Corbin Park (also known as the Blue Mountain Forest and Game Preserve) is a private game preserve in New Hampshire. It contains land in Croydon, Cornish, Plainfield, and Grantham. It occupies somewhere between of land and was started in 1889 by businessman Austin Corbin. The park is known today for its secrecy.

History

Austin Corbin founded the park in 1889 by buying up a large number of parcels of land in western New Hampshire. The nonprofit Blue Mountain Association was created in 1891 to manage the park. After Corbin died in 1896, his son Austin Jr. took over management of the Association and the park, and held the role until his own death in 1938. In 1944 ownership of the park was transferred to a group of wealthy hunters. In 1949, the New Hampshire legislature passed a law holding the park responsible for escaped pigs. The park has been subject to multiple lawsuits from the 1950s to the 1990s. In 2020, NH state representative Renny Cushing filed legislation to require a special safari hunting license to take exotic game from the park. It was not passed.

Geography

Croydon Peak, the highest mountain in Sullivan County at of elevation, is located within the park boundary. It is not accessible to hikers.

Flora and fauna

Corbin Park is home to bison, deer, elk, pheasants, and wild hogs. Some of these animals have been known to escape on several occasions, such as when the

1938 New England hurricane The 1938 New England Hurricane (also referred to as the Great New England Hurricane and the Long Island Express Hurricane) was one of the deadliest and most destructive tropical cyclones to strike Long Island, New York, and New England. The stor ...

knocked down much of the park fence, or when the gates were left open in 1953 for firefighting purposes. A wild boar that had escaped from Corbin Park was struck and killed on Interstate 89 in Lebanon in 2017.

Notable hunters

Many famous people have been known to hunt at or otherwise visit the park, including

Teddy Roosevelt Theodore Roosevelt Jr. ( ; October 27, 1858 – January 6, 1919), often referred to as Teddy or by his initials, T. R., was an American politician, statesman, soldier, conservationist, naturalist, historian, and writer who served as the 26t ...

, Grover Cleveland, Herbert Hoover, Rudyard Kipling, Joe DiMaggio, William Ruger, Sr., and his son, William Junior.

References

External links

Brian Meyette's Corbin Park page"Austin Corbin, the 'Part-Hog, Part-Shark' Robber Baron of New Hampshire"
from the New England Historical Society
Corbin's "Animal Garden"
article archived from Eastman Living {{Coord, 43, 27, 11, N, 72, 13, 24, W, region:US-NH_type:forest, display=title 1880s establishments in New Hampshire Cornish, New Hampshire Hunting in the United States Hunting lodges in the United States Plainfield, New Hampshire