Lake Sunapee is located within Sullivan County and Merrimack County in western New Hampshire , the United States . It is the fifth-largest lake located entirely in New Hampshire.
58-452: The lake is approximately 8.1 miles (13.0 km) long (north-south) and from 0.5 to 2.5 miles (0.8 to 4.0 km) wide (east-west), covering 6.5 square miles (17 km), with a maximum depth of 105 feet (32 m). It contains eleven islands (Loon Island, Elizabeth Island, Twin Islands, Great Island, Minute Island, Little Island, Star Island, Emerald Island, Isle of Pines and Penny Island) and
116-491: A sandbar or a reef in the dark at high speed. The Coast Guard relied on hard work, reconnaissance, and big guns to get their job done. It was not uncommon for rum-runners' ships to be sold at auction shortly after a trial – ships were often sold back to the original owners. Some ships were captured three or four times before they were finally sunk or retired . In addition, the Coast Guard had other duties and often had to let
174-629: A Live Buoy and three professional-grade weather instruments with rain gauges at three locations on the lake. LSPA is a non-profit educational association. Peninsula A peninsula is a landform that extends from a mainland and is surrounded by water on most sides. Peninsulas exist on each continent. The largest peninsula in the world is the Arabian Peninsula . The word peninsula derives from Latin paeninsula , from paene 'almost' and insula 'island'. The word entered English in
232-570: A group that led to the formation of the Sunapee Dam Corporation which, through an act of the New Hampshire legislature, obtained sole control of the lake's water level. The Dam Corporation lowered the dam threshold to 10 feet (3 m) below the low water mark with flood gates to control the level of the lake. Operation of the dam was uneventful from 1820 to 1858. By 1858 tourism became an important industry as more people were attracted to
290-659: A rum-runner go in order to assist a sinking vessel or handle another emergency. Prohibitive alcohol laws in Finland (total ban of alcohol from 1919 to 1931), Norway (liquor above 20 per cent abv 1917–1927) and the Swedish Bratt System which heavily restricted the sale of alcohol made these three countries attractive for alcohol smuggling from abroad. The main product used for smuggling were rectified spirits produced in Central Europe (Germany, Poland, Netherlands etc.). Alcohol
348-481: A rum-running captain could make several hundred thousand dollars a year. In comparison, the Commandant of the Coast Guard made just $ 6,000 annually, and seamen made $ 30/week. Because of this disparity, the rum-runners were generally willing to take bigger risks. They ran without lights at night and in fog, risking life and limb. Shores could sometimes be found littered with bottles from a rum-runner who sank after hitting
406-454: A screen of smoke was needed to escape the revenue ships. On the government's side, the rum chasers were an assortment of patrol boats , inshore patrol, and harbor cutters. Most of the patrol boats were of the "six-bit" variety: 75-foot craft with a top speed of about 12 knots. There was also an assortment of launches, harbor tugs, and miscellaneous small craft. The rum-runners were often faster and more maneuverable than government ships, and
464-417: Is ample parking. The sandy shore slopes gradually to crystal-clear deeper waters allowing bathers an opportunity to wade waist high for some distance from the shore line. The beach is the starting point for an occasional Iron Man Triathlon one-half mile swim sprint off the beach, followed by a 100-mile (160 km) bike race around the lake, followed by a marathon run around Lake Sunapee. Depending on weather,
522-461: Is credited with the idea of bringing large boats just to the edge of the 3-mile (4.8 km) limit of U.S. jurisdiction and selling his wares there to "contact boats", local fishermen, and small boat captains. The small, quick boats could more easily outrun Coast Guard ships and could dock in any small river or eddy and transfer their cargo to a waiting truck. They were also known to load float planes and flying boats. Soon others were following suit, and
