Urbex NH - Kimball Castle

Perched in the hills of Gilford New Hampshire, overlooking Lake Winnipesaukee as it waits for some ambitious person to restore it to its former glory, stand the crumbling remains of one of our state's most neglected treasures - Kimball Castle.

When you're one of the super rich in society but also have an imaginative side, you do things in life like building a castle to use as a summer residence. Benjamin Ames Kimball was one of those people, and that's just what he did in 1899, bringing in material from as far away as Germany and hiring 100 Italian stone masons to construct this residence. As president of the Concord & Montreal Railroad, Kimball lived a life of first class, not only affording the $50,000 it cost to build this castle (remember, that was in 1899 money), but also building a railroad station at the bottom of the hill so he could commute to work in his own private rail car.

Following Kimball's death in 1919, the castle remained in the family until 1960 when Charlotte Kimball, his daughter-in-law and the last family heir, passed away. Charlotte was determined to do good with the family fortune, so she donated the castle as well as several hundred thousand dollars to a charitable trust, with the specific instructions that the property never be used for commercial purposes. No good deed goes unpunished, however, and due to this limitation the property has sat abandoned ever since.

Although the outside is fashioned after a castle that Kimball is said to have seen along the Rhine River in Germany, if you were standing on the inside and didn't know any better, you just might think you were standing inside a very nice, but very ordinary, mansion. There is very little medieval about the interior of Kimball Castle - no great halls, no suits of armor, and other than the day I was exploring, no court jesters.

And though it's still standing, Kimball Castle today is in just the type of condition you'd expect from a building that's been neglected for so many decades - rotted insides being held up by crumbling outsides. Great care had to be taken when climbing this particular set of stairs so that we didn't drop back down to where we'd started from. It's because I explore places like this that I have both disability and accident insurance through our Aflac plan at work.

We made it to the top floor, but the rooms up there were in no better shape then the stairs that led to them.

It wouldn't be urban exploring if we didn't come across beer cans and graffiti at some point, and Kimball Castle was no exception. But I've seen worse, though. And besides, at least one person took a break from the anatomy drawings long enough to actually paint something descent. And local.

These pictures were taken in 2016, so what has been happening to the castle since then? Judging by the lack of updates on their website, I'm pretty sure you're looking at it. But although the place continues to rot, there are still some people trying to do something great with it.

In an effort to tempt a buyer, Charlotte's restriction on commercializing the property has been lifted, and approval has been given to turn the place into a hotel and restaurant. Also, much of the surrounding land has been sold to create a very nice hiking preserve.

But the castle itself will need a whole lot more than a facelift to bring it back to habitable, which in turn is going to take a pretty unique person. You know, one of those super rich and imaginative types. They're out there though, and they did it with the Wentworth By The Sea, so here's hoping one of them comes along someday, restoring its magnificence and allowing Kimball Castle to open its doors to visitors once again.

Links:
Kimball Castle Official Website

The Valencia Mineshaft

Located in the mountains of Grafton County New Hampshire, the Valencia Mica Mine was in operation for just 12 years before a tunnel collapse forced its closure. Fortunately, the collapse happened at noontime while men were at lunch, so although many of their tools were lost in the rubble, none of their lives were. This was in 1892, and the mine didn't reopen until 60 years later when another company decided to give it a go. Today what remains of the site include some old railway tracks, a large but flooded cavern, one tunnel, and a pair of very un-excitable porcupines.

Photo Credit: John Egolf

This hike was one of the more enjoyable we've made while hunting these old mineshafts. Often these expeditions consist of several hours of bushwhacking with periodic breaks to yank out thorns, but here the terrain consisted of mostly an old logging road, and round trip came to just under two miles. Partly why it was so short was due to the sharp eye of my hiking partner John, who spotted the hint of a trail in the opposite direction I was leading us. And although we'd started this search not knowing what, if anything, would be left of the operations, we realized today was going to be a good day when we first came across these old mining rails.

Mining Rails

Just beyond these rails were the first signs of the mineshaft itself; this small opening. An even smaller passage continued to the other side where sunlight poked through, but although I could have fit I decided it was too early in the day to go getting myself all muddy. If I wasn't able to see what was on the other side by climbing over the hill, though, I planned on coming back here to crawl through. I'm okay with driving home filthy, but I'm not okay with driving home wondering whether or not I missed anything.

Photo Credit: John Egolf

It wasn't until after we'd thoroughly explored the area that the mine's collapse was evident to me. We found 3 separate openings that when you connected the dots ran in a straight line, and I could envision that the entire thing was once one long tunnel. Sections of that tunnel remained, and by crawling down the collapsed areas you could explore them. The largest of these areas looked promising from up top, but once I'd lowered myself down I found it was completely flooded. I made a show of poking around with a stick to see how deep the water was, but we've all smelled stagnant shaft-water before, and we all knew I had no intention of going in it. At least not on purpose.

