Lake Winnipesaukee Museum to host Weirs Beach history program

LACONIA — The Lake Winnipesaukee Museum will host John and Jesse Casana in a joint program on Weirs Beach history and archaeology in collaboration with the Laconia Historical & Museum Society on Wednesday, Aug. 19 at 7 p.m. Since seating is limited, reservations are requested at lakewinnipesaukeemuseum@gmail.com or 603-366-5950.

John Casana will introduce the evening with his “Memories of The Weirs,” and then son, Jesse, will report on archaeological investigations at Weirs Beach. Many will know that the Casana family has a long history at The Weirs, as owners of the Superette General Store and other properties along Lakeside Avenue. John Casana has enriched the collections of both the LHMS and the Lake Winnipesaukee Museum with his donations of Weirs-related documents and objects, and is a key source of information about the history and development of the area.

Professor Jesse Casana will then present “Archaeological Investigations of Ancestral Abenaki Settlement in the Lakes Region and the Upper Connecticut River Valley.” Some will recall the survey team from Dartmouth College conducting archaeological remote sensing investigations at The Weirs in December 2022, using a ground-penetrating radar device to gather data. This presentation is part of LHMS’s year-long focus on Laconia’s Native American heritage.

Jesse Casana earned his Ph.D. at the University of Chicago, and he is now the W.J. Bryant 1925 Professor of Archaeology at Dartmouth College, where he established and directs Dartmouth’s Spatial Archaeometry Lab. His research investigates settlement and land use history, the emergence and development of complex societies, and the dynamic interactions of humans with their environment. Casana's worldwide field projects explore large regions, embrace long periods of human history, and employ a wide range of geospatial technologies.

For more information, visit laconiahistory.com or lwhs.us.