ALTON BAY NH

ALTON BAY NH

Alton Bay Bandstand

Built - 1947

Alton Bay is a very quiet unassuming town located on the banks of the largest lake in the state of New Hampshire, Lake Winnipesaukee. As a township for over 180 years now, as of this writing, it is considered to be one of the oldest ports of shipping on the lake and is located at the southern-most point of the lake. The town is also the birthplace of the Mount Washington Cruises as the side-wheeler was first launched from the piers of Alton Bay in 1872.

In the mid 1920s, a group of men from Alton Bay formed a racing association and decided to build a bandstand in the bay for concerts and as a reviewing stand for their boat races. However, the logistics of moving a band and its instrucments to and from the bandstand in the middle of the bay proved too difficult so this new bandstand was built on the town-owned shorefront nearby in 1947 when the funds were voted on to build the structure at the town annual meeting. Like the bandstand in the bay, this land-based bandstand has a square plan, with 8 posts and a pyramid-shaped roof set on a concrete block base.

The Alton Bay Bandstand saw a complete reconstruction in 1988 by the Alton-New Durham Lions Club since the existing structure had deteriorated with the Lions Club using the project as an opportunity for a public service project.

INFORMATION PROVIDED BY:
Patricia C. Merrill, President
Alton Historical Society