Bristol NH and Elm Lawn Inn

Above: The train station in Bristol, NH, washed out with the track during the Hurricane of 1938.

As this map shows, the train line stopped at Bristol.

BRISTOL NEW HAMPSHIRE AND THE ELM LAWN  INN

The Elm Lawn Inn was located on the east shore of Newfound Lake, which is also known as Pasquany Lake.

The Mayhew Turnpike traveled north from Bristol up through Plymouth as part of the main road that coaches used to take between Boston and Québec.

The Elm Lawn Inn was originally known as Hoyt’s Tavern.

When my parents were married in 1943 they traveled to that part of New Hampshire for their honeymoon. I assume that they found the Inn at that time and thought about moving to New Hampshire after the end of the war.

In any event by the late 1940s my family, including my parents, my aunt and two uncles, and their associated families, were all working at the Inn. It was run during the summer as a tourist resort. My grandmother Hedwig was the primary cook. Both of my father’s parents lived in New Hampshire year-round, as did his sister and brother.

My uncle Robert was an art teacher at the New Hampton School, located between Bristol and Laconia. My aunt Elvira lived and Laconia with her husband.

The family basically ran the Inn from the late 40s through the early 60s. They sold it around 1963, and about 10 years later burned down.

Because it was a tourist attraction, there are a number of photographs and postcards from the early 1900s that show what it looked like at various times. In addition to the Inn, there was an old barn on the property, which my father finished as living quarters for us while we were operating the Inn in the summers.

Although it sank well before my parents bought the inn, there was a steamer that would work its way around Newfound Lake delivering mail and passengers. It was known as the Stella – Marion. This article refers to the steamship and the fact that the Elm lawn Inn was a regular stop for it.

Here is an article and photos of the steamship