Clare T. Bodwell Exhibit (Retired)

FRANCONIA, New Hampshire  (May 2022)

The Franconia Heritage Museum announced today its season-opening and featured exhibition for 2022, which, in keeping with its mission, will present art, objects, papers, and recollections of the history of Franconia and surrounding towns.  The Museum features objects and artifacts from Franconia’s history that are housed ‘in situ’ in an 1878 New England farmhouse near the center of town. 

This summer, the museum is proud to announce the exhibition, "C.T. Bodwell - Father of the Flume - His Photographic Legacy”.  This exhibit, which is located in the museum barn, showcases the photography and postcards of Clare Thomas Bodwell.   As an employee of the Society for the Preservation of New Hampshire Forests, Clare Thomas Bodwell was instrumental in designing and constructing the Flume Gorge which is a premiere attraction of the Franconia Notch State Park today.  An avid photographer, Bodwell (who signed his photographs CTB or C.T. Bodwell) chronicled the scenic vistas of the region and produced postcards in the 1930s. 

Clare Thomas Bodwell (1893-1976), Bodwell’s photo of “Old Man in the Mountains” was used for the stamp of 1st Day of Issue, Franconia Post Office, June 21, 1955.

The exhibit was organized and curated by former board member Kevin Johnson, with objects on loan from Bodwell grandson Peter Macon and from Johnson’s private collection.  A comprehensive biography was compiled by Bodwell grandson and lifelong Franconia residents Gregory N. Ball and his wife, Eileen T. Ball.

Collector Noel Quinton, author of “A Collector’s Guide to the Photographic Work of C.T. Bodwell”, and exhibit organizer Kevin Johnson review the special exhibit prior to the museum’s summer opening. 

ABOUT THE FRANCONIA HERITAGE MUSEUM:

Since the museum’s opening in 1998, the collection has grown from 1,500 artifacts in the “Brooks Collection” to nearly 10,000 items today.  The museum board is thrilled to invite audiences to the museum to connect with the early life of Franconia, with a full breadth of artifacts from early kitchen appliances, farm implements, clothing, furniture, toys and a working Victrola.  

The museum hours are 1-4 p.m. every Saturday from May 28 through mid-October, or by private appointment.   The Museum is located at 553 Main Street, Franconia, New Hampshire.