New Hampshire’s ancient underwater secret is now a monument you can touch

Endicott Rock’s 1833 Rediscovery After 181 Years Underwater

For 181 years, America’s oldest public monument sat forgotten underwater in Lake Winnipesaukee. Then in 1833, workers dredging a channel for the new steamboat Belknap made a shock find – Endicott Rock from 1652.

The 96-foot Belknap needed deeper water to cruise between the lake and Paugus Bay at its slow 6 mph pace. After the rock’s surprise discovery, New Hampshire took nearly 60 years to fully protect it.

In 1892, the state built the granite pavilion that still shields this historic boulder today.

The quiet waterfront park in Weirs Beach now showcases this remarkable piece of colonial history that almost vanished forever.

The Rock That Stayed Hidden for 181 Years

Endicott Rock lay forgotten underwater for 181 years after people carved on it in 1652. The boulder sat at the mouth of Weirs Channel connecting Lake Winnipesaukee to Paugus Bay in New Hampshire.

No white settlers lived in the area after the survey team left.

Water covered this piece of history while Abenaki and other Native American tribes fished and hunted around the lake through the early 1700s, not knowing about the colonial marker below.

Lake Travel Needed Deeper Waters

The Winnipisiogee Steamboat Company started in the early 1830s with big plans for Lake Winnipesaukee. They built their first boat, the Belknap, at Lake Village in 1833.

Getting the steamboat around the lake meant fixing the shallow Weirs Channel between Lake Winnipesaukee and Paugus Bay. The channel was twice as wide as today but too shallow for large boats.

Company owners knew they needed to dig deeper to make their steamboat business work.

Meet the Belknap: New Hampshire’s First Lake Steamer

The Belknap was 96 feet long and 17 feet wide, making it quite big for early lake travel. Workers put in a used sawmill steam engine that moved the boat at about 6 mph.

The company named it after Reverend Jeremy Belknap, who wrote the first history books about New Hampshire. The boat needed more water depth than nature gave to safely carry people and goods between lake stops.

Workers Dug the Channel Deeper

The 1833 digging project aimed to make room for the Belknap and future boats. Work crews only dug out the east side of the channel instead of the whole waterway.

They piled the dug-up stuff in the middle, creating a barrier that split the passage.

The project also involved lifting the bridge at the Weirs outlet so tall steamboat stacks could pass underneath without hitting it.

Something Odd Came Up From the Bottom

Channel workers pulled up more than mud and rocks during their digging. They found a large boulder with strange markings cut into its surface.

After 181 years underwater, “JOHN ENDICUT GOV” and several sets of initials showed up again in the sunlight. The workers had found solid proof of the earliest European visit to the area.

The rock had been placed there by Massachusetts Bay Colony surveyors almost two centuries earlier.

People Figured Out What They Found

Locals spotted the markings as the work of Captain Simon Willard and Captain Edward Johnson from their 1652 trip. The rock marked the northernmost boundary claim for Massachusetts Bay Colony.

Community members realized they had found the oldest public monument in New England. Some folks tried to protect the rock right away, though proper care would take decades.

The Rock Got a New Home

Workers moved the old boulder from its spot in the channel to the edge of the beach for better protection. The eastern side of the channel gave enough depth for steamboats while the western part stayed shallow.

The line of dug-up material created a middle barrier you could see when water levels dropped. A wooden bridge took visitors to the monument site, which sat with water all around it.

Early Tries to Save the Aging Stone

New Hampshire officials saw the rock wearing away and knew they needed to act. Repair work began to stop the natural damage that threatened the old carvings.

Workers added iron fittings to keep growing cracks from splitting the granite surface. State leaders started planning better protection as public interest in the historic marker grew throughout the area.

Lawmakers Stepped Up to Protect History

The New Hampshire legislature passed plans on August 25, 1885, and September 7, 1893, to save the rock. They put three men in charge: John Kimball, Erastus P. Jewell, and Joseph B. Walker.

The state approved building a protective granite structure around the historic rock. Money went aside just for creating a memorial that would shield the boundary marker for future folks to see.

A Stone House for an Ancient Stone

The granite memorial stood complete in 1892, exactly 240 years after the original 1652 carving. The monument covered Endicott Rock while letting visitors see the historic markings.

A wooden footbridge brought people to the memorial site, which sat with channel waters around it. The structure protected the rock from rain, snow, and other things that had damaged it for nearly two centuries.

The Channel Changed Shape Over Time

A steel bridge replaced the wooden one in 1901 and served visitors for almost four decades. Workers completely filled in the western side of Weirs Channel in 1938, expanding Endicott Rock Park.

This final modification connected the monument directly to the mainland, eliminating the need for any bridge.

The channel became the narrow waterway we know today, with the monument now accessible by walking through the park grounds.

Visiting Endicott Rock, New Hampshire

You can visit Endicott Rock for free in Weirs Beach village of Laconia on Lakeside Avenue near Weirs Channel.

This rock was America’s oldest public monument until steamboat workers found it underwater in 1833 after 181 years. New Hampshire spent decades preserving it, building the granite monument you see today in 1892.

Parking costs $10 at the lot or $2.50 per hour at street meters. Picnic facilities are available but pets aren’t allowed.

This article was created with AI assistance and human editing.

Read more from this brand:

• America’s kindest prison sat on this New Hampshire naval base for four years
• In this quiet Iowa park, Native American land ownership survived its closest Supreme Court call
• How a exploding tire and five deaths created the legendary “Brickyard” in Indianapolis