The Weirs, a lakeside community in the city of Laconia, NH, is named for the fishing weirs used by early Native Americans from 7800 B.C. to 1660 A.D. at the outlet of Lake Winnipesaukee. Visited by a colonial surveying party in 1652 and settled in the 1760s, the site, filled with the natural beauty of the lake and forest, became a trading post and primitive manufacturing center, harnessing the water power of the Winnipesaukee River. Farming and lumbering were the principal occupations of the settlers until the coming of the railroad around 1849. In this captivating pictorial history, rare images from before the 1880s to more recent times capture the railroad trains, steamboats, and trolley cars which connected The Weirs to the rest of the region. Images of Endicott Rock Park, grand hotels, an early Weirs brickyard, the Veterans Association Buildings, and many other activities at the lakeside resort, give us a vivid picture of the way life used to be.
