Discover Concord Summer 2023

15PLUS! THINGS TO SEE & DO THIS SUMMER

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Contact us. Discover what’s next.

FOUNDERS from the

through Concord as through a park.”

Summer is here once again, and there’s no better place to spend it than in Concord. In this issue, you’ll find everything you need to make your summer extra special.

Did you know that you can soak up centuries of history, beautiful architecture, and learn about Concord’s literary legacy all in one leisurely stroll down Lexington Road? Beginning at Monument Square, and wrapping up at The Wayside, Concord’s American Mile is fascinating. We invite you to learn all about it and to take a stroll of your own by opening the foldout guide in this issue.

Summer is when our gardens lure us out of doors with their color, scent, and movement. “Welcome Butterflies to Your Garden This Summer” will show you how to make your garden happy while protecting and fostering endangered pollinators. Looking for more outdoor adventures? Features in this issue include the history of cycling in Concord and exploring Concord’s Wild & Scenic rivers and ponds. Feeling peckish after all that exercise? Turn to p. 26 for our favorite spots for al fresco dining in Concord.

No matter the season, Concord is a town full of history; from the Indigenous people who lived here before Europeans colonized the region, to twenty-first century visitors discovering the wonder of Louisa May Alcott’s Orchard House. This issue brings you those stories and these:

Responding to the Intolerable Acts imposed by England in 1774, colonists in Massachusetts formed their own government, calling it the Provincial Congress. The first Provincial Congress met in Concord in 1774 and their actions, along with those of the Second Provincial Congress that met here in 1775, were among the factors that led to the American Revolution. Learn more in “Massachusetts’ Provincial Congress: Britain’s Guiltless Children.”

Meet the sons of Death, who rode from Sudbury to Concord on April 19, 1775, and fought the King’s troops as they retreated to Boston. “Hell Followed with Them” brings these remarkable brothers, their Belgian ancestors, and, yes, even King Charlemagne to life.

The town of Menotomy (known today as Arlington), was the site of the largest, longest, and bloodiest engagement of April 19, 1775. “The Battle of Menotomy” examines the lessons of that merciless attack.

In 1858, In what had to be the best summer camp experience ever, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Ebenezer Rockwood Hoar, William James Stillman, and other leading intellectuals of the day embarked on a camping trip in the Adirondacks. “Waldo in the Woods: Emerson and the Philosopher’s Camp” brings a fascinating glimpse into the lives of these men and why Henry Wadsworth Longfellow asked, “Is it true that Emerson is going to take a gun?”

Whether you spend your summer walking, swimming, or curled up with the stories of Concord’s extraordinary history to be found in this issue, we wish you a wonderful summer!

Cynthia L. Baudendistel Co-Founder

Jennifer C. Schünemann Co-Founder

“I go

— Ralph Waldo Emerson

CUCINA

Full-service locations*

Your full-service, sit down and stay awhile, neighborhood gem. Enjoy a leisurely lunch, a family dinner or any occassion, served with inspiration from Italy and hospitality from the heart.

TRATTORIA

Fine-fast locations

When time is of the essence, but you still want to enjoy a fine meal made from scratch, that celebrates tastes from Italy. Place your order at the counter and relax at an open table or order to-go.

8 Things to See & Do this Summer

10 The Battle of Menotomy

BY MICHAEL RUDERMAN

14 Hell Followed With Them

BY JAIMEE LEIGH JOROFF

16 Vintages Invites You to Travel the World Without Leaving Concord BY

JENNIFER C. SCHÜNEMANN

18 Concord250: A Quarter-Millennial Celebration of the Birth of American Democracy

BY JENNIFER C. SCHÜNEMANN

20 Massachusetts’ Provincial Congress: Britain’s Guiltless Children

BY BETH VAN DUZER

24 Waldo in the Woods: Emerson and the Philosophers’ Camp

BY VICTOR CURRAN

26 Dining Al Fresco in Concord

BY JENNIFER C. SCHÜNEMANN

30 This Celebration of a New King is Truly the Bee’s Knees

BY JENNIFER C. SCHÜNEMANN

32 The History of Cycling in Concord

BY PHIL POSNER

insert Concord’s American Mile

BY CYNTHIA L. BAUDENDISTEL AND JENNIFER C. SCHÜNEMANN

34 Concord’s Wild & Scenic Rivers & Ponds

BY DAVE WITHERBEE

36 Swimming with Thoreau

BY STEVE GEIGER

38 Welcome Butterflies to Your Garden This Summer

BY CHERYL ERMAN

Contents Continued on Page 6

41 Where to Stay, Shop, and Eat in Concord 42 Walking Maps of Concord 46 A Musketaquid Love Story

BY JIM SHERBLOM

48 Little Women Inspires a Treasured Mother/Daughter Trip BY JAN

TURNQUIST

52 Alcott as Their Muse: Little Women’s Legacy Honored by Contemporary Authors

BY

SUSAN BAILEY

54 Concord’s Literary Legacy Lives on in Independent Bookstores

BY MARYBETH KELLY

56 In the Footsteps of Ralph Waldo Emerson BY

JEFF WIEAND

62 Arts Around Town

CO-FOUNDER

Cynthia L. Baudendistel

CO-FOUNDER

Jennifer C. Schünemann

ART DIRECTOR

Beth Pruett

DISTRIBUTION DIRECTOR

Wilson S. Schünemann

ADMINISTRATIVE DIRECTOR

Olga Gersh

ADVISORY BOARD

COVER PHOTO: The South Bridge Boathouse ©Pierre Chiha Photographers

AUTHORS/CONTRIBUTORS:

Susan Bailey

Cynthia L. Baudendistel

Lyca Blume

Pierre Chiha

Victor Curran

Beth van Duzer

Cheryl Erman

Steve Geiger

Jaimee Leigh Joroff

Marybeth Kelly

Anne Lehmann

Phil Posner

Michael Ruderman

Jennifer C. Schünemann

Jim Sherblom

Jan Turnquist

Anke Voss

Jeff Wieand

Dave Witherbee

PUBLISHED BY:

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Things to See & Do in Concord this Summer

1

Celebrate Juneteenth at Concord Museum with dance company Illstyle & Peace Productions. The group creates work rooted in West African dance, contemporary and old school hip hop blended with an eclectic mix of dance and performance disciplines including tap, ballet, DJing, and beatboxing. Illstyle & Peace Productions is dedicated to delivering a positive message that showcases the many creative ways that hip hop can be explored, deconstructed, and built back up again. Co-sponsored by The Robbins House. The event is free, but registration is required. June 19 concordmuseum.org

2

Also on June 19, Concord Museum will present an Antislavery Walking Tour highlighting the Concord women and men who played a crucial role in the abolitionist movement in the years leading up to the Civil War. In partnership with The Robbins House. concordmuseum.org

3Each Saturday through August 26, join The Old Manse for The Nature of Stories: Outdoor Storytimes for Kids. You and your kids will love these free outdoor storytimes that celebrate the environmental spirit and literary tradition of The Old Manse! Each Storytime focuses on

a different aspect of the natural world and is followed by an art activity that explores that idea. This is the perfect program to inspire in children a love and curiosity for the natural world.

thetrustees.org/place/the-old-manse

4

Join the Concord Free Public Library in Celebrating Ralph Waldo Emerson with filmmaker Michael Maglaras and author James Marcus. Maglaras’ new film, Ralph Waldo Emerson: Give All to Love, was shot in and around Concord and provides a new and deeply personal perspective on Emerson, his writing, his life, and his importance to contemporary life. James Marcus will release his new book, Glad to the Brink of Fear: A Portrait of Ralph Waldo Emerson, next March.

In this new evaluation of the importance of Emerson, we will get a modern writer’s perspective and a deeply personal reflection on how Emerson’s writing has mattered to a great contemporary writer speaking with the voice of our time. These two leading thinkers and artistic visionaries will engage in a lively conversation about Emerson’s continuing impact on contemporary life. June 22 concordlibrary.org

5The Buttrick Gardens at Minute Man National Historical Park are truly extraordinary. This year, Friends of Minute Man Park invite you to join them for a free 30-minute tour in which you’ll learn about the history and preservation of these beautiful gardens, from 1911 until today. The eclectic gardens feature viewing terraces, steps leading down to the Concord River, elegant wrought ironwork, and brick, bluestone, and cobblestone walkways. Framed by ornamental trees and shrubs, the garden beds contain the Buttrick family’s award-winning iris and daylilies, colorful spring bulbs, and perennials that bloom from spring to fall. Find out why Buttrick Gardens recently received a Concord Historical Commission Landscape Preservation Award! Tours will be offered June 27 and July 25. friendsofminuteman.org

Courtesy of The Trustees of Reservations

Courtesy of Concord Museum Outdoor

7

Celebrate Independence Day at the annual Picnic in the Park celebration! Bring your own picnic lunch or grab a bite at one of the food vendors. Or just relax on the grass, listen to great music, let the kids play games, and enjoy the day. July 4 at Emerson Playground. visitconcord.org

8

Drop by Concord Conservatory’s Discovery Day Open House on Saturday, September 9 and let your kids explore the world of music through singing, dancing, and games. Free Music and Movement and Group Keyboard demo classes will be held. You can also learn about the Music Achievement Program; a free, private lesson enrichment program included with your

6

Unleash your inner artist in a watercolor paint night at Concord Museum! This special evening begins with a visit to the exhibition, “A Perpetual Invitation,” where the instructor will introduce a selection of paintings that exemplify artistic inspiration from the New England landscape. In the second part of the workshop, you can watch a watercolor demonstration and experiment with brushes, washes, and mark-making as you create a landscape of your own. In partnership with The Umbrella Arts Center. August (specific date to be announced). concordmuseum.org

Spend the Summer with Thoreau!

11

Plan your trip to the “Birthplace of Ideas” this summer! Thoreau Farm, the birthplace of Henry David Thoreau, is open for guided tours from May through October. Stop by any Saturday or Sunday for a free tour at 11 a.m., 1 p.m., or 3 p.m. Learn about the birthplace of Henry David Thoreau and consider lessons about living deliberately that we can learn from his legacy. While you’re there, take an inside look at the restored 1730s house listed on the National Register of Historic Places as the Wheeler-Minot Farmhouse/Henry David Thoreau Birth House. The tour includes the lovingly restored secondfloor room where Henry David Thoreau was born in 1817. thoreaufarm.org/visit

12

Explore what Thoreau can teach us about working—why we do it, what it does to us, and how we can make it more meaningful. Professor John Kaag, author of Henry at Work: Thoreau on Making a Living, will be in conversation with Robert A. Gross,

author of The Transcendentalists and Their World, at the Concord Museum on June 20. concordmuseum.org

13

This summer, Concord will welcome the 82nd Annual Gathering of the Thoreau Society. Since 1941, Thoreau Society members and enthusiasts from around the world have gathered in Concord each year around the time of Thoreau’s birthday, July 12. This year’s topic is “Thoreau and The Politics of Extinction.” Virtual events begin June 14 with live events July 12 – 16. thoreausociety.org

14

While Thoreau is best known for the two years he spent living at Walden Pond, he lived in other homes in Concord throughout his life. Take a tour of the domestic side of Thoreau’s wholly human life visiting the homes where he lived and hearing the stories told of him by family and friends. July 15 concordmuseum.org

tuition. Learn about adult group classes too! concordconservatory.org

9Summer evenings call for music and the West Concord Concert Series is the perfect answer. Head over to Rideout Park for free concerts featuring Bean Town Swing Orchestra on July 20, The Reminisants on July 27, Ben Rudnick and Friends on August 3, and The Band Brandy on August 10. visitconcord.org

10

Celebrate summer at Concord Ag Day! This annual farmers’ market showcases Concord farms and local produce. Head over to Main Street in Concord Center for food and fun. September 9 concordagday.com

15 In 1854 Henry David Thoreau wrote “Our inventions are wont to be pretty toys, which distract our attention from serious things.”

Thoreau’s warning about technology and distraction still resonates today. Join Caleb Smith, author of Thoreau’s Axe: Distraction and Discipline in American Culture, on September 7 at Thoreau Farm. In conversation with Daegan Miller, Smith will discuss how nineteenth century Americans understood the problem of distraction, along with the ways they tried to rehabilitate their powers of attention. The event is free, but registration is required. thoreaufarm.org/ thoreaus-axe

Courtesy of Thoreau Farm

Courtesy of Concord Museum

Watercolor Workshop

The Battle of Menotomy

BY MICHAEL RUDERMAN

Residents of Concord are steeped in the lore of Patriots’ Day, April 19, and the militia activities in Lexington and Concord. But the Battle of Menotomy might need more explanation.

Menotomy was a village of about 400 farmers, millers, tavern keepers, and their families in 1775. Located in today’s Town of Arlington, Menotomy stretched along Massachusetts Avenue from “the foot of the rocks” near Lexington to Alewife Brook. Menotomy was a crossroads town where the Concord Road west crossed highways to all points: east to Boston and Charlestown; north to Medford, Reading, and Danvers; and south to Watertown and Dedham.

Paul Revere rode through the village just after midnight on April 19, 1775. Lt. Colonel Francis Smith’s force of 700 royal troops and marines followed the same route to Lexington. Lord Percy reported the houses of Menotomy “deserted” at midday as he marched through with over 1,000 more of

RHis Majesty’s soldiers. Their mission: to rescue Smith from the colonials’ attacks on Battle Road and bring them all back, the same way, to Boston.

From about 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. on April 19, Percy’s combined command of 1,800 soldiers was encircled by 3,800 colonials; all the pursuers from Concord and 59 more companies of minutemen, who had raced to Menotomy. The Battle of Menotomy was the largest, longest, and bloodiest engagement of April 19. Forty of His Majesty’s troops were killed, and 25 colonials were lost.

The fighting was savage. Lord Percy had to fire his two cannons repeatedly to keep the road ahead clear of gathering militia. Flanking soldiers attacked house after house, desperate to suppress the colonials’ attack. An infantryman wrote in his diary, “hot fire from all sides…every wall lined, and every house filled with wretches, who never dared show their faces.” Royal Governor Thomas Gage called it, in his report to London, “a

moving circle of fire” that “continued without intermission.” A fusilier wrote in his diary, “We were obliged to force almost every house…all that were found in the houses were put to death.”

Certainly, the provincial legislature of Massachusetts Bay saw the battle quite differently. They called it “barbarous devastation…almost beyond description… plundering and burning of dwelling houses… driving into the street women in childbed, killing old men in their houses unarmed.” These descriptions of atrocities come directly from the depositions given by Menotomy residents after the battle. Hannah Adams, wife of Deacon Joseph Adams, was rousted from her bed at bayonet point. She fled with her three-week-old daughter in her arms while the King’s soldiers looted the silver communion service and set fire to her home.

Benjamin and Rachel Cooper, taverners, testified that the regulars “fired more than a hundred bullets into the house where we

Retreat From Concord

dwell…” and that two of their guests, “aged gentlemen…all unarmed,” were murdered, “stabbed through in many places, their heads mauled, skulls broke, and their brains out on the floor…”

Visitors to Arlington can walk through the very rooms where one of these closequarter fights took place. Jason Russell and a detachment of Essex County men built a redoubt of wood and shingles in Russell’s orchard behind his house. As soon as they fired on Percy’s main force, flankers encircled them. Russell and eleven militiamen were killed “on the doorstep of his very home.” Other Essex men saved themselves by diving into Russell’s basement and firing their muskets back up the stairs at the redcoats pursuing them. The Arlington Historical Society offers tours of the Jason Russell house, and guides will point out the numerous bullet holes from musket fire in this 280-year-old home.

A little further down the road from the Jason Russell House is the monument to Samuel Whittemore, “then 80 years old” as the inscription reads. With pistols, muskets, and saber, Whittemore mounted a solo attack and killed three of the retreating infantry. He was “shot, bayonetted and left for dead; but recovered and lived to be 98 years of age.” When he died, his obituary was reprinted in newspapers throughout the new nation.

So, what is the significance of the Battle of Menotomy, fought in a small village on the edge of a global empire, on the first day of eight years of revolutionary war? The first lesson is the grievous extent to which His Majesty’s officers and ministers had underestimated the colonials. Following the battle, every report, every dispatch sent back to London, was full of the stories of the combined militias’ ferocious bravery. There would never be an easy solution, even by force of arms, to the unrest in the Province of Massachusetts Bay.

