Waterville’s Southern Mountains
Looking south, the high point on the ridge is Sandwich Mountain (3,980 feet). The towns of North Sandwich and Center Sandwich are on the other side. Noon Peak (2,976 feet), in the foreground with the steep left slope, was named by Nathaniel Greeley for the fact that the sun was directly over the peak at noon as seen from his home. Greeley settled on the eastern hillside of the valley, now known as Greeley Hill, in 1831, and created Waterville’s summer recreation business in the 1850s and 1860s.
Behind Noon Peak is Jennings Peak (3,460 feet) with its distinct point. It was named for Captivity Jennings, who was born in 1678 while her mother was a captive of Native Americans in Canada. She and her mother were ransomed and returned to Massachusetts.
The broad ridge to the left of Sandwich Mountain is Flat Mountain North (3,331 feet). In July 1923 a fire fueled by logging debris on the other side of the ridge burned 3,500 acres over four days and killed one fire fighter. It stopped at the ridge, but its severity added pressure for safer logging practices in the White Mountains.
The deepest gap left of Flat Mountain is Lost Pass, so named by Nathaniel L. Goodrich, who explored the area in 1899. In 1860 a trail through Lost Pass led to Wonalancet. Lack of use led to the loss of that trail and a second trail was cut in 1905–1906. That trail was also lost as a result of disuse. Lost Pass is in the Sandwich Range Wilderness and there is no trail to the pass or through it.
The ridge sloping upward on your left is Snows Mountain (3,060 feet). The mountain is named for William Snow, who lived at the base of the mountain on Snows Brook which flows into Corcoran Pond. Most of Waterville’s early settlers left, but William Snow remained for forty years. He was Waterville’s representative to the New Hampshire state legislature in 1855.
Waterville Valley Historical Society
wvhistorybuffs@gmail.com