"Weirs Beach has been habitated for thousands of years. A 1976 archeological excavation at the beach, led by Charles Bolian, a Professor of Anthropology at the University of New Hampshire, found that Native Americans used the area as a summer camp for hunting and fishing as long ago as 8000 B.C!
The campsite extended in a long arc along the lake and along the Western shoreline of the Weirs Channel, roughly from today's Winnipesaukee Pier to today's Channel Marine. Before the original Lakeport dam was built around 1766, the level of the Lake was roughly 5'-12' lower than it is today, so much of the original campsite is now under water!
...(t)he original fishing WEIRS had been made of stone walls in the form of a "W"and stretched across the entire width of the channel. The bottom two points of the "W" pointed towards Paugus Bay and were utilized during the late summer Shad down-river migration, while the middle point of the "W" pointed toward the Lake and was utilized during the spring up-river Shad migration. The points of the "W" were "...left open a few feet for the water and fish to pass through. A short distance below the opening another wall was built in a half-circle, and into the spaces was placed wicker-work, made of small saplings, through which the water could easily flow, but fine enough to entrap fish of any considerable size."
The stone walls, sturdy enough to last hundreds of years, were only partially destroyed by the several miller's dams that were built in the Weirs Channel from 1766-1829 and an 1833 dredging project. They were still in evidence until the dredging of the Weirs Channel in the early 1950's...)
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