USA > Massachusetts > Massachusetts : a guide to its places and people > Part 51
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High Roads and Low Roads
The Site of the Birthplace of Mary Lyon, marked by a bronze tablet, may be reached at 5 m. on a circuitous dirt road in the southeast section of the town.
CHARLEMONT, 19.3 m. (town, alt. 555, pop. 923, sett. about 1742, incorp. 1765), was first known as Boston Township No. I, then as Chick- ley's Town, and later as Charley Mount. Except for a few small in- dustries and sawmills in the past and a woodworking factory, now in operation, the town activities have been agricultural. Dairying, fruit- and vegetable-growing, and bee keeping are the main sources of income. Some seasonal income is derived from maple sugar groves.
North from Charlemont on an improved road is a fork at 2.4 m.
I. Left from the fork is the abandoned village of DAVIS (alt. 1340, Rowe), 3.9 m. Here is an iron pyrite mine, operated from 1882 to 1910. A large community sprang up in the vicinity, but today the cellar holes of 150 buildings are the only evidence of the settlement. Copper still colors the waters of Mill Brook, which flows through the mine. At the lower end of the mill pond is a building that was formerly the Shop of the Giant Blacksmith Newall, who reputedly cured by the laying on of hands.
2. Right from the fork on a road that runs through wooded mountainous country is HEATH, 5 m. (town, alt. 1665, pop. 368, sett. 1765, incorp. 1785), named for William Heath, a major general in the Continental Army. At one time staves and barrels were extensively manufactured, but Heath has always been and still is a farming community. At the Center is a small triangular Green surrounded by a group of buildings. The Old Town House (1835) has been restored and is main- tained by the Heath Historical Society.
At 19.9 m. (L) an old Covered Bridge spans the Deerfield River.
The Warner or Rice House (private) at 20 m. was the boyhood home of the author, Charles Dudley Warner, who described the town in his auto- biography, 'Being a Boy.' It contains timbers hewn and squared by its builder, Captain Moses Rice, earliest white settler of Charlemont, killed by Indians in 1775. Large shade trees lining the approach cast their shadows on the many-paned windows of the weathered gray two-story house.
At 21.5 m. is the junction with an unnumbered road.
Right on this road, which parallels the Deerfield River, is ZOAR, 2.1 m. (alt. 623, Charlemont). Here the road crosses Pelham Brook and comes to a fork.
I. Right at this fork, higher into the hills to ROWE, 3 m. (town, alt. 1360, pop. 277, sett. 1762, incorp. 1785), named in honor of John Rowe, a wealthy merchant of Boston. Rowe was early the site of many industries whose owners were at- tracted by the water-power. In 1850 wooden bowls, especially designed for washing gold, were made here and shipped to California. All of these industries are now gone, and today the townsfolk are engaged in agriculture and cattle-raising.
a. Right from Rowe on Sibley Rd. is the base of Adams Mountain (alt. 2140), 0.5 m. A Tower on the summit (reached by foot path) provides a splendid panorama of New Hampshire, Vermont, and New York.
b. Left from Rowe on Whitingham Rd. is a junction with another road, 1.1 m .: left on this to a footpath, 1.5 m., leading to Pulpit Rock (alt. 954) 2.3 m., a geo- logical phenomenon resembling an old-fashioned canopied pulpit.
c. Straight ahead from Rowe on Main Rd. is Pelham Lake (summer cottages), 1.4 m.
2. Left from the fork at Zoar on a dirt road paralleling the Deerfield River. At 1.2 m. the road crosses a bridge and continues along the rapidly flowing river flanked on both sides by high hills.
457
From Boston to Troy, N.Y.
At 4.4 m. is the village of HOOSAC TUNNEL (alt. 745, Florida). The Boston and Maine Railroad tracks pass through the village before entering the Hoosac Tunnel, about 0.5 m. west. This 25,000-foot tunnel was completed in 1875, after 24 years of work; it cost 195 lives and $20,000,000. Right of the east entrance to the tunnel is a footpath leading a short distance to the Twin Cascades, 40 and 90 feet high; these are among the most beautiful of Berkshire waterfalls.
