History

Situated between New Hampshire's White Mountain National Forest and Vermont's Northeast Kingdom, Littleton New Hampshire was part of Lisbon. In 1770 it was granted as Apthorp in honor of George Apthorp, head of a prominent Boston mercantile establishment. The land later went to the Apthorp family's associates headed by Colonel Moses Little. Surveyor of the King's Woods. The town was named Littleton in his honor in 1788, the same year New Hampshire became a state.

Wood was the economic commodity for early settlers. Wood supplied homes, furniture, tools, and utensils and was the only source of heat. The axe and the gun were necessities as was the horse to drag the logs to the building site or to the sawmills which were established along the banks of the Ammonoosuc and Connecticut rivers. Most logging was done during the winter because dragging out the enormous logs was easier on ice and snow. Lumber was supplied as boards, timbers, dimension lumber and finished millwork for homes.

In 1895 the Littleton Shoe Company was created. Sears Roebuck established a plant shortly thereafter followed some time later by the Holly Shoe Company, a Boston manufacturer of child and infant footwear.

Alexander Graham Bell's telephone came to Littleton shortly after its invention in 1876 and received wide acceptance.

Ira Parker's glove manufactory grew rapidly. Improvements in tanning leather greatly increased the demand for this fine product and the company, located on the banks of the Ammonoosuc river, became Saranac Buck Gloves and Mittens amd developed a world market for its product.

Littleton has enjoyed a solid medical community over the years. Established in 1807, Littleton Hospital shortly added a nursing school and home, Since then, Littleton Hospital has grown into a regional facility affiliated with the Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center.

Artists, photographers and writers have long been attracted to this mountain region because of the magnificent scenery. One of the best known was Edward Hill, to whom fame came only after his death. Native Eleanor Hodgman Porter, creator of the Pollyanna books, added a new word to the American language.

The second half of the nineteenth century was the era of the stereograph (stereographic view card) and the stereoscope (viewing instrument). Edward Kilburn had interests in photography and became an apprentice to Littleton's first resident photographer, O.C. Bolton, and then opened a studio before the Civil War. How and when he learned about stereophotography is not precisely known. At the close of the war in 1865, Benjamin Kilburn joined his younger brother in establishing a "stereo view manufactory." Ben was a great outdoors man and roamed the familiar hills and scenic spots with his camera. Within a year the brothers had put together a series of 175 views "mostly of the White Mountains." A set was sent to the prestigious magazine, the Philadelphia Photographer and the Kilburn name was made.

Littleton today is a vibrant community. An aerial view shows Interstate 93 in the upper left curving around Mount Eustis, with the Ammonoosuc River winding through the town. Main Street runs westward in a straight line at the upper right, with the Town Building at its head and the spire of the Methodist Church above to its right. The Federal Building with its small spire can be seen about half way down Main Street, and farther down, the spires of the Congregational church. The road and river continue on to Lisbon.