The second lesson would be the stories gathered in Boston and printed and published throughout the colonies: General Gage’s troops savagely murdering innocent farmers, committing barbarous atrocities, and pillaging Englishmen’s homes. It was a message of rebellion carried from New England to all the colonies: join us, or die.

Thirdly, we must examine these stories and look for the facts and the people who were left out of their customary

retelling. A monument in Arlington Center commemorates “the Old Men of Menotomy” who ambushed and captured a convoy of wagons loaded with gunpowder and shot for Lord Percy’s troops. Their nickname is a misnomer, however, for while these men were exempt from mustering and turning out with the militia, it wasn’t because they were all too old. Their leader, David Lamson, was barred from serving with the militia because he was a person of color, a “mulatto” in the contemporary accounts. Yet it was his experience from his days fighting in the French and Indian wars that enabled him to plan and execute a perfect ambush. We need to write David Lamson and other soldiers of color, both free and enslaved, back into the stories of the battle.

Finally, we look to the fate of the militia themselves. After joining in battle in Menotomy, they broke with all precedent for minute companies, and instead of returning home, they stayed in the field. They besieged General Gage as one force. The Second Continental Congress had to accept, as the Massachusetts delegation argued, that a state of war existed between the colonies and the Crown. The Revolution had begun.

Michael Ruderman lives in Arlington and is an author and historian. He is a frequent presenter on topics of local history to community groups and historical societies. His love of history began in grade school, when he discovered many of his Duxbury classmates were descendants of Pilgrims.

Courtesy of the Arlington Historical Society

Jason Russell House

Arlington, MA Old Burying Ground

Courtesy of Freedom’s Way National Heritage Area

T HREE S TONES G ALLERY

PATINA GREEN

Encaustic Photograph by Joan Kocak

Photo Encaustic by Joan Kocak

Worlds in Water, Koi Pond I Worlds in Water, Koi Pond II

Hell Followed With Them

BY JAIMEE LEIGH JOROFF

“And there went out another horse that was red: and power was given to him that sat thereon to take peace from the earth, and that they should kill one another: and there was given unto him a great sword.”

TThey were the sons of Death and hell followed with them as they rushed from Sudbury to Concord, Massachusetts, in the lightening dawn of April 19, 1775. Beside them, armed with muskets, swords, pitchforks, and improvised weapons, came two companies of Sudbury minutemen and militia, and behind them (as legend says), on a white horse, a messenger galloped west towards Worcester carrying the alarm “Up! Up! The Regulars are as far as Concord!”

They were Ezekiel Howe, a lieutenant colonel in the 4th Middlesex Militia Regiment of Massachusetts, and David Howe, a private in Sudbury’s South Militia Company. They were the sons of Hepzibah Death and David Howe, innkeeper of the Howe Tavern (today known as The Wayside Inn) on the Post Road that stretched from Boston to Worcester and points west.

Their mother, Hepzibah Death (also recorded as D’Eath and D’Ath) was descended from ancestors in the Ath region of Belgium where there lingers the eighth century legend of Bayard, the supernatural red horse who carried the four sons of Aymon in their quest to defeat King Charlemagne. Knowing the horse was the

sons’ source of power, King Charlemagne captured Bayard, forced the horse into a river with millstones tied around his neck, and left him to drown. But Bayard kicked the millstones with his hooves, shattering them into pieces. Rearing from the water, the red horse galloped into the woods, where his spirit is said to run free forever.

Over centuries, countless people from Charlemagne’s old kingdom, which included Belgium and France, voyaged to the British Isles. Among them, the family Howe, whose surname meant “people of the hills” or “hill spirits.” By the early 1600s, the spirits of Howes who followed the Puritan faith may

have felt uneasy as their beliefs conflicted with those of King James VI of Scotland/I of England, whose reign saw the publication of a new version of the Bible. Called The King James Bible, this version differed from the Geneva Bible that the Puritans followed. Hastily printed, early editions had typos, including “Behold, the Lord our God hath showed us his glory and his greatass” (instead of his “greatness”), and the instruction that “thou shalt commit adultery.”

None of this went over well with the Puritans, nor did the religious reforms that James’ son, King Charles I, began implementing when he assumed the throne

Revelation 6:4 from the King James version of the Bible

©Barrow Bookstore

The Horse Bayard Carrying the Four Sons of Aymon, a miniature in a manuscript from the fourteenth century.

in 1625. Puritans who refused to conform were subject to punishment, such as being fined, or stripped of their pulpits, property, and, in some cases, their ears. Hundreds of Puritans fled England for America, arriving in the Massachusetts Bay Colony. Amongst them was John Howe, who, in 1638, joined other settlers in founding Sudbury, Massachusetts, the third inland town in the Bay Colony after Concord (1635) and Dedham (1636). John Howe became the grandfather of David Howe, the husband of Hepzibah Death.

Around 1707, David and Hepzibah built a small house and mill in Sudbury in an ideal rest point for weary travelers between Boston, Worcester, Connecticut, and New York. In 1716, David Howe obtained an innkeepers license and opened the Howe Tavern. Here, David and Hepzibah had four sons: Eliphalet, Israel, David, and Ezekiel. When grown, Eliphalet and Israel moved to Rutland, MA. David and Ezekiel remained in Sudbury where, like most men of the day, they were members of the local militia. Around 1744, Ezekiel assumed tavern ownership from his father and eventually renamed it The Red Horse Tavern.

Ezekiel was also a member of the Committee of Correspondence, a network of colonists who shared important information across the colonies and gathered for discussions that, by the 1770s, were increasingly leaning towards independence from British rule. In 1774, the first Provincial Congress assembled in Concord, and preparations began for the colonists to supply and form their own Continental Army, provisions for which were being stored in Concord.

Spies tipped off General Thomas Gage, the royally appointed military governor of Massachusetts, and just before midnight on April 18, 1775, twenty-three miles to the east of Sudbury, nearly 800 of the king’s troops set out from Boston to Concord to find and destroy the supplies. Ahead of them, Paul Revere, an express rider for the Boston Committee of Correspondence, began his infamous “Midnight Ride” to Concord, shouting, “Awake! Awake! The regulars are coming out!”

Near 3:30 a.m., another messenger galloped into Sudbury shouting that the regulars were out as far as Concord. Ringing church bells, musket shots, and signaling

drumbeats filled the air, summoning the town to awake and muster.

Out of the Red Horse Tavern, sword strapped to his side, ran 55-year-old Lt. Col. Ezekiel Howe. By 5 a.m., he, his 57-yearold brother Private David Howe, and two companies of Sudbury militia and minutemen were on the march to Concord. From different routes, more Sudbury militia companies were close behind.

As recorded by Concord minister Ezra Ripley and based on eyewitness interviews, when Lt. Col. Howe’s group reached Concord, they “were stopped about half a mile from the south bridge, by a messenger, Mr. Stephen Barrett, son of the colonel [James Barrett], and informed that the south bridge was taken up and guarded by the British, and that they must march round to the north bridge. In this route they had to pass by Col. Barrett’s, where the British were then actually destroying public property. The company halted near the British, and Lieut. Col. Howe… concealed his sword under his coat, and pretending business, obtained leave of the British officer commanding that part, to pass unmolested. He had gone but a little way, when the firing at the [North] bridge was heard, on which he turned back, offering a reason for not proceeding, and receiving an angry threat from the officer, rejoined the Sudbury company, and pursued the enemy in their retreat from Concord.”

Leaving Concord, near Meriam’s Corner, the Howe brothers, Sudbury companies,

and other arriving militia—now over 1,500 strong—clashed with the king’s troops. A running battle continued back to Boston. By day’s end, 100 regulars and 47 colonists (including two from Sudbury) were dead. The American Revolutionary War had begun.

According to the Massachusetts State Archives, on May 10, 1776, Ezekiel Howe was a commissioned colonel of the 4th Middlesex Regiment and amongst “militia regiments that marched from Massachusetts to the state of New York under command of Maj. Gen. Lincoln” returning in November 1776. Citing ill health, Ezekiel submitted his resignation in 1779 and returned to being an innkeeper at the Red Horse Tavern. The American Revolutionary War ended on September 3, 1783.

The tavern remained in the Howe family until 1861, changing hands before becoming today’s Wayside Inn. Today, a rearing red horse graces the Inn’s sign; a reminder, perhaps, of the sons of Hepzibah Death, who came to Concord’s aide and played their role in America’s quest to defeat a king and run free forever.

For a list of sources, email barrowbookstore@gmail.com.

A Concord native, Jaimee Joroff is manager of the Barrow Bookstore in Concord center, which specializes in Concord history, transcendentalism, and literary figures. She has been an interpreter at most of Concord’s historic sites and is a licensed town guide.

©Barrow Bookstore

Vintages Invites You to Travel the World Without Leaving Concord

BY JENNIFER C. SCHÜNEMANN

The wines, spirits, and craft beers at Vintages all have one thing in common; they are carefully curated and often made by smaller production (or family-run) makers who care deeply about the quality of their product. Here, you will find award-winning craft beers from makers like West County Cider, a full line of curated spirits including single island vintage rums (yes, you read that right) and great wines, predominantly from Europe.

Vintages’ new owner, Meghan Elwell, is on a mission to make learning about wine fun, engaging, and all about connecting with the artisans who make this nectar of the gods.

“Wine is an adventure because – like traveling – it’s all about discovery,” she said. “It’s about where the wine comes from and the people who crafted it. Wine is fun and it’s a joy to share the stories of the wonderful people who are behind each sip. Discovering our wines is a bit like traveling around Europe without needing to leave home!”

Many people think that a great bottle of wine must be expensive, but Meghan insists

Tthat isn’t the case. “While we certainly carry some stunning bottles and rare finds, we also have lots of options for less than $20 that are fresh, delightful, and enjoyable. A favorite part of my day is helping people discover these hidden gems and to see their smile when they tell me how much they enjoyed them at a picnic, a friend’s house, or at dinner with someone special.”

Tastings are a great way to learn about the small production and artisan wines that may not be familiar to everyone. “Our tastings are a lot of fun and if you sign up on the website, you’ll be the first to know about events to introduce small producers who may only offer limited quantities. I hope to see lots of new faces come through our doors this summer. When I bought the store, I was thrilled to be able to start with a venue with such amazing quality products. Moving forward, I am determined to provide a space

With summer in full swing, Meghan shared some of her go-to favorites for warm evenings. Lighter summer reds that can be chilled are perfect for the patio - like the Dolcetto d’Alba from Brezza at just $17.99. When Meghan visited the estate last October, she thought “I need this for Summer!” Vintages also stocks plenty of rosés from classic Provence to slightly effervescent bottles from the Basque region of Spain. Rounding out her trio of recommendations is a fantastic white wine, Furore, from Marissa Cuomo on the Amalfi Coast.

“These wines just take you there,” said Meghan. “If you can’t get to Europe this summer, these wines are the next best thing.”

that is fun and friendly, while creating special moments for my customers.”

Meghan isn’t the only friendly face who will greet you at Vintages. Her trusty sidekick, Biscuit (so named because those are her favorite treats!), can often be found ‘helping’ around the store. They are both waiting to greet you with a warm smile and something nicely chilled for your glass. Cheers!

To find out about events and tasting opportunities, please visit the shop at vintagesonline.com/events.

Al photos ©Pierre Chiha Photographers

This article made possible through the support of Vintages.

Meghan and Biscuit

Summer Happenings

Special Exhibition On View through September 4th

View significant artworks from the Concord Free Public Library Corporation’s William Munroe Special Collections. Learn about Concord’s community of artists and the Library’s original vision as a public space for the community to experience art and culture.

Juneteenth Family Program

Monday, June 19 | 10 – 11 am | Free | Advanced Registration Required

Join us for a celebratory Juneteenth performance with dance company Illstyle & Peace Productions, featuring their unique blend of hip hop, tap, ballet, DJing, and beatboxing. Cosponsored by The Robbins House.

Appraisal Day with Bonhams Skinner

Wednesday, June 21 | 2 – 7 pm Advanced Registration Required. $25 for one item or $65 for three Members $20 for one item or $50 for three. Do you have a family heirloom passed down through generations? Maybe a great yard sale item or flea market find that might be a treasure? Would you like to know what it is worth? Bring your special items to Bonhams Skinner appraisers Karen Keane, CEO, and Christopher Fox, Vice President, at the Concord Museum for a verbal appraisal.

Mindfulness in Art

Wednesday, July 26 | 6 – 7 pm | $10 Members | $20 Non-members

Be Well Be Here Founder and Executive Director Lara Wilson will lead a guided conversation and casual journaling activity in the special exhibit gallery. Participants will come away with the tools to reduce stress, anxiety, depression, and anger through the artistic resources readily available in Concord.

Walking Tours

Antislavery Walking Tour

Monday, June 19 | 11:00 am – 12:30 pm

Learn about the Concord women and men who played a crucial role in the abolitionist movement in the years leading up to the Civil War. In partnership with The Robbins House.

A Walk in Thoreau’s Concord

Saturday, July 15 | 11:00 am – 12:30 pm

Visit the homes where Henry David Thoreau lived, aside from the cabin at Walden Pond, and hear stories told of him by family and friends.

The Concordians Behind the Art Walking Tour

Saturday, July 29 | 11:00 am – 12:30 pm

Join a Concord Museum Guide on a walking tour that delves into the lives of the artists and subjects featured in the special exhibition A Perpetual Invitation.

Visit our Calendar for a complete schedule of programs and forums.

Concord250: A Quarter-Millennial Celebration of the Birth of American Democracy

BY JENNIFER C. SCHÜNEMANN

Concord is preparing to honor the 250th anniversary of the first battles of the American Revolution on April 19, 2025. Knowing that the eyes of the nation – indeed, the world – will be on Concord and the neighboring towns where these historical battles took place in 1775, planning is well underway.

“The people of Concord have received a historic gift as custodians of the place in which our country’s liberty was born, and with it, the sacred responsibility to keep alive its message, undiminished, for future generations,” said Henry Dane, Chair of Concord’s Select Board and Chair of the Concord250 Executive Committee. “The upcoming celebration is our opportunity to remind the world of the meaning of April 19, 1775, and how our identity has been defined by the events that took place on our soil 250 years ago.”

A vital first step was creating a logo for the Concord250 celebrations. “We were looking for something that would honor the past, celebrate the many layers of our town’s history, and yet project forward the energy, enthusiasm, and global impact of the people who continue to do great things here in Concord,” said Diane Proctor, member of the Concord250 Executive Committee and Chair of the Subcommittee on Communications and Publicity. To bring to life the official tagline “Still Heard Round the World,” Concordian Priscilla White

CSturges of Waterman Design was selected to create a logo for the celebrations.

“I felt like this was the most important and prestigious job I have ever had the privilege of doing,” said Sturges. “I have been a graphic design professional for decades, but this project was different. I was born in Concord and grew up here, so it meant the world to me to be chosen for such an important project.”

Priscilla worked with a focused task force, who helped guide the direction of the logo to meet the needs and wishes of the community. Those key ideas created brand attributes that guided her work.

Priscilla also extensively researched logos from past Concord celebrations, from surrounding towns preparing to celebrate the 250th, and from nationwide 250th anniversaries. Ultimately, she decided to focus on the North Bridge in an abstract and forward-thinking way that allows people to connect with it personally.

“The task force was delightful to work with,” said Priscilla. “We were under a lot of pressure to get this right, yet this was the smoothest project I have ever done. I tried to listen and really hear what the community and the task force was looking for. Amazingly, we hit the sweet spot the first time.”

Priscilla’s professionalism was key in ensuring that the logo could work in color or black and white and on something as small as a pen or as large as a billboard.

The simple, but bold, design is striking. The first presentation – a button handed out at Patriots’ Day celebrations this year – was a huge hit.

“I am incredibly proud of this and honored to have been asked to design something so important to the town I love,” said Priscilla. “I can’t wait to see the logo being used as the programs roll out.”

Among many uses, you will see the Concord250 logo in the pages of Discover Concord to indicate American Revolutionary content. As we march closer to the 250th anniversary, you will see progressively more of the publication focused on telling the fascinating tales of the many people who witnessed – and participated in – that fateful day.

