Monuments, Markers, and Historical Sites
Governor John Wentworth
The town of Wolfeboro was granted on October 5, 1759. Named for General James Wolfe, the hero of the Battle of Quebec, the town was settled in 1768 and incorporated in 1770. A young John Wentworth of Portsmouth, New Hampshire (at left), invested in the Wolfeboro community in 1759. Seven years later, he would be commissioned as Governor of New Hampshire and Surveyor General of the King's Woods.
In 1769, Governor Wentworth built a mansion on Smith Pond for his summer home, known as Kingswood; making Wolfeboro the oldest summer resort town in the United States.
As the tension mounted prior to the American Revolutionary War, Wentworth's popularity significantly decreased. In June of 1775, his Portsmouth home was surrounded by a mob of armed men seeking to arrest him. He and his family fled in the night to Boston, and eventually sailed to England in 1778. John Wentworth would never return to the United States.
Kingswood
After he fled the colonies, Governor Wentworth's property was seized by the New Hampshire government, including the summer home on what is now Lake Wentworth.
Governor Wentworth's property covered 671 acres along the lake, and included a mansion, game reserve, gardens, barns, and a landing. The outbuildings featured a sawmill, stables, blacksmith, dairy, joiner, smokehouse, cabinetmaker, and grist mill. The home was two-storied with a gambrel roof, was 104 by 42 feet, and stood 28 feet high; larger than any residence in New Hampshire at the time. In 1780, the property was sold at auction. Over the years, it passed to various owners until it burned to the ground in 1820.
Only the cellar hole remains today. It is marked by a plaque that reads, "1769-1820, The Country Seat of John Wentworth, Last Royal Governor of New Hampshire, Built in 1769, Destroyed by Fire in 1820. 'Whoever may possess my seat at Wolfeborough, I charge him not to disgrace its name by turning the lingering feet of the children of calamity uncomforted from that door whose hinges will gladly extend to receive such friends of the founder.' - Wentworth"
College Road
The chapter placed a marker for the College Road at Wolfeboro Center.
After the last of the French and Indian Wars, Royal Governor John Wentworth gave the order to open the province of New Hampshire to trade. Four roads were surveyed and constructed, one of which was College Road. This sixty-seven mile road ran from the governor's summer estate in Wolfeboro to Hanover. Governor Wentworth would travel this road to attend the Dartmouth College commencement exercises in 1771.
Portions of the old road can be traced today. By turning left onto Route 109 at Governor's Farm Road, then turning right on Bryant Road, then left on College Road to Route 28, one can travel on two miles of the old road. The old road disappears here, but can be rejoined at the Libby Museum where memorial markers are located.
The DAR marker that was placed in 1934 no longer exists. It was located at the corner of Ossipee and Chamberlain Roads, but was removed by the Department of Public Works when the road was improved. Today there is a marker that was placed by the Daughters of Colonial Wars in 1963.
First Meeting House
The chapter marked the site of the first meeting house in Center Wolfeboro. The plaque, placed on a large granite boulder, read, "Site of First Meeting House and Town House of Wolfeboro, erected 1792, Marked by Winnipesaukee Chapter DAR, 1940."
In 2011, the plaque was stolen. The Wolfeboro Parks and Recreation Department was able to locate the plaque, and the chapter rededicated it in October of 2013. During the ceremony, historian Dave Bowers and James Rogers, president of the Wolfeboro Historical Society, talked about the First Meeting House.
The marker is located on Allen Road, just off Route 28, about three miles east of the center of Wolfeboro.
Paul Revere Bell
The chapter placed a bronze plaque on the side of the Bell Tower on Brewster Academy Memorial Hall.
The plaque commemorated a bell cast by the son of Paul Revere, and was dedicated on July 10, 1959, as part of the 200th Anniversary of the settlement of Wolfeboro. The plaque reads, "Town Clock Bell Cast by Paul Revere III, Installed in the Wolfeborough and Tuftonborough Academy on this site 1820, hung in this tower 1890, Tablet Placed by the Winnipesaukee Chapter, Daughters of the American Revolution, 1959."
Clark House
The Clark House was built in 1778 by an unknown builder. The property was a 100-acre working farm that extended from downtown Wolfeboro all the way to Lake Winnipesaukee. In the early part of the nineteenth century, the building was operated as a tavern and an inn by a widow named Mrs. Evans.
In 1817, a cabinetmaker from Greenland, New Hampshire, named Joseph Clark purchased the farm. Three generations of the Clark family would live in the home until Greenleaf Clark gave the farmhouse to the Town of Wolfeboro in 1917.
The Clark House Museum Complex is maintained by the Wolfeboro Historical Society, and features the Clark House, Fire House, Pleasant Valley School House, and the Barn. All buildings are open to the public and are located on South Main Street in Wolfeboro.
The Winnipesaukee Chapter, NSDAR, presented the Wolfeboro Historical Society with an Historic Preservation Recognition Award from the National Society Daughters of the American Revolution. This award was given to Wolfeboro Historical Society President Jim Rogers for their outstanding work in the preservation of the Clark House.
