BACKGROUND:
This is
a story about a small piece of trivia related to the history of the White
Mountains of New Hampshire. And although
it conveys nothing of monumental significance, it's harmless enough to
sometimes get wildly enthusiastic about little things. As Henry Thoreau is quoted as saying: "None are so
old as those who have outlived enthusiasm."
And so,
in late Winter of 2017, a Facebook friend of mine asked if I had ever visited
the remains of a place named White Birch Camp.
Initially, I didn't recognize the name and asked her for more
details. I was surprised by her response
which pointed out that one of my old blogs contained an image of a vintage map,
and on that map was a spot that was labeled as White Birch Camp.
The blog
posting she referenced was totally unrelated to White Birch Camp, but once I
took a look at the old map, things started to fall into place. I then recalled that many years ago I tried
to locate White Birch Camp. However, I
had picked the worst possible time to do so.
Visibility was poor due to f it w
Oftentimes,
things have a funny way of working out.
Had it not been for the question posed to me by my Facebook friend, I
might have never again gone searching for the remains of White Birch Camp. However, her query rekindled my interest, and
so I eagerly embarked on another exploration.
QUESTIONS:
Now,
you might ask several questions, such as what exactly was White Birch Camp, and
when was it built, and when was it abandoned, etc? Unfortunately, at this point I have no
answers, despite having reached out to several historical organizations and
knowledgeable individuals.
All I've been
able to discover thus far is that vintage editions AMC's White Mountain Guide
(WMG) contains mention of White Birch Camp within the text, and this name appears
on maps beginning with the 1931 edition of the WMG, and is last seen in the 1969 edition. So, presumably the camp must
have been in existence for about 40 years, at least.
As
to why White Birch Camp no longer appeared on WMG maps after 1969, who knows? Several hypotheses have been suggested to me,
such as the White Mountain National Forest (WMNF) purchased the land where this
camp was located, and after that, the camp ceased to exist. Or, perhaps the camp was abandoned when the WMNF
authorized an extensive logging operation in the vicinity where the camp was
located?
There
are many other interesting questions about this White Birch Camp, but answers
might never be forthcoming. For example,
it would be fascinating to know things such as whether this was camp was purely
a private family camp, or perhaps was a place that could be rented, or maybe a
youth camp, or whatever.
Shown
below is an excerpt from the 1940 edition of AMC's White Mountain Guide (WMG).
A red arrow points to the location of White Birch Camp.
Excerpt from the 1940 edition of AMC's White Mountain Guide (WMG). Red arrow points to the location of White Birch Camp. |
In addition to being shown on WMG maps,
it's also mentioned in trail description text, such as the excerpt below from
the 1934 WMG:
"Gale River
Trail: This trail leaves the Daniel Webster Highway opposite the
point where the road from Bethlehem Station enters from the N. This junction is
known as “Five Corners” and is a few hundred yds. N.E. of Gale River Forest
Camp. At 0.7 mi. the trail diverges L., leaving the telephone wires, at a sign
‘White Birch Camp’.”
It would
be wonderful to see a vintage photo of the signage mentioned in the old WMG, and/or
of the old camp itself. However, the
existence of any such photos is probably doubtful, at best.
Could White Birch Camp looked something like what is seen in this drawing? |
PHOTOS:
If
any significant information about this old camp becomes available in the
future, I'll update this blog posting with an addendum.
hown
below are some snapshots taken during my exploration of White Birch Camp during
early Springtime of 2017.
Remnants of a stone structure which presumably was the chimney for White Birch Camp. |
Collage of other snapshots taken of the stone structure from different viewing angles. |
This picturesque little cascade is a few hundred feet from the camp. It's not visible from the camp. But it's definitely within earshot. I could clearly hear it from the camp! |
6 comments:
Hi John,
Wow, this is cool stuff. So you don't know any other hikers/historian's that have visited this camp in the recent past? Did it look like any relics were propped up from others who have visited, like the bottle? Hopefully this post will help unearth someone who has some clues as to what this camp was used for. Really cool stuff!
Thanks,
Karl
Hi Karl,
Yes, I’m also hopeful that this posting will serve to unearth some additional information about White Birch Camp. However, I’m beginning to suspect that there might be nothing forthcoming, unless by some chance I can somehow come in contact with a living family member who is a descendant of the owner of the property. Such a person could provide some valuable information . . . and who knows, maybe even an old photo!
Perhaps a likely scenario about this camp is that it was nothing more than an insignificant structure that just happened to be located near a hiking trail, and it was simply used as a landmark to provide guidance to hikers. Sort of similar to using a natural land feature such as a large boulder, etc to tell hikers where to make a turn.
Regarding your question about relics, literally all I found was the exposed segment of pipe shown in one of my photos, plus the fragment of a bottle. As mentioned, there were a number of glass fragments which were shattered beyond recognition, possibly as a result of being used for target practice by hunters over the years.
John
I agree with Karl that this is really cool stuff, John!
It reminds me of my last post about the Sinagua ruins in Arizona. A real mystery!
I wish I was a novelist. Wouldn't it be great to let your imagination run wild creating a story to go along with the origin, use, and disappearance of White Birch Camp?
Also, great quote by Thoreau at the beginning of the post!
Rita, thanks for reading my blog and posting your thoughts.
Regarding your comment about writing something such as a genre fiction about White Birch Camp, there's always an appetite for a good story that can transport readers to another place and time. I don’t have the inclination or the talent to create such a piece of work . . . but who knows, perhaps this posting might inspire someone to use White Birch Camp as a backdrop for a novel. :-)
John
John, it is wonderful that you are finding places like this and documenting them and what you've learned about them from other sources. Now people will know what this was and it becomes more than just some old hearth out in the woods! Now, we know it was the White Birch Camp and hopefully more information will forthcoming!
Chris D.,
Thank you for reading my blog and especially thank you for taking time to post your comments.
It is still somewhat surprising to me that there is no information available about White Birch Camp, especially since it appeared on official maps for many years. I have reached out to every historical/heritage organization in the greater Bethlehem area, and none of them have any information about this camp. I even did a search of old editions of Appalachia, and once again came up empty.
All the best,
John
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