580-538: Is divided into five large river basins . The Lake Sunapee watershed is part of the Connecticut River Basin. The watershed is surrounded by high hills and 55 square miles (142 km) of town lands including parts of Sunapee , Newbury , Sutton , New London , Springfield and Goshen . There are 35 streams or tributaries that empty into Sunapee. The land/water ratio is 7:1. A watershed is an ecosystem of animals, plants, micro-organisms and people who all affect
638-546: Is forbidden by law. The term rum-running is more commonly applied to smuggling over water; bootlegging is applied to smuggling over land. Smuggling usually takes place to circumvent taxation or prohibition laws within a particular jurisdiction. In the United States, the smuggling of alcohol did not end with the repeal of prohibition. In the Appalachian United States , for example, the demand for moonshine
SECTION 10
#1733269876261696-547: Is host to 23 Starboats , one of the largest inland fleets of the Olympic-class vessel. The Sunapee Starboat Regatta is the largest unsanctioned sailing event in the US. Lake Sunapee's own Brad Nichol and his teammate Andy Horton, Starboat contenders for the 2008 Olympics, were named 2006 Team of the Year by US SAILING , the national governing body of sailing in the United States. The LSPA is
754-443: Is indented by several peninsulas and lake fingers, a combination which yields a total shoreline of some 70 miles (110 km). There are seven sandy beach areas including Mount Sunapee State Park beach; some with restricted town access. There are six boat ramps to access the lake at Sunapee Harbor , Georges Mills , Newbury , Mount Sunapee State Park, Burkehaven Marina, and a private marina. The lake contains three lighthouses on
812-643: Is still intact and is visited frequently by local scuba clubs. The pilothouse of the Kearsarge was salvaged from the lake in the 1960s and is on display at the Sunapee Historical Center. The 52-foot (16 m) MV Mount Sunapee II was launched in 1965 and takes passengers on lake cruises in summer months. The original Mount Sunapee was named Susie Q and had been a rum runner in Damariscotta, Maine . The 65-foot (20 m) MV Kearsarge , named for
870-675: The Bahamas to Galveston, Texas , the Louisiana swamps, and Alabama coast. By far the biggest Rum Row was in the New York/Philadelphia area off the New Jersey coast, where as many as 60 ships were seen at one time. One of the most notable New Jersey rum runners was Habana Joe , who could be seen at night running into remote areas in Raritan Bay with his flat-bottom skiff for running up on
928-599: The Mount Sunapee State Park beach. Mount Sunapee State Park offers activities for all seasons. Probably best known for its skiing and snowboarding , the park also offers opportunities for front-country camping, hiking, and swimming on the beach on Lake Sunapee. The entrance to Mount Sunapee State Park Beach is on the traffic circle opposite the entrance to the Mount Sunapee ski area in Newbury off Route 103B . There
986-737: The National Register of Historic Places . The driving distance around the lake is 25 miles (40 km) with many miles of lake water view. The lake is 1,093 feet (333 m) above sea level. The lake's outlet is in Sunapee Harbor, the headway for the Sugar River , which flows west through Newport and Claremont to the Connecticut River and then to the Atlantic Ocean . The lake discharges about 250 cubic feet per second (on average), and
1044-511: The Old West and Canada West or local prohibitions like the one on Prince Edward Island between 1901 and 1948. Industrial-scale smuggling flowed both ways across the Canada–United States border at different points in the early twentieth century, largely between Windsor, Ontario and Detroit, Michigan . Although Canada never had true nationwide prohibition, the federal government gave
1102-498: The Reo II . Specialized high-speed craft were built for the ship-to-shore runs. These high-speed boats were often luxury yachts and speedboats fitted with powerful aircraft engines, machine guns, and armor plating. Often, builders of rum-runners' ships also supplied Coast Guard vessels, such as Fred and Mirto Scopinich's Freeport Point Shipyard . Rum-runners often kept cans of used engine oil handy to pour on hot exhaust manifolds in case
