Albert H. Dow, Sr. (1887 1962)
Leaving an architectural footprint on the future      

When Albert H. Dow, Sr. was named as the architect for the new (1916) Carroll County Courthouse, he was only 29 years old, but he was a man of considerable talent with a deep, abiding love for New Hampshire and his hometown of Tuftonboro.

The son of Anna (Nutter) and Alvan Dow, Albert grew up in Tuftonboro and graduated from Brewster Academy in Wolfeboro, NH.  He went on to college in Boston, sponsored by Dr. Clough of Wolfeboro.  Dow had planned to study medicine, but soon he gravitated to architecture.  He moved to Melrose, MA, married, began his family and established an office in Boston.  A major break in his career came when he went to work for noted architect Sir Henry Vaughan, designer of the National Cathedral in Washington, D.C..  Not only did Dow become Vaughan=s representative in Washington, D.C. for nine years, but Al designed all of the iron work for the cathedral.

Dow=s other accomplishments as an architect include: designing the original building, still in use, for Huggins Hospital in Wolfeboro; designing the church on the campus of Case Western University in Ohio; designing an addition to the St. Paul School

(NH) Chapel; designing Keenan Wynn=s home on Nantucket Island (MA); and designing 100 Tudor homes in the Newton-Wellesley area (MA).

After a problem arose with the original architect, Dow completed work on the Tuftonboro School.  Additionally, he worked on the Riverside Chapel in NYC and on numerous buildings in Maine, including Hebron Academy.

Hit hard by the Depression and failing health, Dow returned to his beloved Tuftonboro to finish out his life.  He designed his own home at Tuftonboro Corner, but insulated it with magazines because he lacked the money to purchase insulation at that time.  The last building he designed was the hall at the Tuftonboro Methodist Church.

He and his son, Albert H. Dow, Jr., also made all of the chairs for the hall.

Albert Sr. Died in 1962 at the age of 75, leaving behind a close-knit, loving family and a legacy of architectural beauty in several states.  The Carroll County Superior Court, of American Georgian architecture, is on the New Hampshire Registry of Historic Places and an application to have it placed on the federal registry is currently pending.

The building is now owned by the Ossipee Historical Society, which has pledged to restore, maintain and upgrade the building, breathing new life into it as a cultural, educational and social center for all of Carroll County.  The Carroll County Courthouse Project has been organized to raise $500,000 toward this end.  A capital fund-raising drive is currently under way.  Mrs. Marjorie Dow, daughter-in-law of Albert H. Dow, Sr. Is the honorary chair of the campaign.