Editing Hart's Location, New Hampshire (section)

==History==
[[Image:Old Willey House, Crawford Notch, NH.jpg|thumb|left|[[Willey House (New Hampshire)|Old Willey House]] (1793–1898)]]
Hart's Location was named after Colonel [[John Hart (soldier)|John Hart]] of [[Portsmouth, New Hampshire]]. In 1772, the land was granted to Thomas Chadbourne, also of Portsmouth.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.nh.gov/nhes/elmi/htmlprofiles/hartslocation.html|title=New Hampshire Economic and Labor Market Information Bureau Profile|website=nh.gov|access-date=April 12, 2018}}</ref> [[Native Americans of the United States|Native Americans]] used a trail up the [[Saco River]] valley through [[Crawford Notch]], and during the [[French and Indian Wars]], many English captives were taken to [[New France|Canada]] that way. Despite this, the pass through the [[White Mountains (New Hampshire)|White Mountains]] was otherwise unknown until 1771, when Timothy Nash discovered it hunting [[moose]], and told Governor [[John Wentworth (governor)|John Wentworth]].<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=OcoMAAAAYAAJ&dq=coolidge%20mansfield%20history%20description%20new%20england%201859&pg=PA685 Austin J. Coolidge & John B. Mansfield, ''A History and Description of New England;'' Boston, Massachusetts 1859]</ref>

The obscure Indian trail transformed into the Coös Road, on which was built a small [[public house]] in 1793. It was abandoned, but in 1825 Samuel Willey Jr. occupied it with his wife, five children, and two hired hands.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~nhcarrol/bios2/willey.htm|title=RootsWeb.com Home Page|website=www.rootsweb.ancestry.com|access-date=April 12, 2018}}</ref> During a [[1826 Atlantic hurricane season|violent storm]] on August 28, 1826, they all died in a [[landslide]] known as Willey's Slide. They fled their home and took refuge in a shelter, but it was destroyed while the house remained unscathed.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.nhstateparks.org/state-parks/alphabetical-order/crawford-notch-state-park/story-of-the-wiley-family.aspx |title=New Hampshire Division of Parks & Recreation — Story of the Willey Family |website=nhstateparks.org |access-date=April 12, 2018}}</ref>

A rock outcrop uphill divided the slide, which flowed around the home and reunited below it. The door was found gaping, a [[bible]] open on the table. Their tragedy inspired the short story "[[The Ambitious Guest]]" (1835) by [[Nathaniel Hawthorne]], and [[Mount Willey]] was named in their memory. The house became part of a larger inn, then burned in 1898. Today, the location is a [[Willey House (New Hampshire)|state historic site]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.nhstateparks.org/state-parks/alphabetical-order/crawford-notch-state-park/story-of-the-wiley-family.aspx |title=New Hampshire Division of Parks & Recreation — Story of the Willey Family |website=nhstateparks.org |access-date=April 12, 2018}}</ref>

In 1875, the [[Portland and Ogdensburg Railroad]] completed its line up through Crawford Notch. Passengers thrilled to traverse the Frankenstein Trestle, {{convert|520|ft|0}} long and {{convert|85|ft|0}} above the [[ravine]] floor, and then the Willey Brook Bridge, {{convert|400|ft|0}} long and {{convert|94|ft|0}} high. Later part of the [[Mountain Division]] of the [[Maine Central Railroad]], the route is still traveled by the [[Conway Scenic Railroad]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://whitemountainhistory.org/Crawford_Notch.html |title=Crawford Notch |website=whitemountainhistory.org |access-date=April 12, 2018}}</ref>