. 11. Celebrants will enjoy food and drink, and games such as egg toss and a three-legged race. There will also be a time capsule prepared, a birthday gift for future partiers to unwrap.

Tower with a view

The tower, which stands about 70 feet high, is a throwback to a slower, more relaxed kind of Lakes Region vacationing, when fresh air and clean, cool water were enough to attract visitors from Boston. Yet, it also shows those simple pleasures still resonate, as the tower remains a popular destination even when attractions such as cinemas, arcades and trendy restaurants have spread around the lake.

The story of the Abenaki Tower — so named because of the nearby convergence of trails used by Indigenous Americans — started with a couple of people who were taking a walk, according to Karen Burnett-Kurie, a member of the Abenaki Tower & Trail Association and a descendent of prior stewards of the tower. Joshua Litchfield and Frank Speare, both education administrators in Massachusetts, ambled through a pasture on an August day in 1923, and climbed a small hill to better view Winnipesaukee.

How much better would that view be from a little higher up, the two men wondered? Their musing motivated some of their friends and neighbors, and soon a deal was struck to buy a small portion of what was then farmland. The land transaction included the small hill and enough land to connect it to the road. The total cost was around $1,300, including the price of the land and wooden tower, and the structure was officially opened to the public on July 12, 1924.

Unlike other towers in the area, the Abenaki Tower was never used for spotting fires or watching for enemy aircraft: its sole purpose has only ever been to provide a way for the public to enjoy the landscape. Burnett-Kurie said that at the time it was built, Castle in the Clouds was still a private home, the fire towers were used by firewatchers, and mountaintop vistas could only be accessed after a long hike.

Fifty years later, the original tower had degraded to the point that it was condemned. But, as Burnett-Kurie said, the draw remained so strong the stairs had to be removed to prevent people from climbing up.

The current tower was built to replace the first. Burnett-Kurie said it cost about $12,000 to build 50 years ago, and seems to be holding up well, according to annual engineering inspections. Still, the association is starting to build up its warchest for a third Abenaki Tower, which will likely cost around $100,000.

“It will still be wooden,” she promised. “We are committed to having a wooden tower.” The second tower was slightly taller than the first, and she said the third will likely be taller yet, as the nearby trees have an annoying habit of growing each year.

How many people visit the tower each year? Burnett-Kurie said that’s an open question.

“We have at various times had a little log up there that people would sign,” but the log wouldn’t stick around for very long. Other items placed there, such as a metal barrel for trash, also had a habit of wandering off. But the partial records gleaned from the logs, when left in place, showed that people from both near and far, including visitors from overseas, make a visit to the tower’s observation deck a part of their Lakes Region memories.

Many of those visitors leave a mark of their visit, too. Just about every square inch of the current tower bears a message or group of initials, either drawn with marker or carved into the wood.

Burnett-Kurie said those acts of graffiti have taken on a rascally charm. She doesn’t condone or encourage defacing the tower, but thinks the marks illustrate the emotional connection between people and the structure.

“People have put plaques up there, they’ve been married there, people have become engaged up there, and all sorts of rites of passage have taken place,” she said.

‘Our happy place’

McGovern has been climbing the tower since childhood. His grandparents used to have a home he visited in Gilmanton when he was young, and they would make a day trip to the tower. Later, his family acquired a vacation home near 19-Mile Bay in Tuftonboro, which has made the tower visits more convenient.

“I’ve been coming up here for 50 years, almost,” McGovern said. “I come to this tower because it has the best view.”

Now that he and his siblings are adults, they’ve continued the tradition with a new generation.

Badger joined the tower treks when McGovern first brought her to the family lake house, she said.

“I’ve been coming up with him for 15 years,” Badger said. “This is our happy place.”

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