Editing Livermore, New Hampshire

{{Short description|Town in New Hampshire, United States}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=May 2024}}
{{Infobox settlement
|official_name            = Livermore, New Hampshire
|nickname                 = 
|motto                    = 
|image_skyline            = East Pond Livermore NH.jpg
|image_alt                = 
|imagesize                = 
|image_caption            = East Pond in the western part of Livermore
|image_flag               = 
|image_map                = Grafton-Livermore-NH.png
|mapsize                  = 
|map_caption              = Location in [[Grafton County, New Hampshire]]
|settlement_type          = [[civil township#Northeastern states|Township]]
|subdivision_type         = [[List of sovereign states|Country]]
|subdivision_name         = United States
|subdivision_type1        = [[U.S. state|State]]
|subdivision_name1        = [[New Hampshire]]
|subdivision_type2        = [[List of counties in New Hampshire|County]]
|subdivision_name2        = [[Grafton County, New Hampshire|Grafton]]
|parts_type               = 
|parts                    = 
|government_type          = 
|leader_title             = 
|leader_name              = 
|established_title        = 
|established_date         = 
|area_footnotes           = <ref name="CenPopGazetteer2021">{{cite web |title=2021 U.S. Gazetteer Files – New Hampshire |url=https://www2.census.gov/geo/docs/maps-data/data/gazetteer/2021_Gazetteer/2021_gaz_cousubs_33.txt |publisher=United States Census Bureau |access-date=November 30, 2021}}</ref>
|area_total_km2           = 165.6
|area_total_sq_mi         = 
|area_land_km2            = 165.2
|area_land_sq_mi          = 
|area_water_km2           = 0.4
|area_water_sq_mi         = 
|area_water_percent       = 0.26
|population_as_of         = [[2020 United States census|2020]]
|population_footnotes     = <ref name="Census 2020">{{Cite web| url=https://data.census.gov/cedsci/table?q=&g=0600000US3300942820&tid=DECENNIALPL2020.P1| title=Livermore town, Grafton County, New Hampshire: 2020 DEC Redistricting Data (PL 94-171)| publisher=U.S. Census Bureau| access-date=November 30, 2021}}</ref>
|population_total         = 2
|population_density_km2   = 0.01
|population_density_sq_mi = 
|timezone                 = [[Eastern Standard Time Zone|Eastern]]
|utc_offset               = -5
|timezone_DST             = [[Eastern Daylight Time Zone|Eastern]]
|utc_offset_DST           = -4
|coordinates              = {{coord|44|04|28|N|71|22|38|W|region:US-NH|display=inline,title}}
|elevation_m              = 
|elevation_ft             = 1264
|website                  = 
|postal_code_type         = [[ZIP code]]
|postal_code              = 
|area_code                = [[Area code 603|603]]
|blank_name               = [[Federal Information Processing Standard|FIPS code]]
|blank_info               = 33-009-42820
|blank1_name              = [[Geographic Names Information System|GNIS]] feature ID
|blank1_info              = 873650
|footnotes                = 
}}
'''Livermore''' is an unincorporated [[civil township]] and [[ghost town]] in [[Grafton County, New Hampshire]], United States. It was briefly inhabited as a logging town in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The site of the former village is approximately {{convert|16|mi}} west of [[North Conway, New Hampshire|North Conway]], about {{convert|1.5|mi}} off [[U.S. Route 302#New Hampshire|U.S. Route 302]] (the Crawford Notch Highway) via the [[United States Forest Service|U.S. Forest Service]] Sawyer River Road. The logging operation was established by Daniel Saunders Jr. and Charles W. Saunders, members of the [[Saunders family]]. The town was named for [[Samuel Livermore]], a former United States senator who was the grandfather of Daniel Saunders' wife. The population was reported as two at the [[2020 United States census|2020 census]].<ref name="Census 2020"/>

== Geography ==
Livermore is in the White Mountains region of northern [[New Hampshire]], along the eastern border of Grafton County. According to the [[U.S. Census Bureau]], the town has a total area of {{convert|165.6|sqkm|order=flip}}, of which {{convert|165.2|sqkm|order=flip}} are land and {{convert|0.4|sqkm|order=flip|1}}, or 0.26%, is water. Nearly all of the town's area (99.7%) is part of the [[White Mountain National Forest]].<ref>[http://www.granit.unh.edu NH GRANIT] Conservation Lands Data Layer, 2010.</ref>

To the south is [[Waterville Valley, New Hampshire|Waterville Valley]], to the north and west is [[Lincoln, New Hampshire|Lincoln]] (and a southern tip of [[Bethlehem, New Hampshire|Bethlehem]]), and to the east are [[Hart's Location, New Hampshire|Hart's Location]], [[Bartlett, New Hampshire|Bartlett]] and the northwestern corner of [[Albany, New Hampshire|Albany]].

The village of Livermore was benchmarked with an elevation of {{convert|1264|ft|m}}, a quarter mile from the eastern boundary adjoining Hart's Location.

