Little Boar's Head Historic District, Historic coastal district in North Hampton, United States.
Little Boar's Head Historic District occupies a glacial drumlin overlooking the Gulf of Maine, running along Ocean Boulevard (Route 1A) from the bathhouses south of North Hampton State Beach to the southern end of Bass Beach. It also takes in properties on Sea, Atlantic and Willow Avenues and Chapel Road, with fish houses just north of the state beach.
Until the mid-19th century Little Boar's Head was a fishing and farming community. In 1845 New Hampshire Senator James Bell bought coastal land from a local farmer and in 1862 built Bell's Cottage for his daughter at 4 Atlantic Avenue, the district's first summer house. Bachelder's Hotel opened in 1868 and burned in 1929; former President Franklin Pierce bought land in the 1860s.
The name comes from a glacial drumlin on the coast overlooking the Gulf of Maine. The district's summer life centred on Bachelder's Hotel, which opened in 1868 and hosted seasonal visitors until a fire destroyed it in 1929. Bathhouses just south of North Hampton State Beach and fish houses north of it remain part of the shoreline.
The district follows Ocean Boulevard (Route 1A) between North Hampton State Beach and Bass Beach, with side properties on Sea, Atlantic, Willow and Chapel Road. It is almost entirely residential, so visitors see the houses and shoreline from the public road and beach rather than entering private grounds. The bathhouses sit at the southern end, the fish houses just north of the state beach.
Fuller Gardens, created by Massachusetts Governor Alvan T. Fuller on his estate here, survives as a public garden run by a nonprofit; his house was demolished. The district also holds fish houses just north of North Hampton State Beach, and its southern end is a cluster of bathhouses.
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