Mount Washington

Mount Washington, is an ultra-prominent mountain in the state of New Hampshire. It is the highest peak in the Northeastern United States at 6,288.2 ft (1,916.6 m) and the most topographically prominent mountain east of the Mississippi River.

The mountain is notorious for its erratic weather. On the afternoon of April 12, 1934, the Mount Washington Observatory recorded a windspeed of 231 miles per hour (372 km/h) at the summit, the world record from 1934 until 1996. Mount Washington still holds the record for highest measured wind speed not associated with a tornado or tropical cyclone.

The mountain is located in the Presidential Range of the White Mountains, in Coös County, New Hampshire. The mountain is in several unincorporated townships, with the summit in the township of Sargent’s Purchase. While nearly the whole mountain is in the White Mountain National Forest, an area of 60.3 acres (24.4 ha) surrounding and including the summit is designated as Mount Washington State Park.

The Mount Washington Cog Railway ascends the western slope of the mountain, and the Mount Washington Auto Road climbs to the summit from the east. The mountain is visited by hikers from various approaches, including the Appalachian Trail, which traverses the summit. Other common activities include glider flying, backcountry skiing, and annual cycle and running races such as the Auto Road Bicycle Hillclimb and Road Race.

Before European settlers arrived in the region, the mountain was known by various indigenous peoples as Kodaak Wadjo (“the top is so hidden” or “summit of the highest mountain”) or Agiochook or Agiocochook (“the place of the Great Spirit” or “the place of the Concealed One”). The Algonquians called the summit Waumbik, “white rocks”. The Abenaki people inhabiting the region at the time of European contact believed that the tops of mountains were the dwelling place of the gods and did not climb them out of religious deference to their sanctity.

In 1524, Giovanni da Verrazzano became the first European to mention the mountain. Viewing it from the Atlantic Ocean, he described what he saw as “high interior mountains”.

In 1642, Darby Field claimed to have made the first ascent of Mount Washington. Field climbed the mountain in June of that year to demonstrate to the Abenaki chief Passaconaway that the Europeans bargaining for tribal land were not subject to the gods believed to inhabit the summit, a primarily political move that facilitated colonists’ northern expansion. Field again summited Agiocochook in October 1642 on an early surveying expedition that created maps of land as far as Maine, which allowed people from the Massachusetts colony to identify arable coastal areas.

The earliest known map to display the name, Mount Washington, was published in 1796. A 1784 geology party, headed by Manasseh Cutler, may have first named the mountain.

In 1819, the Crawford Path was established from Crawford Notch to the summit. It is the oldest continuously maintained hiking path in the United States. Abel Crawford led a group that included several Harvard students on the first recorded ascent of the path on September 10, 1819. Among them were Samuel Joseph May, George B. Emerson, Samuel E. Sewall, Caleb Cushing, Joseph Coolidge, William Ware and Joseph G. Moody.

On August 31, 1821, Eliza, Harriet, and Abigail Austin, three sisters from Jefferson, New Hampshire, became the first White women to set foot atop Mount Washington. This was likely the first significant mountain to be climbed by any Euro-American females in the United States.

In 1821, Ethan Allen Crawford built a house on the summit. The house lasted until a storm in 1826.

Little occurred on the summit itself until the mid-19th century, when it was developed into one of the first tourist destinations in the nation, with construction of more bridle paths and two hotels. The Summit House opened in 1852, a 64-foot-long (20 m) stone hotel anchored by four heavy chains over its roof. In 1853, the Tip-Top House was erected to compete. Rebuilt of wood with 91 rooms in 1872–1873, the Summit House burned in 1908, then was replaced in granite in 1915. The Tip-Top House alone survived the fire; today it is a state historic site, recently renovated for exhibits. Other Victorian era tourist attractions include a coach road (1861)—now the Mount Washington Auto Road—and the Mount Washington Cog Railway (1869), both of which are still in operation.

For forty years, until 1917, an intermittent daily newspaper, called Among the Clouds, was published by Henry M. Burt at the summit each summer.

In 2011 and 2012, Orlando, Florida–based CNL Financial Group, which at the time operated the Mount Washington Hotel at the foot of the mountain, trademarked the “Mount Washington” name when used with a resort or hotel. CNL officials said they were directing their efforts only against hotels and not the numerous businesses in the area that use the name. CNL’s application at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office seeks registration of the trademark “Mount Washington” for any retail service, any restaurant service, and any entertainment service.