Second College Grant, New Hampshire
Encyclopedia
Second College Grant is a township located in Coos County
, New Hampshire
, United States
. The area of this township is owned and controlled by Dartmouth College
. As of the 2010 census, the grant had a total population of 0.
Trails and cabins are available for use by the Dartmouth community, and are maintained by the Dartmouth Outing Club
and Dartmouth's Outdoor Programs Office. The DOC maintains three cabins available for rent by DOC members (Peaks, Alder Brook, and Stoddard), and the OPO maintains seven cabins for use by Dartmouth-affiliated individuals and their guests. Many freshmen spend a few days in the Grant as part of their freshmen trips just before freshman orientation. The Grant is also used for timber production, but forest-friendly, sustainable practices are employed.
The grant is bounded by the Maine
border to the east, Atkinson and Gilmanton Academy Grant
to the north, Dix's Grant
to the west, and Wentworth's Location
to the south. One of the other contemporaneous "Dartmouth" grants was to the north of Dixville
but was annexed as the eastern end of Clarksville
.
According to the United States Census Bureau
, the grant has a total area of 41.7 square miles (108 km²), of which 41.2 square miles (106.7 km²) is land and 0.5 square miles (1.3 km²), or 1.22%, is water. The highest point is a 2840 feet (865.6 m) knoll just west of Mount Tucker.
promised Eleazar Wheelock
a grant of a township on which to build Dartmouth College. In 1770, a month after Wheelock received the royal charter, the governor granted the college the township of Landaff
(east of Woodsville, New Hampshire
), but Wheelock, after viewing the land and others under consideration, decided to establish the college in Hanover
. After the American Revolution
the college lost its claim to Landaff in 1791, because of the grant’s royal derivation and rival claims by American settlers in Landaff.
While the Landaff case underwent litigation to resolve the rival claims, Vermont
(then meeting in Norwich
) came to the aid of the college and granted it the township of Wheelock
(northwest of St. Johnsbury
) in 1785. The college divided the town into 100 acre (0.404686 km²) lots and leased these to settlers. Over the years the college has sold most of the lots to meet financial needs but still holds title to some properties in the town.
In 1789, New Hampshire
, anticipating the college’s loss of the Landaff Grant, made good on its original promise of a grant with the town of Clarksville
(in northern New Hampshire). This is considered the First College Grant, as it was intended to replace the loss of the original Landaff Grant. The college sold most of this land in the first two years, and had sold off the rest by 1872.
The sale of the Clarksville Grant properties proved to be inadequate, and the college petitioned the state for an additional grant in 1792. Several proposals were made in the legislature, but it wasn’t until 1807 that the state responded with the Second College Grant. The lands of the Second College Grant proved to be unattractive to settlers, but sale of timber provided a small but steady income to the college over the next century and a half.
In 1947, Robert S. Monahan ’29 was hired as College Forester to oversee the College Grant, and since that time the multiple use philosophy of forest management has been formalized. As a result, the recreational and education concepts have become a prominent part of the Grant’s management with untold opportunities for use by the Dartmouth Family.
In 1970, Monahan retired, and cutting operations were suspended while a committee, named by the Trustees of the College in 1968 in anticipation of Monahan’s retirement, evaluated the existing policies. The Prentiss & Carlisle Company of Bangor, Maine
subsequently prepared a management plan which was transmitted to the College by the committee in early January 1970. This was adopted and referred to as the 10-20 Year Plan with provisions for an annual sustained yield cut of approximately 4,000 cords per year for the following twenty years. The Seven Islands Land Company of Bangor was retained by the College to oversee forestry management and to implement the Prentiss & Carlisle plan.
It was at this same time that Al Merrill was named Director of Outdoor Affairs and given responsibility for recreational and educational use of the Second College Grant along with oversight of the Moosilauke Ravine Lodge
and the Dartmouth Outing Club
.
In 1976 evidence of an increase in the spruce budworm
had already reached epidemic proportions in Maine
and Canada
. In response to this blight, the College imposed a two year moratorium on logging while a plan was developed. In 1978 the College implemented a salvage operation designed to remove the dead fir
while saving as much spruce
and hardwood
as possible. The salvage operation lasted until 1986, at which time the remaining standing dead fir had decayed beyond use.
