View Old Town Hill management plan - The Trustees of Reservations

Old Town Hill Management Plan 2007

The Trustees of Reservations Doyle Conservation Center 464 Abbott Avenue Leominster, MA 01453

©

Introduction

Executive Summary

Land Use History and Cultural Resources

Structural Resources

Natural Resources

The Visitor Experience

Current Management

Land Conservation

Recommended Actions

Implementation

Map 1: Base Map

On the Cover: View over the salt marsh in fall. Photo by unknown.

Maps: Map(s) 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11

Description and Page Base Map – inside cover Locus pg. 2-1 Cultural Resources pg. 3-5 Structural Resources pg. 4-2 Regional Open Space Context pg. 5-3 Plant Communities pg. 5-5 Regulated Areas pg. 7-11 Critical Lands pg. 10-9 Recommended Clearing pg. 9-9 Trail Recommendations pg. 9-11 Where Horses are Allowed pg. 9-15

About the Maps Included in the Plan: Unless otherwise noted, all maps are produced by The Trustees of Reservations’ Geographic Information System. Production of these maps is made possible, in part, by a generous donation from Environmental Systems Research Institute Inc. (ESRI). The data displayed on these maps were obtained from a variety of sources including orthophotos, field surveys, global positioning systems, and the Massachusetts Executive Office of Environmental Affairs, MassGIS. Feature boundaries and locations are approximate and for planning purposes only. Questions about individual datasets or maps can be directed to The Trustees of Reservations, GIS Program.

All text, maps and photos in this document are property of The Trustees of Reservations. Any unauthorized use or reproduction is prohibited.

Section 1: Introduction 1.1

Overview of the Planning Process

Since 1891, The Trustees of Reservations has worked to protect and maintain special places in Massachusetts. While management of Old Town Hill is well-established, The Trustees felt it was important to affirm the outstanding characteristics of the property and to review and update our management practices so that they reflected both newly understood resource protection principles and updated organizational initiatives. Thus, The Trustees embarked on a process to develop a comprehensive management plan for Old Town Hill in 2006. The planning process included: o Forming a planning committee made up of staff and volunteer members from Newbury and surrounding communities. o Describing in detail the site’s natural, scenic, structural, cultural, and historical resources and identifying management issues related to the protection of those resources. o Conducting a visitor survey to understand better visitor activities and attitudes. o Developing a list of management recommendations together with a prescribed routine management program and a schedule for implementing these actions.

1.2 Planning Framework In order to ensure that the planning process and resulting management recommendations advances The Trustees’ mission, an established framework is applied to guide the planning process for each Trustees’ reservation. This framework includes several factors and guiding principles that will guide the management of the property: First, The Trustees’ mission, as set forth by founder Charles Eliot in 1891: The Trustees of Reservations preserves, for public use and enjoyment, properties of exceptional scenic, historic, and ecological value throughout Massachusetts and protects special places across the state. Second, management will support initiatives outlined in The Trustees’ Department of Field Operations 2003 strategic plan, Conservation in Action! This plan highlights several initiatives, including the following: •

Be a leader in the conservation field through the stewardship of the scenic, historic, and ecological features of each property entrusted to our care.

1- Introduction

1-1

• • •

Expand our education and interpretation program to turn visitors into the future stewards of the Massachusetts landscape. Provide meaningful opportunities for volunteers to participate in hands-on management. Eliminate deferred maintenance (i.e., repair and then properly maintain structural features that have failed and no longer serve their intended function properly).

Any wishes or restrictions expressed by the original and/or subsequent donors of the property comprise the third component of the planning framework. In the case of Old Town Hill, Stephen Hale, at the time he sold his land that included the eastern end of Old Town Hill to Florence Bushee, stipulated that this land be maintained in perpetuity as a public park and such acknowledgment be posted at the trail entrance to the summit. Mrs. Bushee reiterated Hale’s request in her 1952 conveyance of the land to The Trustees: ...subject to the condition that they [his two parcels] shall forever be known as Hale’s Old Town Hill Public Park..... This condition has never been met. Furthermore, as part of this request it was the wish of property donor Stephen Hale (through conditions specified in the sale to Mrs. Bushee and her later donation to The Trustees) that a pathway, benches, and ‘look-out’ spots be maintained up the south side of Old Town Hill. These conditions do exist. Fourth, several principles will guide The Trustees’ work at Old Town Hill. These guiding principles reflect the general rules that will be applied when carrying out work at all Trustees’ properties. They are value statements that may also provide a source of criteria for determining goals and recommended actions.

