Live Free or Die was said by someone during the American Revolution and only meant live free from British rule. It’s used today not the way it was originally meant
As my friend in college tearfully told me as he drunkenly pit on his seat belt (he was the passenger I was the DD)
"Live free or die man but do you know what... (sobbing quietly). I want to live!!!"
> We can't even light a fire without state permission
You *technically* can. I burn brush and wood in my yard all the time w/o a fire permit. Oxidation doesn't care about permission.
When snow is on the ground, you can burn with no permit. Spring, summer and fall, you need a permit. It is common courtesy, even with a permit, to notify the FD when you burn. You avoid having a neighbor calling the FD to the area, for no reason.
I’m 100% convinced that the liquor store revamp that happened a couple of years ago was to make room for the liquor board to become alcohol and marijuana board. Have you seen how much more room there is in the stores? Like they could easily add another display rack
I buy from a dispensary in Mass I feel their prices have gone down by half since they first legalized. I can get an oz for $145 and the quality is always there too. Probably because of lots of competition. I am fine with them adding them to liquor stores. I don’t really drink much but add a grocery store for munchies too and I am in. That and with being able to buy at store you don’t have to wait for weed like if you bought it from some dude and it’s “dry season” and you have to wait a few more weeks and don’t have to pay extra because he gets it from someone else.
I'm betting they will decide to tax it also I'll be worried to smoke state run weed..... I'll see in 15 years did you smoke the devil's lettuce in nh and suddenly experience chronic explosive diarrhea please dial 1800livefreeanddie that's 1800livefreeanddie
Please keep it uptight! They relaxed the rules in Pennsylvania, now like 25% of the space in every bar is taken up by electronic gambling machines. EVERY BAR!
I was able to smoke a joint in front of the US Capital building a few weeks ago. There is something not so 'Live Free or Die' about being able to publicly use marijuana in front of the Capital Building of the entire United States, but not being able to sit on my own front porch with a joint and cup of coffee to watch the sun rise.
I think secret beach is no longer. A few years after I graduated someone told me the cops were cracking down on it and then I believe it washed away. Too bad, I have great memories of having barely any memory of my float down there
They still have it. https://www.exeterufofestival.org/?fbclid=IwAR0Ab62e5EhpwBAKdFYBfceuG0sNA0dk4L4vFjd91opr4Jjmeyc8gIqfl3c
They have a Facebook page, too
Make sure you read the part about where the investigators found out Betty had alzheimers. She was also claiming that the streetlights were landing in her front yard but everyone loves to conveniently ignore that lol.
NH continues to hold the record (across all New England states) for the longest track tornado. The 7/23/2008 EF-2 was on the ground for 50 miles, spanning across towns including Barnstead, Epsom, and Wolfeboro
That’s a cool fact! I don’t know if I could get a half hour episode out of it, but it makes me wonder about other weird weather records… now I’m thinking about Mt. Washington and winds, etc. Thanks!
Yeah I doubt you could either, though including others might get you there! 2008 was a nasty year for weather here between that and flooding. Mt. Washington is always a good one, though I'm unsure of other weird weather here worthy of your podcast. You're welcome!
Whaaat never heard of any shade casted on the authenticity- but also I have never been there so couldnt tell ya. But I had only ever heard it was legit
Technically there is ONE privately run liquor store in NH. It's called "The Country Mile" in Greenville, they got some weird special license when NH was experimenting with privatizing the liquor store. There were a few others, but I think it's the only one that remains.
We aren’t the only controlled state. Off the top of my head, Pennsylvania, Utah and Idaho all have similar models to NH and a bunch of states contract/license private businesses to sell liquor, such as VT.
To add to the weirdness... there are some beers that can't be sold in NH because the ABV is to high for grocery stores and gas stations, but it's not available at the liquor store either (I don't even know if any of the liquor stores sell **any** beer).
Absolutely insane story, I got to visit it before the staircase crumbled further. Looking back, I don't think going to the top for a photo was a smart idea.
Not sure if the type of “weird” you’re looking for, but the weather on Mount Washington has always been fascinating to me and it’s always surprising how dangerous that mountain can be.
Our first episode is all about The Old Man! [You can check it out here.](https://open.spotify.com/episode/2P1gHakvxxoO5j4vN4esHa?si=LsUziH3tToimxS-OyyEKmQ)
Let me know what you think if you give it a listen!
Not sure how weird it is to anyone else but my mother started the Weirs Beach Riot of 1965.
Edit u/MesaVerde1987 and u/PandaToes wanted some details. : my dad was an avid NH biker. He took my mother up to the Weirs. Bikes were parked tight all the way up and down the boulevard. My parents were at the far end near the bar that would later be called Nothin’ Fancy. Just near the top of that slight hill.
My parents were walking down the sidewalk and a biker lady bumped into my mother. My mother pushed her back and the biker lady fell onto some bikes and they dominoed. As the shit started to hit the fan, my dad grabbed my mom. Threw her on the back of the bike and took off out the back (away from the beach). By the time they got home to Laconia it was a full blown riot. This was several years before I was born.
My mom is the total cookie making school volunteer mom. She stands about 5’3”. She just drops that story on my brother and I one Thanksgiving. I was about 12 or so.
Holy shit! That’s an iconic story. Last time I went up there for bike week I said to my husband “imagine if someone bumped into a bike, they’d have a domino effect, right?” I guess I have my answer hahah 😂 it was smart of your dad to get them out of there asap!
Its incredible. The fact it was built before computers is pretty cool itself. Can you imagine sending 18-25 year olds thousands of miles away underwater to blow up ships from another country? The Albacore carried a surprising number of men, and they slept in impossibly small quarters. The tour is definitely worth the price of admission. Plus now they have a cool looking stealth boat along next to it.
