New Hampshire’s most beautiful drive is hiding a creepy story

Ruth Colbath’s 39-Year Vigil Along the Kancamagus Highway

The Kancamagus Highway began as two dead-end town roads until 1959, when crews linked them to form a 34. 5-mile dirt path through White Mountain National Forest.

Soon after, it got paved in 1964 and first saw snow plows in 1966. But the real story sits at the Russell-Colbath House, built in 1832.

Here, Ruth Colbath kept an oil lamp burning for 39 years after her husband Thomas left in 1891, saying he’d be back “in a little while. ” He finally returned in 1933—three years after Ruth died.

Now, over 750,000 cars drive this scenic byway yearly, with many folks spotting Ruth’s ghost still waiting by that same window.

Pioneers Built A Homestead In The Wilderness

Austin George settled in the Passaconaway area around 1810. He tried to make a living in the remote White Mountains, but nature fought back.

A hurricane and cold summer in 1814-1815 forced the George family to leave.

Thomas Russell saw a chance and bought 500 acres including the George property at a tax auction in 1829 for just $5.25.

Thomas and his son Amzi built a house in 1831-1832. Their home soon became the center of a growing farming and logging community.

Sawmills And Daughters Filled The Russell Home

Amzi Russell ran a sawmill and bought thousands of acres for future logging railroads.

He and his wife Eliza raised five daughters in their Swift River valley home, including Ruth Priscilla Russell born in 1850. Ruth grew up and met Thomas Alden Colbath, a former sailor who found work in logging.

They married and settled in the small mountain community. When Amzi died around 1879, he owned up to 13,000 acres but left many debts and unpaid taxes.

The family kept only the 100-acre homestead.

Mail Came Through Ruth’s Front Door

In 1887, Eliza Russell gave the homestead to Ruth and Thomas Colbath. Ruth became an important person in town as the first postmistress of Passaconaway in 1890.

She ran the post office right from her home, connecting the mountain town to the outside world. The logging community grew to 1,500 people during busy times.

Two logging railroads served the area: the Bartlett & Albany and the Swift River Railroad. Ruth handled mail duties until 1907.

A Husband Walks Away Forever

On a September day in 1891, Thomas Colbath told Ruth he was going to run errands and would “be back in a little while. ” Thomas, in his 40s, never came home that day or any day after.

The town searched but found no sign of him. Ruth faced life alone, caring for her aging mother Eliza and running the homestead by herself.

The town talked about Thomas’s strange disappearance, but nobody solved the mystery. No one knew if Thomas had an accident, started a new life, or just left.

Her Lamp Burned Every Night For 39 Years

Ruth put an oil lamp in her window each night hoping to guide Thomas home if he got lost in the dark. She kept up this faithful habit every night for 39 years.

Ruth continued farming and caring for her elderly mother until Eliza died in 1905. Neighbors knew Ruth by the lamp she kept burning in her window.

Through harsh New Hampshire winters and passing decades, Ruth never remarried or lost hope for Thomas’s return. Her loyalty became famous among locals who passed the glowing window.

Logging Towns Vanished Into Forest

Logging used up all the nearby timber by the early 1900s, breaking the town’s backbone. The Swift River Railroad stopped running in 1916, cutting off the town’s money source.

The post office closed that same year, making the few people left even more cut off. Families moved away one by one to find jobs elsewhere as the busy town faded away.

Ruth found herself more alone but kept lighting her lamp each night. The forest slowly took back the land where homes once stood.

Roads Stopped At The Edge Of The Wilderness

By 1937, two separate roads existed: one ending in Lincoln, another in Conway. No road crossed the White Mountain National Forest between these towns.

New Hampshire road crews and the U.S. Forest Service started planning a connection to link these cut-off areas. Workers began the hard job of building a road through the tough mountain land.

The project moved slowly through the wild forest over the next twenty years, slowly pushing the path closer to Ruth’s home.

The Light Went Out When Ruth Died

Ruth Priscilla Colbath died in 1930 at age 80, after waiting 39 years for her husband. The oil lamp that burned in her window every night since 1891 finally went dark.

Ruth was buried in the small Passaconaway Cemetery within sight of her childhood home. The family sold the property and split the money among Ruth’s cousins since she had no children.

The Russell-Colbath House stood as the last building from the once-busy logging town, a quiet reminder of Ruth’s amazing loyalty.

Thomas Came Home Three Years Too Late

The Kancamagus Highway opened to traffic in August 1959 as a dirt road. It took the combined work of NH road crews, U.S. road builders, and Forest Service to finish the 34.5-mile route connecting Lincoln and Conway.

The new road cut through the heart of White Mountain National Forest, passing near Ruth’s old home.

Sadly, Thomas Colbath returned in 1933, three years after Ruth died. He gave no reason for his 42-year absence, learned about Ruth’s death, and then left again forever.

Cars Now Speed Where Wagons Once Crawled

The growing popularity and safety worries led to paving the Kancamagus Highway in 1964. Road crews plowed snow for winter driving for the first time during the 1966-67 winter.

The U. S. Department of Transportation named 26. 5 miles as a National Scenic Byway in 1987 for its amazing natural beauty.

Over 750,000 cars now drive the route each year, far more than the few wagons that once passed by. The Forest Service bought the Russell-Colbath House in 1961, saving it as a historic site.

Ghostly Lamps Still Glow For Travelers

A 2024 survey of 3,000 drivers ranked the Kancamagus as New Hampshire’s third most haunted road.

Motorists report seeing an oil lamp glowing in the Russell-Colbath House window at night, though the building stands empty.

Drivers encounter the ghostly image of Ruth Colbath along remote stretches of highway, particularly on foggy evenings.

The house attracts ghost hunters and paranormal investigators hoping to document Ruth’s restless spirit.

Her eternal vigil continues along the scenic byway she never lived to see completed, still waiting for Thomas to come home after all these years.

Visiting The Kancamagus Scenic Byway, NH

You can visit the Russell-Colbath House Day Use Area along the Kancamagus Highway to learn about Ruth Colbath, who kept a lamp burning for 39 years waiting for her missing husband.

The house is open July 4th through early October with costumed volunteers sharing her story and showing period household items. Entry requires a $5 day pass or annual forest pass.

Walk the half-mile Rail and River Trail to see logging history displays.

This article was created with AI assistance and human editing.

Read more from this brand:

• This $100,000 gift in 1915 started New Hampshire’s weirdest collection
• Fort Constitution, 1809: America’s deadliest July 4th you never heard of
• In 1656, New Hampshire locked up its first witch. She wouldn’t break for 24 years.