1766 The areas first sawmill was built at The Weirs, (not at Lakeport) followed by a corn mill and brickyard.
There was not enough drop at the channel, so the mills fell to disrepair even before any dam existed at Lake Village.
1766 Abraham Folsom built his homestead in the Elm Street area of Lakeport.
1780 The town of Gilmanton voted to sell a couple of their lots to him to encourage his business operations.
1781 Folsom built a dam across the river at what is now called Lakeport to power his first grist mill, later adding a sawmill.
1788 Both of Folsom's mills burned, but future sawmills functioned here until 1861. Gristmills until destroyed by fire in 1903.
1818 Gilford sold the mill privilege on the Gilford side of river to Johnathan Nelson - instructing him to leave passage for fish.
1825 Nathan Batchelder acquired Folsom's farm and mill operations, effectively purchasing the right to control the level of the lake.
1826 Batchelder, in association with Stephen Lyford, a lawyer, built a new loose boulder and rubble dam about 16.5' below the Folsom dam, that can still be seen just above the bridge. Arrangements for a stone canal were also made to allow for navigation.
1833 Nathan Batchelder sells his interests to Governor's Island residents, Nathaniel Davis and David Pingree, who were acting as agents for Winnepissiogee Lake Cotton and Woolen Manufacturing Company. This company was not in New Hampshire to to manufacture wool or cotton. The stock in this company was all held by Essex Company of Lawrence and the Locks and Canal Company of Lowell, Massachusetts. Their intent was to control the level of Lake Winnipesaukee for the benefit of factories downstream and out of state. The excessive logging along the Pemigewasset watershed caused this tributary of the Merrimack River to run almost dry in the summer, which turned Lake Winnipesaukee into the only feasible solution.
1851 the "Lake Company" erected a more extensive stone dam to increase the reservoir capacity of the lake, enabling the company to draw it down to provide extra power when the Massachusetts mills demanded it. The top of this dam was only slightly higher than Batchedler's, but it was built tighter and was considerably more effective. The lake level rose significantly, completely altering the huge lake, by flooding a vast amount of shoreline.
Anticipating that the waterfront owners would not appreciate such manipulation of the lake, the company attempted to buy as much frontage as possible. The farmers that owned lake-shore property were especially furious with being flooded and brought lawsuits against the company. This eventually forced the "Lake Company" to give up and sell most of its Lakes Region holding. The state later established the Water Resources Board and assumed responsibility for the control of the water level of Lake Winnipesaukee on behalf of the public.
The Witches once an island proper until the raising of the waters because of the dam. (Purchased in 1830 by the "Lake Company".)
1912 Someone discovered that a map made by a civil engineer for Fullerton Wells' Island Company included many islands that had not existed since the dam had been built in 1851.
From the McDude Gallery
Sources of information:
The Gunstock Parish by Adair Mulligan
Lake Winnipesaukee by Bruce Heald
Weirs Beach historic information and dam pictures. (Scroll down.)
(They seem to be mistaken on this website on the 1766 date of the Lakeport dam.)