Wolfeboro's Little Airport & Ralph M. Horn

[ApS]

Originally Posted by excelsior007

Looking at the pictures posted of Merwin Horn - this was published in America's First Resort in May 2013. If you need additional copies, I can get them to you - as I am the publisher.

Thanks, but I have enough copies, thanks to thoughtful family members.

By your user-name—excelsior007—I'd guess you know a lot about Wolfeboro history.

Have you access to the video of the l-o-n-g interview I made of Merwin Horn one year before he died?

Originally Posted by Phantom

Very Very interesting reading ... I missed this thread initially. Am I to construe that the Marriot Family still owns the property ? and has anything been done there of recent? As we only get to see that area by water, I do not recall any significant development or construction.

The Marriott family still owns the property—plus additional land (east) beyond Johnson's Cove. I'd guess the total land area of Wolfeboro Neck now Marriott-owned is over 110 acres.

Merwin would have sold a kidney to buy the land and take down those huge pine trees that obstructed the approach to the runway. As the airport flourished, they'd grown fast enough to eventually become a hazard for an aircraft's approach to the runway. Cool and shaded air caused aircraft on final approach to drop precipitously. As recently as ten years ago, you could find broken aircraft canopy fragments, aluminum straps, seat belts, and other scattered parts. As I recall, some painted items remaining in the area were blue and white in color.

That land east beyond Johnson's Cove includes some interesting structures, including Brad Frankum's 1950s vintage summer lakefront home—"Shadowbrook". (Now being rented-out by the Marriotts).

Old Fords figured prominently on Wolfeboro's many dirt roads. I'd purchased Brad Frankum's Model A Ford, which had been painted white and red. We'd previously borrowed Merwin Horn's 1934 Ford Model A dually truck to clear our lot of tree debris.

On the main area of the former airport runway, no additional building has been started, and I'm told that none is expected any time soon; however, they've left the former owner's many underground electrical service structures in place.

The hanger from the early 1970s is being used for maintenance of equipment and storage: it's still a busy place.

Also, to preserve the view towards The Broads, the waterfront property facing The Broads is likely to remain undeveloped indefinitely. The only additional news is that the solitary "model home" elevated high on the property, had its porch "rearranged" by lightning!

Just found among my many photographs is the one below, which pictured the lakeside floatplane activity about the time Merwin Horn died in 1997. There are three floatplanes pictured, and one wooden boat. The red object to the right is a standard airport fabric"wind sock", to show the direction of the wind in the immediate area.

Built there now is a large McMansion, complete with three docks and three huge fireplaces described earlier.



Another piece of trivia: I didn't know it at the time, but Merwin's niece was my Brewster Academy Prom-Date!