You can see more of Priscilla’s beautiful graphic design work at pwatermandesign.com

©Carolyn Ross

Priscilla White Sturges

A large red building on the corner of Lexington Road and Main Street is a focal point in downtown Concord. On the front of the building, a white sign with black text states it is called The Wright Tavern and that Committees from the Provincial Congress met in the building. Usually, information on a sign signifies a special historical episode. Regrettably, there is no elaboration on why this was important. Learning what the Provincial Congress was, what it did, and why the Tavern was involved will help clarify the importance of the historic event on the plaque.

BY BETH VAN DUZER

What was the Provincial Congress?

A Massachusetts’ Provincial Congress: Britain’s Guiltless Children

In 1630, when colonists from England settled the Massachusetts Bay Colony, a charter allowed the settlers to run the colony as they saw fit. Therefore, there was a bottom-up government in addition to a top-down government. The bottom-up government allowed locals to be elected or appointed to positions in town and for local handling of disputes. In contrast, the top-down government started with the King/Parliament appointing the Governor of Massachusetts, who then appointed judges, etc.

Unfortunately, England saw Massachusetts as a spoiled child after the Boston Tea Party. It was the salty teenager of the thirteen colonies. Thus, to punish the colonists of Massachusetts like the naughty children they were, Parliament passed the Intolerable Acts in 1774. One of the Acts took away the right of the Colony of Massachusetts to self-govern itself — no more bottom-up government.

By 1774, the residents of Massachusetts had been running a local government for almost 150 years. Taking self-government away from the colonists did not go over

well. Instead of the colonists heeding the restriction thrust upon them by Parliament, the men of Massachusetts chose to rebel. Consequently, they created their own government, called it the Provincial Congress, and advertised it in local newspapers.

What did the First Provincial Congress do? The first Provincial Congress met in Concord for four days, from October 11 – 14, 1774. During these few days, the Provincial Congress wrote a letter airing its grievances against England to be delivered to General Gage. Additionally, it directed collectors of taxes not to turn tax money over to crown officers. Newspapers published both actions.

What did the Second Provincial Congress do? The Provincial Congress reconvened in Concord for almost a month, starting on March 22, 1775, and adjourning on April 15, 1775.

While it met in Concord, one significant outcome of the Second Provincial Congress was creating and adopting Rules and Regulations for the Massachusetts Army. In February, when the Provincial Congress was in Cambridge, it charged a Committee with preparing rules and regulations for an army. While in Concord, after the Committee read its report, Congress weighed in with suggested additions or amendments. After several days of negotiations, Congress passed the rules on Wednesday, April 5, 1775.

Once again, newspapers printed portions of the proceedings. In the article, Congress started its justification of creating this document by first referring to the colonists of Massachusetts as Britain’s “guiltless children, who are unjustly and wickedly charged with licentiousness, sedition, treason, and rebellion…” Ironically, preparing to form an army and writing Rules and Regulations for the Massachusetts Army was both treasonous and rebellious.

Another notable outcome was letters to two different tribal nations, the Indigenous Stockbridge and Mohawk people. Both chose to join the fight of the colonists as minutemen. Letters addressed the Indigenous allies as brothers to the colonists. In part, the first letter read: “Good Brothers – It affords us great pleasure and

satisfaction, to hear…that our brothers, the natives of Stockbridge, are ready and willing to take up the hatchet in the cause of liberty and their country.” The letters allowed each side to overcome a challenging past by proving their allegiance to each other.

Today, we know Indigenous allies from Stockbridge were a combination of Mohican, Housatonic Wappingers, the Niantics, Tunxis, and other tribal nations that chose to make their homes on land near a river that the colonists renamed Stockbridge.

About a fortnight after receiving their letter, the Indigenous Stockbridge minutemen marched in response to the

Lexington alarm. As they marched east, they joined other militia and minutemen from towns throughout New England traveling to participate in the siege of Boston.

All this information is interesting, but what Committees met at the Wright Tavern? The Provincial Congress created Committees to take care of specific assignments. In 1774, the Committee of Safety was created, with John Hancock as a member. The Committee of Safety often met with the Committee of Supplies. While in Concord, both had meetings at the house of Mr. Taylor. The house of Mr. Taylor is known today as the Wright Tavern.

Almost immediately after its creation, the Committee of Safety ordered the acquisition of stores, not just ammunition but also food and shelter, for troops. Transcripts from meetings in Concord recorded lodging “a ton of musket balls that had arrived in Concord” and moving cannon powder to Concord to create cartridges. Importantly, at a meeting on April 1, 1775, it was resolved that “the stores at Concord, and elsewhere, shall not be removed without written orders from the committee of safety.” Finally, an order arrived on April 18 instructing specific stores to be removed from Concord or hidden. Decisions made by these Committees, some made at the house of Mr. Taylor, impacted the town of Concord and forever changed its history.

Now, when reading the sign outside the Wright Tavern, you can understand more about why Committees of the Provincial Congress warrant being on a sign. Perhaps, when pausing outside the red building, you can easier imagine a special historical episode like 260 Congress members milling about downtown after a meeting, Committee members like John Hancock debating using cannon powder to make cartridges inside the house of Mr. Taylor, or the Indigenous allies from Stockbridge marching beside other companies of soldiers bearing arms to fight alongside their brothers.

Beth van Duzer is a public historian, owner of Concord Walking Tours, and the clerk for the Concord250 History & Education Subcommittee.

“…England saw Massachusetts as a spoiled child after the Boston Tea Party.”

Concord Museum Collection, Gift of the Cummings Davis Society; Gift of the Neil and Anna Rasmussen Foundation; Gift of the Philip and Betsey

C. Caldwell Foundation; Gift of Charles and Frances G.; 2006.229.

Rules and Regulations for the Massachusetts Army, 1775.

Waldo in the Woods: Emerson and the Philosophers’ Camp

BY VICTOR CURRAN

I“Is it true that Emerson is going to take a gun?” asked Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. “Then I shall not go, somebody will be shot.”

Ralph Waldo Emerson was no marksman, but in July 1858, he bought a “rifle & gun” (a two-barreled rifle-shotgun combination) for twenty-five dollars, prompting his friend Henry David Thoreau to quip, “The story on the Mill Dam is that he has taken a gun which throws shot from one end and ball from the other.”1

What inspired the gentle Sage of Concord to acquire this unlikely weapon? He was gearing up for a trip to the Adirondack Mountains, where some of the leading intellectuals of antebellum America were

planning to spend a week or two roughing it in the woods. In the event, no one was shot, and this brahmin bivouac might have been forgotten except for William James Stillman, the organizer of the trip. Stillman captured the moment in an oil painting, The Philosophers’ Camp in the Adirondacks, which is part of the Concord Free Public Library Corporation’s art collection and normally hangs in the reference room of the Library. It is currently on loan, and can be seen in a special exhibit at the Concord Museum until September 4.

Unlike his fellow campers, Stillman could not boast a venerable New England pedigree or Harvard credentials. He came from

Schenectady, New York, where his family struggled to pay for his college education. Setting his sights on a career in art, he studied with Hudson River School painter Frederic Edwin Church and in England with the Pre-Raphaelites Dante Gabriel Rossetti and John Everett Millais.

But it wasn’t his painting that brought him into the orbit of Emerson and company. In 1855, he founded a magazine he called The Crayon: A Journal Devoted to the Graphic Arts and the Literature Related to Them, and over its six-year run, it earned a national reputation for its fine, insightful writing. One of the early contributors to The Crayon was James Russell Lowell, scion of a prosperous family

The Philosophers’ Camp in the Adirondacks by William James Stillman, 1859

Courtesy of Concord Free Public Library Corporation

© Jim Coutré Photography

with roots in colonialera Boston. Stillman and Lowell shared a sense of mission, of a world uplifted by art and literature. They became fast friends, and Lowell introduced Stillman to the Boston brain trust, including Emerson.

Both Emerson and Stillman sought transcendence in nature—the former in words, the latter in images. Stillman would travel for weeks scouting for unspoiled landscapes to fill his canvas. In 1854—just as Thoreau’s Walden was rolling off the press—he went to Saranac Lake in the Adirondack Mountains, where he boarded with a local family for the summer. He divided his time between painting and immersing himself in the sights, sounds, and textures of nature.

Stillman returned home to New York and set to work on The Crayon, but he couldn’t get the Adirondacks out of his mind. Under a pen name, he published an account of his travels called The Wilderness and Its Waters. He went back in the summer of 1856, and in 1857, James Russell Lowell went with him.

Lowell was a founding member of the Saturday Club, an informal group of prominent Boston-area men who met monthly for dinner and a spirited exchange of ideas about literature, art, science, government, and business (the Saturday Club launched The Atlantic Monthly, with Lowell as its first editor.) The club suspended its dinners during the summer, but Lowell’s enthusiasm for the virgin forests of the north inspired them to plan an August expedition they called the Adirondack Club.

Stillman knew the territory, so he went ahead to hire local guides for the visitors and to identify a remote campsite with abundant fish and game. He settled on a waterfront site at a pristine lake known locally as Follensby Pond. By the end of the first week in August, his nine companions had joined him there.

Concord was represented by both Ralph Waldo Emerson—at age 55, a revered man of letters—and Ebenezer Rockwood Hoar, a judge and former state senator whose

antislavery activism helped to found the Republican Party.

Lowell’s Harvard colleague Louis Agassiz was at Follensby, too. In the years before Darwin’s Origin of Species and the American Civil War, the Swiss-born Agassiz was admired as a scholar of natural history and had become something of a national hero by spurning the offer of a prestigious post at the Jardin des Plantes in Paris, choosing instead to remain a Harvard professor.

In our own time, Agassiz is remembered for stubbornly denying evolution and insisting that slavery was justified by the theory that Africans and Europeans were created separately. Less than three years before Fort Sumter, it’s hard to imagine him on cordial terms with committed abolitionists like Lowell and Hoar; perhaps their shared loyalty to Harvard allowed them to overlook his racism.

Agassiz made his time in the camp a working vacation. He relished the plentiful trout better as specimens than as supper. In Stillman’s painting, he can be seen in vest and shirtsleeves, dissecting a trout with the assistance of his Harvard colleague Jeffries Wyman.

The campers often started their day by shooting at targets and empty bottles. Stillman depicted this in the right side of his painting, with Amos Binney (son of a Boston doctor) taking aim, and Stillman himself beside him. Lowell is waiting his turn to shoot, and behind him is Concord’s Judge Hoar.

At target practice, Agassiz demonstrated great skill, but he didn’t like to shoot animals. Surprisingly, one specimen he did get was a peetweet (sandpiper) that Emerson shot in his only successful

hunting effort. Emerson preferred to leave the hunters and fishermen behind while Stillman led him to a secluded bower for quiet contemplation.

Emerson imagined himself a latter-day Chaucer on a pilgrimage to a cathedral grown from the earth rather than hewn from stone. Stillman alluded to this by painting Emerson holding a pilgrim’s staff and standing apart from the others, “uplifted into infinite space” as he might have put it.

By the third week in August, their idyll was over. Plans were made to purchase land and make the Adirondack Club an annual event. A smaller group camped at a different site in 1859, but the campers’ attention was shifting to more urgent matters as the nation careened toward civil war. Stillman himself moved to Europe and new occupations as a diplomat and journalist, leaving his painting to remind us of the singular sylvan sabbatical for which he was the catalyst.

Victor Curran writes and leads tours of historic Concord and is an interpreter at the Concord Museum and the Old Manse. He teaches courses and writes articles about the men and women who made Concord the home of American independence and imagination.

1 James Schlett, A not too greatly changed Eden: The story of the philosophers’ camp in the Adirondacks. Cornell University Press, 2016

the author’s.

David Scott. Ralph Waldo Emerson, 1848. Oil on panel. Presented by Ebenezer Rockwood Hoar, Elizabeth Hoar, and Reuben N. Rice, 1873.

Courtesy of Concord Free Public Library Corporation

Samuel W. Rowse, William James Stillman, c. 1858. Reproduced as frontispiece in William James Stillman, The Autobiography of a Journalist. Vol. 1 (London, 1901)

Dining Al Fresco in Concord

Summer is here! Warmer days and beautiful flowers call us outside to enjoy the fresh air. And Concord’s restaurants are responding with inviting terraces, refreshing cocktails, and delicious foods to entice us to gather around the table al fresco style! With so many restaurants to choose from, we’ve put together highlights of some of our favorite places to watch the world go by while enjoying a delicious meal. Bon appétit!

ADELITA - Enjoy authentic Mexican cuisine at this fun and fabulous taco and margarita bar. Patio seating is first come, first served and is open seven nights a week. Sister restaurant to Woods Hill Table, Adelita takes a casual, family-friendly cue with fun décor and lively music. A farm to table twist features healthy ingredients in a range of delicious dishes, and is a hit with kids and adults alike. More information available at adelita.com

CONCORD’S COLONIAL INN - Lunch, dinner, or cocktails on the porch at the Colonial Inn is a wonderful way to welcome summer! Sip on rosé wine, an ice-cold beer, or enjoy a tasty cocktail as you watch the world stroll by. It’s hard to choose between their spectacular

BY JENNIFER C. SCHÜNEMANN

Slobster rolls, steaks, burgers, salads, or seafood. concordscolonialinn.com

FIORELLA’S CUCINA - Who says you have to get on a plane to experience amazing Italian cuisine? You’ll feel like you’re at a European piazza at one of Fiorella’s charming bistro tables, tucked in between big pots of flowers and surrounded by bistro lights. Creative cocktails from the mixology bar are just the beginning. Wood oven pizzas, homemade pasta dishes, and delectable seafood dishes will have you saying ‘grazie mille’! Patio hours, menus, and more at fiorellascucina.com

WOODS HILL TABLE - Owner

Kristin Canty opened Concord’s first farm-to-table restaurant out of a passion for sustainably farmed produce and pasture raised meats, predominantly from the 265-acre Farm at Woods Hill, and locally sourced seafoods. Under Chef Charlie Foster’s careful eye, these healthful, nutritionally dense ingredients

are transformed into works of art – appealing to the eye, the sense of smell, and of course, taste. A rotating menu embraces the freshest harvest available, and is thoughtfully prepared to reflect the changing seasons. Pair your meal with a creative cocktail or a glass of wine for an exceptional evening out. Check the website for hours. woodshilltable.com

Adelita

Lobster Roll at The Colonial Inn

© Pierre Chiha Photographers

Photo courtesy of Concord’s Colonial Inn

© Pierre Chiha Photographers

(Continued on p. 28)

PICNIC FAVORITES

Want a more casual al fresco experience? There are SO many wonderful places for a picnic in Concord. Stock up on tasty treats at these favorite shops, grab a picnic blanket, and head outside:

THE CHEESE SHOP OF CONCORD – The talented staff at the Cheese Shop can deftly guide you through the hundreds of cheeses to find the perfect match for your taste buds. Fill out that picnic basket with charcuterie, stuffed grape leaves, cornichons, dried fruits and nuts, imported chocolates, and more. Freshly made sandwiches put a gourmet spin on a picnic favorite. And delicious wines and beers will make your picnic picture perfect. For hours and menus, visit concordcheeseshop.com

DEBRA’S NATURAL GOURMET – The amazing kitchen at Debra’s uses the freshest ingredients from their incredible store to bring you delicious foods to go, including soups, salads, entrees, sandwiches, wraps, organic smoothies, raw juices, luscious desserts, and more. They are no stranger to specialized diets – vegan, vegetarian, non-gluten, dairyfree, paleo, FODMAP, you name it! Hours and menus at debrasnaturalgourmet.com

CONCORD TEACAKES – If you have a sweet tooth, this is the place to go! Cakes, cupcakes, cookies, brownies, bars, and bundts will make your mouth water! You’ll also find breakfast treats, coffee and tea drinks, and sandwiches to go. Hours and menus at concordteacakes.com

VERRILL FARM – A well-stocked cooler section features delicious salads and heatat-home options. Made to order sandwiches go perfectly with the bakery delights at the next counter over (try one of their amazing homemade pies!). Grab a chilled beverage and you are ready to enjoy an outside meal – they even have picnic benches overlooking this beautiful farmland. Menus and hours at verrillfarm.com

VINTAGES - Looking to up your al fresco game? This delightful boutique specialty

shop carries a spectacular collection of wines (and beer and liquors) to delight and surprise. The knowledgeable and friendly staff will guide you to a truly perfect pairing for a picnic to remember! vintagesonline.com

WEST CONCORD WINE & SPIRITS – The friendly and helpful team at West Concord Wine & Spirits can help you find just the right wine or beer to pair with your picnic. Looking to create your own al fresco dining experience with an outdoor BBQ or party

with friends and family? They even have beverage catering and delivery services –they will bring the wine, beer, and liquors to you (one less item on your party prep list). Find out more or order online for in-store or curbside pickup at westconcordwine.com

For a comprehensive list of restaurants in Concord, please see our “Where to Shop, Where to Eat” guide on page 41.

