Balsams Grand Resort

1918: It originated as a rustic 25 rooms summer guest house, already with a new wing the size was more than double. The 15.000 acre resort -just a few minutes from Maine, Vermont and Canada- is an outdoor enthusiast's dream. The BALSAMS has operated continuously since first opening as the DIX HOUSE- a rustic and charming twenty-five room summer inn established by local innkeeper, George Parsons. Built just after the Civil War, the original inn honored the name of the town's founding father and first landowner, Colonel Timothy Dix. A patriot of the American Revolution, Dix lost his life in battle during the war of 1812. His attorney and business partner, Daniel Webster, took over Dix's land holdings in 1813. Webster sponsored the town's first settlers, the Whitemore family. These hardy pioneers shared their hearth and home with wayfarers on the old Coös Trail through Dixville Notch. Weary travelers were refreshed by the Whitemore's home-style hospitality. Their quaint, personal kind of innkeeping was a common style of accommodation on the early New England frontier. This generous family-style accommodation of overnight guests evolved naturally into more sophisticated destination resort hospitality- soon popular everywhere and known appropriately as "the American plan." In his 1869 White Mountain Guide S.C. Eastman cites an earlier explorer's prophetic description-Dr. Jackson...speaks of the Dixville Notch as more Alpine in its character than any other pass of our New England mountains, and predicts that its grandeur will yet make it a place of large resort. In 1895 a wealthy Philadelphia inventor and industrialist, Henry S. Hale, purchased the DIX HOUSE (where he had been a long-time summer guest) and renamed it The BALSAMS. Hale's creative spirit was prolific, and he steadily expanded and enhanced the resort's facilities and accommodations. By 1918 Hale realized his final vision for The BALSAMS with the completion of the Hampshire House-still called the "new wing." This elegant addition effectively doubled the overnight capacity of the resort to 400 guests. Today full-house guest numbers remain unchanged. There is no condominium or second home development on property. The BALSAMS has been recognized by the National Trust for Historic Preservation as one of America's treasured historic hotels. Since 1866, the resort has had only six owners. The current hosts have been in place since 1971. As former seasonal employees, they practice a distinctive style of hands-on management. ---------- In this case our historic database is incomplete. We strive to collect historic data. If you are in charge of your hotel's historic database and you read these lines, please kindly contact us to help us to fill the gaps. Please contact archives@famoushotels.org Subject: the name of the hotel Outside contributors of stories, legends and facts are also most welcome. Thank you Your Keeper of the Archives