by Wakefield-Brookfield Historical Society (Author)
Wakefield and Brookfield, located at the geographic center of New England, lie in the beautiful Lakes Region of New Hampshire. Incorporated in 1774, Wakefield was a small agricultural community until the arrival of the Boston and Maine Railroad in 1871. The railroad brought economic and cultural changes to the town, shifting the town center from Wakefield Corner to Wolfeboro Junction (now Sanbornville) and giving rise to a bustling downtown business center and thriving ice-cutting industry. Brookfield became an independent town in 1794. Farmers were drawn to the town's fertile ground, and the area has remained quietly rural into the present. Both towns continue to draw visitors to their many lakes and ponds, as they have done for more than a century. Wakefield and Brookfield illustrates the shared history and diverging identities of these small towns.