New England hill country shopping areas

The main drag of the resort town of Lincoln, N.H.

-- Photo by P199

''When we look at the economic character of the New England hill country today, we see that one of the best ways of breaking the region into separate sections is to see the kind of communities in which one finds the larger shopping areas, with the nationally known supermarkets and chain stores. Categorized in this way, the New England hill country falls roughly into three regions: south, middle and north. In the southernmost region, it is the factory and mills towns which contain the active business centers. In the middle region, agricultural towns, with their grain towers and rail sidings, are where the larger stores serve the local population. Farthest north, the upper region concentrates its metropolises around resort areas and wood-product mills.''

-- From Mountain New England: Life Past and Present, by William F. Robinson (1988)