Tag: Fruitlands

Transcendental Overlook

The Prospect Hill Overlook in Harvard, Massachusetts is a popular destination known for its sweeping panoramic views of Central Massachusetts. This area is also of historical importance, as Fruitlands, the short-lived 1843 agrarian Utopian project, is a National Historic Landmark there. Begun by Bronson Alcott and his family, this transcendental experiment included the then 10 year old Louisa May Alcott. For photographs of Fruitlands featured in an earlier blog, click here.

The overlook is a favorite destination for photographers, especially during foliage season. Last week, I viewed the foliage just beginning to turn.

Mt. Wachusett, the highest point in Massachusetts east of the Connecticut River, can be seen on clear days.

This conservation land also includes popular hiking trails.

A 75-acre agricultural area on this property donates over 100,000 pounds of fresh fruit annually to regional hunger relief.

This photograph of the Fruitlands farmhouse was taken a few years ago. Louisa May Alcott wrote about her difficult time here in both Little Women, and in a satirical essay Transcendental Wild Oats.

Fruitlands

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.”