1160-693: The Saint Lawrence Seaway and down the west coast to San Francisco and Los Angeles . Rum-running from Canada was also an issue, especially throughout prohibition in the early 1900s. There was a high number of distilleries in Canada, one of the most famous being Hiram Walker who developed Canadian Club Whisky . The French islands of Saint-Pierre and Miquelon , located south of Newfoundland, were an important base used by well-known smugglers, including Al Capone , Savannah Unknown, and Bill McCoy. The Gulf of Mexico also teemed with ships running from Mexico and
1218-663: The Twenty-first Amendment on December 5, 1933. At first, there was much action on the seas, but after several months, the Coast Guard began reporting decreased smuggling activity. This was the start of the Bimini–;Bahamas rum trade and the introduction of Bill McCoy . With the start of prohibition, Captain McCoy began bringing rum from Bimini and the rest of the Bahamas into south Florida through Government Cut . The Coast Guard soon caught up with him, so he began to bring
SECTION 20
#17332698762611276-506: The 16th century. A peninsula is generally defined as a piece of land surrounded on most sides by water. A peninsula may be bordered by more than one body of water, and the body of water does not have to be an ocean or a sea. A piece of land on a very tight river bend or one between two rivers is sometimes said to form a peninsula, for example in the New Barbadoes Neck in New Jersey , United States. A peninsula may be connected to
1334-503: The John Hay Wildlife Refuge accessible along the wildlife shoreline trail. Native Americans , likely Algonquins, called the lake Soo-Nipi or "Wild Goose Waters" for the many geese that passed over the lake during migration. From an aerial view, and at times from Mount Sunapee, Lake Sunapee also resembles a bird ( goose ) in flight, with the bird's head as the harbor area. Some local residents can trace their ancestry back to
1392-552: The Native American Penacooks , who hunted geese in the autumn and fished for speckled trout using nets, weirs and spears. Following the extension of the B&;M Railroad into Newbury , Lake Sunapee became a popular vacation area long before the introduction of the automobile. The main rail station was at Newbury Harbor, the southernmost point of the lake. Today, the village contains a colorful antique caboose commemorating
1450-513: The Sugar River drops approximately 800 feet (240 m) on its 27-mile (43 km) journey to the Connecticut River. Lake Sunapee is a glacial lake . The glaciers deposited large rocks scattered everywhere in the woods when the ice melted about 11,000 years ago. These rocks are called glacial erratics . An example of a large glacial erratic can be found sitting on Minute Island in front of
1508-598: The United States. Again, this illegal international trade undermined the support for prohibition in the receiving country, and the American version ended (at the national level) in 1933. One of the most famous periods of rum-running began in the United States when Prohibition began on January 16, 1920, when the Eighteenth Amendment went into effect. This period lasted until the amendment was repealed with ratification of
1566-418: The beach, making his delivery, and speeding away. With that much competition, the suppliers often flew large banners advertising their wares and threw parties with prostitutes on board their ships to draw customers. Rum Row was completely lawless, and many crews armed themselves not against government ships but against the other rum-runners, who would sometimes sink a ship and hijack its cargo rather than make
1624-437: The beauty of Lake Sunapee. As the lake was lowered to power mills, the steamboats had difficulty maneuvering the waters, and farmers had to extend fences out into the water to contain livestock. Docks had to be extended. The controversy over the management of the water level became more contentious and continued to the turn of the 20th century. The New Hampshire legislature began to shift policy and concluded that (i) Lake Sunapee
1682-650: The fish pens below to accommodate as much contraband as she could hold. She became one of the most famous of the rum-runners, along with his two other ships hauling mostly Irish and Canadian whiskey as well as other fine liquors and wines to ports from Maine to Florida . In the days of rum running, it was common for captains to add water to the bottles to stretch their profits or to re-label it as better goods. Often, cheap sparkling wine would become French champagne or Italian Spumante ; unbranded liquor became top-of-the-line name brands. McCoy became famous for never adding water to his booze and selling only top brands. Although