At 11. m. is the village of MONROE BRIDGE (alt. 1040, Monroe).
Left from the village on a road that rises 600 feet in a half mile.
Left at 13.8 m .; right at 14 m. is Monroe State Forest (camping, fireplaces), a hilly 4II7-acre region of spruce growth. Spruce Hill (alt. 2700) is an observation point in the west part of the reservation (reached by marked trails).
At 15.4 m. is the junction with a dirt road; right here is MONROE, 1.5 m. (town, alt. 1860, pop. 240, sett. about 1800, incorp. 1822), named in honor of the then President of the United States. Agriculture remained the town's chief occupation until 1886, when a paper mill, utilizing the surrounding forest of spruce and poplar, was erected. Twenty years ago the mill property was purchased by the New England Power Co., and subsequent development of power led to the forma- tion of the Deerfield Glassine Company, which manufactures a material similar to cellophane. In this industry is centered the life of the village of Monroe Bridge (see above).
West of the junction with the Monroe Rd., the main route crosses Dunbar Brook, at a point where the water drops over large boulders and flows through a deep gorge.
From Dunbar Brook the road ascends a steep hill, and at 16.3 m. passes through a grove rough with boulders and lovely with the white birches.
At 17.6 m. is a parking space (leave cars here or drive 0.2 m. on a wood road to a high-tension tower); from the tower a trail runs 0.25 m. through the woods to an Observation Platform, from which there is a panorama of the Deerfield River Valley.
At 20 m. is the village of FLORIDA and the junction with State 2 (see below).
At 21.7 m. State 2 crosses the Deerfield River and runs through Mohawk Park (tourist cabins). On a knoll (L) is a large Statue of a Mohawk Indian, facing east with upraised arms. At the foot of the knoll is the Wishing Well, a pool bordered by several rocks, each bearing the name and order of a lodge of the Red Men of America, who built the statue and the well.
Following the course of the Cold River, State 2 enters the Mohawk Trail State Forest, 22.6 m. (skiing in winter, swimming, picnicking, camping; small fee for log cabins), of 5371 acres, including a Sky Trail and a Ski Slalom. The Mohawk Trail was blazed through the mountains by Mohawk Indians traveling between New York State and Massachusetts. State 2 continues west; on the left are high cliffs and on the right is Cold River (picnic grounds at intervals). At 26.2 m. is a junction with Black Brook Rd.
Left on this road is the junction with a good gravel road, 1.8 m .; right on this is the Savoy Mountain State Forest (camping) of 10,433 acres, including a game preserve and reaching at its highest point an elevation of 2500 feet.
From Tannery Falls Park (picnic ground), 2.6 m., a half-mile trail descends through the woods beside a brook which has deeply entrenched itself in a rocky gorge. The stream makes several dips over solid rock, then a total drop of 150 feet to a clear pool. Geological action has caused many large fragments of rock to be tipped on end, so that the pathway along the brook is far from smooth and the waters
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wander off here and there in erratic rills and miniature cascades. The Civilian Conservation Corps has made it possible to approach the very edge of the gorge, in many places hitherto inaccessible.
At 3.8 m. on the gravel road is the junction with a road; left on this road is Balance Rock, a huge boulder of granite gneiss.
State 2 crosses the Cold River, 26.3 m., and begins to climb over Hoosac Mountain. In six miles the ascent is over 1200 feet. Mountains rise sharply from the farther bank (L), and (R) the road is flanked by a high rocky wall; it passes through this narrow defile and emerges into a stretch of wooded country.
As the road ascends, the trees (R) are less dense, permitting views across Deerfield River valley to the mountains beyond.
At 29.5 m. is FLORIDA (town, alt. 2180, pop. 405, sett. 1783, incorp. 1805). The opening of the Mohawk Trail motor route in 1915 made catering to automobile tourists an important industry. References to Florida are found in Washington Gladden's 'From the Hub to the Hud- son' and Nathaniel Hawthorne's 'Ride Toward Charlemont.'
