Tilton & Belmont Branch
The four-mile-long Tilton & Belmont branch of the Boston & Maine railroad opened on August 17, 1889 and closed in 1929. In September, 1934, the rails, bridges, and trestles were removed shortly after the Interstate Commerce Commission officially authorized the line’s dismantling. The line had only four stops. It began at Belmont Junction in East Tilton, stopped at Gardner’s Grove, then Tioga, and ended in Belmont at the Gilmanton Mills (later the Belmont Hosiery Company). Below is an excerpt from a 1921 Rand McNally map of New Hampshire showing the four stops.
The Tilton & Belmont branch crossed the Winnipesaukee River just below Silver Lake on its way from East Tilton to Belmont. Below are excerpts from the 1927 USGS (United States Geological Survey) Penacook and Gilmanton NH Quadrangles that shows exactly where the line branched off from the B&M main line that continued north to the Lochmere stop (before January 18, 1906, this was called the East Tilton stop) and beyond; and south to the Tilton stop and beyond.
Crossing the Winnipesaukee River on a long railroad trestle, the Tilton & Belmont Branch arrived at Gardner’s Grove. Gardner’s Grove was probably named after major landowner Harry Gardner, and the large grove of pine trees that lined the shore of this picturesque bay of Silver Lake. It was a small summer resort around the turn of the century, when many lakeside cottages were built, as well as a few seasonal commercial establishments.
The Tioga stop was next. It was named after the Tioga River, which powered many of Belmont’s mills throughout its history.
The last stop on the line was the Belmont station, adjacent to the Belmont mill. Although the line was built primarily to service the freight needs of the mill, curiously, the line ended on the opposite side of the Tioga River from the mill. The mill’s bulky finished products had to be transported by carriage up Main Street, across the 1870’s era Depot Street bridge, and back down the road leading to the station before they could be loaded onto waiting freight cars to be shipped to the mill’s customers. Commuting mill laborers were not as inconvenienced, however, as a narrow wooden footbridge across the Tioga connected the mill directly to the station.
The mill and a newer wooden footbridge are still there today, but the station is long gone. The terminus of the former railroad is now the starting point of the 2-mile,Village Spur Rail Trail, a pleasant walk through forests and fields.
Postcard showing the “First Train on the Tilton and Belmont Railroad August 17, 1889”.
The Gilmanton Mills in Belmont.
For more information about the Tilton & Belmont branch, please refer to Belmont, by Diane M. Marden and the Belmont Historical Society, Arcadia Publishing, 2006.
The Belmont Mill on a nice spring day, May 22, 2026. Repeated efforts have been made to move the Belmont town offices to the mill, but Belmont voters have not yet approved, due to the substantial cost to renovate the building up to modern standards. There are a few rooms in use by the town, but the mill remains mostly underutilized.
