603 NAVIGATOR
photo by stillman rogers
OUR TOWN
Go North
St. Paul’s church in Lancaster
Lured by lovely Lancaster BY BARBARA RADCLIFFE ROGERS
W
e entered Lancaster on Route 3 over a shoulder of Mt. Prospect, where we stopped to visit the summer estate of John Wingate Weeks, now Weeks State Park. Sitting at the summit of the 2,037-foot mountain, the estate overlooks a 360-degree panorama of Lancaster, the Presidential Range and the Upper Valley of the Connecticut River. Much of that landscape is part of the vast White Mountain National Forest, which — along with the entire National Forest system — was created as a result of the untiring efforts of Weeks himself. His home, carriage house and round stone tower combine to form a beautifully preserved example of an early 20th-century summer estate, and exhibits inside tell more about
16
nhmagazine.com | April/May 2020
his conservation work. Five miles of trails weave through the park, one of which circles the base of Mt. Prospect and connects to the 12-mile Lancaster portion of the New Hampshire Heritage Trail. The trail continues into town, with markers noting some historic sites, including the 1862 Mechanic Street Covered Bridge over the Israel River. A second, Mt. Orne Covered Bridge, crosses the Connecticut River from Lancaster to Lunenburg, Vermont. That double-span bridge was built in 1911 to replace the one destroyed in 1908 by a logjam created by timber from the northern forests carried on the rushing waters of the spring melt-off. The smaller Israel River runs through the center of Lancaster, beneath the stone and
brick walls of Copper Pig Brewery, known for its Little Piggy Porter, Kilkenny Irish Red and Ice Jam Lager, as well as seasonal brews. The “pig-centric” menu includes brown-ale-braised pulled pork sliders and tacos of locally sourced pork marinated in Kilkenny Red. We noted that the pretzels and breads are from the Polish Princess Bakery, just up Main Street. Sharing the former mill building is the William Rugh Gallery, which represents painter Ed Widmayer, art photographer Fletcher Manley, engraver Kathleen Cantin and furniture craftsmen Peter Guest and Dana Southworth, along with other artists and crafts people. Across Middle Street, a former bank is now the home of Simon the Tanner, which carries quality boots, shoes and clothing for the outdoors.
