Tourico Vacations Reviews The History of the Equinox of Manchester

The Equinox has had a storied life, and has gone by many different names throughout its more than 200-year history. It first opened for business as the Marsh Tavern, then becoming Thaddeus Munson’s New Inn, and eventually the Equinox House. Today it is known simply as the Equinox. Tourico Vacations Reviews The History of the Equinox of Manchester, a popular historic destination for travel.

When it was still known as the Marsh Tavern, the Council of Safety had its very first meetings here during the American Revolution. During one of these first meetings, Ira Allen suggested that any property that belonged to Tories should be confiscated in an effort to raise money to equip their side. Truth is always more entertaining than fiction, and in a fascinating turn of events, one of the very first buildings or properties to be confiscated was their meeting place, the Marsh Tavern. Marsh himself left for Canada, and a few years later, in 1780, the land was purchased by Thaddeus Munson. Munson kept the tavern open until he built a brand new business next door and called it the New Inn. Ownership of the property would change three more times in that era. When Martin Vanderlip purchased the inn in 1839, he added pillars to the front measuring over 250 feet across that still stand today.

It was established as Equinox House in 1853. The symbol for the hotel is a native American man, and underneath his photo is inscribed Equinox. It’s somewhat ironic, because although the mountain behind the inn is named Mount Equinox, there weren’t any Equinox Indians. The name is actually derived from one of Vermont’s surveyors who reached the summit of Equinox on 1823’s autumnal equinox. Mount Equinox towers over Manchester at nearly 4000 feet.

While the physical hotel was a grand structure for those desiring to stay in luxury, some of its best attributes were not physically part of the structure. For instance, Mount Equinox supplied the hotel with pure mountain spring water. In the 1880s it was touted as the purest water – “only the best for the guests of the Equinox.” Soon after, Equinox Springs began to bottle the water for sale, as well as make other beverages from the pure water, such as ginger ale.

Since 1974 the Equinox has been on the National Register of Historic Places, and is a resort and conference center that is open all year long. Tourico Vacations Reviews The History of the Equinox of Manchester and other popular destinations for travel to help you learn more.