Once the crutch capital

Sawmill in Rumney around the turn of the 20th Century.

"Rumney, New Hampshire (pop. 1,400) is a quiet little town nestled along the Pemigewasset River Valley. A century ago. the dense timber of the surrounding White Mountains made it a  prominent logging center. That same abundance of quality hardwood once  made the town famous for something else, too. For a period during and after World War I, little Rumney...was the world's biggest producer of wooden crutches....In time, cheaper, foreign-made aluminum crutches displaced Rumney, and ultimately killed off its sole industry.''

From The New England Notebook, by Ted Reinstein (2013)