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    Despite a population of under a thousand, the town is known by several areas within its long borders--the village at North Stratford with the school (kindergarten through twelfth grade), town hall, post office and several businesses; Stratford Center, once known for its panoramic farms; the village Stratford Hollow, with its small businesses; and East Stratford or Out East, gateway to Sugar Loaf.
 

    Stratford forms a link in the chain of New Hampshire towns found in the narrowest, most beautiful parts of the Connecticut valley.  Valuable timber covers its rugged hillsides and is still harvested today.  Rich arable land lie along the river or in the wake of mountain streams and once supported a thriving farming community.  In its heyday, small grist and sawmills dotted  our mountain brooks.
 

    Stratford's mountains, volcanic in origin, are heavily wooded to the summit, except where vegetation was entirely destroyed many years ago by fire, leaving nothing but  bare rock.  Whether snow-laden, bursting with spring greenery, filled with nesting songbirds or blazing in autumn color, our mountains are our glory.
 

    The bald summits or Percy or Stratford Peaks (ask us their other names!) are landmarks for miles around.  North Peak rises 3,336 feet; South Peak rises 3,149 feet.  To the east, Stratford Mountain rises 2,000 feet.
 

    To the northeast, Meriden Hill affords wide views of other peaks, sharply cut notches, and well-defined valleys.
 

    The highest range of hills, running in a southerly direction, are Bowback or Go Back (the highest peak rises 2,986 feet).  Sugar Loaf, at 3,470 feet, is a long mountain, culminating in a towering peak seen 60 miles down in the valley.  From its summit, the valley of the Connecticut, with its panorama of villages, farms, mountains, streams and peaks, is a sight to behold.
 

    Although the town possesses  no lakes or ponds of size, except manmade Stratford Bog, it is well supplied  with icy mountain brooks, such as Lyman, Kimball, Bissel, Baldwin, Stony, Little Bog, Bog, Barnes, East Branch, that have played an important role in our industrial and spiritual life.
 

    Miles of the superb snowmobile trails, ample cross-country skiing, autumn hiking along back roads, big and small game hunting and native fishing attract resident and visitor alike.
 

    Whether skiing or snow shoeing in the heart of winter and stopping to check animal  tracks, walking a country lane in spring and battling our infamous black flies, mosquitoes, or midgets(!), identifying wildflowers or butterflies in a pasture, fishing our brooks when the ice goes out, playing in autumn leaves or sitting in a stand as a cold wind blows, it is not unusual to look out over that landscape and see bear, fox, rabbit, moose (swamp donkey), deer, fisher, squirrel or eagle, partridge, woodchuck, heron (known as shitpoke), wild geese, ducks, a wide variety of songbirds or jack-in-the-pulpit, red and white trillium (known as stinking benjamin), and lady's slipper.
 

    Escape the workaday world to take in the wild beauty of our corner of earth, and let the stresses and struggle of life timelessly drift away.
 

    Native Americans once enjoyed Stratford's rich profusion  of game and fish.  Old sugar maples at the Baldwin Homestead, known as the House of Five Chimneys, are said to have been tapped by Native Americans.  One of the town's first buildings was an old trading post, and remnants of Fort Hill rise from one farm.
 

    Nearly hidden plaques quietly mark our past, our people and a reliance on forests.  Rock monuments at each end of town honor those who served in time of war.
 

    Fiercely proud of a quaint charm, rural character, and far northern outlook that differs little from its early days, Stratford admits and sometimes worries time has overlooked us.  Yet, young and old feel an inexplicable tug of place, a haunting call of land, and remain to eke out a living in much the same ways our ancestors did on old family lands despite economic hardship or personal adversity.
 

    From  Native Americans and determined early settlers to small mill founders and hardy farmers to today's handyman or craft shops and factory workers, our town boasts  a unique brand of independent, self-sufficient men and women who are Yankee to the core.
 

    Stop by and take time to know the back roads of a town little changed in character or ideals from its early days of settlement.  Recapture dreams of freedom and self-reliance our forefathers knew and which we have never forgotten. Ask an old timer to share a tale, perhaps about an old one-room school house, days of logging with horses, good times at sugaring off parties, friendships developed at quilting bees, wiring of homes for electricity when the rural electrification project come through, our young men and women going off to various wars, or lazy talks around a store's potbellied stove. These are our richest treasure.
 

    In the northern reaches of New Hampshire, just below the Canadian border in the Great North Woods, Stratford is located along Route 3 and is readily accessible from Southern NH, Vermont, Maine, New York, Massachusetts, Connecticut, or Canada.  We appreciate your patronage of our small businesses during your visit to the area.
 
 
 
 
 
 

    Copyright 1995 by Patty Summers.  All rights reserved.  Based on data from History of the Town of Stratford, 1773-1925, by Jeannette R. Thompson, Views and opinions are those of the author.  Brochure provided  courtesy of Summers Editorial Service.