Located in the foothills of the White Mountains, Rumford is the site of Pennacook Falls, called by historian George J. Varney the grandest cataract in New England, where the Androscoggin River drops over solid granite. Bands of St. Francis Indians once hunted and fished here, where salmon spawn in the pool below Upper Falls, a barrier that fish cannot pass. Indians also came here to trade furs brought from the lakes region. Sawmills and gristmills were built to harness water power from the falls, although Rumford would remain primarily agricultural during its first 100 years.