Northern Forest Heritage Park
The Northern Forest Heritage Park in Berlin, NH is an interpretive center that features a recreation of a logging camp with boat rides on the Androscoggin River. Berlin was a major center of logging and pulp and paper production throughout the 19th and 20th century. The base of this sign is a replica of a boom pier that was used to divide the river between the Brown and International Paper companies for log drives.



In our research we found out about Berlin, New Hampshire’s history of paper production when we stumbled across the “Beyond Brown Paper” project (see the Local Links sidebar to the left for the link to the project). Do you know anyone from that project who might be interested in collaborating with Postcards from Berlin?
I do not know anyone personally involved with this project, although it is a fascinating collection. I have several uncles pictured in the project. I was born in Berlin in 1950 and grew up in Gorham which is the adjoining town. The area is often referred to as the Berlin-Gorham area. Although the two communities are fairly different their life is well intertwined. While I now live in Manchester, two hours south, much of my extended family lived and still lives in the area, and I frequently travel there. The area is still “home.” Many in my family were employed at the Brown Paper Company, as was I during the summers while I attended the University of New Hampshire.
One person you might want to contact is Paul “Poof” Tardif. He writes a history of Berlin column in the Berlin Daily Sun, which usually appears in the Thursday edition.
Berlin, New Hampshire is an interesting city with a lot of history. It is the only “city” in northern New Hampshire. With the decline of the paper industry it is a place in transition to a new future.
There was an oral history video recently released entitled “At the Rivers Edge” It is available on DVD, although I’m sure it is not available in the PAL system for Europe, if that still matters. It is a 90 minute account of the history of the city told by many residents.
– Jerry Boucher
Hi Jerry!
We only just now got your contribution due to a bug in our website’s notification system. Thanks so much for this additional information! We’d love to hear some stories about your days working the paper mill. We’ll definitely be getting in touch with Paul soon. That DVD sounds like a fascinating resource. I wonder if the filmmakers who made it would be interested in participating in our project…
Greetings from Berlin,
Gabe & Pati