By Brittany, SCA Interpretive Ranger
Pawtuckaway State Park is a beautiful 5,000-acre park located in Nottingham, New Hampshire. This beautiful park offers a public beach, campgrounds, boating, fishing, and hiking. In fact, one of the many trails found in the park is the Tower Trail, which leads up to the fire tower.
Now, there are multiple ways to get to the fire tower, but the shortest way is to hike up Tower Trail, which is only around .4 miles one way. This trail is very steep and comprised of loose gravel making walking up it a bit tricky at times so hike with caution.
By now you may be wondering, why is the blog titled as Decaying History when nothing about history has been mentioned. Well, the history is all around the fire tower, which is why the trail and fire tower are important to mention. Before you start the trail for the fire tower, take a slow look around and you may see some things that seem a little out of place. Looking around you may be able to spot a mostly hidden cemetery nearby, though it is very overgrown.
This cemetery is a piece of history that completely surrounds the fire tower and is a big part of Pawtuckaway’s history. Perhaps you have heard of the Goodrich family, or maybe you have heard of the book, The Barefoot Farmer by Paula Casey Wood. Well, this mostly hidden cemetery pictured above is the family cemetery of the Goodrich family. All around the road and trail taking you to the fire tower lay remains of the Goodrich farm, worn down through the years as age and weather take their toll on the structures left behind from a time now past, slowly decaying as they become ever more hidden in a landscape ever changing.
The landscape surrounding the fire tower and trail is full of remains of old farms from not just the Goodrich family, but also other families who settled and tried to make a living through farming. The landscape looked very different back then, as it is now all grown up. But the remains of old farms live on waiting for those who wish to uncover their story.
If you would like to know more about the role the Goodrich family and other early farming families played in the area we know as Pawtuckaway State Park, join me on a guided hike as we bring this hidden and decaying history to life through my History in the Present program.