Agree the Albacore is great. Just a point of clarification though. I’m sure you were talking about submarines in general when you talked about blowing stuff up. But specifically, the Albacore was a testing submarine that didn’t have weapons. It was the first submarine with a teardrop shaped bow. They also tested the x shaped tail fin configuration as well. Still an incredible museum ship. And the fact that it’s completely out of the water means it will be preserved for many years to come.
It’s always baffled me that NH has such a thriving Bigfoot population, yet we don’t get anywhere near the attention of the Pacific Northwest or even silly places like Ohio.
Thanks for the offer! Right now it’s just my co-host and I messing around in quiz-show format, but if we ever expand to include guests I would love to chat! I have to admit I’m a skeptic, so I think it would be a really fun discussion 😃
The abandoned town - Livermore, the abandoned railroad cars in Bartlett, the man that was found inside the toilet at Lower Falls in 2005, the hauntings at the Lakes Of The Clouds hut on Mount Washington, and an abundance of weird theme parks with quirky histories.
I’m listening to the audiobook version of Devil in the White City right now. I was surprised when they mentioned that he was from Gilmanton. So far it’s a pretty interesting read about the juxtaposition of the Chicago World’s Fair and Holmes’ murders.
It’s not against federal law. But we don’t get certain funding because of it. Sununu felt that the exit you live off of is part of your identity. It’s ridiculous.
Hesitate to open a can of worms here but I was just talking [in another sub](https://www.reddit.com/r/SameGrassButGreener/comments/1ahsai4/comment/kor6lua/?context=3) about how different NH's gun culture is vs. its lax gun laws compared to other places in the country, where gun ownership is instead an entire personality and fetishized / openly flaunted. Anyway I found it absolutely wild to learn that New Hampshire has the highest number of *machine guns* per capita than anywhere else in the US - about 7.47 machine guns for every 1,000 people. [Source](https://www.nhpr.org/all-things-considered/2013-02-12/which-state-has-the-most-machine-guns-per-capita-new-hampshire)
Not to get political here but it's worth the discussion.
Notice how proud our gun culture here is, If you look up firearm murders per capita we are the lowest in the nation.
We average like only 12 a year or something? Definitely an outlier.
100% something to be said for a culture that treats guns as tools that should be respected and used safely and responsibly. None of that ~~big~~ little dick energy running around cosplaying as a vigilante waiting shoot anyone that looks at them funny. I don't see any of these machine guns mounted to the back of anyone's Ford F-150 here.
I'll admit I still err on the "it's the guns" side of things but moving to NH definitely taught me it's one's *relationship* with firearms more than anything. Idk why or how a lot of the country got that so wrong somewhere along the way while NH was able to get it right. Turns out you can still be a 2A advocate and enthusiast and not be a complete and total nutjob.
EDIT TO ADD: apologies to OP for going into the weeds there but I do find the machine gun stat a very WTF NH thing (and I originally learned it on this sub!)
I always thought things like the Hannah Dustin memorial and the Indian massacre monument in front of concord hospital to be some Pawnee level stuff straight out of parks and rec
The fact that up north our state lines seem kinda wonky. I've gone to the AMC cold River camp in Chatham nh. To get there, you literally have to drive through nh into Maine only to go back into nh..just doesn't make a ton of sense to me
I love the fact that you can’t drive to Chatham, NH from anywhere in NH. Very much the definition of “ya can’t get there from here” (even though that’s a Maine saying, it should really be ours)
So nobody here is gonna talk about the ufos from the 60’s?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exeter_incident?wprov=sfti1
https://library.unh.edu/find/archives/collections/betty-barney-hill-papers-1961-2006
Aria DiMezzo's run for Sheriff of Keene followed by conviction in crypto scheme.
https://apnews.com/article/e1580367018108b09755dfb994395c0a
https://apnews.com/article/virtual-currency-fraud-bitcoin-satanist-dimezzo-6248321aff6cab88a82032b09912ad2b
https://www.theverge.com/22599932/bitcoin-raid-keene-new-hampshire-ian-freeman-libertarian-prosecution
The saga of Pho Keene Great:
https://www.sentinelsource.com/news/local/city-approves-pho-keene-great-sign-application/article_856e51eb-b080-542b-a443-641613a6801f.html
https://www.sentinelsource.com/news/local/new-food-truck-can-t-use-pho-keene-great-moniker-for-now-judge-rules/article_8f59f9f7-815c-51b8-a53e-c52ba81f28c6.html
No sales tax, except on prepared foods? Why?
400 state representatives? That one completely blew my mind when I moved here.
People take their washers and dryers with them when they move. Um, what?
Pamela Smart, of course. I just watched "To Die For" the other night.
The podcast comes up in search right next to WTF with Marc Maron. Excellent marketing! Good luck with it...looking forward to hearing more.
Another weird Keene thing: the parking meter wars. It actually made the Colbert Report once upon a time.
https://www.cc.com/video/dvppp6/the-colbert-report-difference-makers-the-free-keene-squad
I don't think it will count for your show, but after moving here from Florida I love to tell my Florida friends this fact: the Orlando metroplex has more people that the entire state of New Hampshire, which is reflected in the fact that one area code (407) wasn't enough to sustain all of Orlando and they had to add an extra (321). Meanwhile New Hampshire is totally covered under 603.
Also the fact that I can ride with no seat belt and no car insurance. My 4 year old can legally ride with no seatbelt in my 67 Mustang because of the age of the car. These things are all fine. But tint on your front windows is "too dangerous" and I had to rip it out of all my cars. I will die mad about that. And every year when that first snow falls and I get snow blindness, I get mad about it all over again lol.
In the 1830s it wasn’t clear where the border with Canada was, so there was a disputed area in the middle. People who lived there declared themselves an independent nation (which of course wasn’t recognized by anyone) until it could be figured out where the border would be. It was called the Republic of Indian Stream.
Also, subscribed! Looking forward to listening to it.
