09 Apr History of our NH Resort – The Hurricane of 1938
Families who have stayed at our New Hampshire resort at Steele Hill during the early days of spring and the waning weeks of summer may have experienced the sound of strong wind gusts. On those rare days where the wind is really blowing across the lake, even the deck chairs have a tendency to move around a bit. These nocturnal noises can be a little scary for our younger guests, an inconvenience at times for our maintenance staff, and a thrill for adults and couples looking to experience the full effect of life on top of a mountain. On the morning of September 21, 1938, they were something far different and much deadlier.
The now infamous and unnamed hurricane that hit that late summer morning, with wind gusts of over 100 miles per hour, left 60,000 people homeless and took over 600 lives in New England. It was also responsible for $12 million in property damage, a fair amount even by today’s standards. Much of that damage was done by falling and blowing timber, a problem that had to be dealt with by the then brand new owner of Steele Hill, Nelson Smith. If you’re sitting in the Hilltop Restaurant or Tova’s Tavern right now, you are benefiting from Smith’s use of that fallen timber. The Inn was built with it.
Nelson Smith was a dairy farmer who bought the property in 1937 with intentions of building an Inn to share the surrounding beauty with others. The Hurricane of 1938, though devastating to the region, provided him with an ample supply of wood to construct what is now the building that houses the restaurant, tavern, and vacation offices. What is now the golf course you see from the restaurant was littered with fallen trees after the hurricane. Imagine the manpower and hours that went into clearing that area and constructing the building, no small accomplishment in 1938.
The Inn was completed in 1941 and was originally opened as an exclusive New Hampshire resort for affluent Boston families. Nelson Smith passed away in 1948 and James B Dodge purchased it in 1950, continuing the policy of catering only to the affluent. It wasn’t until 1965 when the Conklin family purchased the Inn that Steele Hill was opened to the general public. Three years later it was sold again, this time to Ralph Cutillo, and it has been in the Cutillo family ever since.
The New Hampshire resort at Steele Hill has come a long way since the Hurricane of 1938. The East Wing was added in 1978 and the West Building with an indoor amenities center and pools was completed in 1987. The first building in the newest phase, Steele Hill South, was finished in 2007 with plans to expand even further. If you’re staying here now or planning on having your wedding here, please take advantage of all of our amenities and enjoy yourself in our luxurious accommodations. Nelson Smith, a man who had a dream and made it a reality, would have wanted it that way.