NH Historical Highway Marker unveiled atop Pack Monadnock

The N.H. Division of Historical Resources is pleased to announce that a New Hampshire Historical Highway Marker, commemorating the Miller State Park as the first state park in New Hampshire, has been installed atop Pack Monadnock in Peterborough.

The marker reads: 

“MILLER STATE PARK 
“NEW HAMPSHIRE’S FIRST STATE PARK 

“A gift of three acres atop Pack Monadnock in 1891 for use as a ‘park or pleasure-ground,’ Miller State Park has grown to more than 530 acres. ‘Pack,’ an ancient Abenaki word meaning ‘small,’ contrasts its summit with nearby Mount Monadnock. The site has included a ‘mountain highway,’ two different hotels that each succumbed to fire, and a fire look-out tower built by the Civilian Conservation Corps in the 1930s. The park is named for Peterborough native Gen. James Miller.”

The marker, which is located within the park, was unveiled on September 23 at a ribbon cutting for the Miller State Park revitalization project. It is the 270th marker in New Hampshire’s Historical Highway Marker program. 

Any municipality, agency, organization or individual wishing to propose a historical highway marker to commemorate significant New Hampshire places, persons or events must submit a petition of support signed by at least 20 New Hampshire residents. They must also draft the text of the marker and provide footnotes and copies of supporting documentation, as well as a suggested location for marker placement.

New Hampshire’s historical highway markers illustrate the depth and complexity of our history and the people who made it, from the last Revolutionary War soldier to contemporary sports figures to poets and painters who used New Hampshire for inspiration; from 18th-century meeting houses to stone arch bridges to long-lost villages; from factories and cemeteries to sites where international history was made. 

An interactive map of all of the state’s historical highway markers is available at the N.H. Division of Historical Resources’ website, nhdhr.dncr.nh.gov. 

The New Hampshire Historical Highway Marker program is jointly managed by the N.H. Division of Historical Resources and N.H. Department of Transportation.

###