Published: 7/23/2018 3:43:05 PM
Mount Washington was already a popular tourist destination with one hotel at its summit when Lancaster farmer Samuel Fitch Spaulding decided to open a competing hotel in 1853.
Tip Top House was built in six weeks with stone blasted from the mountain and lumber that had to be hauled by horses over nine rugged miles from the nearest sawmill. It changed ownership and purpose many times over the years, housing hikers, railroad employees, a newspaper and printing press, and research facilities.
Tip Top House is the oldest surviving building left standing on the summit today. Now a state historic site, it is believed to be the oldest mountain-top hostelry still in existence.
N.H. Historical Society