Ammonoosuc Inn & Restaurant

Lisbon -Towns of the White Mountains

Lisbon is a town in Grafton County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 1,587 at the 2000 census. Lisbon hosts an annual “Lilac Festival” on Memorial Day weekend.

The primary settlement in town, where over 67% of the population lives, is defined as the Lisbon census-designated place (CDP) and is located along U.S. Route 302 and the Ammonoosuc River in the southwestern corner of the town.

First granted in 1763 by Colonial Governor Benning Wentworth as “Concord”, in 1764 the town was renamed “Chiswick”, after the Duke of Devonshire’s castle, when “Rumford” took the name “Concord”. In 1768, the town was settled and renamed “Gunthwaite” after a relation of Colonial Governor John Wentworth. The name “Lisbon” was selected by Governor Levi Woodbury when it was incorporated in 1824. His friend, Colonel William Jarvis, had been consul at Lisbon, Portugal. The town once included land that is now part of Littleton and Sugar Hill.

Charcoal-making was an early industry. Iron, gold and other minerals were mined here. The narrow, steep falls of the Ammonoosuc River provided water power for numerous watermills and factories, and the Parker Young Company was at one time the largest manufacturer of piano sounding boards in the world. Lisbon was the site of the first rope ski tow in New Hampshire.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 26.7 square miles (69 km²), of which 26.5 sq mi (69 km²) is land and 0.2 sq mi (0.52 km²) is water comprising 0.60% of the town. The town center, or census-designated place, has a total area of 3.4 sq mi (8.8 km²), of which 0.60% is water.

The highest point in town is an unnamed hill east of Pearl Lake which reaches 1,620 feet (490 m) above sea level. Babbit Hill has an elevation of 1,092 ft (333 m). The Ammonoosuc and Gale rivers flow through the town.