You may have noticed a new sign for the Abenaki Tower along Route 109. Maybe you’ve walked up to the tower and noticed a major project to remove intruding trees and improve the panoramic vistas of Moultonborough Bay, the Ossipee Range and Lake Winnipesaukee. But have you ever stopped to wonder who maintains the tower? Why it’s free to visit? And why it was ever built in the first place?

 

Despite local rumors, the Abenaki Tower was never a fire tower, nor was it built to watch for German airplanes during World War II. It was constructed in the 1920s simply to offer everyone enjoyment of an expansive and beautiful view.

One August day in 1923, Mr. Joshua Q. Litchfield, headmaster of a school in Jamaica Plains, Massachussetts, and Mr. Frank Speare, President of Northeastern University in Boston, went for a walk and found themselves standing on Edgerly Hill, gazing out over clear pastures at the waters of Lake Winnipesaukee. Due to extensive foresting and the ravages of forest fire, the woods where the tower now stands was nearly unrecognizable to today’s mature forest.

The outdoors enthusiasts suggested a tower for the spot and quickly organized a group of like-minded friends and neighbors, naming Mr. Chester I. Campbell president. In February 1924, plans were drawn up and the land was purchased for $800 from Mr. John Edgerly. Mr. Lewis McIntire, of Tuftonboro, put in a bid to construct the tower for $400.. It would later be said, “much credit is due Mr. McIntire for no man in the entire region could duplicate Mr. McIntire’s splendid work.” On July 12, 1924, the Abenaki Tower was formally dedicated in front of a crowd of 125 onlookers.

But how did the tower get its name? According to Ethel Turner Burnett’s record-keeping, “the tower is said to be built at the junction of several old Abenaki Indian Trails.”

The Abenaki Tower Association went into debt during construction, which wound up costing $500, and slowly paid that debt off through Bridge and whist parties, food sales and other entertainment. By 1930, all bills were paid.

By 1972, amateur historian Ethel Burnett wrote, “In the forty-eight years since Abenaki Tower was built, many hundreds of people have enjoyed the view and it is the wish of the Association that the Tower will continue to be ‘freely and considerately used.’”

Around that time, the original tower was being overshadowed by tall trees and visitor numbers were dwindling. The tower itself had become dangerous. Lifelong Wolfeboro resident Kirk Titus remembers climbing on it as a kid and noticing “how rickety it had become.”

In 1976, demolition of the tower was discussed, but Admiral George C. Dyer, who now lived in Litchfield’s old cottage at the end of Wawbeek Road, spoke up for the need to “repair and preserve.’

“Many local residents have climbed up Abenaki Tower and enjoyed the view of Melvin Village, the Ossipee Range, Lake Winnipesaukee and beyond,” he said according to the meeting minutes. “It is a location featured in the Lakes Region tourist publications ‘For spectacular views of our lakes and mountains: Take a hike.’”

Titus’ company — Maine Line Tree Service, now Bartlett Tree Service — was hired to rebuild the tower for $12,000. The town of Tuftonboro contributed $1,500, and the Hurlburt Fund gave $1,000. The balance came from private donors, including funds raised by the “Village Pinups” who made a quilt and raffled it off. Bill Cornell, a local builder, designed the new, taller tower. Construction began in 1977 and continued until it was dedicated on July 22, 1978.

Dick Mullen and Sam Snow, still Tuftonboro residents, as well as Bill Kotz of Effingham and Cecily Clark of Ossipee, were the primary crew and Chet Fernald, longtime owner of the Wawbeek Hotel, supervised the project. Titus recalls the four sides and top were cut and assembled on the ground before being hoisted into place by a large crane.

“It was a fun job,” Titus said. “The timbers are all utility poles. Materials came from power company supply sources.”

Now, nearly 50 years later, another major project was just completed to restore the view by removing trees around the tower. A fund has been set up to replace the tower in the name of Georgia H.W. Burnett, the daughter of Admiral Dyer. Her youngest son, Christohper Burnett, serves as president of the Abenaki Tower and Trail Association and has spearheaded recent fundraising efforts.

We are approaching the Tower’s centennial in 2024. The Association will be organizing a number of events, starting in summer 2023, to celebrate the Association’s history and look ahead to the next 100 years. Stay tuned! 

We will also be raising funds for Abenaki Tower III to replace the current one, which was built in 1978. Fundraising will supplement our membership dues and donations. A fund has been set up to replace the tower in the name of Georgia H.W. Burnett, the daughter of Admiral Dyer, a former President (1962-69).  

David Burnett was elected President of the Association at the August 2022 meeting.  David is associated with the H.W. Burnett Cottage on Old Pasture Road and the Dyer Cottage on Wawbeek, both on the shoreline below the Tower. Joshua Q. Litchfield, one of the Association’s co-founders, built the Dyer Cottage in the early 1900s. David has been coming to the lake every summer of his life (and more often since Covid hit!). Several of his relatives have been President of the Association, and he is proud to carry on the legacy. The lake instilled in him a love of nature and hiking, and the Tower played an important part in that. In his family, hiking to the Tower is an important stepping-stone in children’s progression as hikers! He was an Eagle Scout, worked in an Appalachian Mountain Club hut in the White Mountains and for Outward Bound, and recently hiked Kilimanjaro with his Dad, as well as Mount Fuji.  

Everyone who has enjoyed the tower can support its continuation by becoming an Association member. These dues cover the ongoing costs of maintenance for the tower.