1740-489: The formation of a peninsula. For example, in the case of Florida , continental drift, marine sediment, and marine transgressions were all contributing factors to its shape. In the case of formation from glaciers (e.g., the Antarctic Peninsula or Cape Cod ), peninsulas can be created due to glacial erosion , meltwater or deposition . If erosion formed the peninsula, softer and harder rocks were present, and since
1798-466: The glacier only erodes softer rock, it formed a basin . This may create peninsulas, and occurred for example in the Keweenaw Peninsula . In the case of formation from meltwater, melting glaciers deposit sediment and form moraines , which act as dams for the meltwater. This may create bodies of water that surround the land, forming peninsulas. If deposition formed the peninsula, the peninsula
Lake Sunapee - Misplaced Pages Continue
1856-449: The grand hotels. The automobile led to the demise of the steamer era. The lake is surrounded by three towns: Sunapee lies to the west, incorporating the villages of Sunapee Harbor and Georges Mills ; Newbury lies to its southeast and southwest; and New London is to its east. A complete list of Ice Out dates from 1869 to 2022 is accessible from the Town of Sunapee website. New Hampshire
1914-404: The illegal goods to just outside U.S. territorial waters and let smaller boats and other captains, such as Habana Joe, take the risk of bringing it to shore. The rum-running business was very good, and McCoy soon bought a Gloucester knockabout schooner named Arethusa at auction and renamed her Tomoka . He installed a larger auxiliary, mounted a concealed machine gun on her deck, and refitted
1972-501: The mainland via an isthmus , for example, in the Isthmus of Corinth which connects to the Peloponnese peninsula. DON'T FORGET OR ELSE Peninsulas can be formed from continental drift , glacial erosion , glacial meltwater , glacial deposition , marine sediment , marine transgressions , volcanoes, divergent boundaries or river sedimentation. More than one factor may play into
2030-428: The oldest environmental association in New Hampshire. The association has been working to protect and preserve lake Sunapee and other lakes in the region since 1898. "The lake is the one jewel that calls us all here," said the first president, Colonel Hopkins of LSPA. LSPA has been testing the waters of Lake Sunapee since 1950. Water is collected regularly and analyzed at Colby-Sawyer College Labs. The LSPA also maintains
2088-723: The original steamship Kearsarge , was built and launched on Lake Sunapee in 1970 as the Sunapee Belle, a replica of a Mississippi River boat, and operated as a dinner boat. In 1974, the original Sunapee Belle wooden hull was replaced with a steel hull. The hull was cut in half and lengthened to 65 feet in 1980, and the MV Kearsarge restaurant ship was built on top of the new hull. There were major steamer landings at Sunapee Harbor, Georges Mills, Lakeside Landing, Hastings Landing, Auburn Landing, Blodgett Landing, Brightwood, Pine Cliff, Lake Station, Soo-Nipi, Burkehaven, and Granliden to serve
2146-457: The park is open from 9:30 am – 7:30 pm. Entrance fees apply for lake access during the summer months. Mount Sunapee abuts Lake Sunapee at the mid-southern end of the lake in Newbury. There are five lighthouses in New Hampshire; two on the Atlantic shore and three on Lake Sunapee. The Lake Sunapee lighthouses are Loon Island Lighthouse, Burkehaven Lighthouse and Lakeside Lighthouse. Lake Sunapee
2204-473: The phrase appears in print in 1882, this is one of several false etymologies for the origin of the term " The real McCoy ". On November 15, 1923, McCoy and Tomoka encountered the U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Seneca just outside U.S. territorial waters. A boarding party attempted to board , but McCoy chased them off with the machine gun. Tomoka tried to run, but Seneca placed a shell just off her hull, and William McCoy surrendered his ship and cargo. McCoy