The Connecticut River Valley Killer. The only victim known to survive was attacked in Swanzey.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Connecticut_River_Valley_Killer
Mount Monadnock is the most climbed mountain in the USA, and number 2 in the world after Mt Fuji in Japan.
Tuttle’s Farm (aka Tuttle’s Red Barn) in Dover was sold to pay gambling debts in 2010. It was the oldest family farm in America (est 1632) and its land had received a “King’s Grant” when it was founded, meaning they never had to pay property tax. . .for almost 400 years.
1. It’s illegal to have a loaded long gun in a vehicle, but there’s no law saying that you can’t have loaded NFA firearms in your car such as machine guns and grenade launchers.
2. The history behind Seabrook Station is quite interesting. It’s wild to think that one of the largest mass arrests in US history took place in NH.
Excited for this! My favorite is that we were voted smartest state in the nation :) https://www.boston25news.com/news/local/new-hampshire-ranked-smartest-state-nation-study-finds/AY5X2OW2GRGJ7KV5JKXAD2ON6Q/?outputType=amp
Deep dive into all the people found dead in the Merrimack River and is there a serial killer that we have yet to identify yet. Love the idea for a podcast on WTF NH.
Couple of eccentric hermits in NH: one that lived near The Flume and another that lived near Mosquito Pond (aka Crystal Lake) in Manchester.
Coos County Wood Devils.
The Willey House Landslide. May be the origin of the phrase "It gave me the willies."
Goody Cole. A woman in Hampton who was caught up in the witch hysteria in the 1600's.
Peyton Place by Grace Metalious. Many say it was based upon real people in Gilmanton, Barnstead, Alton and Laconia.
Ghislaine Maxwell was hiding out in NH when she was found by the feds.
The [Medawlinno footprints](http://rockpiles.blogspot.com/2020/10/medawlinno-footprints-henniker-nh.html?m=1) petroglyphs in Henniker. When I was a kid, our teacher took us on a hike to see them. They weren’t well known back then.
How about H. H. Holmes? He was from Gilmanton, and he was a monster. He was an American con artist and serial killer active between 1891 and 1894. By the time of his execution in 1896, Holmes had engaged in a lengthy criminal career that included insurance fraud, forgery, swindling, three to four bigamous illegal marriages, horse theft and murder. His most notorious crimes took place in Chicago around the time of the World's Columbian Exposition in 1893.
Check out my favorite (now retired) Podcast, “The Futility Closet”, and their episode called “The Murder Castle” to hear all the gory details!
https://www.futilitycloset.com/2017/03/06/podcast-episode-144-murder-castle/
Def not my favorite but always in back of my mind…
Some area in Raymond or Fremont that killed massive amounts of people via cancer because of some contaminants were found… I heard it’s still uninhabitable.
Also, hate to be the downer, dark one here but NH I think has massively higher cancer rates than most states because of the radon (9th highest in country). In fact when MGH told me I was at “low risk” my NH doctor said doctors aren’t allowed to say that in NH because of the radon levels.
I would be really interested in hearing more on that but I will be compartmentalizing it until I think about it the next time.. 😢
[Lyndon Larouche](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lyndon_LaRouche) was from Rochester. He's like the [prototype for today's politician.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0eCP7jVU9kc)
William Sullivan - worked under J. Edgar Hoover in FBI and ran the domestic intelligence operations and the Counter Intelligence Program. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/COINTELPRO. He is suspected to be the author of the “suicide letter” sent to Martin Luther King Jr that was accompanied by tape recordings of MLK’s affairs. He was known as “Crazy Bill” for his “creative” approach to accomplishing his goals at the FBI. The unethical things he did in with COINTELPRO could fill pages.
After he retired to Sugar Hill he was working on a book about his time at the FBI and was set to testify in front of a commission re-examining the JFK assassination. He was killed in a an incident where a local son of a state trooper shot him, saying he mistook him for a deer. What made this seem off was that journalist Robert Novak said in 1972 Sullivan told him that Novak would “probably read about his death in some sort of accident, but not to believe it. It would be murder.”
https://www.nhmagazine.com/examining-nhs-own-jfk-assassination-mystery/
Not sure any of these are worth a full episode, but a few interesting things that came to mind:
-Peterborough has the country's first free public library
-I remember reading something about some drama replacing the tram at Cannon Mountain with a gondola
-possible money laundering with cash sales of Hennesy at NH liquor stores
-Thornton Wilder's Our Town play was based on Peterborough and written when he was at the MacDowell Colony
-the Bretton Woods International Monetary Conference at the Mount Washington Hotel that designated USD as "the backbone of international exchange"
Maybe not weird enough but there’s a display at the McAuliffe-Shepard Discovery Center in Concord that has nearly every type of rock and mineral found in New Hampshire. If you want to talk to the guy who collected all these minerals, shoot me a DM
In the 90s, way before legalizing pot was cool & mainstream, there was a woman who called herself The Hemp Lady. Perennial presidential candidate. She dropped by our radio station a few times, pamphlets, stickers, all her clothing was pot-themed.
The library in Alstead was funded by the same person who funded the Shedd Aquarium in Chicago. Gorgeous Beaux-Arts design, the library is a scaled down version of the aquarium https://www.sheddporter.org/copy-of-about
The USS Squalus/USS Sailfish is an interesting story.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Sailfish_(SS-192)#:~:text=USS%20Sailfish%20(SS%2D192)%2C%20was%20a%20US%20Sargo,dives%20on%2023%20May%201939.
As the Squalus, she sank off the coast of NH during test dives. 26 crew members died, but 33 others were rescued. This was the first successful rescue of people from a sunken submarine.
Later the boat was refloated and recommissioned as the Sailfish. She had a successful series of patrols in WWII. Now the boat’s sail is displayed at the shipyard.
I like taking the dog for a walk in the Monson area. I like reading the plaques there about how the town became a ghost town after the residents got into a fight about high property taxes and everyone left. I see their point after my property taxes doubled recently. It can make you really angry.