I. Right from Florida is a road descending sharply to the mouth of the Hoosac Tunnel 1.5 m. (see above).
2. Right from Florida a road leads to the Monroc State Forest (see above).
The Mohawk Trail west of Florida passes through a shallow valley.
At 31.1 m. is the Elk's Monument (R), a chunk of blue-gray granite sur- mounted by a bronze elk, erected in 1923 by the Elks of Massachusetts in memory of their members who died in the World War.
Whitcomb Summit, 31.2 m. (alt. 2110) with a 65-foot observation tower, offers a view that includes a bit of four States, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Vermont, and New York. East is Mt. Monadnock in New Hampshire; north are the Green Mountains of Vermont; south are the rounded Berkshires; and west is Greylock, topped by a beacon, with the city of North Adams at its foot.
Right from Whitcomb Summit on a path that leads (300 feet) to Moore's Summit (alt. 2250), the highest point along the Mohawk Trail.
State 2 now descends into a valley; at 33.2 m. is the junction with Shaft Rd.
Left on this road is the tiny settlement at the Central Shaft of the Hoosac Tunnel, 1.5 m. The shaft, bored straight down over 1000 feet to assist in construction work, was maintained as a vent for smoke, from the steam engine before the tunnel was electrified in 1911, and is still part of the tunnel ventilating system.
At 33.8 m. is the Western Summit (alt. 2020), of the mountain, disclosing Mt. Greylock in all its majesty.
Here the road drops rapidly (keep cars in second). The Hairpin Turn (alt. 1650), 34.6 m., is a sharp cutback on an outcropping ledge.
At 37.3 m. is a junction with a dirt road.
Left on this road is Windsor Pond (bathing, boating, fishing).
At 37.6 m. (R) is the junction with State 8 (see Tour 21).
459
From Boston to Troy, N.Y.
State 2 enters a textile section crowded with mills and humble dwellings. At 38.5 m. is NORTH ADAMS (city, pop. 22,085, sett. about 1737, in- corp. town 1878, city 1895). To the visitor arriving from points east, whether by automobile on the famous Mohawk Trail, or by train through the equally famous Hoosac Tunnel, this little mill city bursts suddenly into view in a setting of striking mountainous beauty. On the west is Mt. Greylock, 3505 feet high, and on the east is Hoosac Mountain.
Fort Massachusetts (see below) was the scene of numerous attacks by roaming tribes of Indians led by French officers. It was besieged and burned by a combined force of 900 French and Indians in 1746. Rebuilt, it successfully repelled a second attack, and the beginnings of a village were attempted in 1765 by a group of Connecticut Congregationalists. They did not remain long, however; either their hearts or their energies failed them. A company of Quakers from Rhode Island, with more determination, followed and built up a permanent settlement on the northern outskirts of East Hoosac, incorporated in 1778 as the town of Adams. A century later North Adams was set off and became a town by itself. The building of the Hoosac Tunnel (see above), with its northern terminal at North Adams, was a most important element in the develop- ment of the town.
Woolens, cotton goods, silk and rayon goods, shoes, and radio and electrical supplies are today produced in the plants of the city. French- Canadian groups attracted about 1840 by the textile industry and Italian and Jewish groups drawn in after the completion of the Hoosac Tunnel still conduct church services in their native languages, and in the French parochial schools classes are carried on in the mother tongue.
At the Center is the junction with State 8 (L) (see Tour 21). At 39.6 m. is the junction with Marion Ave.
Left, at the end of Marion Ave., is the Cascade, which makes an abrupt plunge of about 40 feet into the abyss below. The Trail leads along Notch Brook into a deep gorge between the hills. Above the Cascades is a reservoir serving North Adams.
At 39.7 m. is the junction with Notch Rd. (to be opened Aug., 1937).
Left, this road leads to the Top of Mt. Greylock. As it climbs it affords an awesome view down into the Notch, a vast crevice extending to the narrow opening between Mt. Williams and Ragged Mountain known as the Bellows Pipe. During winter storms the north wind roars through this opening so loudly that it can be plainly heard in the city below. The Indians believed it to be the angry voice of Manitou.