2262-506: The physical and chemical environment. The LSPA (Lake Sunapee Protective Association) has deployed the Global Lake Ecological Observatory Network (GLEON) System in an area of the lake just east of Loon Island Lighthouse. LSPA has been collecting ecology data for more than 100 years. Lake Sunapee has seven white sandy beach areas: Sunapee Harbor; Dewey Beach, Georges Mills, Newbury Harbor, Soo-Nipi, Granliden, and
2320-527: The provinces an easy means to ban alcohol under the War Measures Act (1914), and most provinces and the Yukon Territory already had enacted prohibition locally by 1918 when a regulation issued by the federal cabinet banned the interprovincial trade and importation of liquor. National prohibition in the United States did not begin until 1920, though many states had statewide prohibition before that. For
2378-419: The railroad line that passed by, bringing vacationers from other parts of the country. Steamboat service developed on the lake to accommodate the new populace. Steamships ferried passengers from the south end of the lake to cottages and large resort hotels around the lake. Bay Point, Blodgett Landing , and Indian Cave, later known as Lake Avenue, were the most populated piers. One of the first commercial boats
Lake Sunapee - Misplaced Pages Continue
2436-678: The run to Canada or the Caribbean for fresh supplies. At the start, the rum-runner fleet consisted of a ragtag flotilla of fishing boats, such as the schooner Nellie J. Banks , excursion boats, and small merchant craft. As prohibition wore on, the stakes got higher and the ships became larger and more specialized. Converted fishing ships like McCoy's Tomoka waited on Rum Row and were soon joined by small motor freighters custom-built in Nova Scotia for rum running, with low, grey hulls, hidden compartments, and powerful wireless equipment. Examples include
2494-468: The sediment is deposited, forming a delta peninsula. Marine transgressions (changes in sea level) may form peninsulas, but also may affect existing peninsulas. For example, the water level may change, which causes a peninsula to become an island during high water levels. Similarly, wet weather causing higher water levels make peninsulas appear smaller, while dry weather make them appear larger. Sea level rise from global warming will permanently reduce
2552-410: The size of some peninsulas over time. Peninsulas are noted for their use as shelter for humans and Neanderthals . The landform is advantageous because it gives hunting access to both land and sea animals. They can also serve as markers of a nation's borders. Rum-running Rum-running , or bootlegging , is the illegal business of smuggling alcoholic beverages where such transportation
2610-536: The three-mile limit became known as "Rum Line" with the ships waiting called " Rum row ". The Rum Line was extended to a 12-mile (19 km) limit by an act of the United States Congress on April 21, 1924, which made it harder for the smaller and less seaworthy craft to make the trip. Rum Row was not the only front for the Coast Guard. Rum-runners often made the trip through Canada via the Great Lakes and
2668-463: The two-year interval, enough American liquor entered Canada illegally to undermine support for prohibition in Canada, so it was slowly lifted, beginning with Quebec and Yukon in 1919 and including all the provinces but Prince Edward Island by 1930. Additionally, Canada's version of prohibition had never included a ban on the manufacture of liquor for export. Soon the black-market trade was reversed with Canadian whisky and beer flowing in large quantities to
2726-493: The volcano erupts near shallow water. Marine sediment may form peninsulas by the creation of limestone . A rift peninsula may form as a result of a divergent boundary in plate tectonics (e.g. the Arabian Peninsula ), while a convergent boundary may also form peninsulas (e.g. Gibraltar or the Indian subcontinent ). Peninsulas can also form due to sedimentation in rivers. When a river carrying sediment flows into an ocean,
2784-412: The western Bahamas transported cheap Caribbean rum to Florida speakeasies . However, rum's cheapness made it a low-profit item for the rum-runners, and they soon moved on to smuggling Canadian whisky , French champagne , and English gin to major cities like New York City , Boston , and Chicago , where prices ran high. It was said that some ships carried $ 200,000 in contraband in a single run. It
