The Museum of the White Mountains has opened in Plymouth, with it’s inaugural exhibit “Passing Through, The Allure of the White Mountains.” Works by 19th century artists Thomas Cole, Benjamin Champney, Frank Shapleigh, Samuel Lancaster Gerry, and others, on view February 23, 2013 through February 16, 2014, show the New Hampshire mountain region.
At the White Mountains, c. 1875, Chromolithograph Credit Printed by Frederick Gleason / Courtesy of the New Hampshire Historical Society
The exhibition presents images, interpretive panels, films and interactive technologies to invite visitors to question the influence of time and space on human connections with nature. Focusing on five distinct areas—Crawford Notch, Mount Washington Valley (eastern slopes), the Summit of Mount Washington, the Northern Presidentials, and Franconia Notch—visitors will think more deeply about the White Mountain region and the evolving human experience of it.
Time and space influence perception. When the first white travelers came to the White Mountains, they traveled slowly along winding trails on foot or horseback. Awed by the towering forests and high peaks in what appeared to them to be a vast wilderness, they were spurred on by hope and fear. Eventually, some settled as farmers and used Native American trails that eventually morphed into rough roads. Scientists interested in the mountains explored and reported what they learned. Artists, tourists, hotel owners, and industry followed.
