The old innkeeper Abel Crawford pioneered the tourist industry in the area. His property, which included most of the town, was acquired by Dr. Samuel Bemis, a Boston dentist, who was the first American to make Daguerreotype landscape photographs. After Bemis died, the business of the town was dominated by three generations of the mysterious Morey family, who ran the community like a personal fiefdom. Owners of most of the acreage in the town, they converted Bemis's stone mansion into an inn, but two members of the family disappeared with nary a question asked nor an explanation given. Here are the stories of the Willey family, tragically killed by a landslide, the building of the railroad through the notch and its impact on the town, and the creation of Crawford Notch State Park.
Democracy comes alive here as virtually every adult resident eventually serves in a town office.
Hart's Location is famous throughout the United States as the town first to vote in national elections with its citizens gathering just after midnight to cast their ballots.