Seniors Stop In Hinsdale
Hinsdale, a small town in the far southwest corner of New Hampshire with a population of just over 4,000, is home to part of Pisgah State Park in the northeast, and part of Wantastiquet Mountain State Forest in the northwest. Seniors will find Hinsdale beside the Connecticut River and connected to Brattleboro, Vermont by a neat old bridge.
Hinsdale, surrounded by excellent farmland, has been a significant center of industry as well, especially in the manufacture of paper in local mills.
The town was named after Colonel Ebenezer Hinsdale (or Hinsdell) who graduated from Harvard College and was later ordained a missionary to the Native Americans of the Connecticut River Valley. He was then stationed at Fort Drummer, an important trading post on the Connecticut River, as a chaplain.
Seniors Enjoy Hinsdale’s History
He owned property in what is now Hinsdale and in 1743, he built Fort Hinsdale and a grist mill (also known as a corn mill) reportedly at his own expense. He also established a large mercantile business in the town that had an early history of Native American assaults, raids and captivities.
The topography of Hinsdale is dominated by steep valleys running in a southwestern direction from the northeast corner of town. The town’s defining features are the river valleys which the Ashuelot and Connecticut Rivers flow through.
Hinsdale claims to have the oldest continuously operating post office in the United States. It was built in 1816.
Senior visitors can enjoy hiking, fishing, boating, snowmobiling, and cross country skiing. There is a house in town that is totally covered with license plates. Be sure not to miss it. You may have to ask the locals where it is located as they can certainly point it out to you.
Seniors Check Out The Chesterfield Inn
If you enjoy B&B’s like my wife and I do, TripAdvisor suggests that senior travelers check out the Chesterfield Inn, a comfortable, renovated farmhouse with cathedral ceilings and awesome views of the Connecticut River Valley.
Guests are invited to feel the stress of everyday life disappear and sit in front of the fire in the parlor or gaze out on the meadow with its cloud of wildflowers. Makes me kinda sleepy just reading this…
My wife and I greatly enjoy a B&B in place of a hotel or motel when we travel. Each seems to have an interesting history, including the story of the folks who own the B&B. And those wonderful breakfasts!
Seniors, as you travel up to New Hampshire, set your GPS for Hinsdale and spend some time in this fine little village. -jeb