Ossipee, NH

Ossipee is named for the Ossipee people, an Abenaki tribe who lived around the lake for centuries; translations of the name vary, with "beyond the water" among those cited. Around 1650 the Ossipee built a stockade fort near the lake, with English help, as defense against Mohawk raids, and in 1725 Captain John Lovewell raised his own fort on the old site during his expedition north. The town was incorporated on February 22, 1785.

The land itself has the region's wildest backstory. The Ossipee Mountains are the eroded ring of a volcano that erupted roughly 125 million years ago, leaving a nearly complete circle of hills about nine miles across, one of the best-known ring dike formations in North America. The lake sits in its shadow on sandy glacial outwash, which is why its beaches are so forgiving.

When Carroll County was created in 1840, named for Charles Carroll, the last surviving signer of the Declaration of Independence, Ossipee became the county seat, a role it still holds. The first courthouse, a white clapboard meetinghouse-style building, served until the fire of 1915. The railroad reached Ossipee Corner in 1871 and Center Ossipee in 1875, bringing commerce and the first waves of summer visitors; passenger trains ran until 1961.

Ossipee never turned into a resort town on the Winnipesaukee model, and locals consider that a feature. It stayed a working crossroads between the lakes and the White Mountains, with the Grant Hall Museum in Center Ossipee keeping the town's long story.