1. The Trustees will continue to adapt its management based on experience, newly gained knowledge, and available human and financial resources. 2. We consider resource protection to be The Trustees’ fundamental responsibility. Only by protecting the significant resource features of our properties can we attain our visitor experience goals – a good visitor experience is derived from our reservations being in excellent condition. 3. We will apply the best available management practices to preserve the property’s outstanding features and to ensure a high quality experience for all visitors. 4. Successful management of the property relies on sound financial management. To be the best possible stewards of our precious financial and human resources, we nurture a culture of innovation, financial discipline, and thriftiness. 5. We consider the property as one of our 96 classrooms where visitors can participate in a variety of enjoyable activities and life-long learning. By engaging a diversity of constituencies, we will mobilize broad-based support for land and resource protection in Massachusetts.

1- Introduction

1-2

6. We consider volunteers to be an essential part of the successful management of Old Town Hill. We will work to inspire and enable a diverse group of people to participate in the care of Old Town Hill and to advocate for conservation in their community and for conservation in general. 7. Through good communication and collaboration, The Trustees will develop and strengthen its partnership with the local community, members, volunteers, and other conservation partners to achieve its long-term goals for the property. We view ourselves as a community partner, investing in creative initiatives to build shared values, perspectives and skills among a diverse constituency. 8. We will work to reduce the amount of greenhouse gases that our management generates and minimize our “ecological footprint” – the extent to which we are using nature’s resources to accomplish our work. We will share our experience and knowledge with our members, visitors, and the public, and use this experience to advocate for the development of a sustainable society. 9. Because the surrounding landscape may impact our resource protection efforts and/or visitor services, we will evaluate and address management issues and opportunities beyond the boundaries of Old Town Hill.

1.3 Acknowledgments The Trustees are enormously grateful to all of the volunteers, staff, and other professionals who have contributed their valuable time, shared their expertise, and offered advice and counsel to produce this management plan. Leading the way was a Management Planning Committee that consisted of Trustees’ members and volunteers as well as staff. The planning team included: Volunteers:

Staff and Consultants:

Susan Gregory Adele Pollis David Powell, Co-chair Mary Rimmer Dan Streeter, Co-chair Joe Story

Dan Gove, Assistant Superintendent Russ Hopping, Project Manager Franz Ingelfinger, Regional Ecologist John Norris, Director of Volunteers Peter Pinciaro, Superintendent Electa Kane Tritsch, Historical and Cultural Resources Consultant Margaret Wheeler, Land Protection Specialist

In turn, the committee drew upon the wisdom and experience of several other staff members. Vin Antil, The Trustees’ GIS Manager, prepared the maps included in the report and Jim Younger, Director of Structural Resources and Technology, provided information on the reservation’s structural resources.

1- Introduction

1-3

Thanks to the thoughtful participation of these individuals and their many hours of work on behalf of the project, Old Town Hill will remain a special place for generations to come.

1- Introduction

1-4

Section 2: Executive Summary 2.1 The Significance of Old Town Hill Old Town Hill is the prominent backdrop for Newbury’s Old Town village. Its top served as a watch for the first settlers and today it provides visitors with extraordinary views of Plum Island Sound and the Atlantic Ocean. Sprawling over more than 530 acres, the Reservation serves an important link in the collection of protected green spaces along the Parker River. There are more than five miles of trails, including a section of the Bay Circuit Trail, encouraging visitors to explore the Reservation’s many varied landscapes. In addition, Old Town Hill is part of the Great Marsh, New England’s largest salt marsh ecosystem. The more than 40 acres of fields and 200 acres of salt marsh provide important habitats for wildlife and help preserve the character of the Old Town community and its landscape. For most visitors, Old Town Hill remains a tranquil destination with significant scenery and opportunities to experience wildlife and a rare surviving landscape from Newbury’s earlier rural and agricultural past.