At 40.5 m. is a Replica of Old Fort Massachusetts (built in 1745) (open summer months) (see above, NORTH ADAMS). This was the western- most of a chain of four forts built by Massachusetts Bay Colony to guard against attacks by the French and Indians, and also to stop the Dutch settlers from creeping up the Hoosic River from the Hudson and claiming the land of Berkshire County.
At 41.4 m. the Appalachian Trail (see Tour 9) crosses State 2. At 43.7 m. is WILLIAMSTOWN (see WILLIAMSTOWN).
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High Roads and Low Roads
State 2 swings left on US 7 (see Tour 17) to a junction, then right, and be- gins the ascent of the Taconic Trail, which rises 1200 feet for three miles and passes the Lawrence Hopkins Memorial Forest, a branch of the North- east Forest Experiment Station of the U.S. Department of Agriculture. At 50.5 m. State 2 crosses the New York Line about 30 m. east of Troy, N.Y.
TOUR 2 A: From NEW HAMPSHIRE LINE (Peterboro) to LITTLETON, 28.4 m., State 119.
Via Ashby, Townsend, Pepperell, and Groton.
B. & M. R.R. services the area.
Hard-surfaced but narrow roadbed; hazardous in bad weather.
STATE 119 crosses the Massachusetts Line 15 m. southeast of Peterboro, N.H.
Watatic Pond, 3.3 m., the source of the Souhegan River, is at the foot of densely wooded hills. On the summit of Mt. Watatic (alt. 1847) (reached by foot trail) is a heap of stones marking a former Indian lookout. Eternal misfortune is the lot of the visitor - according to an old Indian legend - who fails to add a stone to this cairn.
State 119, bordered by evergreens, birches, maples, and oak, winds among the foothills of the White Mountains, with here and there well-tilled farms bounded by old stone walls.
ASHBY, 6.4 m. (town, alt. 900, pop. 957, sett. about 1676, incorp. 1767), is in a typical New England rural town, noteworthy for its fine orchards and for the profusion of mountain laurel covering the wayside with pink blossoms in the late spring.
The First Parish Church, 1809, is an example of Federal church architec- ture, notable for the charm of its triple door, its main cornice, and its well- proportioned belfry tower.
In Willard Brook State Forest, 8.3 m. (camp sites, outdoor swimming-pool, groves, fireplaces, fishing, hiking trails), Willard Brook, a swift stream of clear water, takes a sheer drop of 20 feet into a natural rock basin or trap and is known at this point as Trap's Falls. The brook, stocked by the State with trout, is open for fishing in season.
State 119 at 9.4 m. has been walled along by retaining granite blocks hewn from near-by hills.
WEST TOWNSEND, 11.2 m., (alt. 330), is a small village. The Tavern
-
461
From Peterboro, N.H., to Littleton
(open), erected in 1774, was a stagecoach station on the route between Boston and Keene, N.H. The Colonial exterior and the low-beamed rooms remain unchanged.
TOWNSEND, 13.2 m. (town, alt. 295, pop. 1942, sett. 1676, incorp. 1732), was named for Charles Townshend, English Secretary of State until 1730 and opponent of the Tories. In 1733 gristmills and sawmills were erected, and these later became cooperage plants utilizing the timber from the ample forests about the town.
Near the Spaulding Memorial High School, on Main St., is an Octagonal Brick House (private), a type of architecture which has no legitimate parentage, all the more conspicuous in homogeneous Massachusetts.
TOWNSEND HARBOR, 14.9 m. (alt. 270, Town of Townsend), is on the Squannacook River. Right of the Center, on the river bank, is Spauld- ing's Gristmill (open; small fee), owned by the Society for the Preservation of New England Antiquities. It has been carefully preserved, with the ancient wooden and wrought-iron machinery intact. The Old Cooper Shop (closed) across the road was one of the first in New England. The Conant House (open) across the river was erected about 1744 and later enlarged for a tavern. It exhibits a stenciled dado, and hinged partitions between the parlors. The bridge spanning the stream at this point was destroyed in the flood of 1936.