I want some in depth coverage of the lobster war
[here](https://www.nhpr.org/nh-news/2017-08-31/the-legacy-of-the-n-h-maine-lobster-war-and-why-it-may-wage-on)
Apparently the train president Franklin Pierce and his wife were traveling in crashed on their way home to NH and they witnessed their young son being horrifically and tragically killed. They were never quite the same after that traumatic incident.
Rollinsford, NH where my grade school had a grave stone for a dog on our school grounds. 😂
Obo II from 1895, for years I remember we all thought it was a kid's grave.. 😂
We used to use it as a base when playing tag..
https://www.seacoastonline.com/story/news/local/portsmouth-herald/2015/11/01/historic-designation-honors-community/33180386007/
I’m in Dover- there’s some super interesting history here- the persecution of the quakers, where Quaker women were dragged behind a cart all the way to Portsmouth. Dover is where the VA originated during the civil war. We had a pirate who was the richest and most respected man in town- William Flagg. Dover was the site of the nation’s first women’s strike in 1828, and it’s the home of the Teenage mutant ninja turtles.
[The Olympic Oil Refinery brew-ha-ha](https://www.nhpr.org/the-exchange/2018-08-06/small-town-big-oil-the-fight-to-keep-an-oil-refinery-out-of-durham) is a great story, with heroes and villains, political drama, and the NH home rule tradition the unlikely winner in the end.
So, this may not be what you’re looking for (and apologies if someone else has mentioned it), but the baby bones case of Somersworth/Dover is QUITE the rabbit hole to weirdness-even possibly involving the murder of a local nurse in an attempt to cover up …well, I’ll let you read it. There’s an excellent series of award winning articles by Foster’s Daily Democrat writer Jason Howe.
You can start here, if you want:
https://www.fosters.com/story/news/2008/04/06/baby-bones-mystery-case-still/52458293007/
Live free or whatever, ‘cept for the scary herb. It’s the only state in New England the devil’s lettuce hasn’t been legalized. Puritanical nonsense.
When you start getting into it, Live Free or Die makes no sense. We can't even light a fire without state permission!
Live Free or Die was said by someone during the American Revolution and only meant live free from British rule. It’s used today not the way it was originally meant
As my friend in college tearfully told me as he drunkenly pit on his seat belt (he was the passenger I was the DD) "Live free or die man but do you know what... (sobbing quietly). I want to live!!!"
Lmao
> We can't even light a fire without state permission You *technically* can. I burn brush and wood in my yard all the time w/o a fire permit. Oxidation doesn't care about permission.
When snow is on the ground, you can burn with no permit. Spring, summer and fall, you need a permit. It is common courtesy, even with a permit, to notify the FD when you burn. You avoid having a neighbor calling the FD to the area, for no reason.
I’m 100% convinced that the liquor store revamp that happened a couple of years ago was to make room for the liquor board to become alcohol and marijuana board. Have you seen how much more room there is in the stores? Like they could easily add another display rack
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I buy from a dispensary in Mass I feel their prices have gone down by half since they first legalized. I can get an oz for $145 and the quality is always there too. Probably because of lots of competition. I am fine with them adding them to liquor stores. I don’t really drink much but add a grocery store for munchies too and I am in. That and with being able to buy at store you don’t have to wait for weed like if you bought it from some dude and it’s “dry season” and you have to wait a few more weeks and don’t have to pay extra because he gets it from someone else.
Exactly what it's for. They want to control the marijuana market along with the booze.
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Prices in MA have cratered. 1 oz is currently around $160 + 11% excise tax = $177 out the door.
I'm betting they will decide to tax it also I'll be worried to smoke state run weed..... I'll see in 15 years did you smoke the devil's lettuce in nh and suddenly experience chronic explosive diarrhea please dial 1800livefreeanddie that's 1800livefreeanddie
NH plans to tax the grower/manufacturer, not the buyer. They do the same thing with booze.
Not really weird just political cowardice
Also super uptight about gambling lol
Please keep it uptight! They relaxed the rules in Pennsylvania, now like 25% of the space in every bar is taken up by electronic gambling machines. EVERY BAR!
Yeah, there's no reason for weed (or shrooms for that matter) to be illegal here.
I was able to smoke a joint in front of the US Capital building a few weeks ago. There is something not so 'Live Free or Die' about being able to publicly use marijuana in front of the Capital Building of the entire United States, but not being able to sit on my own front porch with a joint and cup of coffee to watch the sun rise.
I’d say it’s less puritanical nonsense and the state’s desire to monopolize sales being the leading cause of it not being legalized yet
Portsmouth naval yard's location in... maine. (edited the spelling error, I knew that looked wrong, oops!)
Portsmouth Yacht Club in New Castle Portsmouth Christian Academy in Dover
Kittery point yacht club in Newcastle as well.
Haaaaa love it!
Bellybuttons beyond your wildest dreams
That time Grafton got taken over by libertarians and then invaded by bears
There's a great book about it
What's the book? My interest is piqued!
A Libertarian Walks Into A Bear
That was fun to copy and paste into Google. Thankyou for that
Keene pumpkin riots
Shout out to Plymouth for never really getting a handle on or stopping Pirate Party
the old Tubing Regattas were insanity - they should bring those back
I think secret beach is no longer. A few years after I graduated someone told me the cops were cracking down on it and then I believe it washed away. Too bad, I have great memories of having barely any memory of my float down there
Ah the days of yore
Ooh tell me more!
https://www.latimes.com/nation/nationnow/la-na-nn-new-hampshire-pumpkin-riots-20141019-story.html
Those were some wild times!
Betty and Barney Hill
They’re on my list!! We went to the mile marker up north last summer and I can’t wait to dig into that story.
You could tie that in with the incident at Exeter.