Map 2: Locus

2- Executive Summary

2-1

2.2 Major Management Issues and Challenges Problems Associated with Increased Visitation Staff and volunteers have observed an increase in visitation at Old Town Hill in recent years. As the area population grows (as it is projected to) and readily accessible and attractive green space for recreation shrinks, impacts to Old Town Hill and its resources will likely increase. Parking congestion, trail erosion and widening, vandalism and unwelcome activities such as ATV use are current problems that are expected to increase along with visitor conflicts (e.g., dog-related issues). Stewardship-needs and Resources Several factors limit The Trustees’ ability to manage Old Town Hill. These include the distance of Old Town Hill from the rest of the management unit and competition for limited staff time and priorities elsewhere in the management unit. Only five percent of the management unit’s time is allocated to Old Town Hill and the majority of routine management is conducted during the summer months by seasonal employees. During nonsummer months, most routine management needs are not being completed, resulting in deferred management on trails, signs and vistas as well as trash not being picked up. In addition, the lack of staff presence allows prohibited actives such as motorized vehicle use to occur unchallenged resulting in damage to trails, fields and marshes. Equally important, the absence of a Trustees’ presence results in lost opportunities to engage visitors and local members of the community, making greater community support for Old Town Hill less rather than more likely. Trail Conditions and Maintenance Old Town Hill’s trails suffer from many problems. Many are built on steep slopes and shallow and poorly drained soils, all of which contribute to significant erosion. Other trails intersect with seeps and seasonally high ground water which contribute to muddy conditions. As visitors seek drier routes, they continually widen these wet trails. Correcting and working to prevent these problems demands more staff and volunteer time than is currently allocated to Old Town Hill. Exotic Invasive Species At Old Town Hill, invasive species are prevalent throughout much of the reservation. While eradication of invasives is unlikely given current resources, their control within several locations is desirable to protect significant habitat. In particular, phragmites and perennial pepperweed threaten the salt and brackish marshes while Oriental bittersweet threatens the fields and surrounding woodland edges. Management of Fields Field management has been an ongoing challenge at Old Town Hill. Under certain kinds of management, such as late-cut haying, the fields provide important habitat for regionally declining grassland-dependent wildlife. These same fields also provide important reminders of Newbury’s agricultural heritage, especially when they are actively managed for hay, which requires early-cutting for high quality feed hay. Past management has 2- Executive Summary

2-2

worked to simultaneously produce ecological, agricultural, and scenic goals but we have realized that it can be very difficult to reconcile these competing values. At the same time, limited and competing financial resources have compounded the challenge. The result is that each goal has been compromised to an unsatisfactory level. During this planning process, the planning team prioritized the competing values, concluding that the fields important for wildlife should ultimately be managed to optimize their habitat value, while being sensitive to the other goals. Indeed, appropriate agricultural management may be an important tool in managing habitat. Development Threats The field lying west of the Lower Green and associated properties beyond are presently the site of proposed development into a series of single family lots. The loss of the field and the open space beyond under this style of development will seriously compromise the historic integrity of the area, permanently destroy the potentially richest archeological sites in the area and mar the viewscape from the south facing trails on the hill and any expanded hilltop vista to the south.

2.3 The Vision for Old Town Hill’s Future Based on the planning framework described in the preceding chapter, as well as a comprehensive study of Old Town Hill’s significant features, the following vision for the reservation emerged. Ten years from now, in the year 2017, Old Town Hill will be: •

a biologically diverse landscape with thriving - salt marsh communities - grassland habitat and wildlife - active agriculture and healthy woodlands managed for native species

•

highly valued by the neighborhood, the community and the general public and known for its: - rich variety of environments and wildlife - well-maintained year-round access - preservation of the historically rural character of Old Newbury - outstanding management

•

welcoming, clearly identified and well interpreted

•

fully supported financially and fully staffed, ensuring that the property’s significant features are well cared for and that all aspects of the visitor experience are of high quality

2- Executive Summary

2-3

•

enthusiastically supported by numerous volunteers of all ages who are engaged in a wide range of activities that benefit the property

•

a part of an expanded corridor of protected critical lands stretching from the headwaters of the Parker River through the Great Marsh to the Gulf of Maine

It is important to note that many elements of the vision are already present at Old Town Hill. The task before The Trustees and the community that supports the reservation is to restore, refine, and augment Old Town Hill’s many strengths in order to help it to live up to its greatest potential.