Once again the harvesting activity was halted while the College took stock of its forest resources and considered its future management options. Seven Islands Land Company conducted a timber cruise survey and used the growth and inventory data to prepare a new 10-20 Year Management Plan. A consensus was reached that the College would be better served by having its own forester. A decision was then made to release Seven Islands Land company of its forest management responsibilities on the College Grant and to once again employ a College forester, Edward Witt.
After carefully analyzing the data prepared by Seven Islands, Witt decided that the annual growth rate of the forest would allow for a sustainable annual cut of 6,000 cords. The forest plan was modified to allow harvesting as much as 10,000 cords for ten years in an effort to remove the poorer quality trees and improve the overall quality of the forest. This would be followed by several years of cutting lesser volumes but higher quality trees. Further, because the forest is managed for the benefit of wildlife, cutting operations were modified to reflect that policy. Since 1987, the forest has been managed accordingly with the New Hampshire Fish and Game Department actively involved in the location, design, and methodology of the harvesting activity.
of 2010, there were no people living in the township. In the 1870s there were 11 inhabitants recorded.
Coos County, New Hampshire
-National protected areas:*Umbagog National Wildlife Refuge *Silvio O. Conte National Fish and Wildlife Refuge *White Mountain National Forest -Demographics:...
, New Hampshire
New Hampshire
New Hampshire is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. The state was named after the southern English county of Hampshire. It is bordered by Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Atlantic Ocean to the east, and the Canadian...
, United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. The area of this township is owned and controlled by Dartmouth College
Dartmouth College
Dartmouth College is a private, Ivy League university in Hanover, New Hampshire, United States. The institution comprises a liberal arts college, Dartmouth Medical School, Thayer School of Engineering, and the Tuck School of Business, as well as 19 graduate programs in the arts and sciences...
. As of the 2010 census, the grant had a total population of 0.
Trails and cabins are available for use by the Dartmouth community, and are maintained by the Dartmouth Outing Club
Dartmouth Outing Club
The Dartmouth Outing Club is the oldest and largest collegiate outing club in the United States. Proposed in 1909 by Dartmouth College student Fred Harris to "stimulate interest in out-of-door winter sports", the club soon grew to encompass the College's year-round outdoor recreation and has had...
and Dartmouth's Outdoor Programs Office. The DOC maintains three cabins available for rent by DOC members (Peaks, Alder Brook, and Stoddard), and the OPO maintains seven cabins for use by Dartmouth-affiliated individuals and their guests. Many freshmen spend a few days in the Grant as part of their freshmen trips just before freshman orientation. The Grant is also used for timber production, but forest-friendly, sustainable practices are employed.
Geography
In New Hampshire, locations, grants, purchases, and townships (which are different from towns) are unincorporated portions of a county which are not part of any town and have limited self-government (if any, as many are uninhabited).The grant is bounded by the Maine
Maine
Maine is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States, bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the east and south, New Hampshire to the west, and the Canadian provinces of Quebec to the northwest and New Brunswick to the northeast. Maine is both the northernmost and easternmost...
border to the east, Atkinson and Gilmanton Academy Grant
Atkinson and Gilmanton Academy Grant, New Hampshire
Atkinson and Gilmanton Academy Grant is a township in Coos County, New Hampshire, United States. It was granted by the state legislature to Gilmanton Academy and Atkinson Academy in equal shares in 1809 and contained about . It was later expanded by annexation of previously ungranted land to the...
to the north, Dix's Grant
Dix's Grant, New Hampshire
Dix's Grant is a township located in Coos County, New Hampshire, United States. As of the 2010 census, the grant had a total population of 1. In New Hampshire, locations, grants, townships , and purchases are unincorporated portions of a county which are not part of any town and have limited...
to the west, and Wentworth's Location
Wentworth's Location, New Hampshire
Wentworth's Location is a township in Coos County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 33 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Berlin, NH–VT Micropolitan Statistical Area....
to the south. One of the other contemporaneous "Dartmouth" grants was to the north of Dixville
Dixville, New Hampshire
Dixville is a township in Coos County, New Hampshire, United States. In New Hampshire, locations, grants, townships , and purchases are unincorporated portions of a county which are not part of any town and have limited self-government .The population was 12 at the 2010 census...
but was annexed as the eastern end of Clarksville
Clarksville, New Hampshire
Clarksville is a town located in northern Coos County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 265 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Berlin, NH–VT Micropolitan Statistical Area.- History :...
.
According to the United States Census Bureau
United States Census Bureau
The United States Census Bureau is the government agency that is responsible for the United States Census. It also gathers other national demographic and economic data...
