Origin of Name
There has been much discussion of the origin of the name "White Mountains". This name and similar ones such as "White Hills" or "Wine Hills" are found in literature from colonial times. According to tradition, the mountains were first sighted from shipboard off the coast near the Piscataqua estuary. The highest peaks would often be snow-capped. An alternate theory is that the mica-laden granite of the summits looked "white" to observers.
Read more about this topic: White Mountains (New Hampshire)
Famous quotes containing the word origin:
“Good resolutions are useless attempts to interfere with scientific laws. Their origin is pure vanity. Their result is absolutely nil. They give us, now and then, some of those luxurious sterile emotions that have a certain charm for the weak.... They are simply cheques that men draw on a bank where they have no account.”
—Oscar Wilde (1854–1900)