A boat ride around Lake Tarleton recently revealed nothing of “The Great Plan” of cabins and roads that never happened. Instead, at Lake Tarleton, there are eagles, loons, fish, clear, pristine water, boating, hiking, and an intense rocky coastline.
But the horrors of what could have happened at this unspoiled place remain close to many people who remember it well during its heyday of care and attention by the Jacobs family. They were the owners and caretakers there for 30 years, then in the early 1960s, their Lake Tarleton Club acreage was sold.
From there on, this jewel of the north country’s chances for future survival began to disappear like the fading warm summer breezes. Drawings and plans of the new Lake Tarleton Club by new owner Boise Cascade Corporation, revealed in late 1969 that a 5200-acre development was going to create over 4000 single family homes, each built on less than a one-third acre lot, 177 condominiums, 116 town houses, an 18-hole golf course, skating rink, toboggan run, tennis courts, a swimming pool, a shorefront marina on Lake Tarleton, an airport and even a ski area.
According to early newspaper reports, the work began with demolishing the huge country club building and clearing a ski area into Piermont Mountain. Construction was set to start in the spring of 1970, but the New Hampshire Shoreline Protection law halted it temporarily. By that time, the Boise-Cascade Company had spent $700,000 on development plans.
By the summer of 1972, they had abandoned their plans to develop the property in the foreseeable future. They also put the property up for sale to a mammoth ski development company, but much of it had already been sold off. A declining economy and strong environmental opposition from residents, politicians, and state planning agencies led to the cancellation of this massive project.
A coalition organized by the Trust for Public Land, the Society for the Protection of New Hampshire Forests, and the Upper Valley Land Trust raised about $7 million to protect the Lake Tarleton area from development. Also, an agreement was negotiated to purchase over 5000 acres surrounding most of nearby Lake Constance and Lake Catherine.
The goal of the series of land purchases was to stave off further planned developments by giving community leaders and concerned citizens the time they needed to raise funds to protect the entire area permanently.

Almost $7.5 million in public and private funds were raised to protect the area from development. More than 600 local individuals and businesses contributed nearly $500,000 in private funds to ensure the success of the project. In 1996 and 1997, the entire acreage became part of the White Mountains National Forest. Finally, the deal was done, and today the Lake Tarleton Club is gone, but remains as a pleasant memory, and the fears of a significant corporate development have been put to rest.
Captained by Piermont’s Town Moderator Joyce Tompkins, her noiseless four-stroke motor gently pushed her pontoon vessel along the glass-smooth waters of Lake Tarleton during a recent afternoon. The temperature had moderated; it was gorgeous just to sit back and float around the perimeter of the lake at a slow idle.
Like with most days on the lake, there was not a lot of boat action on the lake. We had talked back and forth about the changes we would be seeing if the development folks had succeeded and turned these waters and forest lands into a circus, like a Hampton Beach or a heavy mix of large, and huge boats like we now see in Meredith Bay of Lake Winnipesaukee—a navigator’s nightmare.
The two Marvins in the boat, which included my wife, Polly, and me, were Bill Daley and Liz Bayne of Haverhill. We had two outstanding takeaways from this splendid afternoon boat adventure. Our first was to see the lake’s celebrated loon Mom with her chick, both swimming at leisure, and cruising the waters just offshore, a safe distance away from our boat.
In the past, we had seen the loons out towards the center mass of the lake, but today they were cautious to stay close to that rocky shore, and it was no coincidence that they did so. Looked to us like some personal protection was going on there, and as we glanced around, a pair of large male and female bald eagles were watching from the branches of a nearby 100-foot white pine. Yikes. Twin dangers above, and the loons knew it and were not venturing out too far.
Eventually, we completed our circumnavigation and returned to our captain’s small metal dock. She eased it into reverse, no gas, and we gently tapped the sides of the dock. Lines abaft the console and at the bow were cast, our trip was over.
What a great afternoon spent on the water while appreciating the treasure of this place. How fortunate we are to be able to do all this without the bustle of the Gargantuan development that had come so close. What we just experienced will continue in perpetuity for everyone.

Have a story?