Wolfeboro
Lakeside Town On The Eastern Shore Of Lake Winnipesaukee That Calls Itself The Oldest Summer Resort In America, A Claim Based On Governor John Wentworth'S Summer Estate Of The 1760s 70s (Confirm); Home Of The Wright Museum Of World War II, The Libby Museum And The New Hampshire Boat Museum (Confirm Current Names And Sites). · Wolfeboro, New Hampshire
A lakeside town on the eastern shore of Lake Winnipesaukee, where Main Street runs down to a harbor of town docks, a bandstand park and white clapboard buildings on Wolfeboro Bay. It calls itself the oldest summer resort in America, a claim resting on the summer estate the colonial governor John Wentworth built on the shore of nearby Lake Wentworth in the late 1760s and early 1770s; the estate burned long ago and only its site remains. The town grew as a summer place for wealthy families from Boston and beyond, and many of their lakeside estates still line the shore. Today the centre holds bookshops, galleries, ice cream stands, a historic inn and restaurants, plus three museums: the Wright Museum of World War II, the Libby Museum of natural history north of town and the New Hampshire Boat Museum, which collects the lake's wooden runabouts. The Cotton Valley Rail Trail leaves the edge of town across causeways over Crescent Lake and Lake Wentworth. Summer weekends are busy and parking is tight; spring and late autumn are very quiet.
Main Street, Wolfeboro, New Hampshire, 03894, United States
Main Street, the town docks, Cate Park and the Cotton Valley Rail Trail are public and open all year; the rail trail is not ploughed and is used by snowmobiles in winter (confirm). Shops open about 9 or 10 am to 5 or 6 pm in summer, with shorter hours and some midweek closures from November to April. The Wright Museum has generally opened daily from about May to October (confirm). The Libby Museum has opened only in summer, about June to Labor Day, closed Mondays (confirm). The Boat Museum has opened about late May to mid-October (confirm). Several restaurants close for a few weeks in spring.