, the grant has a total area of 41.7 square miles (108 km²), of which 41.2 square miles (106.7 km²) is land and 0.5 square miles (1.3 km²), or 1.22%, is water. The highest point is a 2840 feet (865.6 m) knoll just west of Mount Tucker.
History
In 1766, New Hampshire Governor John WentworthJohn Wentworth (governor)
Sir John Wentworth, 1st Baronet was the British colonial governor of New Hampshire at the time of the American Revolution. He was later also Lieutenant-Governor of Nova Scotia.-Early life:...
promised Eleazar Wheelock
Eleazar Wheelock
Eleazar Wheelock was an American Congregational minister, orator, educator, and founder of Dartmouth College....
a grant of a township on which to build Dartmouth College. In 1770, a month after Wheelock received the royal charter, the governor granted the college the township of Landaff
Landaff, New Hampshire
Landaff is a town in Grafton County, New Hampshire, United States. As of the 2010 census, the town population was 415.- History :The name on the town charter is Llandaff, after the Bishop of Llandaff, chaplain to England's King George III. Originally, however, the land was granted as Whitcherville...
(east of Woodsville, New Hampshire
Woodsville, New Hampshire
Woodsville is a census-designated place in the town of Haverhill in Grafton County, New Hampshire, U.S., along the Connecticut River at the mouth of the Ammonoosuc River. The population was 1,126 at the 2010 census...
), but Wheelock, after viewing the land and others under consideration, decided to establish the college in Hanover
Hanover, New Hampshire
Hanover is a town along the Connecticut River in Grafton County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 11,260 at the 2010 census. CNN and Money magazine rated Hanover the sixth best place to live in America in 2011, and the second best in 2007....
. After the American Revolution
American Revolution
The American Revolution was the political upheaval during the last half of the 18th century in which thirteen colonies in North America joined together to break free from the British Empire, combining to become the United States of America...
the college lost its claim to Landaff in 1791, because of the grant’s royal derivation and rival claims by American settlers in Landaff.
While the Landaff case underwent litigation to resolve the rival claims, Vermont
Vermont
Vermont is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. The state ranks 43rd in land area, , and 45th in total area. Its population according to the 2010 census, 630,337, is the second smallest in the country, larger only than Wyoming. It is the only New England...
(then meeting in Norwich
Norwich, Vermont
Norwich is a town in Windsor County, Vermont, United States, located along the Connecticut River opposite Hanover, New Hampshire. The population was 3,544 at the 2000 census....
) came to the aid of the college and granted it the township of Wheelock
Wheelock, Vermont
Wheelock is a town in Caledonia County, Vermont, United States. The population was 621 at the 2000 census.-Geography:According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 39.8 square miles , of which 39.6 square miles is land and 0.2 square mile is...
(northwest of St. Johnsbury
St. Johnsbury, Vermont
St. Johnsbury is the shire town of Caledonia County, Vermont, United States. The population was 7,571 at the 2000 census. St. Johnsbury is located approximately northwest of the Connecticut River and south of the Canadian border.St...
) in 1785. The college divided the town into 100 acre (0.404686 km²) lots and leased these to settlers. Over the years the college has sold most of the lots to meet financial needs but still holds title to some properties in the town.
In 1789, New Hampshire
New Hampshire
New Hampshire is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. The state was named after the southern English county of Hampshire. It is bordered by Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Atlantic Ocean to the east, and the Canadian...
, anticipating the college’s loss of the Landaff Grant, made good on its original promise of a grant with the town of Clarksville
Clarksville, New Hampshire
Clarksville is a town located in northern Coos County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 265 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Berlin, NH–VT Micropolitan Statistical Area.- History :...
(in northern New Hampshire). This is considered the First College Grant, as it was intended to replace the loss of the original Landaff Grant. The college sold most of this land in the first two years, and had sold off the rest by 1872.
The sale of the Clarksville Grant properties proved to be inadequate, and the college petitioned the state for an additional grant in 1792. Several proposals were made in the legislature, but it wasn’t until 1807 that the state responded with the Second College Grant. The lands of the Second College Grant proved to be unattractive to settlers, but sale of timber provided a small but steady income to the college over the next century and a half.
In 1947, Robert S. Monahan ’29 was hired as College Forester to oversee the College Grant, and since that time the multiple use philosophy of forest management has been formalized. As a result, the recreational and education concepts have become a prominent part of the Grant’s management with untold opportunities for use by the Dartmouth Family.
