Late 1880's Deer Park Hotel Newspaper Ad...

Above is a newspaper ad for the Deer Park Hotel when it was newly "built in the most modern style" boasting "all the improvements, steam, heat, open fireplaces, gas, electric bells and the most approved drainage."

Deer Park Postcard...

It never ceases to amaze me how many different Deer Park postcards were produced in the hotel's 65 years of existence...here's another that I found today...I love the detail on this one...

Did you know???...

Here is a lovely view of Franconia Notch from the rear of the Deer Park Hotel. If you look closely, you can see hotel guests out for a stroll on the hotel grounds. My guess is that this is somewhere in the vicinity of where Deer Park Drive & the ramp to I-93 southbound is now.

Did you know that there was a drive-in theatre on the Deer Park grounds after the hotel burned in the 50's? It was located approximately where the lake now is. I hear area youth would often hide in the woods attempting to see the movies for free...only to get chased away from the drive-in owner...

After the drive-in closed, the area was blasted for stone - creating the Deer Park lake and another located behind it that is now private property.

My thanks to a historian at the Upper Pemigewasset Historical Society for providing me with this info...

Sixty years ago...

Sixty years ago this week (June 23, 1952) - the Deer Park was destroyed by fire, right before it was to open for it's 65th summer season.

At that time, it was owned and operated by the Grimm and Derocher families of Newton, Mass. It is my understanding that owners Norman Grimm and Larry Durocher were best friends who had roomed together at Harvard University and also brother's in law as Mr. Grimm had married Mr. Durocher's sister.

Many of New Hampshire's grand hotels were lost to fire during this time due to their wood frame construction and lack of sprinkler protection.

Other hotels fell into decline because of costs involved in upkeep and were vacated and later demolished.

Deer Park Hotel Parlour...

Above is a postcard image of one of the elegant parlours in the Deer Park. Back in the day, guests didn't spend much time in their rooms, they would socialize with other hotel guests in rooms like this.

Deer Park Hotel 1920's...

Here is an old photo of a large group of people on the veranda of the Deer Park. Probably safe to assume sometime in the 1920's or so...just by looking at the old car on the right and the style of clothing that everyone is wearing...

Some of the women look as if they are dressed for a nice hike through the woods or climb up a mountain...

Franconia View...

Another view of Franconia Notch that shows the Deer Park Hotel. Possibly a souvenir photo that a tourist purchased and saved years ago in the days when most people didn't have cameras of their own.

Deer Park Hotel and Depot, North Woodstock, N.H.

I imagine if I were to stand in this very spot today, it would probably be somehere in the vicinity of the right hand lane of the southbound side of I-93.

The Depot - early 1900's?

This is an interesting photo of the depot with a train, horses, carriages and car...

It is my understanding that the train station was removed sometime in the 1950's and that the materials were recycled in the building of a house elsewhere in town.

The Depot, North Woodstock, N.H.

Deer Park Hotel Train Depot, late 1800's. The Deer Park Hotel was located to the left of this image.

Hotel Guest Photograph of the Deer Park?

My guess is that this photograph most likely was taken by a hotel guest. 1930's-40's perhaps?

1896 Hurd's Atlas.

This is an image of the Deer Park Hotel taken from Hurd's Atlas in 1896. The artwork is amazing.

Deer Park Hotel Brochure Cover...

Here is another scan of an old Deer Park brochure cover that dates back to the late 1800's... I just love the artwork - wouldn't it look great printed on cardstock and framed?

1896 Deer Park Hotel Menu

While cleaning up some old files on my computer last week, I came across this scan of an old Deer Park menu that dates back to July 26, 1896. It appears back in the day, a guest didn't have the dinner choices that one would find in a first class hotel today...

I couldn't resist the urge to google both the "chow-chow" and "green turtle" just to have a clue of what these dishes actually are...and here we go...

"Chow-chow" is just a fancy name for what we now call relish...

"Green Turtle" is what I understand to be soup. With turtle in it. Quite a delicacy from what I gather, in the late 1800's...makes sense that this would most certainly be on the Deer Park menu.

Couldn't resist posting an 1884 recipe I found on the web.

Warning: Not for the squeamish at heart.

Green Turtle Soup

Instructions

Many housewives imagine that green turtle is too expensive, and too difficult to prepare for household use, and for these reasons it is seldom met with in private families, except in tin cans. Even this is not always made from turtle.
This soup is not any more expensive than many other kinds. A small turtle may be purchased at Fulton market for from ten to twenty cents per pound, and weighing from fifteen to forty pounds, the price varying according to the law of supply and demand. The only objection to small turtles is that they do not contain a very large percentage of the green fat, so highly prized by epicures.
Procure a live turtle, cut off the head, and allow it to drain and cool over night; next morning place it on the working table, lay it on its back, and make an incision round the inner edge of the shell; then remove it. Now remove the intestines carefully, and be very careful that you do not break the gall; throw these away; cut off the fins and all fleshy particles, and set them aside; trim out the fat, which has a blueish tint when raw; wash it well in several waters. Chop up the upper and under shells with a cleaver; put them with the fins into a large saucepan; cover them with boiling water; let stand ten minutes; drain and rub off the horny, scaly particles, with a kitchen towel.
Scald a large saucepan, and put all the meat and shell into it (except the fat); cover with hot water; add a little salt, and boil four hours. Skim carefully, and drain; put the meat into a large crock; remove the bones, and boil the fat in the stock. This does not take very long if first scalded. When done, add it also to the crock; pour the stock into another crock; let it cool, and remove all scum and oily particles; this is quite work enough for one day. Clean the saucepans used, and dry them thoroughly.
Next day fry out half a pound of fat ham; then add one chopped onion, one bay leaf, six cloves, one blade of mace, two tablespoonfuls of chopped celery tops, a tablespoonful of salt, a teaspoonful of white pepper, and one quart of ordinary soup stock. Simmer for half an hour. Now put the turtle stock on the fire; when hot strain the seasoning into it; remove the turtle from the other crock, cut it up, and add to the stock; now add a pint of dry sherry.
Do not let the soup come to a boil; taste for seasoning, and if herbs are needed tie a string to a bunch of mixed herbs, throw them into the soup, and tie the other end to the saucepan handle; taste often, and when palatable, remove the herbs. If the soup is not dark enough, brown a very little flour and add to it. Keep the soup quite hot until served; add quartered slices of lemon and the yolk of a hard boiled egg, quartered just before serving; send to table with a decanter of sherry.
The yolks of the eggs may be worked to a paste, and made into round balls to imitate turtle eggs if this is desired.
I have placed before my readers this complicated receipt in as simple a form as it is possible to do, having carefully avoided all the technical formulas used in the profession