© istock.com/KatarzynaBialasiewicz

Fiorella’s

© Pierre Chiha Photographers

(Continued from p. 26)

A walking tour with a Certified Interpretive Guide is a great way to go deeper into the fascinating history of Concord.

Walking tours also make great gifts – and are a wonderful way to entertain family and out of town guests!

Our tours include:

APRIL 19TH

Perfect for the fan of American history

LITERARY LUMINARIES

Explore the fascinating Authors Ridge in Sleepy Hollow

TWO REVOLUTIONS

Perfect for the group that wants to learn about the American Revolution AND the Transcendentalists

LOUISA MAY ALCOTT’S CONCORD

Fans of Little Women and Louisa May Alcott won’t want to miss this!

LEGENDS AND LORE

Dive into the lesser-known town tales of Concord! GRAVE DETECTIVES

A family friendly tour exploring the iconography and stories of Old Hill Burying Ground

Book your tour today and walk with us, where history happened!

This Celebration of a New King is Truly the Bee’s Knees

BY JENNIFER C. SCHÜNEMANN

Colonists in North America may have separated from Great Britain in the 1700s, but American forces have served alongside British allies many times in the centuries since. A strong bond of friendship remains firmly in place between the two nations. So, when Great Britain announced the coronation of King Charles III, many across New England went looking for a way to share in the royal celebrations.

The Bee’s Knees British Imports in Acton, MA, accepted the challenge and created a wonderful space for people to come in and share stories of their British heritage, reflect upon memories of the coronation of Queen Elizabeth 70 years ago, or simply revel in the festive atmosphere. Coronation Day, May 6, 2023, was celebrated in earnest at the shop.

“We were excited to create something special to honor the continuation of the British monarchy,” said Lucinda Sears, cofounder of The Bee’s Knees British Imports. “It was so special to see the historical passing of the torch – the transition of the monarchy to the next generation. We love the pomp and circumstance and the sense of ceremony. The ladies truly put their hearts into making this a special day for everyone.”

CHand-crocheted tea cozies featured King Charles III and his wife, Camilla. The day was feted with tea tastings, English treats like fairy cakes and other baked goods, and coronation chicken sandwiches. There was even a pork pie truck from Thwaites, a British heritage shop in Methuen (a huge hit!).

“As a British person, the monarchy is such a strong part of one’s upbringing,” said Trish Zarola, co-founder of The Bee’s Knees. “An event of this magnitude evokes such a sense of British pride and brings back memories of when I lived in Britain as a kid. It’s all the more special to be able to share a piece of our culture with our community here in America on such a momentous occasion.”

The response was strong and positive. Local news channels covered the shop extensively, both on radio and television. Close to 300 customers from across New England came to the shop and online visitors to the website came in droves to find commemorative cups, tea towels, bunting, and other memorabilia to help them celebrate. Just a few of these pieces remain now – highly collectible items that will soon be gone!

In case you missed the celebrations – or if you’re just hoping to sample one of Thwaites’

famous British pork pies – the ladies are already hard at work planning the next festive occasion. The Bee’s Knees will celebrate their 12th birthday on July 8 from 11 a.m. onward. They hope you will join them at 566 Massachusetts Avenue in Acton. For more information, follow them on Facebook or learn more at TheBeesKneesBritishImports.com.

Three generations of royalty

Sylvie cheers on Jen for her interview

Lucinda and Trish with WCVB TV host Katie Thompson

All photos courtesy of The Bee’s Knees British Imports

Pork pies from Thwaites

that makes

~Ralph Waldo Emerson

The History of Cycling in Concord

BY PHIL POSNER

The picturesque town of Concord, Massachusetts, is renowned for its rich history, from the Revolutionary and Civil War eras to its prominent role in American literature. Few may know that Concord played a role in the history of bicycling, a form of transportation that has had a profound impact on society and culture.

The bicycle has its roots in the early nineteenth century. By the 1870s the “high wheeled” or “ordinary” bicycle was introduced to America. Although difficult to ride and dangerous on poor, muddy roads, “ordinaries” became popular with middleand upper-class Americans seeking fresh air and recreation away from increasingly urbanizing cities. Excursions by ‘cycling tourists’ from Boston to scenic rural Concord were aided by maps created for the League of American Wheelmen (the LAW).

By the 1880s, cycling was ‘democratized’ by the invention of the “safety bicycle” with wheels of equal size and rubber tires. The “safety” ushered in a new era of personal transportation for Americans of all incomes.

By the 1890s, bicycling’s first golden age was in full bloom. The ingenuity and manufacturing might of Massachusetts’ factories, the ‘LAW’ in Boston, enthusiastic Concord merchants, the ‘Good Roads Movement’ of the 1890s (which sought to improve and expand America’s mostly rural

Tand rutty roads), and the ‘need for speed’ became a vital part of American culture.

The bicycle craze quickly spread to Concord. The first recorded bicycle race in Concord took place in 1879; one of the earliest organized bicycle races in the country. A thriving cycling scene in Concord was reported in local newspapers. Reports of races, cycling-related social events and clubs, and social commentary about the advantages and ills of cycling (particularly for women) were printed. Cyclists from Boston and its suburbs flocked to Concord for its beauty, history, and amenities. On April 19, 1896, more than 4,000 bicyclists arrived in Concord to celebrate Patriots’ Day!

Women embraced the freedom and independence that bicycles offered. Bikes provided an opportunity for independent travel and physical activity. Cycling became a symbol of women’s liberation. In an 1896 interview, Susan B. Anthony said, “I’ll tell you what I think of bicycling …. I think it has done more to emancipate women than any one thing in the world.” Concord’s merchants sold bicycles,

bicycling-related clothing, and accessories to encourage Concord’s emerging middle-class women to ‘jump on a wheel.’ Cycling’s role in the evolution of women’s clothing as well as women’s suffrage cannot be understated.

As the twentieth century dawned, the popularity of bicycles waned. The automobile emerged as the dominant form of transportation in the United States. During 1970’s “second great bicycle boom,” Concord’s scenic roads were rediscovered, and the town became a popular destination for recreational cycling. In more recent years, there has been a resurgence of interest in bicycles for sustainable and healthy transportation, recreation, and sport. Today, Concord is beloved by cyclists for its extensive network of scenic, bikeable roads, wooded offroad trails, and the Bruce Freeman Rail Trail, which attract cyclists from the world over.

The web is full of lists of favorite cycling roads and trails. You might start with these to get a feel for what’s available: minutemanbikeway.org alltrails.com monsterscycling.com

Phil Posner lives in West Concord Village with his wife Toby. They have four adult children and three grandchildren. Phil caught the bicycling bug as a boy in New York City and remains an active rider, advocate, and volunteer mechanic more than six decades later.

The Macone brothers of Concord on a triplet bicycle

Cyclists in Concord

All photos courtesy of Paul Macone

Let Us Explain Why

With deep Concord roots since our founding over a half century ago, LandVest stays true to the informed, thoughtful decision-making of our historic, progressive community.

We are proud to serve as trusted land and property advisors in a place we call home.

A Walk Along Concord’s American Mile

BY CYNTHIA L. BAUDENDISTEL AND JENNIFER C. SCHÜNEMANN

Few places in the United States offer a wealth of history, literature, anthropological clues, and examples of early American architecture along a one-mile stroll. Concord’s American Mile invites you to enjoy the great outdoors while learning about the town’s fascinating history. Begin your adventure at Monument Square and head east along Lexington Road.

Concordians - including Ralph Waldo Emerson, Henry David Thoreau, and Bronson Alcott. When Brown was tried and executed following his raid on Harpers Ferry, Concord held a memorial service for him here in the Town House.

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Founded in 1716, Concord’s Colonial Inn (48 Monument Square) is an American landmark and played an important role in the events leading up to the American Revolution. The Concord minutemen stored arms and provisions here, and parts of the Inn served as a makeshift field hospital, operating room, and morgue during the battles of April 19, 1775.

In 1835, John Thoreau moved his family into the Inn, including his son, Henry David Thoreau, who was attending Harvard College at the time. The Inn, which had consisted of three separate buildings, was converted into a single, connected structure and began operating as a hotel in 1889. Over the years, Concord’s Colonial Inn became recognized for its hospitality and welcomed as guests some of the most celebrated people of their times, including J.P. Morgan, John Wayne, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, and members of the Kennedy family.

3Monument Square holds many clues to important moments in Concord’s history. Look for the marker of Jethro’s Tree near the Mill Brook, where an agreement was struck between the Indigenous people living here and the colonists who would later transform these lands into a town.

A small, obscure plaque marks the spot where Henry David Thoreau spent the night in jail for refusing to pay taxes that he felt were enabling the enslavement of people via the Fugitive Slave Act. His time in jail inspired him to write the paper that would become known as “Civil Disobedience;” a text that would later inspire the use of nonviolent protest by leaders such as Mahatma Gandhi and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

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Since its construction in 1851, Concord’s Italianate Town House (22 Monument Square) has served as a center of social and political life. Many of Concord’s leading thinkers spoke or led important events here, including Ralph Waldo Emerson and Bronson Alcott. The abolitionist John Brown spoke here in March of 1857 and again in May 1859, where he raised $2,000 for his cause from

You will also find a large obelisk with the names of most of Concord’s heroes who fell in the Civil War. One name is still missing – that of Private George W. Dugan, the only black man from Concord who enlisted in the Civil War. Dugan served in the 54th Massachusetts Volunteer, which was almost completely decimated in the assault on Fort Wagner on July 18, 1863. Dugan’s body was never recovered, and he was listed as missing in action, which precluded his name from being honored alongside his fellow Concordians who died in the Civil War. Recently, the Town of Concord voted to add his name, and funds are now being raised to replace the plaque to include Private Dugan and restore the monument after 155 years of exposure to the elements.

Courtesy of Ronald J. Baumgarten,

As you walk down Lexington Road, you will see the Old Hill Burying Ground – Concord’s oldest burial site, with marked graves dating back to 1677. The beautifully carved headstones reveal clues about the life of Concord’s earliest settlers. The humility of Ezra Ripley’s grave is striking. He was the pastor of the meetinghouse for 63 years and a hugely important figure in the town, yet his stone is very plain. The grave of Col. James Barrett, who led the troops at the North Bridge, includes a family coat of arms in honor of his pivotal role in our nation’s history. The white stone of Miss Abigail Dudley pays tribute to her generosity and benevolence. And the gravestone of John Jack bears witness to his transition from enslaved to freedman. He was born enslaved but earned his freedom and died a free and respected citizen in the town. His epitaph so impressed a young British officer in the days leading up to the Revolution that he made a copy of the gravestone and sent it home to his mother in England. From there, it was printed in the London Times and circulated all around the world! In recognition of its historical importance, a replica of John Jack’s stone is in the Smithsonian Institute in Washington, D.C. 5

At 44 Bedford Street (just behind the Holy Family Parish and the Old Hill Burying Ground), you will see the home of Mary Rice (ca. 1840), who actively participated in the Underground Railroad. In 1864, she gathered the signatures of 195 Concord school children on a petition to President Lincoln, calling for the emancipation of enslaved children. Lincoln replied, “Please tell these little people I am very glad their young hearts are so full of just and generous sympathy, and that, while I have not the power to grant all they ask, I trust they will remember that God has, and that, as it seems, He will to do it.” Copies of this petition – and Lincoln’s response – can still be found in each of Concord’s elementary schools.

in response to the alarm that British regulars were on their way to Concord. Later that same morning, the British Expeditionary Force established its headquarters at The Wright Tavern to oversee the search of Concord and the actions of its forces at the North Bridge and surrounding area.

After being closed to the public for the past fifty years, the Wright Tavern Legacy Trust has been formed to oversee the renovation and development of the Wright Tavern. The goal is to open Wright Tavern as an experiential museum telling the stories of Concord’s history and role in the founding of the United States. The Tavern is expected to open in 2024.

7First Parish (20 Lexington Road) was built in 1636, just one year after the Town of Concord was incorporated. The center of life in the town, the green in front of the building was the focal point of many important moments in the town’s history. The Wright Tavern is part of this property..

Fifty years after the American Revolution, the Marquis de Lafayette – last living general of the American Revolution – spoke here in September 1824 as part of his “Farewell Tour to America.” In the years leading up to the Civil War, both Frederick Douglass and Harriet Tubman gave impassioned pleas for support to Concord’s many abolitionists. In 1844, Henry David Thoreau rang the church bell to call together the townspeople to listen to Ralph Waldo Emerson’s anti-slavery speech on the 10th anniversary of the emancipation of enslaved people in the British West Indies. Though damaged in a fire that destroyed the church in April 1900 (the building that stands today is a reproduction), the original bell is displayed on the front lawn.

8

Emerson House (28 Cambridge Turnpike, just off Lexington Road) Ralph Waldo Emerson purchased the lovely colonialstyle home in 1835, shortly after his marriage to Lidian Jackson Emerson, and lived here until his death in 1882. Emerson declared of the house, it was “the only good cellar that had been built in Concord.” It was here that Emerson wrote many of his most important works, including the final draft of “Nature” and the essay “Self Reliance.”

Emerson was a respected philosopher, author, lecturer, and transcendentalist. His presence in Concord made it a center of thought, and over the years Emerson House welcomed

6

The Wright Tavern (2 Lexington Road) was built in 1747 and is a designated National Historic Landmark that witnessed the remarkable events leading up to the American Revolution. In October 1774, committees from the First Massachusetts Provincial Congress met here. The Congress crafted a letter outlining the colonists’ grievances against England and directing tax collectors not to turn tax money over to crown officers. Six months later, on the morning of April 19, 1775, minutemen and militias from Concord and surrounding towns gathered at the Wright Tavern

Wright Tavern

Old Hill Burying Ground

contemporary luminaries like Henry David Thoreau, Margaret Fuller, Bronson Alcott, and Elizabeth Peabody.

Today, the interior remains much as it was after the 1872-1873 restoration (following a fire on the property). Emerson’s study is the only room in which the furnishings are not original. The original contents of that room are now part of the Concord Museum collection, and the study has been refurnished with replica pieces. Emerson House is on the National Register of Historic Places.

in the collection include furniture, ceramics, glass, metalwork, books, photographs, manuscripts, and textiles.

10

Louisa May Alcott’s Orchard House (399 Lexington Road) was purchased by her father, Amos Bronson Alcott, in 1857. The 12-acre property included an apple orchard, leading Bronson Alcott to call the home “Orchard House.” The Alcott family lived at Orchard House until 1877. Louisa May Alcott wrote the beloved classic, Little Women, while living here, and the book has enchanted readers around the world since then, never having been out of print.

Amazingly, the house remains essentially as it was when the Alcott family lived here, with no major structural changes. Of the furnishings on display, approximately 80% were owned by the Alcotts. It’s easy to imagine both the Alcott family and the fictional March family living here. This treasured home is on the National Register of Historic Places.

11The Wayside (455 Lexington Road), built in the early 1700s and now on the National Register of Historic Places, wraps up our walking tour with a place that bore witness to Concord’s “two revolutions.” On April 19, 1775, as British regulars marched past on their way to Concord, The Wayside was home to Samuel Whitney, the muster master for Concord’s minutemen and a delegate to Massachusetts’ Provincial Congress. Later that day, following the Battle at the North Bridge, colonial militia and minute companies would relentlessly attack the retreating British Army back past The Wayside and for a length of 16 miles along the Battle Road.

A century later, The Wayside was home to philosophers, authors, orators, and others who shaped a literary revolution, including Louisa May Alcott, Nathaniel Hawthorne, and Margaret Sidney (Harriet Lothrop). Neighbors and acquaintances such as Ralph Waldo Emerson, Henry David Thoreau, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, and Herman Melville joined the authors of The Wayside in creating a new literary and philosophical genre.

