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1497
John Sebastian Cabot sights the 6,288-foot peak of Mount Washington while exploring the New England coast. Later glimpsed by Verrazano in 1524, it was not visited by Europeans for more than a century. Native Americans called it "Agiocochook" or "Waumbek Methna." Early settlers variously called New England's highest peak "Sugarloaf," "Christall Hill," and the "White Hill."

1642
Darby Field is the first white man to climb Mount Washington, but the mountain remains otherwise unexplored for another century.

1763
Royal Governor Benning Wentworth's Upper Coos Land Grants spur the search for a way through the mountains to Portland.

1771
While tracking a moose in Jefferson, Timothy Nash climbs a tree to get his bearings. He sees a "notch" to the south and explores this opening through the wall of mountains. Wentworth promises Nash a Royal Land Grant if he can get a horse through the Notch to Portland. With his friend Benjamin Sawyer and the help of a block and tackle, Nash performs this feat.

1773
Nash and Sawyer are awarded 2,184 acres of land at the center of what is now Bretton Woods. They sell it for 90 pounds (about $200) and their plot is merged with a larger grant of 25,000 acres awarded to some Portsmouth men. Governor Wentworth names the township Bretton Woods, after his ancestral home, Bretton Hall in England.

1784
Mount Washington is named in honor of President George Washington.

1786
A ten-year effort begins to build a road through the Notch. The rugged thoroughfare attracts travelers and, eventually, inns and taverns.

1791
Abel and Hannah Crawford purchase land near Fabyans. A year later they sell their plot to Hannah's father, Eleazer Rosebrook, and move south to establish a tavern beside the Saco River in Hart's Location. Abel's son, Ethan, later takes over the inn that Rosebrook establishes.

1819
Abel Crawford blazes a trail (now known as the Crawford Path) to Mount Washington for the entertainment of visitors such as Daniel Webster, Ralph Waldo Emerson and Nathaniel Hawthorne.

1826
The Willey House, a small inn and residence in Crawford Notch, is the site of a landslide that claims nine lives.

1828
Abel and Ethan Crawford build the Notch House. Thoreau is a guest in 1839. It operates until 1854.

1832
By an act of the New Hampshire legislature, Bretton Woods is renamed Carroll. The name is revived in 1902 as a railroad stop at The Mount Washington Hotel.

1837
Horace Fabyan opens the Mount Washington House. Renamed Fabyan House in 1872, it operates until 1951.

1850
First Crawford House is built. A new structure is raised in 1859 and operates until 1976.

1869
The Mount Washington Cog Railway is completed by Sylvester Marsh, a native of Campton, New Hampshire, and carries Ulysses S. Grant to the summit.

1875
The Railroad is completed through Crawford Notch, ushering in the era of Grand Hotels.

1876
The Mount Pleasant House is constructed opposite the future Mount Washington Hotel. It is razed in 1939.

1881
Joseph Stickney, Pennsylvania Railroad tycoon and native of Concord, New Hampshire, purchases the Mount Pleasant House and 10,000 acres of land in view of Mount Washington.

1902
Stickney completes construction of The Mount Washington Hotel, an elaborate example of Spanish Renaissance Revival architecture. The Hotel incorporates the latest advances in engineering, including a steel superstructure, a heating system, and an electric power plant. In the years to come, the Hotel hosts celebrities ranging from Thomas Edison, Babe Ruth, and Princess Margaret to Anthony Eden, John Kenneth Galbraith, and Joan Crawford.

1903
The Mount Washington Hotel's Post Office, Railroad Station, and Express Office are named "Bretton Woods." In December, Stickney dies and the hotel is inherited by his widow, Carolyn Foster Stickney. She builds the Stickney Memorial Chapel in his memory.

1908
Carolyn Foster Stickney marries Prince Lucinge of France, who dies at the Battle of Verdun in World War I. The Princess Clarigny de Lucinge owns hotels in France and Switzerland, and continues to operate The Mount Washington Hotel until her death in the early 1930s. Her nephew, Foster Reynolds, operates the Hotel for ten years and tears down the Mount Pleasant House.

1944
Foster Reynolds sells the Hotel and property to a Boston syndicate. As the new owners prepare to open for the season of 1944, the U.S. Government requests the use of the Hotel for an international gathering of financiers from 44 countries. The Hotel is extensively restored and modernized to host the now-famous Bretton Woods International Monetary Conference. The Conference organizes a World Bank and International Monetary Fund, sets the price of gold at $35 an ounce, and chooses the American dollar as the standard of international exchange.

