Page 99 - John Anderson

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Lancaster he would grant him a large parcel of land at the head of the
notch, with the condition he build a road to it from the east.
Nash and his friend Benjamin Sawyer managed to trek through the
notch with a very mellow farm horse, that at times, they were required
to lower over boulders with ropes. The deal with the governor was
kept and the road, at first not much more than a trail, was opened in
1775.”
The Crawford family, known to be the first permanent settlers in the
area, exerted such a great influence on the development of the notch

that the Great Notch came to be
called Crawford Notch. In 1790
Abel Crawford, his wife Hannah
(Rosebrook) and their growing
family settled on the land granted
to Sawyer and Nash, at what is
now Fabyans in Bretton Woods.
Two years later Eleazer
Rosebrook, Hannah's father, and
his family moved to Abel's
homestead, who in turn, settled
12 miles away at the head of the notch in Hart's Location, for more
"elbow room". Both families operated inns for the growing number of
travelers through the notch. Abel's inn was the Mount Crawford
House. The inn operated by the Rosebrooks was inherited by Abel's
son Ethan Allen. In addition to being established innkeepers, the
Crawford’s became famous mountain guides that escorted visitors to
the top of Mt. Washington. In 1819 Abel and Ethan Allen opened the
Crawford Path, the footpath they had blazed to the summit. By 1840
horses could be on the trail. In 1821 Ethan Allen blazed a shorter
route up Mt. Washington that is closely followed today by the cog
railway.
Increasing tourism to the White Mountains generated interest in the
building of a railroad through Crawford Notch. The construction of the
railroad was considered a difficult engineering feat that was thought
to be impossible by many. The railroad, built by Anderson Brothers of
Maine, was opened in 1857 and ran from Portland, through the

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