Livermore is a long, relatively narrow township, forming a very rough approximation of a crescent with its endpoints at the north and west. Livermore and its neighbor to the west, [[Lincoln, New Hampshire|Lincoln]], occupy a large area of uninhabited woodland once known as the "Pemigewasset Wilderness" (a portion of which is preserved in the present-day [[White Mountain National Forest|WMNF]] [[Pemigewasset Wilderness]] in Lincoln). The original boundary between the two towns did not follow natural features, such as the crest of the divide that separates the [[Pemigewasset River]] and [[Saco River]] drainages, which led to numerous charges and countercharges of cutting over the line between the two owners, the Saunders family in Livermore and James Everell Henry in Lincoln. In addition, it was difficult to haul timber over the ridgecrest. Eventually a settlement was reached by which the New Hampshire legislature redrew the town boundary to run along the ridgecrest, with the Lincoln portion defined as that part of the territory that is drained by the [[East Branch Pemigewasset River|East Branch]] of the Pemigewasset River and the Livermore portion as that drained by other rivers. This definition produced a peculiar result: there is a small piece of Livermore at the head of the [[Little River (Ammonoosuc River tributary)|Little River]] valley (part of the [[Ammonoosuc River]] drainage) that is not contiguous to the rest of the town - it is, in fact, {{convert|4.8|mi}} from the nearest corner of the main part of the town and, therefore, forms an exclave. Since this fragment and all lands bordering it are now part of the White Mountain National Forest, this historical peculiarity no longer has any practical consequences.

The curving northwestern border of the township follows the height of land between the drainage of the East Branch of the Pemigewasset River to the west and the headwaters of the [[Sawyer River]] and the [[Swift River (Saco River tributary)|Swift River]] to the east, as well as tributaries of the Pemigewasset River to the south. Important summits along the border (from northeast to southwest) include Mount Bemis, at {{convert|3706|ft|m}} above [[sea level]]; Mount Lowell, at {{convert|3743|ft|m}}; [[Mount Carrigain]], the highest point in Livermore at {{convert|4700|ft|m}}; Mount Kancamagus, at {{convert|3728|ft|m}}; and [[Mount Osceola]], at {{convert|4326|ft|m}}.

Two roads cross the township of Livermore, although neither one is close to the site of Livermore village. The Kancamagus Highway ([[New Hampshire Route 112]]) crosses Kancamagus Pass ({{convert|2855|ft|m|disp=or|abbr=on}}) on the Lincoln/Livermore boundary and passes through several miles of the southeastern part of Livermore to a point just west of Sabbaday Falls. The Tripoli Road (not usually maintained for winter travel), which runs from the northern tip of [[Thornton, New Hampshire|Thornton]] through Thornton Gap to [[Waterville Valley, New Hampshire|Waterville Valley]], crosses the southwest corner of the township.

== Demographics ==
{{US Census population
|1880= 103
|1890= 155
|1900= 191
|1910= 64
|1920= 98
|1930= 23
|1940= 4
|2000= 3
|2010= 0
|2020= 2
|estyear=
|estimate=
|estref=
|footnote=U.S. Decennial Census<ref name="Census 2020"/><ref name="DecennialCensus">{{cite web|url=https://www.census.gov/programs-surveys/decennial-census.html|title=Census of Population and Housing|publisher=Census.gov|access-date=June 4, 2016}}</ref>
}}
As of the [[census]]<ref name="GR2">{{cite web|url=https://www.census.gov|publisher=[[United States Census Bureau]]|access-date=January 31, 2008|title=U.S. Census website}}</ref> of 2020, there were two people living in the township.<ref name="Census 2020"/>

Historical census figures are shown in the adjacent table. As a logging town where most of the actual logging was done in the winter by transient men hired for the season only, ascertaining the actual population of Livermore at any given time would have been problematic, and these census figures may have been influenced by how these transients were counted.