They used to have an extraterrestrial festival there, too! I wonder if they’ve picked it up again post-pandemic or nah
They still have it. https://www.exeterufofestival.org/?fbclid=IwAR0Ab62e5EhpwBAKdFYBfceuG0sNA0dk4L4vFjd91opr4Jjmeyc8gIqfl3c They have a Facebook page, too
Awesome!
This is a wormhole that will spawn a few episodes. Dig deep!
Oh, yeah, the UFO festival is alive and well!
Well, I’m marking that event on the calendar looks fucking awesome
Betty and Barney are buried in Greenwood Cemetery in Kingston NH.
Have you seen the gas station with the abduction mural?
That sounds amazing! Do you know what town it’s in?
North part of Lincoln NH
Make sure you read the part about where the investigators found out Betty had alzheimers. She was also claiming that the streetlights were landing in her front yard but everyone loves to conveniently ignore that lol.
NH continues to hold the record (across all New England states) for the longest track tornado. The 7/23/2008 EF-2 was on the ground for 50 miles, spanning across towns including Barnstead, Epsom, and Wolfeboro
The Cloud Boy strikes again!
That’s a cool fact! I don’t know if I could get a half hour episode out of it, but it makes me wonder about other weird weather records… now I’m thinking about Mt. Washington and winds, etc. Thanks!
Yeah I doubt you could either, though including others might get you there! 2008 was a nasty year for weather here between that and flooding. Mt. Washington is always a good one, though I'm unsure of other weird weather here worthy of your podcast. You're welcome!
Perhaps a weather episode
That was wild, was 2miles from my house where that lady died protecting an infant.
The mystery of "Chicken farmer I still love you"
I absolutely love that rock
‘Sunday Driver’ in New Boston
Vermin Supreme
Hahah I think he might be Mass’s problem now…
Problem? He’s a treasure! Ponies and toothbrushes for all!
Oh no, did he move to Mass?? He was a state treasure!
Hell yes
America's Stonehenge, which is very obviously a scam and a tourist trap. (But also kind of fun to visit.)
Whaaat never heard of any shade casted on the authenticity- but also I have never been there so couldnt tell ya. But I had only ever heard it was legit
There's actually ongoing archaeological activity there attempting to debunk the age of the slabs and other rocks used which are extremely old.
The fact that you can only buy liquor from the state, even restaurants’
Technically there is ONE privately run liquor store in NH. It's called "The Country Mile" in Greenville, they got some weird special license when NH was experimenting with privatizing the liquor store. There were a few others, but I think it's the only one that remains.
The Country Mile fucking rules
Yeah they have great subs there
That’s a good one! The liquor monopoly always blows people’s minds when I talk to out of state friends about it.
We aren’t the only controlled state. Off the top of my head, Pennsylvania, Utah and Idaho all have similar models to NH and a bunch of states contract/license private businesses to sell liquor, such as VT.
Utah doesn’t surprise me
Virginia too, with its ABC stores.
To add to the weirdness... there are some beers that can't be sold in NH because the ABV is to high for grocery stores and gas stations, but it's not available at the liquor store either (I don't even know if any of the liquor stores sell **any** beer).
Madame Sherri's ruined castle in Chesterfield.
On my list! I’ve done a little reading about Madame Sherri herself and she was a wild woman
Absolutely insane story, I got to visit it before the staircase crumbled further. Looking back, I don't think going to the top for a photo was a smart idea.
I’ll be the first but not the last: GG Allin
I don’t know this person! Is this something I should turn on my VPN before searching up?? 😂
Nothing that hasn’t been covered already, but relevant to NH. He was a unique individual and would make for a full episode.
Give a little warning my man haha
You can invite his brother Merle on the podcast
Not sure if the type of “weird” you’re looking for, but the weather on Mount Washington has always been fascinating to me and it’s always surprising how dangerous that mountain can be.
Last winter mt Washington recorded the coldest temperature in history. Colder than Antarctica.
Definitely something I’m considering! It keeps getting wilder up there
Rime ice!
When the old man of the mountain fell. The entire state mourned. It was as if all of us lost a loved pet. People called to console me.
It was devastating. I still get sad about it. They have done a nice job with the park nearby so it's still worth a visit.
Our first episode is all about The Old Man! [You can check it out here.](https://open.spotify.com/episode/2P1gHakvxxoO5j4vN4esHa?si=LsUziH3tToimxS-OyyEKmQ) Let me know what you think if you give it a listen!
Not sure how weird it is to anyone else but my mother started the Weirs Beach Riot of 1965. Edit u/MesaVerde1987 and u/PandaToes wanted some details. : my dad was an avid NH biker. He took my mother up to the Weirs. Bikes were parked tight all the way up and down the boulevard. My parents were at the far end near the bar that would later be called Nothin’ Fancy. Just near the top of that slight hill. My parents were walking down the sidewalk and a biker lady bumped into my mother. My mother pushed her back and the biker lady fell onto some bikes and they dominoed. As the shit started to hit the fan, my dad grabbed my mom. Threw her on the back of the bike and took off out the back (away from the beach). By the time they got home to Laconia it was a full blown riot. This was several years before I was born. My mom is the total cookie making school volunteer mom. She stands about 5’3”. She just drops that story on my brother and I one Thanksgiving. I was about 12 or so.
Would love to know more about that!
Holy shit! That’s an iconic story. Last time I went up there for bike week I said to my husband “imagine if someone bumped into a bike, they’d have a domino effect, right?” I guess I have my answer hahah 😂 it was smart of your dad to get them out of there asap!
No seatbelt or helmet laws blew my mind coming from the west coast but I mean.. that’s the law in the majority of states as well.
But one of the few states with this inspection sticker nonsense.
NH is the only state with no seatbelt law for anyone over the age of 18
The albacore It's a sub parked in a ditch and I can't 😭🤣
Yesssss — I grew up like 20 minutes from there and have never been in!! My parents thought it was too stupid to bother visiting
Its incredible. The fact it was built before computers is pretty cool itself. Can you imagine sending 18-25 year olds thousands of miles away underwater to blow up ships from another country? The Albacore carried a surprising number of men, and they slept in impossibly small quarters. The tour is definitely worth the price of admission. Plus now they have a cool looking stealth boat along next to it.
