Another photo of Alton Bay from the Alton Bay bridge.



The other half of the bridge, not visible in the above pictures, sported an antique lamppost.



A 1940's view of the bridge roadway. Notice the sign for the Legionnaire speed boat.



In the first photo below, note the Mount Washington cruising out of the bay,
way off in the distance...the ducks add a nice touch.



In this second photo, notice the seaplane heading toward the beach.
In 1947, seaplane rides were offered by Skinner Seaplane Service. Even today, there is still a seaplane base in Alton Bay.



In this third postcard, once again we see a seaplane arriving.
The sign says : "Ride in the speed boat Legionnaire by the hour at reasonable rates"



There were actually 3 different Legionnaire speedboats offering 3 different rides.
The cheapest was a 35 cent, 7-mile ride in the regular Legionnaire, a 28', 150hp Gar Wood..
Fifty cents would get you a 10-mile ride at 45mph in the Legionnaire Special, a 26', 225hp Chris-Craft.
And a buck would get you the 10-mile ride at 65mph in the Legionnaire 70, a 36', 1000hp Gar Wood.





The full photo from the cover of the above brochure.



The center photo of the brochure was also made into a postcard.



A close-up of the regular Legionnaire ride.



An ad from the 1939 Lakes Region Association's "Where To" guidebook.



Downing's Legionnaires had competition. Right across the way one could ride Cram's Yankee Flyer or the Minute Man ( a 26', 275hp Hackercraft).



A view of Cram's from Downing's.



Over the years there were four Roman numeral versions of the Yankee Flyer. Version I was a 30', 350hp Dodge. Version II was a 28', 275hp Dodge.
We have no information regarding Version III. Version IV was also a 28' Dodge.







"RIDE THE SPEEDBOATS!"

PROGRAM COVER, 31ST ANNUAL ANTIQUE & CLASSIC BOAT SHOW, JULY 31, 2004, MEREDITH TOWN DOCKS, BY ALTON, NH ARTIST PETER FERBER
Also on Weirs Times cover page, Thursday, July 29, 2004.
"These ride boats had already seen many years of service by 1948, the year pictured here, but they still drew flocks of eager passengers in the upbeat years following World War II. "The Minute Man" was a 28 foot Hacker Craft from the late 20's or early 30's, named for its mile-a-minute speed. As it moves out, a fellow optimistically looks for a challenge match in his new 15 foot Lyman powered by some serious "iron", a 1948 33.4 horsepower Evinrude Speedifour. Returning from a "thrilling" run up Alton Bay is the "Yankee Flyer IV", a 28 foot Dodge triple cockpit runabout. Across the channel awaits the "Legionnaire 70". Billed as "the fastest public speedboat in the world", this custom-built 36 foot Gar Wood, powered by a 1,000 horsepower Packard engine, burned airplane fuel and reached speeds in excess of 70 mph. Downing's Landing anchored the tip of Alton Bay and was ready to provide you with everything from breakfast or lunch in the "Land-Ho" snack shop, to boat rides, gasoline, a new boat or motor, but always a happy memory."



Below we see the Legionnaire docks on the left, and the Yankee Flyer docks on the right.
To the extreme left we see a wee bit of the seaplane base.



A 1950's version of the same view, showing the public beach, and the seaplane at its base.



Here is another 1950's postcard, showing a land-based view of the Legionnaire docks. The location, Land-Ho, offered a kiddie ride as well as speedboat rides!
Note the Mount Washington leaving Alton Bay in the distance.



Another 50's view of Land-Ho.



A 1940's view of Land-Ho.



Another 1940's view of Land-Ho. Note the seaplane at its base.



A similar view as the above card, but about 20-30 years earlier!



This 1950's postcard shows a closeup of the public beach.



Another, later view of the Alton public beach



An early 50's view of the bay showing the seaplane heading to its base.



A close-up aerial view of Downing's, from an advertisment in the 1956 Lakes Region Association's "Where To" guidebook.



Finally, we see a boater approaching the Legionnaire docks in this 1950's chrome photo.