Ammonoosuc Inn & Restaurant

Sugar Hill - Towns of the White Mountains

Sugar Hill is a town in Grafton County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 563 at the 2000 census. Sugar Hill is a venerable resort community which overlooks the White Mountain National Forest, including the Presidential, Franconia, Kinsman and Dalton ranges.

This town is New Hampshire’s youngest, incorporated in 1962. After considerable litigation, it was carved out of Lisbon to be an independent voting unit. The name Sugar Hill comes from a large grove of sugar maples in the hills.

With clean air and panoramic views from atop Sunset Hill Ridge of both the White Mountains and Green Mountains, the community became a fashionable Victorian resort. First attracted by paintings of White Mountain artists, the wealthy arrived by train to escape the heat, humidity and pollution of summers in Boston, Hartford, New York and Philadelphia. Several hostelries were built, including the Hotel Lookoff. Sadly, none of the Grand Hotels remain in Sugar Hill.

The first resort-based ski school in the U.S. was opened at Sugar Hill in 1929 by Katharine “Kate” Peckett with her husband, Austrian ski instructor Sig Buchmayer, both important figures in the history of skiing. The same year, organized ski trains from Boston began running to the White Mountains.