Around New England

Who Owns What On Top of Mount Washington?

April 14, 2018

A state commission in New Hampshire that has regulatory jurisdiction over the tallest mountain in New England is asking the state Attorney General to decide which entities own which portions of the summit.

The Cog Railway could be in trouble because since the summer of 2017 it hasn’t given the nearby observatory $1 for each customer it brings to the top, which is part of a renewable agreement in place. The railway owner told the commission that 119,000 people road the railway up and down the mountain in 2017, according to The Union Leader.

But the Cog Railway says the Mount Washington Auto Road and the Mount Washington Observatory are both violating the railway’s rights under an 1894 agreement, including the exclusive right to feed and shelter visitors to the top of the 6,288-foot mountain. Lawyers for those entities deny the arguments of lawyers for the Cog Railway.