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Concord Museum (53 Cambridge Turnpike) houses the largest collection of American Revolutionary War ephemera in the nation. This is an excellent place to discover the full range of Concord’s history – from the Indigenous people who lived here long before the European settlers, to a spectacular multimedia presentation of the events of April 19, 1775, to the literary revolution of the transcendentalists (including Henry David Thoreau’s desk and Ralph Waldo Emerson’s study). Other items

The Wayside was also a stop on the Underground Railroad as enslaved people sought freedom in the north. The Wayside is now a site on the National Underground Railroad Network to Freedom program, administered by the National Park Service. This program commemorates and preserves the historical significance of the Underground Railroad which sought to address the injustices of slavery and make freedom a reality in the United States.

For additional articles on many of these topics, scan this QR code:

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Courtesy of Concord Museum

Experience sustainable farm to table cuisine right here in West Concord. Choose from fine dining at Woods Hill Table or relaxed, casual Mexican cuisine at Adelita!

Experience sustainable farm to table cuisine right here in West Concord. Choose from fine dining at Woods Hill Table or relaxed, casual Mexican cuisine at Adelita!

For more information, or to make a reservation, visit: www.woodshilltable.com www.adelitaconcord.com

For more information, or to make a reservation, visit: www.woodshilltable.com www.adelitaconcord.com

978.254.1435

978.254.0710

978.254.1435 978.254.0710

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We hope to see you soon!

Outdoor dining and curbside takeout available.

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Concord’s Wild & Scenic Rivers & Ponds

STORY & PHOTOGRAPHY BY DAVE WITHERBEE

GGetting out on the water is a wonderful way to escape to the outdoors, and Concordians are fortunate to have three rivers and several ponds on which to play, explore, and relax. These waterways provide opportunities to enjoy the natural world in a way that is quite different from experiencing our roadways, parks, and trails. On the water, one can imagine being in a distant place.

Concord’s three rivers are part of the National Wild and Scenic Rivers System, a program created by Congress in 1968 to preserve certain rivers with outstanding natural, cultural, and recreational values in a free-flowing condition for the enjoyment of present and future generations. Less than one half of 1% of our nation’s rivers are protected under the National Wild and Scenic Rivers System and we are fortunate, indeed, that Concord’s three rivers are part of the program. rivers.gov/index.php

Each of our area’s rivers is distinctly different. The Sudbury River is slow-moving and more open with Fairhaven Bay opening up from the river as if entering a pond with an island and a stone boat house on the shore. The Assabet River feels more intimate with its narrow and meandering flow. The Concord River is a mix of both and provides more places to go ashore and explore, including the North Bridge, Great Meadows, and October Farm.

Sudbury River at sunset

There are several excellent access points on our rivers, including the place on Lowell Road where one can go about 200 yards upstream to Egg Rock and the confluence of the three rivers, or downstream to the North Bridge and more of the Concord River. Another is on the Lincoln side of the Rt. 117 bridge where it’s just a short distance downstream to Fairhaven Bay. There is also the launch off Baker Bridge Road which invites us to paddle up to Damon Mill.

In addition to the rivers, we also have Walden Pond, White Pond, and Warner Pond, the first two of which are terrific places for a delightful summer swim.

The best times to be on these beautiful waterways are morning and early evening. Pack a picnic lunch and bring along binoculars and a camera. Look for the birds, mammals, and interesting plant life that are so different from the rest of Concord. So, whether it’s spring, summer, or fall, put on a life jacket and get out there to enjoy Concord’s amazing waterways.

For more information, visit the Concord Visitor Center at 58 Main Street. visitconcord.org

Concord River at the North Bridge

Swimming with Thoreau

BY STEVE GEIGER

How can a place so crowded and noisy also be a place of such peace and solace? Hundreds of thousands visit Walden Pond each year, overflowing the parking lots to discover the pond and woods made famous by Henry David Thoreau.

First-timers amble to the end of the pond to meditate on the pile of rocks where Thoreau’s modest cabin once stood. Regular visitors walk the 1.9-mile trail circling the pond, admiring the water views. Families line the shores with their picnics, children splashing and laughing in the water. Canoers, kayakers, stand-up boarders, and fishermen are out as well, wending and lolling about the pond. A few folks will be reading…even occasionally reading Walden, but mostly Walden Pond is an active, often noisy place far, far removed from the hidden, quiet escape where Thoreau weathered the seasons in solitude and penned his seminal work.

And yet, amidst all this, even on the busiest days, there is a place where people can escape the crowd and get lost in their thoughts. Where is this place? IN the water, beyond the shores, beyond the ropes of the guarded swimming area and extending the entire length and width of the pond. A place defined by the bobbing and weaving orange and yellow buoys; the safety buoys worn by the open-water swimmers of Walden Pond. They are a lucky lot who enjoy this special place-within-a-place.

Yes, these swimmers add to the overall cacophony of Walden. Once they begin their swims, however, they are quiet, solitary

Hfigures on their own journeys. Submerged head and splashing strokes drown out all but one’s own thoughts, and the act of swimming becomes a metronomic trance, an experience that encourages the kind of reflection and introspection that Henry David Thoreau encouraged in his writing. And thus, an experience that begins as swimming becomes Swimming with Thoreau.

Ask these swimmers about their experience and they will share different stories of how and why and when, but all will agree on the inner quiet and peace that open-water swimming affords, even in such a busy place. The late Maury Eldredge of Lincoln spoke to this inner quiet:

“Swimming is a meditation on the fluid grace of movement. Our bodies float freely. Our strength, meeting little resistance, is as powerful or relaxed as we wish. For our minds, it is a meditation on being. Thoughts dissolve, one after another, absorbed in the waters as the blue sky, the green of pine and oak, perhaps a cotton ball of white cloud, encompass our consciousness.”

Or, as Mary Roberts, of Carlisle, shares, “Each swim in Walden Pond heightens my awareness. I see colors more vividly. I perceive subtle details in the landscape. I connect easily with others. I am at peace. Thoreau reminds us,

’We are nothing without an honest embrace of the natural world.’ Walden Pond’s majesty has become part of my being.”

And, in the words of Nathaniel Davis, a swimmer visiting from Pennsylvania:

“I was swimming to feel and remember everything I could. The chill, the sun, the changing autumn leaves, life and breath and movement and the Creator’s glory.”

Certainly, Walden Pond cannot be claimed by any one person or group of people as their own. Everyone who comes to Walden Pond has their own experience and impressions. However, the open-water swimmers of Walden Pond offer a unique perspective born of swimming, refreshed by the entirety of the pond waters, and inspired by the thoughts of Henry David Thoreau.

Steve Geiger is a Lincoln resident and Realtor at The Attias Group who swims at Walden from April to October. Steve created the website SwimmingWithThoreau.com to celebrate the open-water swimming experience at Walden Pond.

©Elisabeth Hattemer

Steve Geiger at Walden Pond

Welcome Butterflies to Your Garden This Summer

BY CHERYL ERMAN

When I was very young, our home backed to a wooded area. Those were the days when children were allowed to roam fairly unfettered. Perhaps it was just as dangerous as it is today, but nobody knew it was. I loved wandering through this small woodland picking up sticks and rocks and all sorts of wonderful things. One day I happened upon what I now know is a “kaleidoscope” of Monarch butterflies (Danaus plexippus). In other words, a swarm of those wonderful, brilliant butterflies enjoying a puddle. Yes, butterflies do “puddle,” or gather in large numbers to feed. And for that matter, Monarchs also “roost.”

All of these words I didn’t know as a child. All I knew was that I thought I had truly found a magic place. A home in the woods for the butterflies. Of course, the next day when I went back, they were gone, but the memory stayed with me. Later, as part of our city’s Master Gardener program, I was lucky enough to volunteer at our local Butterfly House (which is where I picked up those wonderful, descriptive words “kaleidoscope, puddle, and roost,” as well as the term Lepidopterans).

The order Lepidoptera includes all butterflies, moths, and skippers. There are about 180,000 known species of Lepidoptera, most of which are moths. In fact, butterflies constitute only 8%, or about 14,500 species of the Lepidoptera. All have complete metamorphosis, with egg, larva, pupa, and adult stages. But enough science talk. Back to my butterfly quest.

I was volunteering at the Butterfly House and loving it, when it occurred to me that perhaps I could entice more butterflies (or flutterbys, as I insisted on calling them as a child) to my own backyard. But how to do it? Would it work? Would it be of any benefit to what we have heard is the disappearance of the butterflies’ natural habitats. Yes, to all of that! My research revealed that it isn’t as simple as planting a bunch of milkweed in your backyard and waiting for the

butterflies. A butterfly garden should provide sustenance for butterflies throughout their life cycle; thus a good butterfly garden plan will include foliage and blooms throughout the spring to fall seasons.

Perhaps begin your plan with the 4 “S’s”: Sun, Soil, Shade, and Shelter.

SUN and SOIL: The first requirement is sunlight. Butterflies are cold blooded, so they seek out warmth. That means five to six hours of full sun each day. Once you have selected your spot, check your soil. Dry or wet, sandy or rich? You can adjust which plants you choose, but you can’t change the sun and soil.

SHADE and SHELTER: While butterflies need warmth and sunlight, they also need a place to roost and shelter. Trees or shrubs near the garden (but which don’t shade it) and even some large rocks on which they can find additional warmth will be attractive to the butterflies. Most importantly, the caterpillars who will become our lovely “flutterbys” will need food and shelter as well.

Other considerations include WATER and WIND. While butterflies will be enjoying the local nectar and sap, a water and nutrition station (a “puddling” station) where they can find much needed minerals and nutrients is as simple as a shallow dish of water with a mixture of sand and soil, and a few rocks on which they can rest. Butterflies are fragile, and do not fly in wind and rain. Native grasses and shrubs give them a place to hide from the elements.

PLANTS: Different species of butterflies gravitate to different plants. We tend to focus on blossoms, but butterfly gardeners sometimes include herbs such as the common chive (Allium schoenoprasum). Chives bloom in late spring and are very

For a simple, small, and low maintenance butterfly garden, here is a suggestion that would work in the Concord area:

1 Prairie Smoke (Geum triflorum) or Rose Milkweed (asclepias incarnata)

2 Maidengrass (Miscanthus sinensis ‘Gracillimus’)

3 False Indigo (Baptisia australis) or Blazing star (Liatris spicata)

4 Prairie dropseed (Sporobolus heterolepis)

5 Little Bluestem (Schizachyrium scoparium)

6 Shasta Daisy (Leucanthemum ‘Becky’)

attractive to butterflies (and are great in your summer salads). Other butterfly-attracting herbs include dill, parsley, (good host plants for the Black Swallowtail’s caterpillar) mint, and lavender.

Of course, most of us know that the brilliantly colored Monarch loves milkweed, and the two very productive and easy-togrow milkweed plants in Massachusetts are Common Milkweed (Asclepias syriaca) and Marsh, sometimes called Swamp, Milkweed (Asclepias incarnata). The appropriately named Butterfly Weed (Aesciepias tuberosa) attracts most species of butterflies with its bright orange blossoms. Don’t confuse Butterfly Weed with Butterfly Bush (Buddleia), though. Buddleia has attractive blooms but lacks nutritional value for the butterflies. Other easy to grow favorites are

Spotted Cranesbill (Geranium maculata), Coneflower (Echinacea purpurea), Blazing Star (Liatris spicata), and Hyssop, or Hummingbird Mint (Agastache). Your butterfly garden can contain many other bloomers. And don’t get overly worried about weeds…some weeds can be wonderful host plants for caterpillars as well as shelter for your new guest butterflies. Just don’t let them crowd out your selected plants.

PLANNING YOUR GARDEN: Once you have selected your color and height plan, along with sequential bloom periods, and have identified a sunny, well drained place in your yard for your butterfly garden, it is easy to draft a simple layout plan. While some of us may like to “dot” different colors throughout a garden, butterflies are more attracted to clusters or clumps of species.

If possible, place your garden near other garden plants rather than in isolation. And yes, size can matter. The more color and the more plants, the more attractive it will be to butterflies, though even a smaller space filled with bright blooms can attract and support butterflies. Speaking of size, another thought: Because our sun tends to come from the South, taller plants could be planted on the north side of your garden, so they don’t shade the shorter varieties.

Whether you purchase plants or start from seed, remember to PROTECT YOUR POLLINATORS: Remember that insecticides and herbicides can poison your butterflies, as well as other pollinators. If you plan to purchase plants rather than starting from seed, you will want to ask your nursery or plant center whether the plants you buy have been treated with insecticides. As in all gardening, seeds are less expensive, but nursery-grown plants will give you and your butterflies more immediate gratification. Remember that a significant portion of our food worldwide is made possible by pollinators, including butterflies. We love them for their beauty, but also for their contribution to the planet.

Cheryl Erman is a former publisher and management consultant, now a Master Gardener and volunteer at the Sophia M. Sachs Butterfly House. Cheryl has a specific interest in how our everyday gardening decisions can have an essential impact on our environment, as well as our physical and psychological health.

Of course, you can always add additional annual blooming plants to enhance your garden.

©Cheryl Erman

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A MusketaquidLove Story

BY JIM SHERBLOM

Thirteen-year-old Tasun quietly slipped away from her father Tahattawan’s clan counsel to sit on the rocky prominence called Egg Rock at the confluence of the rivers to consider how her world was changing. Shortly before she was born, stories began circulating among the Nipmuc tribes of strange landless white men in wooden boats big enough to hold a whole village, trading with Indigenous people along the eastern shore of Turtle Island. Those who traded with them could sometimes receive metal and manufactured goods far beyond the technical ability of her people. Still, such trading often left death in its wake, either from outbreaks of disease or young warriors being captured, killed, or

Tenslaved. A particularly virulent outbreak of disease among the Mysticke clan now brought Nanepashemet, supreme sachem of the Massachusetts Confederacy, and his wife Saunkskwa to Musketaquid (known today as Concord) for their own safety.

Tasun’s heart leapt when she discovered that Waban, a year older than her and the son of Wibbacowet, the powerful spiritual and wisdom teacher of the Massachusetts tribe, had come with them. Tasun was enamored with Waban and blushed when he was near her. Now Waban also slipped away to join Tasun in the dark, and their teenage romance began. Two years later, Nanepashemet died in battle fighting their

sworn enemies the Abenakis, allies of the French white men further north. Saunkskwa of Mysticke rose to supreme sachem of the Massachusetts, with her sons John Wonohaquaham, James Montowompate, and George Wenepoykin serving as chiefs under her leadership.

Saunkskwa married Wibbacowet, thereby adopting Waban as her stepson. Born to be a spiritual and wisdom teacher, Waban’s name meant the Wind or Breath of God. Waban married his love, Tasun, and their union was celebrated with much joy and feasting. The young couple moved to the abandoned Indigenous village of Nonantum, where the Mishaum River flowed into the sea.

Waban befriended William Blaxton (Blackstone), a Cambridge-educated Christian minister living nearby in the abandoned Indigenous village of Shawmut. They taught each other their languages and spiritual orientations. Ten years later, when the Massachusetts Bay Company received a royal charter to settle the Mass Bay and points west, Waban took the Christian name of Thomas and served as translator between his stepmother Saunkskwa and Governor John Winthrop. Winthrop declared the twenty-eight-year-old Waban spiritual governor for all Indigenous tribes within the Massachusetts and Nipmuc Confederacies. As a result, Waban became good friends and a frequent traveling companion with the Christian missionary Rev. John Eliot. Along with Nipmuc James Printer, Waban helped translate the Bible into Algonquin. Cross-cultural friendships made living together and prospering through trading animal skins and food for English manufactured goods possible.

When militia Captain Simon Willard and Rev. Peter Bulkeley received permission from the Massachusetts General Court in 1635 to settle Concord at Musketaquid, it was Saunkskwa, Tahattawan, John Tahattawan, Tasun, and Thomas Waban who negotiated the terms with Willard and Bulkeley. Two years later, when the colonists dammed the brook to build a mill and tannery on the site, destroying an important Indigenousbuilt fish weir in the process, Bulkeley and Willard offered more gifts to Saunkskwa and Tahattawan for the damage it caused.

Sarah Willard and Tasun raised their children on Nashawtuc Hill while their husbands were often away traveling. Their sons, Samuel and Weegrammomenet, both

attended Harvard. Samuel would become an ordained minister and eventually president of Harvard. Waban and Tasun’s son became Simon Willard’s scout.