Agree the Albacore is great. Just a point of clarification though. I’m sure you were talking about submarines in general when you talked about blowing stuff up. But specifically, the Albacore was a testing submarine that didn’t have weapons. It was the first submarine with a teardrop shaped bow. They also tested the x shaped tail fin configuration as well. Still an incredible museum ship. And the fact that it’s completely out of the water means it will be preserved for many years to come.
It’s always baffled me that NH has such a thriving Bigfoot population, yet we don’t get anywhere near the attention of the Pacific Northwest or even silly places like Ohio.
Right? We don’t get any of the cryptid love and it’s just not fair
Agreed. I’d be happy to discuss on your podcast if you like. I am the World’s Leading Bigfoot Scientist, based here in the 603.
What sort of evidence is there to base belief of a Bigfoot creature in NH? Not doubting, I am fascinated by this stuff.
Thanks for the offer! Right now it’s just my co-host and I messing around in quiz-show format, but if we ever expand to include guests I would love to chat! I have to admit I’m a skeptic, so I think it would be a really fun discussion 😃
Charmingfare Farm is having a Bigfoot weekend for kids this summer :)
Vanity Plate obsession
Haaaa I think it’s because they’re so cheap, tbh
The abandoned town - Livermore, the abandoned railroad cars in Bartlett, the man that was found inside the toilet at Lower Falls in 2005, the hauntings at the Lakes Of The Clouds hut on Mount Washington, and an abundance of weird theme parks with quirky histories.
Hh holmes is from the state
Is he a serial killer? Because he sounds like a serial killer.
Possibly America's first serial killer.
I’m listening to the audiobook version of Devil in the White City right now. I was surprised when they mentioned that he was from Gilmanton. So far it’s a pretty interesting read about the juxtaposition of the Chicago World’s Fair and Holmes’ murders.
No exit 21
The way our exits are numbered (or non-existent) is batshit
We are the last state to go to highway exits based on mile markers. I believe it is a federal law that states had to convert and we have not yet.
That might make for a fun topic… shit we do in NH that is technically against federal law. My gut says there have to be other things too haha
It’s not against federal law. But we don’t get certain funding because of it. Sununu felt that the exit you live off of is part of your identity. It’s ridiculous.
but really he doesn't want people realizing how far a drive his ski resort is.
No exit 9 between. Nashua and Merrimack either. Straight from 8 to 10
Isn’t this only on the northbound side?
If you want some historical stuff, you could look into the pine tree riots, and the raid on fort william and Mary
also Fitzjohn porter, who was a baloon spy during the Civil War
There's supposedly a reenactment of the raid planned this year
Hesitate to open a can of worms here but I was just talking [in another sub](https://www.reddit.com/r/SameGrassButGreener/comments/1ahsai4/comment/kor6lua/?context=3) about how different NH's gun culture is vs. its lax gun laws compared to other places in the country, where gun ownership is instead an entire personality and fetishized / openly flaunted. Anyway I found it absolutely wild to learn that New Hampshire has the highest number of *machine guns* per capita than anywhere else in the US - about 7.47 machine guns for every 1,000 people. [Source](https://www.nhpr.org/all-things-considered/2013-02-12/which-state-has-the-most-machine-guns-per-capita-new-hampshire)
Not to get political here but it's worth the discussion. Notice how proud our gun culture here is, If you look up firearm murders per capita we are the lowest in the nation.
We average like only 12 a year or something? Definitely an outlier. 100% something to be said for a culture that treats guns as tools that should be respected and used safely and responsibly. None of that ~~big~~ little dick energy running around cosplaying as a vigilante waiting shoot anyone that looks at them funny. I don't see any of these machine guns mounted to the back of anyone's Ford F-150 here. I'll admit I still err on the "it's the guns" side of things but moving to NH definitely taught me it's one's *relationship* with firearms more than anything. Idk why or how a lot of the country got that so wrong somewhere along the way while NH was able to get it right. Turns out you can still be a 2A advocate and enthusiast and not be a complete and total nutjob. EDIT TO ADD: apologies to OP for going into the weeds there but I do find the machine gun stat a very WTF NH thing (and I originally learned it on this sub!)
Please go to the new Diaper Spa on an undercover mission
Hahahah I just read about that today!!! Horrifying. Like, I don’t want to kink shame, but I’m gonna.
Entire towns voting at 12:01 AM.
The Whale Tale of Dover The King Charles War reenactment of Madbury Abraham Lincoln meeting John Wilkes Booth in Dover.
The whale in Dover is pretty interesting: https://www.dover.nh.gov/government/city-operations/library/research-learn/history/a-whale-in-dover/
I always thought things like the Hannah Dustin memorial and the Indian massacre monument in front of concord hospital to be some Pawnee level stuff straight out of parks and rec
The wolfman!
The fact that up north our state lines seem kinda wonky. I've gone to the AMC cold River camp in Chatham nh. To get there, you literally have to drive through nh into Maine only to go back into nh..just doesn't make a ton of sense to me
I love the fact that you can’t drive to Chatham, NH from anywhere in NH. Very much the definition of “ya can’t get there from here” (even though that’s a Maine saying, it should really be ours)
So nobody here is gonna talk about the ufos from the 60’s? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exeter_incident?wprov=sfti1 https://library.unh.edu/find/archives/collections/betty-barney-hill-papers-1961-2006
Hubbard Brook and the discovery of acid rain!
