Mt. Cube

Mt. Cube and Sunday Mountain are the two main elevated peaks in Orford. Mt. Cube’s summit is 2,909 feet and serves not only as an endpoint for the Cross Rivendell Trail to the east, but is also part of the Appalachian Trail. At the top, one can view Mount Moosilauke and the White Mountains in addition to the Green Mountains in Vermont. The prevalence of granite, mined by two Orford companies in the past, is evident as one nears the summit. Mt. Cube was originally known as Mount Cuba named after a hunting dog killed by a bear near the base of the mountain. Although the story is unclear, there is a possibility that Jeremiah Marston, one of Orford’s first proprietors, was the owner of the dog.

Frank Finney and his family lived on a hillside farm at the base of Mt. Cube. Today as you stand ready to enter the final section of the Cross Rivendell Trail, the Finney farm would be located to your right. You can still see the extensive stonewalls that were created through years of plowing and removing rocks from fields.

Frank Finney was born to Henry and Mary Finney in 1870 and he was one of seven children. According to the 1910 census, living on the Finney Farm were Frank and his wife Ida, their two sons Guy and George, and their daughter Doris. The Finney family had a small herd of milk cows from which they made cream and butter to be sold at the local store. They also sold wood and whole spruce logs to loggers on the Connecticut River. In addition to pastures and a woodlot, the Finneys also had fields where they grew potatoes and oats. At one point in the family history, lightning struck and the Finney barn burned to the ground. The family was forced to sell some of the cattle to buy hay for their remaining stock. Eventually they purchased two old barns and put them together on the property.

In 1911, Frank Finney died of diabetes leaving his two sons to run the farm. In the 1920 census, Ida is listed as a widow living with her two boys and their sister. George had little interest in remaining on the farm and, at 21, headed off to the urban life in Hartford, Connecticut. When Guy turned 21, everything was auctioned off except the house and land. In the 1930 census, Guy can be found living with George and his family in Hartford, Connecticut, where they are both employed as carpenters. Other members of the household include George’s wife Doris (originally a Chamberlain from Orford) and children as well as Doris’ sister (Maud Fortes) and her niece.

During the second half of the 19th century small unprofitable farms, such as the Finney homestead, were abandoned as people migrated west for cheaper more fertile land or to the new industrial centers. The Finney homestead shared the fate of many hillside farms. Its overgrown cellar holes can be found at the base of Mt. Cube.