1955
The Boston syndicate sells the Hotel to Mr. and Mrs. Morris J. Fleisher of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The Fleishers operate the Hotel for 15 seasons.

1969
The Hotel is bought by the Mount Washington Development Company (MWDC), a Philadelphia Partnership.

1973
The MWDC opens the Bretton Woods Ski Area on Mount Rosebrook.

1975
The Hotel and associated property is acquired by Bretton Woods Corporation, a subsidiary of a public real estate company. Under this ownership, the Bretton Woods Ski Touring Center is expanded and 6,400 acres of woodlands are sold to the White Mountain National Forest.

1978
The Hotel is placed on the National Register of Historic Places. The Bretton Woods Ski Area begins offering night skiing.

1983
The Presby and Bedor families purchase the Mount Washington Railway Company. The Bretton Woods Ski Area completes construction of Fabyan's Express triple chair, opening the summit of Mount Rosebrook to skiers.

1986
The Department of the Interior recognizes the historical and architectural significance of The Mount Washington Hotel with the National Historic Landmark designation. The Bretton Arms Country Inn, completely restored to offer elegant accommodations and dining, is awarded National Historic Landmark status as part of the designation.

1988
The Corporation controlled by Robert Satter subdivides the property into three businesses: the Hotel, the Ski Area, and development acreage.

1989
The Bretton Woods Ski Area opens the first detachable quad chairlift in the state.

1990
Due to an economic slump, control of the Hotel is acquired by the FDIC, which invests $1 million in restoration.

1991
The current owners, MWH Preservation Limited Partnership, purchase the Hotel at auction for $3.15 million. Managing partners, all New Hampshire natives, include the Bedor and Presby families (owners of the Mount Washington Cog Railway) and the Clement and Eames families.

1993
The Mount Washington Golf Course and the Mount Pleasant Golf Course, a total of 27 holes, are acquired by the Hotel.

1994
The Hotel hosts Citicorp's international banking convention. Former President George Bush is the keynote speaker.

1997
In April, the Hotel acquires 950 acres bordering Hotel property, extending the Resort's holdings to 1,250 acres and restoring land and buildings, including the Bretton Woods Sports Club, that were part of the complex before its 1988 subdivision. In September, the Bretton Woods Ski Area is purchased by the Hotel.

1998
The Hotel announces plans to commence year-round operation of The Mount Washington Hotel in 1999 as the anchor of a world-class, four-season resort.

1999
The Mount Washington Hotel opens for its first year-round season on Thanksgiving Day. In late 1999, West Mountain opens adjacent to the Bretton Woods Ski Area with snowmaking, new trails and a quad chair lift.

2000
The Zephyr, a new high-speed quad lift replaces the Mount Oscar double chair at Bretton Woods. The first phase of a three-phase base lodge expansion project is completed.

2002
The Mount Washington Hotel celebrates its centennial with an array of special events and celebrations.

2003
The Mount Rosebrook Summit Express high-speed detachable quad opens to the summit of Mount Rosebrook, and twelve new trails are added, bringing the total trail count to 88. The second phase of the base lodge expansion project is completed, featuring an efficient and expanded rental area, Slopeside Restaurant & Pub, a general store and the new resort-run TreeTop Sports alpine shop. Bretton Woods celebrates longest ski season in NH history - 177 days; November 9, 2002 - May 4, 2003.

2004
A climate control system is installed in all guest rooms and some public spaces at the Hotel. Once again, Bretton Woods sets another new record for the longest ski season in NH history - 178 days. Bretton Woods adds trails (total: 101), snowmaking and new programs. The Cog Ski Trains open.

2005
Plans are underway to create a pedestrian village, with dining, shopping and lodging at the base of Bretton Woods. Lake Carolyn is under construction for summer water recreation. For the third-consecutive year, Bretton Woods breaks the record for the longest NH ski season - 183 days, November 10, 2004 - May 11, 2005.

2006
Celebration Associates of Hot Springs, Virginia and CNL Income Properties Inc., Orlando, Fla. purchase the Resort and engage National Resort Management Group to market and operate the property. In the vision of the premier New England resort destination, plans include a pedestrian village at the base of the ski area and construction of a convention center and full service spa.

2007
Great things are to come as the resort receives a new name, new logo and new look. Extensive renovation projects bring this historic resort into the future. Plans include restoring the Donald Ross Mount Washington Golf Course, adding 15,000 square feet of meeting space, constructing a 25,000 square-foot spa and much more.