This classic New England style church in Oakham, Massachusetts (population 1,621) dates back to 1766. The Churchyard Cemetary, circa 1790, includes Revolutionary War soldiers.















Photographs taken with a bridge camera journaling nature and everyday life in Central Massachusetts and beyond.
Category: Massachusetts history
This classic New England style church in Oakham, Massachusetts (population 1,621) dates back to 1766. The Churchyard Cemetary, circa 1790, includes Revolutionary War soldiers.
Members of the Pollard family have been working Ashland Farm since 1730.
Ashland Farms, New Braintree, Massachusetts
The Ware-Hardwick Covered Bridge is one of eight covered bridges in Massachusetts. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
The Quabbin Reservoir takes its name from the Algonquin word meaning “many waters”.
Standing for over 300 years, this sturdy house provides a glimpse into an important architectural style of Early America.
Central Massachusetts boasts well over forty apple orchards. Sagatabscot is among the oldest.
A walk through the small historic district of Holden, MA allows time to view many details of colonial architecture and landscaping.
The easy-to-grow and fragrant lilac was brought from Europe to New England by the early colonists. Today this “Queen of Shrubs” is ubiquitous in Massachusetts.
Better Homes and Gardens notes that:
“Lilacs are known for their hardy nature and long lives—many lilac shrubs live to be more than 100 years old. Because of their life span, they often survive longer than the home of the gardener that planted them. So, if you’re on a country road and see a few seemingly-random lilac bushes, there was most likely a house or farm there in the last century.”
Information posted at Wachusett Meadow Audubon Sanctuary’s Crocker Barn states:
“Built in 1925 by the Crocker family, this barn formerly housed a herd of prize-winning Milking Shorthorn cattle. It was designed by farm manager Paul Beardsley and was state-of-the-art for its time, featuring a ground floor milking parlor, a trussed, gambrel roof that provided vast interior space to pile loose hay (hay balers were not yet invented), and an overhead tramway system to easily move manure to a separate barn for storage. No longer present, but visible in the historic photo notice the twin silos, the four rooftop ventilators, the additional hay wagon ramp, and the small milk house in the foreground.
Currently, the Cow Barn provides storage for the materials, tools and equipment needed for sanctuary habitat management, and to maintain our trail system, buildings and grounds. Planning is underway to fundraise for renovations that would allow us to welcome visitors and program participants into this wonderful and historic space.”
This barn dating back to the 1800s is a Holden, MA landmark. The structure, with almost eight surrounding acres and a pond, was donated to the town in 2000. Now maintained by the non-profit organization, The Friends of the Red Barn, it is a center that helps people understand New England’s agricultural past while encouraging the appreciation of nature.
Six gardens are maintained on the plot by member/volunteers, and markers around the site educate visitors about the farm’s history. Farm Days offer a wide variety of events to experience farm life close up.
The Fruitlands Museum in Harvard, MA is situated on Prospect Hill, the site where Bronson Alcott and Charles Lane founded a short-lived experimental utopian community in 1843. The view from the hill is still beautiful today.
The Fruitlands Museum relates that:
“Fruitlands has been host to some of the most famous people in America. Thoreau walked Prospect Hill and admired its view; Ralph Waldo Emerson, a supporter of Alcott’s, visited here; and Louisa May (then 10) would relate her experiences at Fruitlands in her books Transcendental Wild Oats and Little Women.”