At 16.9 m. is a junction with State 113.
Left on State 113 is (R) a granite marker, 0.7 m., inscribed: ‘After the surrender of Burgoyne at Saratoga in 1777, certain British officers, prisoners of war, quartered in this vicinity but released upon parole, were permitted to enjoy, in all their military finery, a "trysting place" at this spot.'
PEPPERELL, 2.5 m. (town, alt. 195, pop. 3004, sett. 1720, incorp. 1753), a rural town, was named for Sir William Pepperell, hero of the Battle of Louisburg. On the Main St. side of the burying ground is the Grave of Prudence Wright. During the Revolutionary War, Mrs. Wright, with several other women, while patrolling the road near the old covered bridge in North Pepperell to prevent To- ries with messages for the British from reaching Boston, captured Leonard Whiting, of Hollis, N.H., with a dispatch concealed in his boots. They guarded their prisoner until the authorities arrived, and sent the treasonable papers to the Committee of Safety at Cambridge.
Between Pepperell and Groton, State 119 threads its way through a countryside of meadow and thick woods, and at 19.6 m. enters a part of Groton called Paper Mill Village, because of the paper industry estab- lished here in 1841.
GROTON. 21.2 m. (town, alt. 300, pop. 2534, sett. 1655, incorp. 1655), was probably named for the ancestral home of John Winthrop's family. It was destroyed by the Indians during King Philip's War and aban- doned by the settlers. Later rebuilt, it was successfully defended against Indians in 1694; but in 1707 several residents were killed and a number of children were carried off.
According to legend one John Chamberlain of Groton killed Paugus, chief of the Pequawkets. Years later a young Indian, fully armed, entered
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High Roads and Low Roads
the village and inquired for him. Chamberlain, then an old man, was at work in his sawmill. Warned by the tavern-keeper, who (rightly or wrongly) suspected that it was the son of Paugus come to avenge his father's death, the old man surprised the young brave, killed him, and buried his body in the mill brook, which was thereafter called Paugus Brook.
In the Old Burying Ground on Hollis St., which dates from about 1678, weather-beaten headstones rise starkly on a green knoll. Here is the Grave of Captain Job Shattuck, Revolutionary War veteran, who partici- pated in Shays's Rebellion and was tried for high treason. He was con- victed and sentenced to be hanged, but was twice reprieved and finally pardoned.
Opposite the Town Hall is Governor Boutwell House (private; open by special permission), built 1851, and visited by General U. S. Grant. It is a well- preserved frame mansion painted yellow, with green shutters. George Sewall Boutwell (1818-1905), prominent politically, was an organizer of the Republican Party, Governor of Massachusetts, and Secretary of the Treasury under Grant. Adjoining the Boutwell House is the former Home of Dr. Samuel Abbot Green (1830-1918), superintendent of the Bos- ton Dispensary, Overseer of Harvard College, and Mayor of Boston, and the Home of Abbott Lawrence (1792-1855), Minister to Great Britain in 1849 and donor of the Lawrence Scientific School to Harvard University.
The First Parish Meeting House (Unitarian), 0.3 m. southeast of the Center on State 119, erected in 1755, was remodeled and partially turned around in 1839, and restored about 1916. The utmost care was taken to preserve the form and atmosphere of the New England meeting house. It is a white wooden church typical of its period, with two massive columns supporting the pediment front. Its delicate, slender spire, capped by a gilded ball and cock weathervane, rests on an inverted cone atop a belfry shuttered by wooden blinds. Behind these hangs its bell, cast by the Paul Revere foundry in 1819. The church faces the town Common, where the Minutemen assembled on the morning of April 19, I775.
Opposite is the Dix House (private). The brick part of the house was built about 1767, and was used at one time as a general store. The ground floor of the wooden section, built about 1782, was at first open and served as a horse shed, while the upper floor was utilized as barristers' chambers.