== History ==
The following is a summary of Livermore's history:
* 1874 - Grafton County Lumber Co. incorporated by the Saunders family.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |title=A Timeline of Livermore 1864 to 1965 |url=https://www.bartletthistory.net/livermore-timeline |website=Bartlett NH History}}</ref>
* 1875 - [[Sawyer River Railroad]] incorporated.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web |last=Russack |first=Rick |title=Livermore |url=https://whitemountainhistory.org/Livermore.html |website=WhiteMountainHistory.org}}</ref>
* 1876 - Livermore incorporated. First mill is constructed and burns down later in the year.<ref name=":0" />
* 1877 - Construction of [[Sawyer River]] Railroad begins to support logging activity.<ref name=":0" />
* 1880 - [[Smallpox]] epidemic kills 6 townspeople.<ref name=":0" />
* 1881 - Livermore post office is established.<ref name=":1" />
* 1885 - Town reports having one school with a population of 28 students.<ref name=":0" />
* 1890 - Town records indicate mill ownership changed from the Saunders family to George P. James.<ref name=":0" />
* 1891 - Charles Saunders dies. His brother, Daniel Saunders, and Daniel's son, Charles G. Saunders, continue to oversee operations.<ref name=":0" />
* 1895 - George P. James sells his portion of Livermore back to the Saunders family, specifically Charles G. Saunders.<ref name=":0" />
* 1896 - Topographic map shows railroad and twelve inhabited buildings.{{Citation needed|date=October 2022}}
* 1898 - Telephone service established.<ref name=":0" />
* 1901 - Over half of Livermore is annexed to Lincoln by State Legislature.<ref name=":0" />
* 1910 - Fire tower constructed at peak of Mt. Carrigain.<ref name=":0" />
* 1912 - C. G. Saunders mortgages Livermore Mills to Gideon M. Sutherland.<ref name=":0" />
* 1918 - C. G. Saunders dies. His three sisters inherit nearly all of his estate, while mill operations is passed to an officer for the Saunders interests, Clinton I. Nash.<ref name=":0" />
* 1919 - A fire destroys Livermore Mills.<ref name=":0" />
* 1920 - The original locomotive derails, falls into Sawyer River, and is subsequently replaced.<ref name=":0" />
* 1922 - New reconstructed mill is completed.<ref name=":0" />
* 1924 - New school is completed, employing two teachers for approximately 20 students.<ref name=":0" />
* 1927 - A November storm devastates the town. The mill is severely damaged and a large section of the railroad bed is washed away.<ref name=":0" />
* 1928 - The last mill is closed.<ref name=":1" />
* 1929 - Clinton Nash inquires with the [[United States Forest Service]] about selling the Saunders sisters's Livermore holdings to the Forest Service.
* 1931 - The post office is closed.<ref name=":1" />
* 1937 - All but one {{convert|12|acre|ha|adj=on}} parcel of land is sold to the Forest Service for inclusion in the [[White Mountain National Forest]]. The remaining parcel was retained by the Saunders sisters, along with their mansion.<ref name=":0" />
* 1944 - A two story home, a boarding house, and remaining sawmill equipment are auctioned off by the Government.<ref name=":0" />
* 1947 - The locomotive is sold by the Forest Service.
* 1949 - The last two residents leave town.<ref name=":0" />
* 1951 - Livermore dissolved by an act of the New Hampshire legislature. During the same year, the Saunders sisters' 12 acres are passed to Clinton Nash.<ref name=":1" />
* 1963 - Clinton Nash's Livermore holdings, including the Saunders mansion, are sold to a couple from [[Conway, New Hampshire|Conway]], Robert and Bessie Shackford.<ref name=":0" />
* 1964 - Clinton Nash dies.<ref name=":0" />
* 1965 - Robert Shackford burns down the Saunders mansion after getting tired of constant vandalism and destruction of the property.<ref name=":0" />
* 1970s - Bill defeated in State House for Lincoln to annex Livermore.{{Citation needed|date=October 2022}}

[[Diatomaceous earth]]—also called [[tripolite]]—was once mined in Little East Pond and processed in a mill located in the southwestern part of Livermore township. The Tripoli Road received its name from this mill. The USFS Little East Pond Trail follows for some distance the grade of the old railroad that served the mill, and the ruins of the mill can still be found by following the line of the railroad grade into the woods for a short distance. However, this mill was far from the village of Livermore and was historically more identified with Thornton.

== See also ==
* [[List of ghost towns in New Hampshire]]
* [[Samuel Bemis]]

==References==

{{reflist}}
*In November 1969, [[Yankee (magazine)|''Yankee'']] magazine published an article "Forever Livermore", by James F. Morrow Jr., which provides an account of the town with many illustrations. It is currently available at http://www.bartletthistory.org/bartletthistory/livermoreYankeePg1.html and http://www.bartletthistory.org/bartletthistory/livermoreYankeePg2.html. A wealth of other information about Livermore's history can also be found at [http://www.bartletthistory.org/bartletthistory/livermore.html Bartletthistory.org].
*''Logging Railroads of the White Mountains'', by C. Francis Belcher, Boston, 1980, now unfortunately out of print, gives a thorough history of logging by railroad in Livermore and the rest of the White Mountains.

==External links==
*[http://nhpr.org/post/you-asked-we-answered-what-happened-people-nh-ghost-town Story about Livermore, NH] on [[New Hampshire Public Radio]] (July 21, 2017)

{{Geographic location
 | Centre    = Livermore
 | North     = [[Lincoln, New Hampshire|Lincoln]]
 | Northeast = [[Hart's Location, New Hampshire|Hart's Location]]
 | East      = [[Bartlett, New Hampshire|Bartlett]]
 | Southeast = [[Albany, New Hampshire|Albany]]
 | South     = [[Waterville Valley, New Hampshire|Waterville Valley]]
 | Southwest = [[Thornton, New Hampshire|Thornton]]
 | West      = [[Lincoln, New Hampshire|Lincoln]]
 | Northwest = [[Lincoln, New Hampshire|Lincoln]]
}}

{{Grafton County, New Hampshire}}

{{authority control}}

[[Category:Townships in Grafton County, New Hampshire]]
[[Category:Ghost towns in New Hampshire]]
[[Category:Townships in New Hampshire]]
[[Category:Exclaves in the United States]]