Fifty years later, great-grandmother Tasun returned to Egg Rock to look back over a long and eventful life. Thomas Waban had become an ordained Christian minister

fewer of her immediate family died or were sold into slavery than happened with other Indigenous families.

When her beloved Waban died in 1685, Tasun assumed the title of Saunkskwa of Nashawtuc, while her niece Sarah Tahattawan Dublet was Saunkskwa of Nashoba, and her stepbrother George Wenepoykin the sachem of Indigenous Natick, but these were now largely empty leadership titles that would pass away in the next generation. She worried about her newborn greatgrandson Thomas Waban IV who grew up to be a sailor, changed his name to Ward, and went to sea on a New Bedford whaling ship. Life has strange twists and turns.

Tasun thought back over her long life as a carefree girl growing up on Nashawtuc Hill, as a young wife and mother teaching Sarah Willard about indigenous herbs, then joining her husband Waban for long philosophical conversations with Simon Willard, Rev. Blaxton, Roger Williams, and Governor Winthrop. Over her long life so much was lost, and at such a cost, yet so much was also gained. Looking back, she felt things certainly could have been better, but also could have been far worse, and she was thankful for the Musketaquid love story that carried her and Waban through the best and worst of times.

and founder of the “Praying Indian” town of Natick, where her grandson Thomas Waban III was a selectman and Indigenous leader. Her Harvard-educated son Weegrammomenet had led the Christian Indigenous forces as Captain Thomas Waban under Major Simon Willard in King Philip’s War, which meant that even though her family was rounded up and incarcerated on Deer Island for the latter part of the war,

This article is based upon Rev. Dr. Jim Sherblom’s upcoming book The Stories of Concord. Whenever possible, this article draws from academic references and archives. However, the history of Concord’s Indigenous people is not well documented. Some details are courtesy of the author’s imagination.

Jim Sherblom is a transcendentalist, amateur historian, retired Unitarian Universalist minister, and resident of Concord.

Over her long life so much was lost, and at such a cost, yet so much was also gained.

John Eliot Bible, Cambridge, 1663

Little Women Inspires a Treasured Mother/ Daughter Trip

BY JAN TURNQUIST

Completely unaware of the existence of Louisa May Alcott’s Orchard House, Julie Nass and her daughters had developed a deep affection for Little Women, reading the book multiple times and watching all the movie adaptations as a family on their small Wisconsin dairy farm. The Little Women musical, which debuted on Broadway in 2005, was youngest daughter Hannah’s favorite.

To celebrate Hannah’s engagement, her mother was planning a special May 2023 mother-daughter getaway as she had done when each of Hannah’s three older sisters became engaged. When Julie asked what Hannah wanted to do for their trip, Hannah wanted a touchstone to Little Women, a way to experience the story viscerally. Hannah thought of the Little Women musical and said she’d love to see it. Julie searched the

Cinternet but found no production listed anywhere. However, songs in the musical (which Hannah knew well) made it clear that the story took place in Concord, Massachusetts, so Julie suggested they travel there with their Little Women DVDs so they could at least watch Little Women in their hotel room and explore the town. With this plan in mind, Julie reached out to Concord’s Tourism Manager, Beth Williams, and received a delightful double surprise. Beth enthusiastically informed her that there is a house called Orchard House—largely unchanged from the Alcott era—where Louisa May Alcott wrote and set Little Women and it is open to the public. Moreover, the Concord Players would be performing the Little Women Broadway musical during their visit. Overwhelmed by their good fortune, Julie and Hannah

made reservations to visit Orchard House and attend the Concord Players’ musical performance.

The day of their visit arrived, and after warm introductions, a visibly excited Julie began sharing their experience. “When we walked up the pathway, I instinctively glanced to the left, half-expecting to see Laurie’s house next door.” Hannah chimed in, “It’s just like I thought it would be. Walking in almost felt surreal because we knew Orchard House from the films. Now we were walking in it! You already know where everything is. It feels like a place you’re already comfortable with—like going back to visit a friend.”

Julie smiled at Hannah and, leaning over to touch her, said, “Hannah is so like Beth, often the first to give to neighbors or friends. I frequently noticed how my girls’ personalities correlated with the March

©Pierre Chiha Photographers Julie and Hannah Nass visit with Jan Turnquist

sisters. At different moments they might be like Jo or Meg or Beth or Amy. I find it incredible how Louisa was able to depict each sister as a real person with a distinct and authentic personality. You’d love them one moment and be frustrated with them the next. I remember thinking at one point, ‘Amy, don’t be that way!’ I always marveled at how Louisa found that realism in each person. I really connect with Marmee. I’ve always admired how she had the right words at the right time with each one of the daughters and I’d think, ‘How do you do that?’ Marmee is my inspiration as each of our four daughters pursue different paths in life.”

Hannah commented, “our family mirrored the March family in many ways, we girls performing plays for our parents and all being creative in different ways.”

Julie added with a laugh, “you had to be that way, living on the farm so far from others.”

Julie and Hannah both felt that it was inspiring to discover how much of Louisa’s real life found its way into the story. At Orchard House, we often speak of the “magic” in this place where people from all over the world come to experience what was said of Louisa back in 1888: “She unlatches the door of one house, and all find it is their own house which they enter.” Hannah and Julie certainly felt this as they experienced delight and surprise throughout the house. Perhaps the best surprise came at the end, however, when I was able to lead them back into one of the rooms where I had placed several items that

Julie had brought for Hannah to receive in the house—a small doily crafted by one grandmother, a cherished brooch worn by the other grandmother, and a precious journal with the first page penned by Julie, Hannah’s own Marmee.

Concord Players’ Little Women did not disappoint either. Hannah and Julie were “blown away” by the professionalism and power of the musical. As Hannah beamed and nodded, Julie spoke for them both, saying, “The performers truly made the book come alive. There was a warm family connection to each March daughter. We had tears during the performance when Jo sang goodbye to Beth and life as it was for them as a family. The voices and acting were unforgettable.”

Hannah added a comment about the town itself. “Visiting Concord was an amazing experience. The people, the shops, the history, and the town felt like being enveloped in a warm hug. . . it was just the most delightful town and place to visit.”

Julie’s thank you note to me for “your welcoming spirit and kindness, which made our mother-daughter trip more special than I could have ever planned,” was in truth really a reflection on the amazing partnership of Orchard House, The Concord Players, and the Town of Concord itself.

Jan Turnquist is executive director of Louisa May Alcott’s Orchard House as well as an internationally proclaimed portrayer of Louisa May Alcott and historical consultant.

“It feels like a place you’re already comfortable with—like going back to visit a friend.”

©Pierre Chiha Photographers

©Pierre Chiha Photographers

Courtesy of Concord Players

Little Women, the musical

Alcott as Their Muse:

Little Women’s Legacy Honored by Contemporary Authors

BY SUSAN BAILEY

The test of a true classic is its longevity and influence. Louisa May Alcott could never have imagined that Little Women, the novel for girls she didn’t want to write, would have such an impact. The 150+-year-old book continues to inspire an endless array of fiction and non-fiction. Over the last few years, several new titles have emerged, including Meg & Jo, and Beth & Amy by Virginia Kantra, Marmee by Sarah Miller, Heidi Chiavaroli’s The Orchard House, and her The Orchard House Bed and Breakfast Series, and Barbara Heller’s Little Women: The Complete Novel, Featuring the Characters’ Letters and Manuscripts, Written and Folded by Hand. While Kantra admits to reading Little Women so often that her copy is falling apart at the seams, the other authors came to appreciate the story after they grew up. Heller’s younger sister had read it as a child but could not convince Heller to do the

Tsame; at eight years old, she considered it a “lame story.” At 23, she finally succumbed.

“I adored Jo’s tomboy moxie,” she wrote in the introduction to her book, “but what really impressed me was the sisters’ work ethic and sturdy moral fiber.” Chiavaroli echoes Heller’s sentiments about Jo: “She was so bold and endearingly flawed—and of course, she loved to write!” What struck her most, however, were “the ties that bound this family, the importance they placed on integrity and character, and the love they held for one another.”

In conducting research for her 2021 release, The Orchard House, Chiavaroli found particular inspiration in visiting the home of the Alcotts. “I remember being completely captivated by this place where these fictional (and real-life) heroines lived, of beholding the very desk where Louisa wrote her masterpiece,” she said.

After finishing The Orchard House, the author realized she had not gotten Alcott out of her system. Chiavaroli took a different approach with her seven-book contemporary series imagining a modernday Little Women set in Camden, Maine, where Orchard House becomes a bed and breakfast. “To twist Josie’s (Jo’s) love interest, to have Maggie (Meg) have twin stepsons, to allow Lizzie (Beth) to live, etc. So fun for me!” said Chiavaroli.

Miller approached her second reading of Little Women with a particular purpose in mind. “I returned to the story with the specific intent of viewing it through Marmee’s eyes,” she said. “It was easier for me to see around her daughters’ stories and into the unexplored nooks and crannies.”

Miller’s research introduced her to Marmee’s real-life counterpart, Abba May Alcott. “When I began to discover how radical the Alcotts were for

their time, I got even more excited about the prospect of integrating their history into Marmee’s backstory,” she said. Miller’s Marmee incorporates much of Abba’s story, offering a deeper analysis of the iconic mother of Little Women. “Abba May Alcott was a radical and a pioneer in what would become the field of social work,” she said. “I made it my aim to round out Margaret March so that her character feels more like a person and less like a deity of effortless goodness.”

Kantra’s Beth & Amy offers a long-overdue deep dive into the younger and least-understood March sisters. The various movie adaptations focus on Beth’s death, even though most of Little Women is about her life. Amy, having endured the wrath of fans, begins finding redemption in Greta Gerwig’s film.

Kantra broke significant new ground with Beth and Amy in her contemporary rendering, creating rich stories that offered a unique insight into their characters.

Kantra emphasized the sister dynamic in her story. “I’m very different from my sister. But when life sucks, we show up for each other. I want to show that dynamic—sisters who aren’t best friends but always have each other’s backs,” she said. Kantra also highlighted how the younger two grow up in the shadow of their welldefined and accomplished

older siblings.

“Amy, more than maternal Meg or Beth’s champion, Jo, can understand the insecurities that drive Beth,” said Kantra.

Heller brings Alcott’s characters to life in a new way through her curated book of handwritten letters. Her motivation was simple: she wanted to hold the many correspondences written by the characters in her own hands. “The range of letters and ephemera in the novel expresses the family ethos and the joy of creativity,” she said. “While they do not always drive the plot, these texts reveal emotions and desires, often with humor, and deepen our connection to the characters. I wanted to bring these handwritten elements to life, to capture their playfulness and spirit, and, in several instances, their sadness.”

To ensure historical accuracy, Heller researched the stationery and ink colors for the Civil War era, the setting for Little Women Calligraphers formulated the handwriting styles of Meg, Jo, Beth, Amy, Marmee, Mr. March, and Laurie, sometimes based on actual letters written by their reallife counterparts. “The real trick is to figure out what

pack in as much personality as possible visually into every element that was created. The goal is to feel that connection to the character through experience that is tactile as well as visual.”

Chiavaroli credits the town of Concord for inspiring her writing. “A sort of magic permeates the streets,” she said. “To think these people I’ve come to know and love through stories and biographies actually walked atop these floorboards and on the streets gives me goosebumps!” She added, “Concord is a perfect blend of rich history and modern-day charm—a perfect place for any lover of all things past to visit.”

Are you feeling the urge to lose yourself in these books? Visit the Concord Bookshop and Barrow Bookstore. Louisa May Alcott’s Orchard House also carries some of these titles.

A special thanks to Jill Fuller and Jamie Burgess for permission to quote dialogue from their interview with Barbara Heller, found on the “Let Genius Burn” podcast.

Susan Bailey is the author of Louisa May Alcott: Illuminated by The Message and River of Grace. She has contributed essays to The Forgotten Alcott: Essays on the Artistic Legacy and Literary Life of May Alcott Nieriker and Alcott’s Imaginary Heroes: The Little Women Legacy. She is the curator of the Louisa May Alcott is My Passion website.

Concord’s Literary Legacy Lives on in Independent Bookstores

BY MARYBETH KELLY Courtesy of Barrow Bookstore

From the heights of Sleepy Hollow Cemetery, the bards surely look down upon their Concord with pride. The little hamlet, where the nation’s spark of independence was lit on April 19, 1775, brought forth a second uprising in the mid-nineteenth century. With the publication of “Nature” by Ralph Waldo Emerson in 1836, Concord launched a revolution of philosophy and literature that made Concord the center of political, literary, and social zeitgeist for over a century. Unlike the earlier revolution, this period of America’s renaissance was void of violence but full of inspiration.

In the truest spirit of Concord, today there are dozens of places where readers

Fof varying appetites can purchase books. All are independently owned. One began in a wheelbarrow, another as the woodshed of the 253-year-old ancestral home of the Emerson family.

Whether you are looking for a rare collector’s item to add to your library or the first book to read to your wee-one, Concord can satisfy. Treat yourself to a bookshop-crawl. What better way to spend the day, divorced from technology and in search of inspiration, than between the pages of real books? Here is a sampling of some of Concord’s best independent bookstores.

“She is too fond of books, and it has turned her brain.”

~ From Work: A Story of Experience; a semi-autobiographical novel by Louisa May Alcott, 1873

“I cannot remember the books I’ve read any more than the meals I have eaten; even so, they have made me.”

~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

Barrow Bookstore

A special shout-out to the Concord Free Public Library, welcoming all to a world of books in a truly transcendent space. 129 Main Street; concordlibrary.org

For more than 30 years, Barefoot Books has been creating visually captivating, award-winning books (for ages 0 to 12) that celebrate diversity, spark curiosity, and capture children’s imaginations. Visit their event space and store at 23 Bradford Street, Floor 2, or shop online anytime at barefootbooks.com.

Barrow Bookstore rolled to life in a Victorian wheelbarrow in 1971 and is owned and staffed by past and present Concord tour guides. Barrow specializes in Concord history and authors, and a carefully curated collection of rare, signed, and gently-read books from over 50 categories. 79 Main Street; barrowbookstore.com

Concord Bookshop began in August of 1940 after a small notice at the bottom of The Concord Journal announced that a bookshop and lending library would open. Seventy-five years and many moves later, it still serves the Concord community by offering a diverse and distinctive selection of books for all ages. 65 Main Street; concordbookshop.com

Visit the gift shop at the Concord Museum and peruse an assortment of books for all ages to enhance your Concord experience. 53 Cambridge Turnpike; concordmuseum.org

Doe + Fawn is a women-owned children’s store featuring an extensive and charming collection of children’s books. This is the perfect place to find your child’s new favorite book. 105 Commonwealth Avenue; doefawn.com

Emerson House keeps alive the rich history and contributions of Ralph Waldo Emerson. The gift shop at the Ralph Waldo Emerson House has books on his writing and leadership of the transcendentalist movement that made him one of Concord’s favorite sons. 28 Cambridge Turnpike; ralphwaldoemersonhouse.org

Louisa May Alcott’s Orchard House is where the Alcott family found their “anchoring place” and where they lived until 1877. The house is where Louisa May Alcott wrote and set her beloved classic, Little Women, in 1868. Visit their gift shop for a full complement of books. 399 Lexington Road; louisamayalcott.org

The Old Manse Museum is the ancestral home of the Emerson family. Visit the gift shop in the old woodshed, staffed by Concord historians and tour guides, for a wide variety of books about all of its famous inhabitants including Nathaniel Hawthorne whose first publication was entitled Mosses From An Old Manse. 269 Monument Street; thetrustees.org/place/theoldmanse

The Thoreau Society Shop at Walden Pond is where you will find knowledgeable staff and books related to Henry David Thoreau and his contemporaries. You’ll also find writings on Walden Pond, nature, and the environment. Come for a visit and simplify! 915 Walden Street; shopatwaldenpond.org

Marybeth Kelly is a historic interpreter for The Trustees of Reservations at The Old Manse Museum. She is the author of “Flipping the Script: The Women of The Old Manse” and resides in her beloved Concord.

Courtesy of Barefoot Books

Concord Bookshop

Barefoot Books

Concord Bookshop

Gift shop at the Emerson House

Courtesy of the Emerson House

In the Footsteps of Ralph Waldo Emerson

BY JEFF WIEAND

Ralph Waldo Emerson lived in Concord for most of his life and probably explored almost every inch of it on foot. As he once said, “I go through Concord as through a park.” Today, we can follow in the footsteps of the “Sage of Concord.”

