The Balsams first opened just after the Civil War as the Dix House, a rustic 25-room summer inn established by local innkeeper, George Parsons. The Balsams first opened just after the Civil War as the Dix House, a rustic 25-room summer inn established by local innkeeper, George Parsons. The original inn honored the name of the town’s founding father and first landowner, Colonel Timothy Dix. A patriot of the American Revolution, Dix lost his life in battle in 1812, at which point his attorney and business partner, Daniel Webster, took over. Webster sponsored the town’s first settlers, the Whittemore family. These pioneers shared their hearth and home with wayfarers on the old Coös Trail through Dixville Notch. Weary travelers were refreshed by the Whittemore’s home-style hospitality and the generous family-style accommodation of overnight guests which evolved into a more sophisticated destination resort.