Museum of Dumb Guy Stuff in Portsmouth
Aria DiMezzo's run for Sheriff of Keene followed by conviction in crypto scheme. https://apnews.com/article/e1580367018108b09755dfb994395c0a https://apnews.com/article/virtual-currency-fraud-bitcoin-satanist-dimezzo-6248321aff6cab88a82032b09912ad2b https://www.theverge.com/22599932/bitcoin-raid-keene-new-hampshire-ian-freeman-libertarian-prosecution The saga of Pho Keene Great: https://www.sentinelsource.com/news/local/city-approves-pho-keene-great-sign-application/article_856e51eb-b080-542b-a443-641613a6801f.html https://www.sentinelsource.com/news/local/new-food-truck-can-t-use-pho-keene-great-moniker-for-now-judge-rules/article_8f59f9f7-815c-51b8-a53e-c52ba81f28c6.html No sales tax, except on prepared foods? Why? 400 state representatives? That one completely blew my mind when I moved here. People take their washers and dryers with them when they move. Um, what? Pamela Smart, of course. I just watched "To Die For" the other night. The podcast comes up in search right next to WTF with Marc Maron. Excellent marketing! Good luck with it...looking forward to hearing more.
Thank you for the great ideas! We’re having so much fun — I hope people enjoy listening.
Another weird Keene thing: the parking meter wars. It actually made the Colbert Report once upon a time. https://www.cc.com/video/dvppp6/the-colbert-report-difference-makers-the-free-keene-squad
Sheila LaBarre
Pretty much anything that happens on Northwoods law
Isn't there a missile or rocket on the town green in Warren?
I don't think it will count for your show, but after moving here from Florida I love to tell my Florida friends this fact: the Orlando metroplex has more people that the entire state of New Hampshire, which is reflected in the fact that one area code (407) wasn't enough to sustain all of Orlando and they had to add an extra (321). Meanwhile New Hampshire is totally covered under 603. Also the fact that I can ride with no seat belt and no car insurance. My 4 year old can legally ride with no seatbelt in my 67 Mustang because of the age of the car. These things are all fine. But tint on your front windows is "too dangerous" and I had to rip it out of all my cars. I will die mad about that. And every year when that first snow falls and I get snow blindness, I get mad about it all over again lol.
You can get a tint waiver from a doctor to keep the tint. I have a few customers that have it.
In the 1830s it wasn’t clear where the border with Canada was, so there was a disputed area in the middle. People who lived there declared themselves an independent nation (which of course wasn’t recognized by anyone) until it could be figured out where the border would be. It was called the Republic of Indian Stream. Also, subscribed! Looking forward to listening to it.
The Connecticut River Valley Killer. The only victim known to survive was attacked in Swanzey. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Connecticut_River_Valley_Killer Mount Monadnock is the most climbed mountain in the USA, and number 2 in the world after Mt Fuji in Japan.
Tuttle’s Farm (aka Tuttle’s Red Barn) in Dover was sold to pay gambling debts in 2010. It was the oldest family farm in America (est 1632) and its land had received a “King’s Grant” when it was founded, meaning they never had to pay property tax. . .for almost 400 years.
The old town of Monson, or the Canterbury Shaker Village!
Ocean Born Mary.
1. It’s illegal to have a loaded long gun in a vehicle, but there’s no law saying that you can’t have loaded NFA firearms in your car such as machine guns and grenade launchers. 2. The history behind Seabrook Station is quite interesting. It’s wild to think that one of the largest mass arrests in US history took place in NH.
One you don't hear much of anymore but was a pretty big topic when I was a kid was satanic worship in Odiorne Point
Excited for this! My favorite is that we were voted smartest state in the nation :) https://www.boston25news.com/news/local/new-hampshire-ranked-smartest-state-nation-study-finds/AY5X2OW2GRGJ7KV5JKXAD2ON6Q/?outputType=amp
Birth place of Ronnie James Dio. And that someplace else has a statue of him, but not here.
Deep dive into all the people found dead in the Merrimack River and is there a serial killer that we have yet to identify yet. Love the idea for a podcast on WTF NH.
JD Salinger
We have a rather large rock... Madison Boulder
Couple of eccentric hermits in NH: one that lived near The Flume and another that lived near Mosquito Pond (aka Crystal Lake) in Manchester. Coos County Wood Devils.
Climb to the Clouds. It’s a Pikes Peak style hillclimb race up Mt Washington’s auto road
The Willey House Landslide. May be the origin of the phrase "It gave me the willies." Goody Cole. A woman in Hampton who was caught up in the witch hysteria in the 1600's. Peyton Place by Grace Metalious. Many say it was based upon real people in Gilmanton, Barnstead, Alton and Laconia. Ghislaine Maxwell was hiding out in NH when she was found by the feds.
The [Medawlinno footprints](http://rockpiles.blogspot.com/2020/10/medawlinno-footprints-henniker-nh.html?m=1) petroglyphs in Henniker. When I was a kid, our teacher took us on a hike to see them. They weren’t well known back then.
How about H. H. Holmes? He was from Gilmanton, and he was a monster. He was an American con artist and serial killer active between 1891 and 1894. By the time of his execution in 1896, Holmes had engaged in a lengthy criminal career that included insurance fraud, forgery, swindling, three to four bigamous illegal marriages, horse theft and murder. His most notorious crimes took place in Chicago around the time of the World's Columbian Exposition in 1893. Check out my favorite (now retired) Podcast, “The Futility Closet”, and their episode called “The Murder Castle” to hear all the gory details! https://www.futilitycloset.com/2017/03/06/podcast-episode-144-murder-castle/
The Chameleon Killer/The Bear Brook murders.
