New historic roadside marker unveiled in Melvin Village

MELVIN VILLAGE — The public recently attended the dedication and unveiling of the Abenaki Tower and Trail Association's official New Hampshire state historical marker in Melvin Village. The association, founded in 1924 in Boston, is an all-volunteer nonprofit based in Tuftonboro, and it owns an 80-foot-tall wooden observation tower in a forest overlooking Lake Winnipesaukee.

Since its creation, the Abenaki Tower has been visited by generations of people and offers stunning views of the Lake Winnipesaukee region. The tower is open to the public year-round and free of charge. From the top deck, visitors can see all the way to Vermont.

For more information, visit abenakitower.org.

The newly installed official New Hampshire state historic marker recognizes the native Abenaki history of the Abenaki Tower property. Several representatives of the Nulhegan Band of the Coosuk Abenaki Nation were in attendance, including state Rep. Sherry Gould, a member of the Nulhegan Band.

The marker reflects three years of hard work by association volunteers, led by Gary D. Burnett, former secretary of AT&TA, to shepherd the process through the New Hampshire Division of Historical Resources. The unveiling ceremony included speeches by Burnett; David D. Burnett, president of the AT&TA; Gould; Don Berry, president of the Lakes Region Conservation Trust; Pastor Kevin Van Brunt of the Melvin Village Community Church; and Nancy Black, regent of the Winnipesaukee Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution as well as Rep. John McDonald, Tuftonboro selectmen William Albee and Robert Murry, and representatives of the Tuftonboro Conservation Commission and the Tuftonboro Historical Society.