to
Update
is a town in Belknap County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 4,502 at the 2000 census. It is home to Alton Bay State Forest and Mount Major State Forest. Alton includes the village of Alton Bay, a long-time resort located beside Lake Winnipesaukee.
because of rocky upland areas, or "gores," the town was settled in the middle 1770s, mainly by farmers because the highland areas provided less frost. Merchants then filled the lowlands. Early Alton history recounts stories of the merchants trying to convince the farmers to incorporate. They would succeed in 1796, when the community was named for the Alton family.
By 1840, the village of Alton existed at the town's center. In 1847, railways began bringing passengers and freight to Alton Village and Alton Bay. Various businesses flourished, the most famous being the Rockwell Clough Company, established in 1875, inventor and manufacturer of the corkscrew. By 1903, the company was producing 30 million of these gadgets worldwide.
Since the mid-1800s, however, tourism has been the principal business. In 1863, the Adventist Campground held their first camp meeting at Alton Bay. In 1872, the Boston and Maine Railroad launched at Alton Bay the steamer
, the first side-wheeler and largest vessel on Lake Winnipesaukee. When destroyed by fire in 1939, a replacement ship was found, also christened
. Today, it continues to carry summer tourists between stops on the lake. The railway survived until 1935, but the old station at Alton Bay is now a community center.