Pisgah before the Park
Audio talks by John Putnam, Russell Herman & J. Ray Donovan

Tucked along the southwest corner of the Monadnock region lies Pisgah, a sprawling expanse of wooded hills and steep ravines. Before Pisgah (pronounced Pisgee by the local inhabitants) became a State Park facility in the 1970s, it was a wild and inaccessible place peopled by loggers, sawmill workers, farmers, and those who simply desired solitude. The sounds of saws and axes, horse chains and wagons, filled the air together with the hoots and howls of wild animals. As these voices recorded by the Winchester Historical Society in the 1980s attest, most of the men who lived and worked in Pisgah expressed an attitude of independence reminiscent of our region’s earliest pioneers.

Memories of Growing Up
John Putnam remembers logging and driving oxen with his father, haying, cutting cordwood and working in a local sawmill in Pisgah at the turn of the twentieth century. Read text.

Honey Gathering
John Putnam describes the process of locating a swarm of honeybees, cutting down the bee tree, draining the honey, and removing the comb. One summer he and his father captured seven large swarms in Pisgah. Read text.

The Stationary Mill
John Putnam explains the operation of a sawmill on the Broad Brook and the men who worked there around 1900. Read text.

Ginseng Hunting
John Putnam explains how he and his father searched the forests of Pisgah for the ginseng plant. He describes what ginseng looks like and where it used to grow. Read text.

Sugaring
John Putnam narrates the story of sugaring the old way, with the use of wooden buckets and sumac spouts. One winter he produced 40 gallons of syrup, all of which he sold for $2 a gallon. Read text.

"Old Sparky"
Russell Herman reminisces about his early life and the work he did at the Dickinson sawmill in Pisgah. He also tells the story of one stubborn horse named Old Sparky that only he could manage. Read text.

Lessons in Driving Horses
Russell Herman explains why it is important to pay close attention to the intuitions of a workhorse. Read text.

"A Good Catching Hook"
Russell describes the fine points of keeping a cant hook sharp. Read text.

Life in the Camp
Russell Herman remembers life in the boarding house at Dickinson's mill, and he narrates the memorable story of a lover's quarrel that ended in the death of two workers. Read text.

Walking Pisgah
Ray Donovan describes the thirty-mile hikes he routinely took throughout Pisgah as a boy. He also reminisces about the old growth forest in the Harvard tract, and about the Hurricane of 1938 that devastated this magnificent stand of timber. Read text.