DCR writes: Note that there are 2 mountains named Black Snout. Only the one on the left is officially named Black Snout; the one on the right is really part of Mt Shaw, but has, since the 1800’s, been known locally as Black Snout. The poetess Lucy Larcom, a guest at the Ossipee Mountain Park resort, once objected to what she felt was too crude a name for such a noble peak, and suggested that it be called Spruce Cap instead. Apparently the local folk said no thanks.

The webmaster replies: Apparently Black Snout, or Blacksnout, was once a common name for mountains in these parts. Brickyard Mountain in Weirs Beach was once also called Blacksnout. Historian Edgar H. Wilcomb, in his booklet Rambles About the Weirs, wrote about Brickyard Mountain thusly: “A little farther along toward Meredith just off the main road rises Blacksnout Mountain, from the summit of which is to be had the very best view obtainable about the Weirs of the Winnipesaukee lake and mountain region…The ascent from the road is very gradual and easy, but abrupt and practically impossible on the side toward the Lake. It is hoped that sometime this splendid vantage point will be utilized as a public park. There has been talk of an incline railway, including a large observatory at the topmost point.”

Historical Note: Artist J. Warren Thyng, in his book Reminiscences of the Poet Whittier, received a letter from Whittier, concerning the view of Chocorua from the Weirs, that read as follows:

” MY DEAR FRIEND,—I thank thee heartily for thy picture from the Weirs. It is the most beautiful view of the lake I have seen. I shall frame it and hang it in my study, for it is a picture one cannot tire of. I have never been at Sanborn’s (the Hotel Weirs), but if my life is spared I hope some day to look from his piazza. —JOHN G. WHITTIER”