Right from Groton, State 11 passes through verdant countryside to Groton School, 1.5 m., with boarding accommodations for about 200 boys. This distinguished secondary school was established in 1884 on a 90-acre farm by the Rev. Endicott Peabody, who 'wanted an Episcopal School where the Headmaster, as in England, was also pastor; where the traditions of the Episcopal Church as a teaching church would be carried on; and where parents could send their sons knowing that those sons would receive religious training side by side with secular teaching.' The school is today as nearly like an English 'public school' as any American school can be. Its rural campus is crossed by tranquil loops of the Nashua River. The spire of the Gothic chapel dominates the countryside. A roster of distinguished Groton alumni includes President Franklin D. Roosevelt; Richard Whitney, president
OLD HOUSES AND OLD CHURCHES
THE Benjamin Abbott House in Andover is the kind of home- stead that most residents of Massachusetts like to think of as typical of their State. These early houses and taverns had oddly friendly exteriors; they were well proportioned, care- fully made, and adapted to the harsh New England climate. The pictures that follow show you some of them and also some of the churches which were the necessary focus for al- most every village Green.
Early Massachusetts had few really large houses that could be compared with the mansions of the South, for they seemed an extravagance to the cautious New Englander. For an example of unusual opulence, we refer you to the Governor Gore House in Waltham.
BENJAMIN ABBOT HOUSE, ANDOVER
PARSON CAPEN HOUSE, TOPSFIELD
OLD SHIP CHURCH, HINGHAM
CAPE COD COTTAGE: JOIN KENRICK HOUSE, ORLEANS
WOODEN QUOINS, WINSLOW HOUSE, MARSHFIELD
MONROE TAVERN, LEXINGTON
FAIRBANKS HOUSE, DEDHAM
"
OLD CHURCH IN CONCORD
1000
SPARROW HOUSE, PLYMOUTH
GOVERNOR GORE HOUSE, WALTHAM
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From Orange to Keene, N.H.
of the New York Stock Exchange; Lincoln McVeagh, president of the Dial Press and Minister to Greece; Ellery Sedgwick, editor of the Atlantic Monthly.
At 21.8 m. is a small Green with a tablet commemorating Colonel William Prescott, commander of the American forces at the Battle of Bunker Hill, who was born on February 20, 1726, near the spot.
At 22.1 m. is the Groton Inn Golf Club (public; 9 holes). When the club- house, built in 1776, was remodeled some years ago, richly carved wood paneling was found under the plaster in one of the rooms.
LITTLETON COMMON, 28.4 m., is at the junction with State 2 (see Tour 2) and State IIO (see Tour 7).
TOUR 2 B : From ORANGE to NEW HAMPSHIRE LINE (Keene), 9.6 m., State 78.
Via Warwick.
Hard-surfaced roadbed; passable most of the year.
STATE 78, branching north from WEST ORANGE on State 2 (see Tour 2), is an attractive route through a hilly, forested region.
At 2.5 m. is the junction with a road.
Left on this road, at the end of which is another road leading right to Lake Moore, 4.8 m. (bathing, fishing), a body of pellucid water encircled by hills. (State 78 may be regained by retracing or by continuing north 1.8 m.)
At 5.8 m. is the junction with a road.
Left on this road to the Warwick State Forest, 1 m. (hunting permits to holders of State licenses).
WARWICK, 6.2 m. (town, alt. 940, pop. 565, sett. about 1739, incorp. 1763). For services in the campaign of 1690 against Canada certain British soldiers were granted four townships, one of them Warwick. Settlers were offered as high as 30 pounds sterling to settle Warwick, then known as Gardner's Canada.
The Capes to the Berkshires Bridle Trail (see Tour 12) passes through the village. Northwest looms Mt. Grace (alt. 1620), with the Telephone Trail. In the early days, Mrs. Rowlandson of Lancaster, with her infant daugh- ter Grace, was captured by Indians. On the march to Canada the baby died, and is said to have been buried by her mother's hands at the foot of the mountain that now bears her name.
Right from the Center, then left at 1.5 m. to Mallard Hill (alt. 1340) and the Asa Conant House, 3.5 m. When Daniel Shays and his company of 300 men were fleeing from General Lincoln, half of them took refuge during a blizzard in this house.
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