Valley Angler: Fishing the Dartmouth Grant

Tucked away in the corner of northeastern New Hampshire is the Second College Grant, perhaps better known as the Dartmouth Grant. The Grant is 27,000 acres of unspoiled forest. From its northern border enters the Dead Diamond River and from the west enters the Swift Diamond; together they form the Diamond which enters the Magalloway River just outside the Grant, near the Maine state line. The Diamond and its tributaries hold the last strain of native brook trout in the state of New Hampshire.

The grant belongs to Dartmouth College and was given to the college by the state legislature in 1807. There was a grant first given to the college in 1789; however, that was sold off. Shortly thereafter, the school partitioned the state for a second grant. The legislature was somewhat reluctant to do so, but gave in with the stipulation that the college could not sell off the land. As a result, ever since the college has wisely maintained the land and at one point after the timber barons had pillaged the north woods of New Hampshire, the grant was the only green spot left. The college still logs the grant, on a strict selective policy.