Originally, the neighborhood now known as Lakeport was part
of Meredith on one side of the Winnipesaukee River and of
Gilmanton (Gilford after 1812) on the other. This manufacturing,
commercial, and port settlement--once called Lake Village--became
part of the city in Laconia in 1893. The area around today's Lakeport
Dam became the site of sawmills and gristmills for the Euro-American
settlers of the late 1760s. By the mid-1800s, textile and hosiery mills,
factories, foundries, and machine shops had grown up around the
abundant waterpower of the dam.
With...

Laconia, New Hampshire, is the county seat of Belknap County, and is situated in almost the geographic center of the state. Today Laconia and the Lake Winnipesaukee area are known chiefly for their tourist attractions and their outstanding natural beauty, but for more than a century and a half Laconia was known throughout New Hampshire and beyond for its extraordinary industrial innovation and output, and for its dynamic population. Laconia is a city which can truly be said to have enjoyed and suffered many changes over the years and it is the vitality that has resulted from confronting these...