THE OLD MANSE

269 Monument Street

The house (a parsonage) was built by Emerson’s grandfather, William Emerson. As a child, Ralph Waldo Emerson visited the house periodically, and in November 1814, when he was eleven years old, he moved to the house with his mother and siblings as guests of Reverend Ezra Ripley of the First Parish Church, his step-grandfather. While staying there, Emerson attended school in Concord for six months. In 1834, after resigning his pastorship in Boston and returning from his first trip to Europe, Emerson once again boarded in The Old Manse with Ripley and family members from 1834-1835. Looking out of the window in the upstairs study where he wrote his first book, Nature, you can enjoy the same view of the North Bridge that Emerson would have seen as he worked. thetrustees.org/place/the-old-manse

RBUSH (RALPH WALDO EMERSON HOUSE)

18 Cambridge Turnpike

Emerson purchased the house where he lived for the remainder of his life in July 1835. He named it “Bush” and, the following September, brought home his second wife, Lidian. In his journal, he hailed his new residency in Concord as a return to the “quiet fields of my fathers.” Emerson did most of his writing in his study in the northwest corner of the house, promising himself shortly after moving in “not to utter any speech, poem or book that is not entirely & peculiarly my own.” Bush was

host to many famous guests, including John Brown, Margaret Fuller, Daniel Webster, and Walt Whitman. The Transcendental Club also met there on occasion. The house was severely damaged by a fire in July of 1872, but Emerson’s neighbors saved his books and papers, and his friends took up a collection that more than paid for the repairs. Today, the house still contains furniture, artworks, and books from Emerson’s time. Emerson passed away in the house in 1882. ralphwaldoemersonhouse.org

GOOSE POND

Walden Pond Reservation

Goose Pond lies northeast of the parking lot for Walden Pond. On October 15, 1836, Emerson walked out to Goose Pond where, “amid the many coloured trees,” he said, “I thought what principles I might lay down as the foundations of this Course of Lectures I shall read to my fellow citizens.” At the pond that day, he came up with eight basic propositions (the “Goose Pond Principles”), one of which he used to begin his essay “History:” “There is one Mind common to all individual men.” Today, the Pine Hill and Goose Pond Trail runs along the west and north shores of the pond, and you can walk

Ralph Waldo Emerson

out on the peninsula to the center of the pond, as Emerson surely did during his visit. walden.org/property/goose-pond

EMERSON-THOREAU AMBLE

Emerson’s walk to Goose Pond doubtless began on the Amble, which starts behind the Emerson House and ends at the site of Thoreau’s cabin at Walden Pond. The path follows the approximate route that Emerson would have normally used to walk to Walden, passing the lovely Fairyland Pond in the Concord Town Forest on the way. Emerson regularly walked to Walden with his children on Sunday afternoons. visitconcord.org/ visit/walking-tours/emerson-thoreauamble

THE CLIFF

Emerson also acquired the heights across Walden Pond, a total of forty acres that came to be known as “Emerson’s Cliff.”

The Cliff offered a good view of the Pond as well as Mount Monadnock and was a favorite spot for Emerson to hold outdoor parties. Emerson’s heirs donated the Cliff and Emerson’s other land at Walden to the Commonwealth of Massachusetts for the Walden Pond Reservation in 1922. walden.org/property/emersons-cliff

CONCORD FREE PUBLIC LIBRARY

Emerson gave an address at its opening in 1873 and served on the Library Committee until his death. Don’t miss Daniel Chester

Burying Ground, now part of Sleepy Hollow) and served as a pallbearer at the funeral of Nathaniel Hawthorne on Authors Ridge. Authors Ridge offers a beautiful walk through one of the country’s most distinguished small cemetery areas, our equivalent to the Poets’ Corner at Westminster Abbey. Emerson himself was buried there in a white robe donated by Daniel Chester French. Later, after much deliberation, the Emerson family chose to adorn his grave with a large uncarved and seemingly indestructible boulder of rose quartz. concordma.gov/ 1956/Sleepy-Hollow-Cemetery

OTHER SITES

WALDEN POND RESERVATION

The Amble was likely well-used by Emerson because, as he confessed in a letter to his friend Thomas Carlyle, he “had a sort of daily occupancy” in the land by the pond. So, in the fall of 1844, he purchased a pasture and neighboring pine-grove wood lot on the north shore. He told Carlyle that he might build a cabin on the property where he could spend the night, but he quickly assigned that privilege to Thoreau, who built his cabin there the following summer. mass.gov/ locations/walden-pond-state-reservation

French’s statue of Emerson, created posthumously, in the lobby, which calls to mind his later statue of Lincoln at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington. concordlibrary.org

SLEEPY HOLLOW CEMETERY

On September 29, 1855, Emerson gave the opening address at the dedication of Sleepy Hollow Cemetery. Emerson was the first chairman of the Concord Cemetery Committee and attended many funerals there. He spoke at length at the funeral of Thoreau (originally buried in the New

Emerson walked everywhere in Concord. In an 1854 journal entry, for example, he talks of his “delicious summer stroll through the pastures of Barrett, Buttrick and Estabrook farms” with Ellery Channing. He boated on the rivers and skated on them in the winter. Emerson also attended First Parish Church, participated in numerous gatherings (such as John Brown’s lecture at the Town House), and spoke at the Concord Lyceum and many Concord events.

Turn to Historic Concord: Plan Your Visit on p. 70 for opening hours and more information on many of these sites.

Jeff Wieand, a former Concord Select Board member, is the author of a number of articles about the philosophy of Ralph Waldo Emerson.

Courtesy Concord Free Public Library

Statue of Emerson by Daniel Chester French

Ralph Waldo Emerson House

©Barbara Ewen

Artist Spotlight

BY LYCA BLUME

IIn this ongoing series, we are delighted to introduce you to two more of the many artists who are part of Concord’s thriving art scene. For more on what’s happening this summer in the arts, turn to “Arts Around Town” on p. 62.

KEVIN KUSIOLEK

If a city commissioned a portrait of itself, Kevin Kusiolek would be the artist to capture its essence. From the striking presence of the buildings to the subtle shadows and blurs that describe the movements on the street, Kusiolek’s work is bold and daring. A current resident of Maynard, MA, who was born in Pennsylvania and raised in Maryland, Kusiolek holds a BS from Towson University. Working in healthcare brought Kusiolek to Boston, where he serves as the director of patient and equipment transportation at Brigham and Women’s Hospital. Since he was young, the creative fire has burned in Kusiolek, and mentors continued to encourage his talents throughout his higher education. In college, Kusiolek transitioned from plein air nature paintings to the mystique of the urban landscape. His love of architecture drew him to explore the movement of energy through constructed spaces. He is inspired by an array of artists including Jeremy Mann, who explored the balance between abstraction and realism using unconventional tools other than the brush. The relevance of making art is fundamental for Kusiolek, carrying the wisdom of tradition and capturing a world in flux. In his own words, “I believe art is the most genuine and rewarding way to express myself and my vision to the world.” Kusiolek is a represented artist at Three Stones Gallery in Concord, where his work is on view throughout the year.

JENNIFER M. JOHNSTON

Co-existing as a gallery proprietor and creator of artwork is a fine balancing act of the analytical and spontaneous mind. Jennifer M. Johnston is a stellar example of precisely that. Originally from Buffalo, NY, she earned a master’s degree in Expressive Therapy from Lesley University and raised her family in West Concord. As an artist, Johnston specializes in photography, with an uncanny ability to see the details of the natural world in an abstract way. In talking about capturing a moment she notes, “Knowing I can rarely be successful, I always aim for the kernel of mystery in what I am photographing.” There is always a hint of the unknown, the undefinable, the everlasting, in the photographs Johnston creates. She describes this natural X-factor as looking for “the different ways that the divine vibrates.” Among her influences are photographers Julia Margaret Cameron and Eugene Atget, who also explored the seen and unseen with their images. On being an artist and owner of Three Stones Gallery, Johnston’s favorite moments are when they come together and strengthen each other. In her business Johnston focuses on exhibiting local and regional artists that are unusual and outstanding. She believes that art is vital in telling our stories at this point in history. She is passionate and dedicated to creating and providing a space for artwork “so our stories are expressed and remembered for the health of our species.” Jennifer Johnston’s photography can be seen at Three Stones Gallery.

Lyca Blume is a mixed media artist whose unique jewelry creations feature pieces collected on her travels. She is the gallery manager at Three Stones Gallery in Concord.

All images courtesy of Three Stones Gallery

Arts Around Town

BY CYNTHIA L. BAUDENDISTEL

VISUAL ARTS

THREE STONES GALLERY

32 Main Street | threestonesgallery.com

THE CHI OF EVERYTHING

Kick off summer with art that reflects chi, or life force energy. This show highlights the mediums of photography, painting, and collage in meaningful and skilled renderings of sacred chi. Jennifer Johnston shares her abstract photographs of natural landscapes, Colleen Pearce presents vibrant botanical charcoals and pastels, and Mara Wagner brings her complex, multi-layered collage work. Also on display will be new works by artists Brenda Cirioni, Patricia Ganek, and Kevin Kusiolek. June 21 – July 26 (reception: June 29)

STREAMLINED

The simplicity of line connects this exhibit’s artists in very different ways. Kevin Kusiokek’s paintings of straight-edged buildings and open spaces depict exciting urban landscapes while Daryl Burtnett’s works on paper use a variety of inks and abstracted lines to create a world of symbols. Brandon James’ photographs combines technical mastery with the undulating forms found in nature’s sand dunes. Also see new works by artists Alyn Carlson, Ray Ciemny, Tim Dunnbier, and Lynne Klemmer. July 29 – September 3 (reception: August 3)

THROUGH THE MYSTIC

The late-summer exhibit will feature works by Joan Kocak, Rebekah Robinson, and Allison Mitchell. Also on display will be new works by artists Bill Chisholm, Merill Comeau, Jillian Demeri, Cécile Ganne, Joan Kocak, and Jonathan MacAdam. September 7 – October 15 (reception: September 16)

THE UMBRELLA ARTS CENTER

40 Stow Street | theumbrellaarts.org

POINTS OF RETURN

If you haven’t yet seen this intriguing exhibition of work exploring multiple aspects of the climate emergency, time is running out. The show will close June 25, when the curators will offer a final guided tour at 3:00 p.m.

THEATRE

CONCORD PLAYERS

51 Walden Street | concordplayers.org

The Concord Players present The World’s A Stage Players! Join them on the lawn at the Concord Library for two very different productions this summer. Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream is the perfect play to kick off …. well, midsummer, of course. Admission is free, so grab a blanket or lawn chair and enjoy Shakespeare under the midsummer evening sky. June 17, 18, 24, and 25. The show will also be presented indoors at 51 Walden on June 23.

September will bring Shakespeare’s Richard II. This less known but beautifully poetic play, written around the same time as A Midsummer Night’s Dream, follows the deposition of King Richard by his cousin, Henry Bolingbroke (later Henry IV). Richard II is the first in a series of eight plays by Shakespeare that cover 185 years of English history. Drama, intrigue, betrayal and so much more; perfect for a late summer evening. September 9, 10, 15, and 17.

Courtesy of Three Stones Gallery

Summer Days by Patricia Ganek

Hydrangea by Jennifer Johnston

Courtesy of Three Stones Gallery

Courtesy of The Umbrella Arts Center Courtesy of The World’s A Stage Players

Concord’s Abundant Farm Stands

There are 812 acres of working farmland surrounding Concord, and summertime provides a bumper crop of fresh fruit and vegetables. These working farm stands use every acre of farmland to provide healthy options for every meal! It is worth a visit to these ‘grocery stores of summer’ where the harvest can go from your grocery tote to dinner plate without needing more than a splash of oil and vinegar.

The Walden Woods Project Farm is a USDA-certified organic farm and profits support the Walden Woods projects. Harvests from the farm are sold at their farm stand near Sudbury Road off Route 2. They offer a Community Supported Agriculture program (CSA) which accepts full and half share memberships. The 12 acres of farmland yield a variety of items such as beets, squash, lettuce, eggplant, and tomatoes and offers locally sourced corn and jams. The Walden Woods Project Farm continues to advocate for minimizing

BY ANNE LEHMANN

Tthe world’s carbon footprint. Sourcing and consuming locally is a healthy way to shrink our individual carbon footprint.

Built in the 1940s, Saltbox Farm is a combination of new ideas and old-school technology. The farm relies on keeping things pure by using organic and sustainable farming practices. They do not use pesticides preferring to focus on the soil, the deeper and fresher the soil the better. Crop rotation, compost, and a no-till approach are all part of their strategy. The farm produces a variety of fresh vegetables, meat, eggs, honey, flowers, and even the hops used in their brewery at Saltbox Kitchen. While there is no farm stand at Saltbox Farm itself, during the growing season you can pick up farm produce inside Saltbox Kitchen in West Concord.

Marshall Farm can boast that they have the two largest mobile chicken tractor coops in Eastern Massachusetts! Thanks to their chickens and bees, fresh eggs and honey are abundant on this farm. Their farm stand

boasts pickling cucumbers, watermelon, and cantaloupes along with the mainstay veggies from the farm. In addition, they sell their own farm-raised chickens and have partnered with local vendors to provide farm-fresh milk and locally sourced meat including bacon, steaks, sausages, and ground beef. Cut flowers and front door planters are abundant and seedlings of flowers and herbs are available as well.

At Barrett’s Mill Farm, Lise Holdorf, one of the farmers and owners, told me that they have expanded their pick-up area and included a CSA pick your own (PYO) option as well as a PYO flowers at the farm stand. She shares “If people have time to go out into the fields they will have space, fresh air, and plenty of crops to harvest, otherwise our pick-up option is fast and easy.” Carrots, onions, spinach, scallions, sugar snap peas, peppers, radishes, and a lettuce mix are in high demand as well as watermelon and summer strawberries.

Courtesy of Barrett’s Mill Farm

On your way out of town via Monument Street, you will find Hutchins Farm. Trust is part of their fabric, and early in the growing season the farm stand runs on a self-service honor system. You select your herbs and veggies, plunk the cash in the wooden box for payment and you’re on your way!

Hutchins Farm uses seeds from past harvests to begin their season, providing unusual vegetables to customers such as garlic, chives, kohlrabi, amaranth, and spicy hot peppers. The standard vegetables are always available as well as fresh blueberries and strawberries.

The Verrill family has been farming in Concord for more than 100 years. Today, Verrill Farm hosts a farm stand, bakery, and lunch hot spot which features all types of

fresh salads and ready-to-heat meals. Late in the summer they offer a reduced rate box of ‘seconds’ tomatoes that are just perfect for making homemade marinara or tomato bisque. While you are there, pick up a copy of their book, A Farm Grows in Concord –Celebrating 100 Years of Verrill Farm¸ while you’re there. In addition to the history of the farm and Concord, the book includes 80 Verrill Farm kitchen recipes.

If you are craving a light summer salad tossed with corn, green beans, summer squash, and tomatoes, Scimone’s Farm is a great place to stop and pick up these ingredients. They skirt the Bedford town line and are located right off Old Bedford road. Millbrook Farm has a nursery that is bursting with gorgeous flowers for your

garden, as well as hanging baskets and delicious produce. The friendly staff is always there with a helping hand and good advice for planting.

In the 1820s John Brigham bought a farm primarily to grow produce for home consumption. Today the 11-acre Brigham Farm is noted as a market farm growing crops for sale at their farm stand. They are well known for growing sweet corn in late summer and offer farm-grown produce, fruit, and flowers throughout the growing season.

Concord provides a rich and healthy array of produce, so take advantage and enjoy the fresh bounty our local farms provide.

Anne Lehmann is a journalist, freelance writer, and business consultant.

Courtesy of Walden Woods Project

Courtesy of Walden Woods Project

Courtesy of Barrett’s Mill Farm

Stories From Special Collections Sophia Thoreau – Henry David Thoreau’s First Curator

BY ANKE VOSS

Henry David Thoreau’s younger sister, Sophia Elizabeth Thoreau (1819–1876), was a botanist, artist, editor, and abolitionist who worked as a teacher and managed the family’s pencil business. She significantly shaped her brother’s legacy to an extent that modern scholars argue was under-acknowledged by Thoreau’s early biographers. Sophia Thoreau was the youngest child of Cynthia Dunbar Thoreau and Concord storekeeper and pencil maker John Thoreau. Henry and Sophia, who lost their brother John in 1842 and their sister Helen in 1849, became even closer companions after the family’s losses.

