On Jan. 2, 1914, the federal government bought a 7,000-acre parcel in Benton, N.H. from E. Bertram Pike at a price of $13.25 per acre.
"We're commemorating the first acquisition of what became the White Mountain National Forest, one of New Hampshire's jewels," said David Govatski, a retired Forest Service forester, who worked on the White Mountain.
Four years after the first parcel of land was purchased and the government had acquired more acreage, President Woodrow Wilson formally established the White Mountain National Forest.
