The Boston, Concord & Montreal Railroad was chartered in 1844, and construction of its main line began in Concord in 1846. Its tracks reached Laconia in 1848, Ashland in 1849, and Wells River, Vermont, in 1853. In 1889, the B. C&M RR merged with the Concord Railroad, and in 1895 it became the Concord & Montreal & Maine Railroad. The B. C&M RR and its branch lines contributed greatly to the economic development of central and northern New Hampshire and to the growth of tourism in the Lakes Region and the White Mountains.