2842-482: The word-form "bootlegger" as in use from 1889 onwards. According to the 2011 PBS documentary Prohibition , the term bootlegging was popularized when thousands of city dwellers sold liquor from flasks they kept in their boot legs all across major cities and rural areas. The term rum-running was current by 1916, and was used during the Prohibition era in the United States (1920–1933), when ships from Bimini in
2900-573: Was actually propelled by horses in 1854. N.S. Gardner purchased Little Island for $ 1.00 and put a bowling alley on it. He then launched the Penacook (later renamed Mountain Maid ) steamer to carry passengers to Little Island, and so the steamboat era began. The Woodsum brothers launched the Lady Woodsum in 1876. It was 50 feet (15 m) long and could carry 75 passengers. The 90-foot (27 m) Edmund Burke
2958-547: Was at an all-time high in the 1920s, but an era of rampant bootlegging in dry areas continued into the 1970s. Although the well-known bootleggers of the day may no longer be in business, bootlegging still exists, even if on a smaller scale. The state of Virginia has reported that it loses up to $ 20 million a year from illegal whiskey smuggling. The Government of the United Kingdom fails to collect an estimated £900 million in taxes due to alcohol smuggling activities. Absinthe
SECTION 50
#17332698762613016-538: Was composed of sedimentary rock , which was created from a large deposit of glacial drift . The hill of drift becomes a peninsula if the hill formed near water but was still connected to the mainland, for example during the formation of Cape Cod about 23,000 years ago. In the case of formation from volcanoes, when a volcano erupts magma near water, it may form a peninsula (e.g., the Alaskan Peninsula ). Peninsulas formed from volcanoes are especially common when
3074-530: Was launched in 1885, carrying 600 passengers. In 1887, the Amenia White was launched; it was 101 feet (31 m) long and carried 650. It was the flagship of the Woodsum fleet and the biggest steamer ever to sail Lake Sunapee. In 1897 the 70-foot (21 m) steamship Kearsarge was launched carrying 250 passengers. In 1902 the 50-foot (15 m) Weetamoo was launched and was later scuttled near Newbury. The ship
3132-541: Was legally exported on large ships as tax-free produce via ports like Hamburg, Tallinn, Kiel and particularly the Free City of Danzig . Similar to the Rum Row near the U.S. coast, these ships usually did not leave international waters and the alcohol was clandestinely loaded onto smaller boats that illegally brought it into the destination countries. Despite various efforts led by Finland to fight contraband (Helsinki Convention for
3190-478: Was mismanaged, and (ii) that all the lakes in New Hampshire should be managed for the benefit and access of the public. In 1905, legal actions ensued until finally all the parties to the suit, including the Lake Sunapee Protective Association, founded in that same year, agreed that the lake level must be maintained within the range of 1,108.5' and 1,111.5' elevation. The Lake Sunapee Yacht Club
3248-416: Was not long after the first taxes were implemented on alcoholic beverages that someone began to smuggle alcohol . The British government had "revenue cutters " in place to stop smugglers as early as the 16th century. Pirates often made extra money running rum to heavily taxed colonies . There were times when the sale of alcohol was limited for other reasons, such as laws against sales to American Indians in
3306-515: Was smuggled into the United States until it was legalized in 2007. Cuban rum is also sometimes smuggled into the United States, circumventing the embargo in existence since 1960. It is believed that the term bootlegging originated during the American Civil War of 1861–1865, when soldiers would sneak liquor into army camps by concealing pint bottles within their boots or beneath their trouser legs. The Oxford English Dictionary records
3364-561: Was the source of water power for the mills that were built on the banks of the Sugar River as it meandered through Newport and Claremont. Benjamin Giles built the first gristmill in 1768. Later in 1813, James Wolcott built a textile mill in Newport. The flow of water out of Lake Sunapee, however, was not regular; there would be either too much flooding or too much drought. Mills had to shut down in periods of low water. In 1820, some proprietors formed
#260739