2. From Trails to Rails Transportation in New Hampshire (and Roads and Runways)

3. New Hampshire often has played an important role in the history of transportation. Can you identify New Hampshire’s connection to each of the following four landmark changes in transportation?

8. Studying changes in the way people move from one place to another can help us understand much about our society.

9. To prepare for a study of transportation in New Hampshire, think about … how changes in the ways people move around have affected our state.

10. The way that people make a living is often determined by how they travel. How many jobs in your community can you associate with the fact that today people travel by automobile?

11. What impact have different forms of transportation had on our environment? New England’s Woodland Tribes traveled on foot or by canoe.

12. Beginning in the 1600s, European settlers brought with them new forms of transportation. Domesticated animals like horses and oxen transported goods overland to market.

13. …and specialized ships called gundalows traveled rivers too shallow for ships, carrying goods for import and export.

14. From the mid 1700s through the early 1800s, towns away from the major waterways developed rapidly. Roads were necessary to connect these towns to markets and to each other.

15. Abbot and Downing’s Concord Coach made it possible for horses to carry heavier loads and for people to travel more comfortably.

16. And railroads made distant markets available to people throughout our state.

17. The next time you travel in New Hampshire, use a map of the state to answer these questions: How long might it have taken people in the mid 1800s to reach your destination?How long might it have taken people in the mid 1800s to reach your destination? What means of travel would they have used?What means of travel would they have used? What means of travel would the Abenaki have used to make the same trip in the 1500s?What means of travel would the Abenaki have used to make the same trip in the 1500s? How long might it have taken them?How long might it have taken them?

18. On the day of your trip, check out the routes you travel and the length of time it takes you to get here. How much faster was your trip than that of the Indians and the people of the 1800s?How much faster was your trip than that of the Indians and the people of the 1800s? How different was the route you took from that which they would have taken?How different was the route you took from that which they would have taken? Could you still travel there using the means of travel and the routes taken by these earlier people?Could you still travel there using the means of travel and the routes taken by these earlier people?

19. Make your next trip a visit to the New Hampshire Historical Society Museum! We hope to see you soon! © 2008 Christopher MacLeod for the New Hampshire Historical Society