Present Day

About the Town of Jackson, NH

Gray’s Inn, a 250-guest hotel also located in Jackson Village close to the covered bridge closed in 1968 and was vacant until it burned to the ground in 1983. (The land was purchased by the town in 1988 and the town offices were recently built on this site.) In 1971 the Wentworth was temporarily closed and sat boarded-up and dilapidated for the next decade. Wentworth Hall was purchased by new owners in 1972 who intended to tear it down and build a modern hotel and vacation chalets. The Jackson Falls House was removed in 1979, leaving only a barn. A post office was built prior to 1979 and was followed by a commercial/office building. Other large Jackson hotels also suffered economic hardship. The Iron Mountain House closed as a hotel and the Eagle Mountain House nearly closed before selling rooms as condominiums in 1987.

With an eye toward revitalizing the tourist business and Jackson's economic fortunes, in 1972, The Jackson Resort Association began a feasibility study to develop a major cross-country skiing facility in Jackson. This grew into the Jackson Ski Touring Foundation which today maintains a world-class network of ski touring trails and facilities.

In 1982 the 233 acre Wentworth Hall property was purchased by developer Ernest J. Mallett, Jr. who invested more than $2 million into the complex. The structurally unsound and functionally unstable buildings including the casino, Fairview, Riverside and other surrounding cottages were removed until just nine of the thirty-nine buildings remained. A total of seventy-six townhouse units were constructed in 19 buildings around the perimeter of the golf course on a 86 acre parcel which was subdivided from the original property.

In the early 1980s federal energy laws were passed that gave hydro-electric companies the right to pursue property for hydro-electric projects. The Jackson Falls area of the Wildcat was threatened with just such a hydro-electric project. To forestall this, a group of residents and town officials began seeking a "Wild and Scenic River" designation for the Wildcat.

To faciliate this effort, Ernie Mallett and his family deeded land from the Wentworth property along Jackson Falls to the town. The deed stipulated that no structures, including a hydro-electric dam, could be built on this land. (Ernie Mallet also donated land to the town cemetary for additional grave sites and to the church for a playground.) The "Wild and Scenic River" designation was achieved in 1988. At the same time, the town approved zoning ordinance changes that created a river conservation district to further protect the Wildcat.

The Wentworth was acquired by Fritz and Diana Koeppel in 1988 and continues to serve as an elegant country inn. Of the thirty grand resort hotels that were once present in the White Mountain region, Wentworth Hall is one of only four grand resort hotels remaining open for business today (the others being The Balsams, the Mount Washington Hotel and the Mountain ViewHouse.)

Although many of the grand hotels of Jackson are now gone, the splendor of this Village remains. Visitors now come year round to enjoy the views, covered bridge, white steepled church, water falls, mountains, and rolling farmland. They now stay in country inns, B&B's, lodges, or the only remaining grand hotel and sample local flavor in the restaurants.

Tourism has revived from the doldrums of the late 60s and early 70s. The old Iron Mountain House has been replaced by the new Red Fox Pub and the old Jack Frost ski shop has been replaced by the new Snowflake Inn. The Jackson Ski Touring Foundation has moved to a new headquarters building shared with the Wentworth Golf Club in the summer. A new community center, library and highway garage have been completed. The network of ski trails is among the best in the world and attracts many winter visitors.

The Background section for the 2003 Master Plan of Jackson contains a lot of information about Jackson, the area and town government. The Master Plan information is located in the Planning Board section under 2016 Master Plan.

The Jackson Covered Bridge Logo on this web site was designed by Keith Kantack, a Jackson Grammar School student in 2000. Keith's design won the competition to create a logo for Jackson's bicentennial. Debbie Crowther created the text, "Bridging the Centuries." Lisa Mausolf, consultant to the Jackson Historical Society, contributed text for the historic background.

On May 15th 2021, the voters of Jackson approved the re-dedication of the Town of Jackson from Andrew Jackson to Charles Thomas Jackson. The article was submitted by Jerry Dougherty, III and read as follows:

Mt. Jackson, according to "The White Mountain A Handbook For Travelers 1876" was named in 1848 by William Oaks while he and Frederick Huntington (Huntington's Ravine) were on an expedition together. Mt. Jackson was named for Charles Thomas Jackson who was born in Plymouth, Ma. in 1805 and died in 1880.  Charles Thomas Jackson graduated Harvard Medical in 1829, for his dissertation, and was awarded the Boylson Prize. In 1836 Charles Thomas Jackson was named Maine State Geologist and in 1839 in New Hampshire. In 1840 Dr. Charles Thomas Jackson NH State Geologist, discovered a tiny vein of tin ore in Jackson - the first tin found in the United States.  Returning in 1841 with geologist friends, he discovered three more veins. In 1844, he wrote that although veins in Europe were wider, "there are none where the ore is richer than that found in Jackson". Other credits include assisting Morse in developing the telegraph, developed first anesthesia, and in doing so, self-tested and suffered a brain disorder and later died in a sanatorium.

Town of Adams, for John Adams, was incorporated Dec.4, 1800 and in 1829 was changed to Jackson for Andrew Jackson, 7th President. Notable facts concerning Andrew Jackson... "as a General, he spent years leading brutal campaigns against Native Americans in Georgia, Alabama and Florida which resulted in the transfer from Native Americans to white people (European immigrants), many who were slave owners, of thousands of acres. The Indian Removal Act in 1830 forced approximately 100,000 Native Americans from their lands in the Southeastern US to the West, during which over 15,000 died. As a slave owner, Andrew Jackson placed an advertisement in the Tennessee Gazette Oct. 3,1884, promising a reward of $50 plus expenses, for the capture and return of a runaway slave and promised an extra $10 for each 100 lashes given, up to a maximum of $300.  The Jackson Presidency was rife with Constitutional abuses" (see "American Lion" by Jon Meacham).

In the current drive for Social Justice nationally, it is time for our town to adopt Charles Thomas Jackson as the Jackson for whom we are named.