COMING SOON: Beyond the Notches: Stories of Place in New Hampshire’s North Country

"Beyond the Notches captures the essence of life in New Hampshire’s rugged North Country. Its essays, many penned by longtime residents of the region, reflect not only the natural beauty of the forests and mountains of the Great North Woods and White Mountains — which drew many of us here in the first place — but also the hardships and challenges of living and working in this isolated paradise I happily call home.” — Mike Dickerman, editor. View Brochure or Table of Contents

To contribute to the anthology project and receive recognition in Beyond the Notches, see Recognition of Donor Contributions (view now)

North Country Community Heritage Learning Project Lesson Plans

A week-long summer institute for teachers and community members coordinated by Master Teacher Katherine Morgan led to the creation of community heritage learning projects focused on field experiences at The Frost Place in Franconia and the Moore Dam and village of Pattenville located just west of Littleton. Participants’ lesson plans, which were intended to be templates for activities that could be re-focused on places in their own communities, are available under Curriculum Units. Read More

Featured Stories

The Last Great Place
by John Harrigan
One of Coos County’s most recognized writers, John Harrigan postulates a land ethic for the North Country and traces how attitudes have changed over time in the region. According to Harrigan, the far north contains "a jumbled geography of mountains, valleys and ridges, more than 90 percent woods and water, peopled by relatively few individuals, mostly unposted and open to all. It’s a land of post- glacial peoples and later-age Abenaki, a place of hard-won settlements, the hey-day of farming and the sounds of axe, crosscut and chainsaw."Read Story

The Man Who Wrote the Book by Edie Clark
Yankee Magazine columnist Edie Clark has written an evocative portrait of Robert Pike, the author of two North Country classics, Tall Trees, Tough Men and Spiked Boots. Crisscrossing the Connecticut River with Pike at the wheel, Clark ponders the remarkable double life of this legendary figure, and reflects on the river-driving stories that so inspired him. Read Story

It Felt Like Death
by Rebecca Rule
Humorist Rebecca Rule spent forty days in Berlin collecting stories about the closing of the paper mills in the spring of 2007. In this poignant essay she captures the sense of mourning mill workers felt at the time, and describes in vivid detail the changes taking place in the North Country’s largest city. Read Story

Three Grand Schemes
by Barbara Tetreault
North Country journalist Barbara Tetreault reflects on the tensions between economic development and preserving natural resources above the notches by focusing on three major controversies—the Presidential Skyline Drive, the Pontook Dam, and the Phillips Brook wind farm. Read Story

Saranac Gloves
by Fran Lavoie
Historian Fran Lavoie relies on the oral histories of local laborers to trace the history and significance of the Saranac Glove Company, which in 1900 employed 275 workers in Littleton. Read Story