Strafford got tired of the ride to Barrington town meeting and split off in 1820. Two hundred years on it’s still the kind of town where you drive a while between neighbors — Center Strafford up at the crossroads, Bow Lake Village down at the dam, and a lot of woods and ledge in between.
The town offices and the post office are in Center Strafford, where Route 126 crosses Route 202A next to the old Strafford Union Academy building from 1833. Follow 202A southwest and you come down to Bow Lake Village at the lake’s outlet — the grange hall, the country store, and the state-owned dam where the Isinglass River starts its run toward Dover. Bow Lake itself is about 1,160 acres with seven named islands, Bennett and Loon and Rye among them, and it gets drawn down four feet every October. North of all that the Blue Hills Range cuts the town in half, topping out at Parker Mountain, 1,420 feet. Hikers come in off First Crown Point Road for Blue Job. About 4,230 people at the 2020 census, and around the lake a little better than a third of the places are still seasonal.
Selling developed waterfront on Bow Lake — islands included — means a septic site assessment under RSA 485-A:39 before the deed transfers. Book it when you list, not when the buyer’s lender asks.
Routine pump-outs with filter rinse and baffle check. Most tanks $300–$500.
Baffles, lines, distribution boxes, and honest leach field diagnosis.
Pump-and-inspect evaluations and shoreland site assessments with 48-hour reports.
Same-day pumping when the system backs up.
Same-week scheduling, straight prices, and a crew that knows the Lakes Region.
Tell us where the property is and what's going on. We'll get right back to you with a straight price.
We reply to every request within 2 business hours — emergencies first.
Lakes Region