Sanbornton, New Hampshire
Strafford county, has New Hampton and Meredith on the N., Gilmanton E. and S.E., Franklin S. and W., and is 20 miles N. from Concord, 60 N.W. from Portsmouth, and 9 W. from Gilford.
The bay between Sanbornton and Meredith is 3 miles in width. There are no rivers or ponds of magnitude in this town. Salmon Brook pond, in the N. part, and a brook of the same name, its outlet, are the only ones worth mentioning. This brook passes through the N.W. part of the town and affords several mill sites.
Sanbornton presents an uneven surface, but contains no mountains. The highest hills, with one or two exceptions, admit of cultivation. The soil is almost universally good, and well rewards the labor of patient industry. There is a gulf in this town extending nearly a mile through very hard rocky ground, 38 feet in depth, the walls from 80 to 100 feet asunder, and the sides so nearly corresponding as to favor an opinion that they were once united. There is also a cavern in the declivity of a hill, which may be entered in a horizontal direction to the distance of 20 feet. This town was once the residence of a powerful tribe of Indians, or at least a place where they resorted for defence. On the Winnepisiogee, at the head of Little bay, are found the remains of an ancient fortification. It consisted of six walls, one extending along the river, and across a point of land into the bay, and the others in right angles, connected by a circular wall in the rear. Traces of these walls are yet to be seen, though most of the stones, &c. of which they were composed have been removed to the dam thrown across the river at this place. Within the fort have been found numbers of Indian relics, implements, &c., and also on an island in the bay. When the first settlers of Sanbornton arrived these walls were breast high, and large oaks were growing within the enclosure.
This town was settled in 1765 and 1766, by John Sanborn, David Duston, Andrew Rowen, and others. It was incorporated in 1770. Population, 1830, 2,866.
