Ashland, NH

Ashland grew out of the Squam River’s drops and falls. The river powered a sawmill and gristmill as early as 1770–71, then paper and woolen mills followed; by 1900, seven dams lined the three-mile course through town. The Boston, Concord and Montreal Railroad arrived in 1849, linking the mill village to wider markets, and Ashland separated from Holderness as its own town in 1868. The Pemigewasset River borders the west, Little Squam Lake sits to the east, and the old rail station and grist-mill history keep the industrial outline visible. Ashland is a New Hampshire town shaped by waterpower first, rail second.