Located in the southwest corner of New Hampshire, Surry is an unspoiled town that in spite of major change retains the qualities of a nineteenth-century village. Framed by natural beauty, Surry was similar to other quiet New England hill towns until the hundred-year floods of the 1930s necessitated a dam. Bidding farewell to its routine of farm and mill, mine and turnpike, the town accepted the construction of the Surry Mountain Dam in 1938 and evolved swiftly into a desirable recreational and residential community.
Surry is a stunning compilation of photographs anchored in two core portfolios. One is the work of James E. Harvey, who captured Surry during the transitional first decade of the twentieth century. The second collection is the archive of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, which documents the construction of the dam from its initial survey to completion, 1.2 million cubic yards of stone and concrete later. Here is the inside story of how a force of nature-the Ashuelot River-was dammed.