The Old Ghost Town of Hill New Hampshire
| Date: | 10-23-2024 |
| Location: | Hill and Hill Village, NH |
| Distance: | 3.5 mi |
| Elevation Gain: | 111′ |
| Total Time: | 2 hr 6 min |
| Parking: | 5 cars |
The third annual Haunted Hikes Day with my friend Melissa.
The first stop on our third annual haunted hikes day was the old, abandoned ghost town of Hill, New Hampshire.
Hill is a small town in Merrimack County that was founded as New Chester in 1754 but was named Hill in 1837. The original town was established near the Pemigewasset River and was built in a low-lying area that was prone to flooding. Many floods over the years destroyed the own and many of its buildings.
In 1937 the federal government sized the town for the Franklin Dam Flood Project and by 1941 the whole town was moved from the low area to the village where the current town is.
Today there are a few plaques in the old location that mark some of the well know buildings and historical events. There are also some trails, and you can still walk down the main street that was a thriving community at one point.
We started out at the Village of Hill. This is where a number of buildings were moved to so they were out of the flood zone. The village is kind of quant. A store, post office, fire station etc. Worth a pull off to walk around and stretch your legs for a bit.
After the village we drove down the road to the Old Hill Village Needle Brook. We parked at the Needle Brook trail head and made our way down to the foundation of an old mill. This was a very large building, and the foundation was very expansive. Lots of connecting cellar holes. Eventually we made it down to Main St. where there was a sign about the mill.
From here explored some of the surrounding fields and heard paths. We eventually made our way to the river and then found an old over gown road that we tried to follow. We could tell it was a road at one point due to the nicely lined trees that grew over all the thorns and brush we had to break through.
After that we explored some field areas that still had some living fruit trees. The trees were fenced off at the trunk to prevent animals from eating the bark.
When we came back out on Main St. we found the old side walk someone else had posted about and followed it for a bit. After a bit of walking, we turned around and headed back down the street in the opposite direction.
This side had a lot more historical markers. We walked by the sites of stores and shops, rail road depots, hotels and many other buildings that made this a thriving town. After a while the signs seemed to stop but the road kept going on. I can only imagine the spirits that roam these areas looking for a town that does not exist there anymore.
At this point we decided to turn around and take a trip up the Franklin Dam which was the reason the town was moved in the first place.
Once we made it to the dam we walked out across the top. After all it was a beautiful fall day. On our return we were both hungry and decided to take a lunch break before we moved on to our next haunted stop at the grave of Ocean Born Mary.
