Abel Crawford and his son, Ethan Allen Crawford, built the first Crawford House in 1828, and Ethan's brother Thomas operated it until it was sold in 1852. Fires in 1854 and 1859 destroyed the original inn and its replacement. Colonel Cyrus Eastman built the third and present Crawford House, which opened in July 1859 and continued a tradition of hospitality to White Mountain visitors, including Daniel Webster, Nathaniel Hawthorne, John Greenleaf Whittier, and Presidents Pierce, Grant, Hayes, Garfield, and Harding.
