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Hart’s Location, New Hampshire was named for Colonel John Hart of Portsmouth. In 1772, the land was granted to Thomad Chadbourne, also of Portsmouth. Hart’s Location was built along an obscure Indian trail leading through the White Mountains, which became the Coos Road, along which a public house was built in 1793. It was abandoned until 1825, when Samuel Wiley Jr. moved into it, along with his wife and five children. On August 28, 1826, they were all killed in a landslide that became known as Wiley’s Slide. They had fled their home to take refuge in a shelter, but the shelter was destroyed while the home remained undamaged. This tragedy inspired Nathaniel Hawthorne to write “The Ambitious Guest” in 1835. With a population of forty-one, as of the 2010 census, the town in Carroll County is the smallest town in the state. It is crossed by the Appalachian Trail. Since 1948, Hart's Location has been known for being the first to declare its results in presidential primaries and presidential elections.

 

 

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