Photo Credit: John Egolf

Dead ended here, we backtracked to the beginning of the site and over the hill, and that's where all the action turned out to be. Spotting a crevice, I scrambled down and was excited to find the kind of mineshaft we're always hoping to find on these explorations, one that goes farther into the earth than the eye can see.

Photo Credit: John Egolf

Maybe it was due to the collapse, or maybe it was the haphazard way it was dug, but parts of this mineshaft resembled a natural formation rather than something man-made.

Photo Credit: John Egolf

But telltale signs gave it away, such as the horizontal support beam you can see off in the distance.

Support Beam In Distance

We continued into the tunnel until, about mid-way through as we came up over a bend, I looked down and suddenly found myself eye to eye with a porcupine. He stood not even five feet away from me. After regaining my composure (did I yelp like a coward? Only John knows for sure, and he's been sworn to secrecy) we followed him to the end where we found his buddy, then the two of them calmly checked us out and even held still for a couple of pictures. If I were armed with a thousand needles I'd probably take much of life in stride myself. We eventually backtracked out of the tunnel to leave the animals in peace.

Photo Credit: John Egolf

Someday I won't have any new mineshafts to search out in New Hampshire. There's going to come a time when the very next one I bushwhack up the side of a mountain after will be my last. But that's not going to happen for quite a long while. Many more of these underground treasures exist than I ever would have thought possible growing up here in the Granite State, my list of suspect locations is still long, and I have only so much time in my schedule that I can go out searching for them. All of this makes for a very good problem to have, kind of like having too many TV shows you want to bingewatch but not enough hours in the day. I don't know where my search will take me next, but until that very last one is crossed off my list, you can bet that I'll be out there looking.

Photo Credit: John Egolf

Town Pounds of New Hampshire

I can be as guilty as anyone when it comes to cruising through life with my blinders on. It's so easy to get caught up with things like work, the house, and family commitments to where we're oblivious of all the curious and interesting things around us, and that we just need to slow down every once in a while to remind ourselves what a pretty cool place our world actually is.

This was the case as we were driving through the town of Chester one afternoon. Enjoying a day of just seeing what we could find, my wife spotted a curious stone structure along the side of road that somewhat looked like an old house foundation, but stood too high. I've turned the car around for a whole lot less during our drives, so back we went where we found something I'd only read about until that point - a town pound.

Location in Chester

It's hard to imagine in today's society of McMansions and Super Walmarts, but go back a few hundred years and nearly all of New England was farmland. Cows, sheep, goats, and many other animals were part of everyday life for our ancestors, a life that included problems as foreign to us as my wife's flatiron being on the fritz would be as foreign to them. And one particularly problem people dealt with in those days? Sometimes your animals wandered away.

The solution to this was simple enough, however - designate a place where all the strays could be rounded up and kept, until their owners came along to claim them. With that solution came the creation of the town pound.

Location in Marlow

I soon learned that there are town pounds throughout much of New Hampshire, which brought me full circle with my point about taking off the blinders. Our neighboring town of Durham has one that's maybe fifteen minutes from our house - which I'm convinced I've driven by at least more than once - and I never knew it was there. But now that we were on the hunt for them it quickly became a destination. This one turned out to be part of someone's yard, and either the homeowner or the town is to be commended for keeping it in such good condition.

Location in Durham

As to be expected, many of these pounds date back to the early 1800's or prior. We visited one in Hudson a few weeks ago that has been in existence longer than America has even been a country.

Location in Hudson

Because they all seem to be found along the sides of roads, not only are town pounds great places to stop at to break up a long drive, but every now and then you'll come across one entirely by accident. This is how I found Gilmantown's last winter, and thank you to the neighbor who unknowingly let me park in his driveway while I scooted across the street to take these pictures.

Location in Gilmanton

I know this post is about town pounds of New Hampshire, but I'm including one from outside our state simply because it made me chuckle. Look closely and you'll see that the fun people of Upton Massachusetts have a couple of cows occupying their town pound. I tried to get Tina to pet one of them, but she quickly figured out the ruse.

Location in Upton

Exploring doesn't always have to mean hiking miles into the woods in search of some unknown cave or ruins. Sometimes it just means getting into your car and driving to a place you've never been before. There are many town pounds that I didn't include on this list, so the next time you're out for a Sunday drive I encourage you to look one up and go for a walk through it. It's a very easy way to experience, if only for a moment, one small part of how our ancestors lived.

