Scenic Driving New England by Stewart M. Green

Author:Stewart M. Green
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781493035977
Publisher: Globe Pequot Press

On reaching Groton, turn east (right) on US 302 and drive 0.3 mile to Minard Hill Road. Turn north (left) here toward Peacham. The narrow, paved road climbs steeply out of Groton and drops into a broad swale. The drive runs north alongside Tannery Brook up the narrowing valley. Dense woods interrupted by occasional farms and hayfields line the blacktop. After a few miles the road crests an open ridge. Superb views of the distant White Mountains and the Vermont Piedmont unfold beyond the rise. The road gently descends into open farmland, crossing South Peacham Brook and sliding past a few houses in South Peacham. A mile later it enters Peacham.

Set among green hills at the relatively lofty elevation of 1,908 feet, Peacham is one of Vermont’s most charming villages. This isolated community was chartered in 1776 by Deacon Jonathon Elkins and flourished after the Bayley-Hazen Military Road pushed through the region. This 55-mile route was begun in 1776 for launching possible attacks on British Canada and opened northern Vermont to settlers after the Revolution. The Peacham Academy, founded in 1795 as the Caledonia County Grammar School, operated for well over 100 years until closing in the 1920s. A stone monument marks its former site. The impressive Congregational Church, recognized as one of America’s most beautiful country churches, presides over the town, lifting its tapered white spire above surrounding trees, barns, and houses near the village green. The church was built in 1806 and moved to its present location in 1843.

Notable Americans who grew up in Peacham include the violent abolitionist Thaddeus Stevens and George Harvey, an influential journalist and editor of Harper’s Weekly who was nicknamed “The President-Maker.” Harvey engineered Woodrow Wilson’s rise to political power as governor of New Jersey. He later pushed Warren G. Harding’s nomination and supported fellow Vermonter Calvin Coolidge for vice president. Herbert Hoover also consulted with Harvey before his election.

Peacham is a good place to stop and stretch your legs. Walk west from the four corners up a side street past the village church to a cemetery with spacious views of the surrounding countryside. Lovely green hills punctuate the skyline, among them New Hampshire’s White Mountains to the east. The town is also graced by several stately historical homes and the Peacham Café, a community-supported enterprise, which makes a tasty breakfast or lunch stop with sandwiches, soups, weekend brunch, and, of course, hot coffee. The cafe opened in 2012 as a place for locals to dine, gather, and buy local produce.

Leave Peacham and travel north out of the valley over rolling ridges and shallow vales. At Ewell Pond, a large lake hemmed in by trees, the road bends northeast and passes a detached section of Groton State Forest. Turning north again the road rolls through a small collection of houses at Harvey and 1.5 miles later enters Danville. The drive ends at the road’s junction with US 2 in Danville. This lovely village, spread across a humped hill, was northern Vermont’s largest town some 200 years ago.

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