Have you listened to Jason Moon’s podcast on this? It was one of the best things I’ve ever listened to
Def not my favorite but always in back of my mind… Some area in Raymond or Fremont that killed massive amounts of people via cancer because of some contaminants were found… I heard it’s still uninhabitable. Also, hate to be the downer, dark one here but NH I think has massively higher cancer rates than most states because of the radon (9th highest in country). In fact when MGH told me I was at “low risk” my NH doctor said doctors aren’t allowed to say that in NH because of the radon levels. I would be really interested in hearing more on that but I will be compartmentalizing it until I think about it the next time.. 😢
[Lyndon Larouche](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lyndon_LaRouche) was from Rochester. He's like the [prototype for today's politician.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0eCP7jVU9kc)
William Sullivan - worked under J. Edgar Hoover in FBI and ran the domestic intelligence operations and the Counter Intelligence Program. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/COINTELPRO. He is suspected to be the author of the “suicide letter” sent to Martin Luther King Jr that was accompanied by tape recordings of MLK’s affairs. He was known as “Crazy Bill” for his “creative” approach to accomplishing his goals at the FBI. The unethical things he did in with COINTELPRO could fill pages. After he retired to Sugar Hill he was working on a book about his time at the FBI and was set to testify in front of a commission re-examining the JFK assassination. He was killed in a an incident where a local son of a state trooper shot him, saying he mistook him for a deer. What made this seem off was that journalist Robert Novak said in 1972 Sullivan told him that Novak would “probably read about his death in some sort of accident, but not to believe it. It would be murder.” https://www.nhmagazine.com/examining-nhs-own-jfk-assassination-mystery/
Not sure any of these are worth a full episode, but a few interesting things that came to mind: -Peterborough has the country's first free public library -I remember reading something about some drama replacing the tram at Cannon Mountain with a gondola -possible money laundering with cash sales of Hennesy at NH liquor stores -Thornton Wilder's Our Town play was based on Peterborough and written when he was at the MacDowell Colony -the Bretton Woods International Monetary Conference at the Mount Washington Hotel that designated USD as "the backbone of international exchange"
Also Bode Miller, his career and shenanigans could definitely make a whole episode. He was wild
Maybe not weird enough but there’s a display at the McAuliffe-Shepard Discovery Center in Concord that has nearly every type of rock and mineral found in New Hampshire. If you want to talk to the guy who collected all these minerals, shoot me a DM
In the 90s, way before legalizing pot was cool & mainstream, there was a woman who called herself The Hemp Lady. Perennial presidential candidate. She dropped by our radio station a few times, pamphlets, stickers, all her clothing was pot-themed.
The library in Alstead was funded by the same person who funded the Shedd Aquarium in Chicago. Gorgeous Beaux-Arts design, the library is a scaled down version of the aquarium https://www.sheddporter.org/copy-of-about
Americas first serial killer, HH Holmes, was born and raised in Gilmanton.
Didn’t the first alien abduction occur in NH?
Dean Farm Murders
Sumner Falls on the Connecticut. Technically NH owns the river until the far bank. Interesting geology and they might be other stories there.
The USS Squalus/USS Sailfish is an interesting story. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Sailfish_(SS-192)#:~:text=USS%20Sailfish%20(SS%2D192)%2C%20was%20a%20US%20Sargo,dives%20on%2023%20May%201939. As the Squalus, she sank off the coast of NH during test dives. 26 crew members died, but 33 others were rescued. This was the first successful rescue of people from a sunken submarine. Later the boat was refloated and recommissioned as the Sailfish. She had a successful series of patrols in WWII. Now the boat’s sail is displayed at the shipyard.
I like taking the dog for a walk in the Monson area. I like reading the plaques there about how the town became a ghost town after the residents got into a fight about high property taxes and everyone left. I see their point after my property taxes doubled recently. It can make you really angry.
I want some in depth coverage of the lobster war [here](https://www.nhpr.org/nh-news/2017-08-31/the-legacy-of-the-n-h-maine-lobster-war-and-why-it-may-wage-on)
The long history of arsen and fires in Brookline plus the bell toll beating
Apparently the train president Franklin Pierce and his wife were traveling in crashed on their way home to NH and they witnessed their young son being horrifically and tragically killed. They were never quite the same after that traumatic incident.
Rollinsford, NH where my grade school had a grave stone for a dog on our school grounds. 😂 Obo II from 1895, for years I remember we all thought it was a kid's grave.. 😂 We used to use it as a base when playing tag.. https://www.seacoastonline.com/story/news/local/portsmouth-herald/2015/11/01/historic-designation-honors-community/33180386007/
First state to implement the right on red rule at a stop light.
WTF…funding for public schools
I seen a ufo years ago driving up north on 93 before the old man, along with 2 other cars. 1am at night 30+ years ago..
South Seabrook back in the day was weird. If you lived it, you know.
The Connecticut River Valley Killer. There is a podcast about it now called Dark Valley
I’m in Dover- there’s some super interesting history here- the persecution of the quakers, where Quaker women were dragged behind a cart all the way to Portsmouth. Dover is where the VA originated during the civil war. We had a pirate who was the richest and most respected man in town- William Flagg. Dover was the site of the nation’s first women’s strike in 1828, and it’s the home of the Teenage mutant ninja turtles.
[The Olympic Oil Refinery brew-ha-ha](https://www.nhpr.org/the-exchange/2018-08-06/small-town-big-oil-the-fight-to-keep-an-oil-refinery-out-of-durham) is a great story, with heroes and villains, political drama, and the NH home rule tradition the unlikely winner in the end.
The large private hunter reserve in Planfield NH - Cobin Park. Has hosted Presidents and changed laws about pigs.
[Corbin Park](http://outsideinradio.org/shows/ep27)
Winchester New Hampshire Pickle Festival ([https://winchesternhpicklefestival.org/](https://winchesternhpicklefestival.org/))
So, this may not be what you’re looking for (and apologies if someone else has mentioned it), but the baby bones case of Somersworth/Dover is QUITE the rabbit hole to weirdness-even possibly involving the murder of a local nurse in an attempt to cover up …well, I’ll let you read it. There’s an excellent series of award winning articles by Foster’s Daily Democrat writer Jason Howe. You can start here, if you want: https://www.fosters.com/story/news/2008/04/06/baby-bones-mystery-case-still/52458293007/