Henry D. Thoreau began keeping a journal in 1837, recording his experiences and observations. The Journal served as source material for published essays, poems, translations, and two books during his lifetime - A Week on the Concord and Merrimack Rivers (1849) and Walden (1854). Nonetheless, he attained only limited recognition in his own time. This made Sophia’s efforts, especially in her role as executor of his estate, to safeguard his possessions and voluminous manuscripts after his death particularly significant. The great majority of Henry D. Thoreau’s writing was published after his death. This was largely due to her devotion, editorial skill, and tireless efforts to keep his manuscripts in order and selecting an editor for her brother’s Journal.

The significant Thoreau artifacts in the Concord Museum’s holdings also came directly or indirectly to be in the collection thanks to Sophia.

The early editions of Henry David Thoreau’s posthumous publications, Excursions (1863), The Maine Woods (1864), Cape Cod (1865), and A Yankee in Canada, with Anti-Slavery and Reform Papers (1866), listed no editors. Early Thoreau biographers credited Ralph Waldo Emerson and Thoreau’s friend and poet Ellery Channing with putting these editions together and seeing them through publication. More

Hrecently, due to the study and interpretation of the definitive edition of The Writings of Henry D. Thoreau, a project inaugurated in 1966 and published by Princeton University Press, scholars have recognized Sophia’s key role as editor of these posthumously issued volumes. Furthermore, Sophia was Henry’s caretaker while he was suffering the terminal effects of tuberculosis; Sophia helped him revise manuscripts of essays that appeared in the Atlantic Monthly in the months following his death in 1862, including the essay “Walking,” based mainly on journal entries for 1850-1852, which he had delivered as lectures in the mid-1850s.

When Sophia moved to Bangor, Maine, in 1873, she eventually deposited her brother’s manuscripts in the Concord Free Public Library, under Ralph Waldo Emerson’s supervision. At the same time, she gave the Library many books that had belonged to her brother. Through her generosity, the Concord Free Public Library holds the most extensive intact collection of volumes once part of Henry Thoreau’s personal library, valuable for scholarship because they shed light on influences on Thoreau’s thought and his engagement with reading.

Sophia died in 1876 at 57, having long suffered from ill health. According to her will, author and editor H. G. O. (Harrison Gray Otis) Blake inherited Thoreau’s manuscripts, except for Thoreau’s nearly 200 land and property surveys and surveying field notes, which became the Library’s.

Sophia Thoreau, undated copy print from a daguerreotype.

On H. G. O. Blake’s death in 1898, E. Harlow Russell of Worcester inherited Thoreau’s manuscripts. Russell sold the literary rights to Houghton Mifflin in Boston for the publication of the Journal and also negotiated the sale of hundreds of manuscript pages. In 1904, Russell sold the remaining Thoreau manuscripts to dealer George Hellman, who broke them up to sell them more profitably than they could be sold as a lot.

Due in large part to Sophia’s initial care of Thoreau’s trove of manuscripts, numerous other posthumous publications were realized. They included Ralph Waldo Emerson’s edited letters (Letters to Various Persons, 1865); the four seasonally arranged selections from the manuscript journal made by H. G. O. Blake—Early Spring in Massachusetts (1881), Summer (1884), Winter (1888), and Autumn (1892); Poems of Nature (1895), selected and edited by Henry S. Salt and Frank Sanborn; the fourteenvolume first publication of most of the Journal in the 1906 Manuscript and Walden Editions of the author’s complete works, edited by Bradford Torrey and Francis Allen, and the Princeton University Press Edition, The Writings of Henry D. Thoreau,

currently edited by Elizabeth Hall Witherall, comprises the complete and authoritative texts of the works of Thoreau (1817–1862), including previously unpublished essays, correspondence, and journals, as well as editions of his best-known titles.

Sophia ensured that other items significant to preserving her brother’s legacy were also kept and accessible.

In the Thoreau Room at the Library hangs a copy of Samuel Worcester Rowse’s crayon portrait of Henry David Thoreau. The original from the bequest of Sophia E. Thoreau is held in the William Munroe Special Collections. The 1854 Rowse crayon portrait, prominently displayed in the Concord Free Public Library reading room in the late nineteenth century, is one of only three significant portraits of Thoreau during his lifetime. It was sketched in the summer of 1854 when Thoreau’s Walden was first published. Samuel Worcester Rowse was a well-known mid-nineteenth-century painter, illustrator, and lithographer. In the summer of 1854, he came to Concord to draw a portrait of Emerson. Boarding with the Thoreaus, he was asked by Mrs. Thoreau to draw a portrait of her son Henry, too.

Thanks to an 1873 gift by James T. Fields in honor of the opening of the Library, Special Collections also holds the 1862 publisher’s manuscript of “Walking,” published in Atlantic Monthly for June 1862 (v. 9, no. 56) and later in the collection Excursions (first published in Boston by Ticknor and Fields, Oct. 1863). This manuscript of “Walking” contains numerous deletions and emendations by Thoreau; and in one of the pages selected here, also shows evidence of Sophia’s close collaboration with her brother, as portions of it are in her hand.

The William Munroe Special Collections at the Concord Free Public Library holds the largest and most important collection of primary Thoreau material in New England and extensive collections documenting Concord as Thoreau knew it.

Other significant collections of Henry David Thoreau manuscript material are found in the Houghton Library (Harvard University), the Abernethy Library (Middlebury College), the Berg Collection (New York Public Library), the Pierpont Morgan Library, and the Henry E. Huntington Library.

Anke Voss is curator of the William Munroe Special Collections at Concord Free Public Library.

Henry David Thoreau (1854) by Samuel Worcester Rowse. Crayon portrait in the Concord Free Public Library Corporation Art Collection. Original from the bequest of Sophia E. Thoreau, 1876/1877.

Manuscript of “Walking,” published in Atlantic Monthly for June 1862 (v. 9, no. 56) and later in the collection, Excursions (first published in Boston by Ticknor and Fields, October 1863). The manuscript contains numerous deletions and emendations by Thoreau; portions of it are in the hand of Thoreau’s sister Sophia.

Trivia

1

QIn Louisa May Alcott’s Concord-based novel Little Women, which March sister was the “post-mistress” for the March family household? Bonus points: Which of the below names is not a March sister?

a) Meg

b) Jo

c) Edna

d) Beth

e) Amy

2

Which Concord author is theorized to have inspired President Franklin Delano Roosevelt to include in his first Inaugural Address in 1933 the line, “The only thing we have to fear is fear itself?”

a) Bronson Alcott

b) William Ellery Channing

c) Ralph Waldo Emerson

d) Henry David Thoreau

e) Harriett Lothrop (pen name Margaret Sidney)

a) Louisa May Alcott wrote Little Women, and Nathaniel Hawthorne published The Scarlet Letter

b) Henry David Thoreau moved into his cabin at Walden Pond, and Nathaniel Hawthorne celebrated his 41st birthday

c) Bronson Alcott opened the Concord School of Philosophy, and Franklin Benjamin Sanborn was arrested for being one of the “Secret Six” supporters of radical abolitionist John Brown

3

During America’s Great Depression, the Public Works of Art Project (PWAP) was one of the New Deal programs implemented by President Franklin D. Roosevelt. The work-relief program commissioned artists to paint large murals for permanent display in public spaces. In 1941, artist Charles Anton Kaeselau came to Concord, Massachusetts, as part of this program and painted a large mural depicting the April 19, 1775, battle at the North Bridge. The mural is still in its original location and today anyone can see it during business hours. Where is it?

a) The Old North Bridge Visitor Center

b) The Major John Buttrick House

c) The Concord Center Post Office

d) The Masonic Hall

e) Town Hall

4

Test your tour guide-level knowledge!

On July 4, 1845, Concord observed Independence Day and two Concord residents did which of the following:

d) Mary Moody Emerson (Ralph Waldo Emerson’s aunt) bought a custom coffin to sleep in, and Ralph Waldo Emerson gave his 12,000th sermon

6You are attending the July 4, 1837, ceremony celebrating the completion of the Concord Monument when you are handed a six-inch piece of paper bearing a poem written by Ralph Waldo Emerson for this event. As a grandson of Concord’s “Patriot Minister” William Emerson, Ralph Waldo has called the poem “The Concord Hymn,” and it pays homage to the patriots of April 19, 1775. To the melody of a well-known hymn “Old Hundredth,” you and the crowd begin to sing “The Concord Hymn,” but your piece of paper suddenly blows away. Can you complete the poem from memory?

5

On July 4, 1837, the Town of Concord celebrated the completion of the Battle Monument at the site of the April 19, 1775, battle between the colonists and the King’s troops. Where is this monument?

a) Concord Center in Monument Square

b) Next to the North Bridge

c) On the Battle Road near Meriam’s Corner

d) Lexington Green (it’s complicated….)

“By the ______ bridge that arched the flood, their ______ to April’s breeze unfurled, Here once the ________ ________ stood, and fired the _____ heard round the world.”

Architect of the Capitol. Public domain via Wikimedia Commons

President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s first Inauguration

The 1836 Battle Monument, the North Bridge, and the Minute Man statue

7

Sculptor and artist Daniel Chester French grew up in Concord and took his first art lessons from May Alcott (the younger sister of Little Women author Louisa May Alcott). His vast portfolio includes the statue of Lincoln for the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, DC, and an array of works still remaining in Concord. How many of Daniel Chester French’s outdoor statues of American Revolutionary War patriots are on the grounds of the Minute Man National Historical Park?

8True or False: Harvard University was once located in Concord, Massachusetts.

9Riddle: From Ireland I came in my original house; I am older than the home where I live now; I have passed time with minutemen, ministers, Harvard students, very wise women, philosophers, authors, artists, Union soldiers, and maybe even you. In trusted care, still I move. Who or what am I? And where can you find me?

10

Excluding the base, how tall is the Concord Minute Man bronze statue?

1. D. Beth. As written in Little Women, “Beth was post-mistress, for, being most at home, she could attend to it regularly, and dearly liked the daily task of…. distributing the mail.” Bonus question answer: Alas, poor Edna, we hardly knew you! The March sisters are Meg, Jo, Beth, and Amy.

2. D. Henry David Thoreau. As described in Sally Denton’s book The Plots Against the President, Eleanor Roosevelt gave her husband a book of Thoreau’s writings that included a September 7, 1851, journal entry noting that “Nothing is so much to be feared as fear.” On the morning of his inauguration, soon-to-be President Roosevelt had the book of Thoreau’s writings with him as he finished working on last-minute changes to his speech.

3. C. The Concord Center Post Office at 34 Walden Street. Enter the post office lobby and look up to your left and you will see the mural. Kaeselau’s piece was one of about 700 New Deal artwork murals painted by different artists in Federal Post Offices across America.

4. B. As Thoreau wrote in Walden, “I began to occupy my house [at Walden Pond] on the 4th of July, as soon as it was boarded and roofed.” At the same

Atime, Nathaniel Hawthorne and his wife Sophia were living at their rental house, The Old Manse, on Monument Street in Concord and celebrating Hawthorne’s 41st birthday.

5. B. Next to the North Bridge

6. “By the RUDE bridge that arched the flood, their FLAG to April’s breeze unfurled, here once the EMBATTLED FARMERS stood, and fired the SHOT heard round the world.”

7. Two statues. One is the Minute Man statue located in the heart of the park just next to the North Bridge. The second is a bas-relief sculpture of Major John Buttrick, who commanded the colonials at the North Bridge battle. The Buttrick memorial is located on Liberty Street (near Estabrook Road) next to the North Bridge Visitor Center.

8. Oooo…. This is a tricky one! And you get credit if you answered either true or false! Harvard College came to Concord for one year in 1775. The school became a University in 1780. After the April 19, 1775, battles of Lexington and Concord, America’s war with England officially began. On May 1, 1775, students at the Cambridgebased Harvard College were dismissed early and the campus taken over as an encampment for George Washington’s Continental Army. Lacking a campus, Harvard College temporarily relocated for a year to Concord where they set up classes in the Courthouse, the First Parish Meeting House, and an empty school building. Students boarded with Concord residents, including ancestors of Ralph Waldo Emerson living at The Old Manse on Monument Street.

9. The grandfather clock in The Old Manse. Now maintained by the Trustees of Reservations, The Old Manse is a museum and may be visited at 269 Monument Street, Concord, MA. Visit their website at: thetrustees.org/place/the-old-manse.

10. Seven feet tall

Replica of Thoreau’s cabin at Walden Pond

Photo by James Edward Purdy. Public domain via Wikimedia Commons

Daniel Chester French, 1902

The North Bridge

Historic Concord: Plan Your Visit

BY CYNTHIA L. BAUDENDISTEL

Concord has many historic sites of interest. Below is contact information for each, along with their hours of operation. Please check the website before visiting, as sites may be closed on holidays or for private events.

CONCORD FREE PUBLIC LIBRARY concordlibrary.org

Main Branch: 129 Main Street (978) 318-3300

Monday: 10 a.m. – 8 p.m.

Tuesday through Thursday: 9 a.m.– 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday: 9 a.m. – 5 p.m.

Special Collections: 129 Main Street (978) 318-3342

Monday: 10 a.m. – 6 p.m.

Tuesday through Friday: 9 a.m. – 5 p.m.

Fowler Branch: 1322 Main Street (978) 318-3350

Monday through Friday: 10 a.m. - 6 p.m.

Saturday: 10 a.m. - 5 p.m.

CONCORD MUSEUM concordmuseum.org

53 Cambridge Turnpike (978) 369-9763

Tuesday through Sunday: 10 a.m. - 4 p.m.

Open Monday holidays

CONCORD VISITOR CENTER visitconcord.org

58 Main Street (978) 318-3061

Open every day: 10 a.m. - 4 p.m. Restrooms open 7 a.m. - 9 p.m. daily

LOUISA MAY ALCOTT’S ORCHARD HOUSE

louisamayalcott.org

399 Lexington Road (978) 369-4118

Monday through Saturday: 10 a.m. - 5 p.m. Sunday: 11 a.m. - 5 p.m.

MINUTE MAN NATIONAL HISTORICAL PARK nps.gov/mima/planyourvisit/ minute-man-visitor-center.htm

250 N. Great Road (Lincoln) (781) 674-1920

Grounds are open year-round from sunrise to sunset. The Visitor Center is open daily from 9 a.m. - 5 p.m.

THE NORTH BRIDGE AND VISITOR CENTER nps.gov/mima/planyourvisit/ north-bridge-visitor-center.htm

174 Liberty Street (978) 369-6993

Grounds are open year-round from sunrise to sunset. The Visitor Center is open daily from 10 a.m. - 5 p.m.

OLD HILL BURYING GROUND visitconcord.org/listings/ old-hill-burial-ground

2-12 Monument Square

Open daily: 7 a.m. – 5 p.m.

THE OLD MANSE

thetrustees.org/place/the-old-manse

269 Monument Street (978) 369-3909

Wednesday through Monday 11 a.m. - 5 p.m.

THE RALPH WALDO EMERSON HOUSE ralphwaldoemersonhouse.org

28 Cambridge Turnpike (978) 369-2236

Thursday through Saturday: 10 a.m. - 4:30 p.m. Sunday: 1 p.m. - 4:30 p.m.

THE ROBBINS HOUSE robbinshouse.org

320 Monument Street (978) 254-1745

Wednesday through Monday: 11 a.m. - 4 p.m.

Effective September 5: Friday through Sunday: 11 a.m. - 4 p.m.

Open Monday, October 9 for Indigenous Peoples’ Day

SLEEPY HOLLOW CEMETERY, INCLUDING AUTHORS RIDGE concordma.gov/1956/Sleepy-HollowCemetery

120 Bedford Street

(978) 318-3233

Open daily: 7 a.m. – 7 p.m.

SOUTH BURYING GROUND concordma.gov/1958/SouthBurying-Ground

Main Street and Keyes Road

WALDEN POND STATE RESERVATION mass.gov/locations/walden-pond-statereservation

915 Walden Street

(978) 369-3254

Open daily – see website for hours

THE WAYSIDE nps.gov/mima

455 Lexington Road (978) 369-6993

Call for hours and events

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