In 1970, Monahan retired, and cutting operations were suspended while a committee, named by the Trustees of the College in 1968 in anticipation of Monahan’s retirement, evaluated the existing policies. The Prentiss & Carlisle Company of Bangor, Maine
Bangor, Maine
Bangor is a city in and the county seat of Penobscot County, Maine, United States, and the major commercial and cultural center for eastern and northern Maine...
subsequently prepared a management plan which was transmitted to the College by the committee in early January 1970. This was adopted and referred to as the 10-20 Year Plan with provisions for an annual sustained yield cut of approximately 4,000 cords per year for the following twenty years. The Seven Islands Land Company of Bangor was retained by the College to oversee forestry management and to implement the Prentiss & Carlisle plan.
It was at this same time that Al Merrill was named Director of Outdoor Affairs and given responsibility for recreational and educational use of the Second College Grant along with oversight of the Moosilauke Ravine Lodge
Moosilauke Ravine Lodge
thumb|The Lodge, the main building of the Moosilauke Ravine Lodge complexMoosilauke Ravine Lodge is a cabin complex on the side of Mount Moosilauke in the White Mountains of New Hampshire. The main lodge structure, built on the site of old horse stables, was completed in 1938 under the direction of...
and the Dartmouth Outing Club
Dartmouth Outing Club
The Dartmouth Outing Club is the oldest and largest collegiate outing club in the United States. Proposed in 1909 by Dartmouth College student Fred Harris to "stimulate interest in out-of-door winter sports", the club soon grew to encompass the College's year-round outdoor recreation and has had...
.
In 1976 evidence of an increase in the spruce budworm
Spruce Budworm
Spruce budworms and relatives are a group of closely related insects in the genus Choristoneura. Most are serious pests of conifers. There are nearly a dozen Choristoneura species, subspecies, or forms, with a complexity of variation among populations found throughout much of the United States and...
had already reached epidemic proportions in Maine
Maine
Maine is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States, bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the east and south, New Hampshire to the west, and the Canadian provinces of Quebec to the northwest and New Brunswick to the northeast. Maine is both the northernmost and easternmost...
and Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
. In response to this blight, the College imposed a two year moratorium on logging while a plan was developed. In 1978 the College implemented a salvage operation designed to remove the dead fir
Fir
Firs are a genus of 48–55 species of evergreen conifers in the family Pinaceae. They are found through much of North and Central America, Europe, Asia, and North Africa, occurring in mountains over most of the range...
while saving as much spruce
Spruce
A spruce is a tree of the genus Picea , a genus of about 35 species of coniferous evergreen trees in the Family Pinaceae, found in the northern temperate and boreal regions of the earth. Spruces are large trees, from tall when mature, and can be distinguished by their whorled branches and conical...
and hardwood
Hardwood
Hardwood is wood from angiosperm trees . It may also be used for those trees themselves: these are usually broad-leaved; in temperate and boreal latitudes they are mostly deciduous, but in tropics and subtropics mostly evergreen.Hardwood contrasts with softwood...
as possible. The salvage operation lasted until 1986, at which time the remaining standing dead fir had decayed beyond use.
Once again the harvesting activity was halted while the College took stock of its forest resources and considered its future management options. Seven Islands Land Company conducted a timber cruise survey and used the growth and inventory data to prepare a new 10-20 Year Management Plan. A consensus was reached that the College would be better served by having its own forester. A decision was then made to release Seven Islands Land company of its forest management responsibilities on the College Grant and to once again employ a College forester, Edward Witt.
After carefully analyzing the data prepared by Seven Islands, Witt decided that the annual growth rate of the forest would allow for a sustainable annual cut of 6,000 cords. The forest plan was modified to allow harvesting as much as 10,000 cords for ten years in an effort to remove the poorer quality trees and improve the overall quality of the forest. This would be followed by several years of cutting lesser volumes but higher quality trees. Further, because the forest is managed for the benefit of wildlife, cutting operations were modified to reflect that policy. Since 1987, the forest has been managed accordingly with the New Hampshire Fish and Game Department actively involved in the location, design, and methodology of the harvesting activity.
Demographics
As of the censusCensus
A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring and recording information about the members of a given population. It is a regularly occurring and official count of a particular population. The term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common...
of 2010, there were no people living in the township. In the 1870s there were 11 inhabitants recorded.