2.4 Summary of Management Goals Six underlying goals frame the recommended management program for Old Town Hill. These goals, together with the 49 recommended actions and a prescribed routine management program described in Sections 9 and 10, will guide our efforts to achieve the vision for Old Town Hill. • • • • • •

Create an effective management unit and staffing structure to ensure Old Town Hill’s stewardship needs are addressed. Engage volunteers in property stewardship activities in an effort to encourage a conservation ethic and to leverage existing staff resources. Improve the condition and layout of trails to enhance the visitor experience and to protect natural resources. Protect and enhance the reservation’s grasslands to provide regionally significant habitat for unusual and declining species while helping to maintain Newbury’s Old Town character. Convey stewardship goals to visitors through the posting of updated regulations and descriptions of property management that is clearly understood and visible. Engage various user groups in appropriate trail usage and etiquette to enhance the visitor experience for all visitors and to protect natural resources.

Section 10 of this plan includes a detailed schedule for implementing the management program and provides estimates for the cost and staff and/or volunteer hours needed to complete each task. The total cost of implementing recommendations over the next 10 years (FY2008-2017) is estimated to be $96,520.00; these recommendations require 2,590 new staff and/or volunteer hours.1 Of the dollar amount, $90,250.00 in new funding and/or in-kind

1

Staff and/or volunteer hours will be spread out over the ten years as needed to implement new recommendations and include hours for staff not directly associated with the Ipswich/Newbury Management Unit or Reservation (e.g., Regional Ecologist and Membership Department). 2- Executive Summary 2-4

donations is needed to complete all of the actions proposed.2 The vast majority of new costs (i.e., $80,000) is associated with the clearing of the crest of Old Town Hill which will restore an historical landscape, dramatically improve the scenic vista from the top and expand available grassland habitat for wildlife. One third of all new hours needed is for trail improvements. Implementing prescribed routine management requires approximately 662 staff and/or volunteer hours annually, representing approximately 165 hours more than is currently spent at the property. Virtually no more funding (an additional $125 every other year) is needed to carry out the prescribed level of routine management in Phase 1. Additional funding and/or hours will likely be needed for routine management in future phases as some recommendations (e.g., clearing the crest of Old Town Hill) get implemented. As the implementation of this management plan unfolds over the next 10 years, much new information will emerge that can be incorporated to refine the specifics presented here. What we learn will also help prepare us for future planning efforts that will guide us beyond the next 10 years. With the healthy beginning set out in this Management Plan, The Trustees look forward to a dynamic implementation process, to be carried out in active partnership with the community.

2

$6,270.00 of the new costs will be covered by the existing operating budget over the next ten years, thus, $90,250.00 in new dollars and/or in-kind donations is needed. 2- Executive Summary 2-5

Section 3: Land Use History and Cultural Resources As long as Plum Island shall faithfully keep the Commanded Post; Notwithstanding the hectoring words and hard Blows of the proud and boisterous Ocean; As long as any Salmon, or Sturgeon shall swim in the streams of the Merrimack;... As long as any Sheep shall walk upon Old Town Hills, and shall from thence pleasantly look down upon the River Parker, and the fruitful Marshes lying beneath....[Samuel Sewall, 1697, quoted in Currier 1902]

3.1 Introduction Old Town Hill has been and remains a prominent and defining feature for Newbury’s Old Town. Rising next to the Lower Green, the location of Newbury’s original settlement, this drumlin served as a lookout during colonial times, was cleared for farming and grazing and finally, cared for as a place where visitors could come and enjoy the world class view from its top. Local legend also has it that Vikings may have visited this area.1 Woods, fields and salt marsh dictated Old Town Hill’s human use in the past as much as they do today. The following section explores what is known – and may be guessed – about man’s use of these elements over time, and the ways in which the uses have altered the landscape, either for the short term or in more permanent ways.

