Curiosity – Discovery – Imagine: Walking Through an Abandoned Farm Community
Imagine tromping through the woods and coming across old cellar holes — pausing in one place, looking around, and spotting a grove of apple trees. You notice bits of metal peeking through the soil, maybe a hinge or a hand-forged nail, and start to wonder: Who lived here? What stories did this land hold?
Simple. Hard. Inventive.
Recently, my husband, friends, and I visited the site of an old farm settlement dating back to the late 1800s — a once-thriving community called Thornton Gore, tucked in the White Mountains of New Hampshire. Today, it's a quiet forest. But more than a century ago, it was alive with families, fields, and the rhythm of daily work.
A Glimpse into the Past
Thornton Gore was home to 22 farms, a schoolhouse, a church, and a mill. The families who lived here worked the land by hand, building a life from what the earth and forest could provide.
They planted potatoes, tended sheep for wool, churned butter, and tapped maple trees each spring for syrup — their only sweetener. Their farms were small, their tools simple, and their days long, but their way of life was rich in community and creativity.
Walking the same paths today, you can almost hear the rhythmic creak of a wagon or the chatter of neighbors trading goods by lantern light. The forest has reclaimed their fields, yet traces of their lives remain — stone walls, cellar holes, and apple trees.
Nature Reclaims, but the Spirit Remains
By the early 1900s, most families had left Thornton Gore. Jobs in textile mills, changing markets, and exhausted soil drew people elsewhere. What they left behind became part of the White Mountain National Forest, where nature slowly took back what was once cleared farmland.
Standing there now, surrounded by quiet trees and soft ground, it’s impossible not to feel a sense of connection — to the resourcefulness of those who came before us and to the land that continues to nourish us in its own way.
Bringing History to the Table
While their homes and barns are long gone, we can still honor what they grew and made. A simple potato, pulled from the ground and baked until crisp and tender, is a humble reminder of their sustenance and creativity.
Try this comforting recipe inspired by what might have graced their tables — Baked Potatoes with Creamy Plant-Based Cheese Sauce.
A Taste of Connection
Just as the settlers of Thornton Gore relied on simple, nourishing foods from their land, we too can find comfort in the basics — a potato transformed into something satisfying and good. Cooking this way connects us to those who once walked this same ground, reminding us that even the simplest meals can carry history, heart, and gratitude for the land that sustains us.