Mount Washington Hotel & Cog Railroad
- Loretta Hubler
- Oct 10, 2018
- 2 min read
Updated: 4 days ago
Oct 2018 - The hotel was completed in 1902 and the most luxurious hotel of its day. The hotel catered to wealthy guest from Boston, New York and Philadelphia. As many as 50 trains a day stopped at Bretton Woods' three railroad stations. One of these stations, Fabyan's, is now one of the Resort's dining establishments. The hotel has been host to countless celebrities, including Thomas Edison and three U.S. presidents. In 1944, The Mount Washington hosted the Bretton Woods International Monetary Conference with delegates from 44 nations, establishing the World Bank and International Monetary Fund, setting the gold standard at $35 an ounce and designating the United States dollar as the backbone of international exchange. The signing of the formal documents took place in the Gold Room, located off the Hotel Lobby and now preserved as an historic site. See information on the hotel here.
On a whim, I asked if we could see one of the rooms. Well, a young girl took us for a tour up to the Princess Room where Princess Carolina would stay and told us several stories about the Princess along with ghost stories about the place. Yep, the hotel is haunted! Joseph Stickney had the hotel built but passed away in 1903, shortly after the hotel opened. The operation of the hotel was assumed by his widow, Caroline Foster Stickney who became Princess Caroline after her marriage to a French nobleman Prince Aymon de Faucigny-Lucinge. After his death she would spend her summers here and she is reported to be haunting the hotel. Many of the workers have had experiences including this girl.
Read about some of the history here.
Down the road is the Mount Washington Cog Railroad. World's first mountain climbing cog railroad to the top of the highest peak in Northeast.
You can see three trains climbing the mountain in this picture
The first steam engine to climb the mountain