Myles Standish's Missing Body

The past 100 years have been one wild ride for the statue of Myles Standish. After first suffering a direct strike by lightning, then getting cut in half at the waist, and finally being discarded as rubble in a local quarry, only half of his body can be accounted for today. But before we can tell you about Myles Standish the statue, we first have to tell you about Myles Standish the man.

This story begins in 1620 with the Mayflower's voyage to America, in which Standish was a passenger. He had been hired as militia commander for colonists of the new world, something he would continue to be elected to for the remainder of his life. He fought many battles against Native American tribes as the colonists struggled to survive in those harsh, early years, and his reputation grew as both skilled in battle and brutal toward his enemies. He was known for using mutilation as a way to inflict fear, and it's for this reason that certain groups find it fitting his statue be in the condition it is today. Others look upon Standish with admiration, however, and it's one of those groups who banded together in 1872 to construct this 116 foot tower in honor of him. The process did not go smoothly, but after a 26-year period of stop and go funding the tower was completed in 1898.

Although worthwhile seeing it from the outside, the main appeal for visiting the tower is to be able to climb it. The tower is only open Saturdays and Sundays during the summer season, however, which this year began on May 27th. And the day I started writing about our visit to the tower? You guessed it, May 28th, the very next day.

Inside the tower is a single, continuous spiral staircase to the top. Only one platform exists about a quarter of the way up, however the circular protective cage that was added in later years prevents you from walking onto it. This means that once you start up these 125 steps there's no stopping, unless it's to let people coming down have the right of way, one of the tower's rules. I was on light duty and using my cane that day, and with those metal steps in that tight, echoey chamber you can bet there were some people at the top wondering what was coming clicking up the stairs after them.

At the top you'll find yourself standing on a platform that could fit maybe two dozen people, with four small windows facing in each direction and offering a limited view. Prior to this I'd had it in my head that climbing the tower meant we'd actually be right on top of the thing shaking hands with Standish himself, but access to the statue is possible only through this small trapdoor in the ceiling.

Having completed the first part of that day's adventure in climbing the tower, it was now on to part two. The statue that stands up there today is not the first one to adorn this tower. In 1922 a lightning strike partially destroyed the original one, decapitating Standish and sending his head toppling to the ground. Workers cut the statue clean at the waist in an effort to install a new body, but after a crack was discovered above the right knee that raised concerns, the remains were discarded and a new statue built from scratch.

Fast-forward 60 years to those legs being a long gone memory, when in 1990 they were discovered at a local quarry in Quincy Massachusetts. They were retrieved and given to the group that oversees the tower, and today can be seen standing at the house of the Myles Standish Monument Director, in nearby Halifax Massachusetts.

Our intention was to drive to the house for a quick picture to complete our story, but when we pulled up a friendly man came out and we spent the next half-hour listening in fascination to the history of Myles Standish, his statue, and what they all mean to people in that area today. Marc, the monument's director, even pointed out the crack that caused this statue to be discarded 100 years ago, which if your eyes are better than mine you can see in this picture below.

One question remains when Marc considers the statue today, though - what ever happened to the top of it? Although broken off in the lightning strike and falling over 100 feet, the head never shattered. It survived, but was never found discarded with the rest of the statue years later. He's still looking for it to this day, and recently he was given a clue.

A picture surfaced that seems to show the original head, with a young girl leaning against it in what looks to be a private garden. Could someone have scooped it from that quarry many years ago and brought it home as a curious showpiece for their backyard? Marc thinks it's possible, and I like to think so, too. I hope someday he finds it, and I look forward to writing a follow-up to this story when he does.

Links:
Myles Standish Monument State Reservation

Herman Chase Cabin

The Herman Chase Cabin was a tiny house before tiny houses were even a thing. Built in 1971, this small structure has stood for over 45 years near the peak of Saddle Hill in New Hampton, New Hampshire, welcoming anybody who makes the less than one mile hike to visit it.

Herman Chase was a New England native who earned his Ph.D from the University of Chicago in 1938. He remained in Illinois as a professor for another 10 years, then returned to New England to continue his career while at the same time authoring books and papers on several subjects he had become an authority on. These topics included biology, genetics, and something I could write a few chapters about myself, baldness. 

But as busy as all this must have kept him he still found time to spend at his favorite spot, where he and his wife had this cabin built.

We made the trek during the heart of snowshoe season this past winter. Although 1.4 miles might not fit everyone's definition of a hike, there was enough of a climb to impress me that a man, 58 years old when the cabin was first constructed, regularly made this trip.

Although the front door sticks a bit, it's not locked, just warped. Step on the middle beam and it will release the door like a secret latch, something I discovered completely by accident.

Two folding beds take up the majority of the space, and some cooking items are tucked away up high. Chase passed away in 1984, however the cabin has been maintained remarkably well and kept open for public use.

And in case you had any reservations about being here, look above the door for a bin containing a logbook and welcome letter, telling you the cabin is free for anyone to use on a carry-in carry-out basis.

Although modest in size, this place comes with a million dollar view. Or at least it used to. Nowadays you need to sneak through the trees to take it in, but there was a time when this area was all cleared and Chase would have enjoyed this overlook right from the steps of his cabin.

We left that afternoon having pretty much decided this was the perfect day. The snowshoeing was enjoyable and not too strenuous, the sights from the top were wonderful, and Chase's cabin was a great hidden gem to find at the end of it all. I'll always choose warmth over cold, but afternoons such as this have given me a whole new love for winter.

Links:

Herman Burleigh Chase
Hiking To An Abandoned Cabin

Norumbega Tower

Norumbega Tower's creator, Eben Horsford, was convinced of a couple things that contradict what we learned in school. First he argues that Vikings came to America over 1,000 years ago, pre-dating Columbus' discovery by 500 years, and although this isn't a popular theory it at least seems up for debate. But his second belief is one that leaves most people shaking their head, which is that the lost city of Norumbega - a mythological viking city where houses were built with pillars of gold - was not only real, but was built on this exact spot in Weston, Massachusetts.

Horsford's belief might have ended up as nothing more than a tall tale to make his friends chuckle, were it not for one thing. Having earlier in life invented an improved formula for manufacturing baking powder, Horsford was rich. And in 1889 he used some of his riches to build the 38 foot tall Norumbega Tower along the Charles River in Weston, to commemorate his "finding" of the lost viking city.

The main piece of evidence for Horsford's claim is his loose interpretation of the word Norumbega, which he argued was an adaption of the word Norbega, itself a variation of Norvega, and that which was another name for Norway. Or, something like all that. If you can follow it, his evidence is laid out on a plaque at the base of the tower, although none of this logic has ever passed the sniff test of experts in the field.

This is an interesting place in that the tower itself is quite beautiful, but the area it sits in feels neglected, or at least forgotten. There wasn't even a place to park, we had to just hop the curb and hope we were out of the way of passing cars. A short field separates the road from the tower, then a little creativity is needed to actually see what it looks like on the inside.

The view from on high was just as neglected as the area below, but beyond all those trees I'm sure it was quite a sight to see.

We spent some time on top of the tower ducking out of view of passing traffic, then paid a small toll before making our way back down the winding steps.

Although Eben Horsford's research is considered suspect, his character is not. He was by all accounts a descent person who did many great things with his money. He made various donations to Wellesley College in support of higher education for women, and he also funded the opening of a public library in Shelter Island, New York. All good stuff indeed. But not to be forgotten in that mix, he continues to bring afternoons of adventure to people like my wife and I, over 100 years after his death.

Location of Norumbega Tower on Google Maps

[my transcript of the plaque]

CITY COUNTRY FORT RIVER

NORUMBEGA = NOR MBEGA

INDIAN UTTERANCE OF NORBEGA THE ANCIENT FORM

OF NORVEGA NORWAY TO WHICH THE

REGION OF VINLAND WAS SUBJECT

CITY

AT AND NEAR WATERTOWN

WHERE REMAIN TO DAY

DOCKS - WHARVES - WALLS - DAMS - BASINS

COUNTRY

EXTENDING FROM RHODE ISLAND TO THE ST. LAWRENCE

FIRST SEEN BY BJARN HERJULFSON 985 A D

LANDFALL OF LEIF ERIKSON ON CAPE COD 1000 A D

NORSE CANALS - DAMS - WELLS - PAVEMENTS

FORTS TERRACED PLACES OF ASSEMBLY REMAIN TODAY

AT BASE OF TOWER AND REGION ABOUT

WAS OCCUPIED BY THE BRETON FRENCH IN THE

15TH 16TH AND 17TH CENTURIES

RIVER

THE CHARLES

DISCOVERED BY

LEIF ERIKSON 1000 A D

EXPLORED BY

THORWALD - LEIF'S BROTHER 1003 A D

COLONIZED BY

THORFINN KARLSEFNI 1007 A D

[FIRST BISHOP]

ERIK GNUPSON 1121 A D

INDUSTRIES FOR 350 YEARS

MASUR WOOD (BURRS) - FISH - FURS - AGRICULTURE

LATEST NORSE SHIP RETURNED TO ICELAND IN 1347