3.2 Historical Background For centuries before English fishermen, explorers and settlers populated the fertile coastal plain between the Merrimac River and Cape Ann, Native Americans had returned annually to seasonal camps along the edges of the fertile salt marsh and accessible river bank in the vicinity of what is now Newbury and adjacent towns. Like most towns in Massachusetts, Newbury has never had a systematic archeological survey, but at least fifteen prehistoric sites are known within the town, including a number at the edges of The Trustees’ Old Town Hill Reservation. Old Town Hill was undoubtedly used as a lookout and hunting area by local Pennacook tribesmen, although it is unlikely that they would have camped on the hill itself, preferring level, low-lying camp sites. Other parts of Old Town Hill Reservation were rich sources of fish and shell fish, wild fowl and mammals, and botanical resources including thatch and reeds, blueberries and beach plums, as well as other berries, nuts and herbaceous plants. The little archeological data that does exist for this area points to its occupation by the Pennacook especially during the Woodland and Contact Periods (1000 – 300 years before present). Early colonial records indicate that, by the time Newbury was incorporated, few 1

Joe Story, personal communication

3- Land Use History and Cultural Resources

3-1

Pennacook remained in the vicinity, due to the tribe’s decimation by European diseases in the years preceding settlement. One enduring piece of evidence of their impact on the land remains in the route of today’s Newman Road. This road formed the east-west spine of the original settlement of Newbury, dating from at least 1635 but likely following a prehistoric path that skirted the southern slope of Old Town Hill. The path originally turned southward at the edge of the salt marshes, approximating the present Trustees’ trail down to the Little River. English/American land use history at Old Town Hill began early during the colonization of Massachusetts Bay, with Newbury being settled and then incorporated in 1634-35. The settlement served two purposes: it was a political and defensive outpost on the colony’s northern border, and it contained a highly valuable economic resource: salt hay, without which early farmers and gentlemen investors would have been unable to feed the herds of livestock that would soon populate the area2. Secondary to the value of its hay were its fishing resources, including marine and anadromous species as well as fresh-water fish upstream in the Merrimac. Bearing these factors in mind, Newbury’s first settlers chose riverfront land at the base of Old Town Hill as their first town site. This early settlement, centered around the Lower Green, stretched northward along High Street and west on Newman Road. By the 1640s additional house lots were located across the Parker River on Newbury Neck, as well as on Kent’s Island. In a rare reversal of normal development, the core settlement was significantly reduced in size after 1642, because the proprietors voted to move the meeting house – and hence, the town center – to higher ground northward and farther inland. Town meeting records identify the problems that inspired the move: the towne of Newbury, well weighing the streights they were in for want of plough ground, remoteness of the common, scarcity of fencing stuff, and the like...[quoted in Currier, 1902]. The new location split the distance between the old town landing and the developing port on the Merrimac River. From that time forward Old Town, as the Lower Green settlement came to be called, became an economic and population backwater. The Upper Green settlement expanded, but even that was soon overshadowed by its offspring, Newburyport, which prospered as a commercial center catering to the maritime industries and associated coastal trade. By 1781, when a tax valuation was done for both towns, Newburyport, though small in acreage, far outstripped Newbury in every valuation category except those directly associated with farming, such as number of barns, livestock, and acres of tillage and pasture. Despite Old Town’s diminished size and significance, the area did not altogether lose its importance to the larger town. It was, among other things, a gateway to the south, maintaining first a ferry and, after 1758, a bridge over the Parker River. It also remained the core area of salt meadow for the town, which included one third of the broad marshland3 between the mainland and Plum Island.

2

17th century town records concerning pasturage suggest that, while the first livestock-raising investment was in cattle, this soon shifted to large flocks of sheep: by the 1680s there were four separate sheep commons in town, on only one of which over 700 sheep were grazed. 3 Early on, Newbury had tried to stake a claim to the entire area now encompassed by the Parker River Wildlife Refuge, but the colony government refused to grant such a valuable monopoly, instead dividing the resource among Ipswich, Newbury, and Rowley.

3- Land Use History and Cultural Resources

3-2

Lists of 17th century fenceviewers appointed for Old Town include names that have persisted in local families and landmarks to the present: Short, Emery, Plumer, Hale, Ilsley. None of these men started out among the town’s wealthiest landowners. A 1641 list assigning cow common rights ranks them fairly low among their peers. William Ilsley, for instance, received only 1½ rights and Thomas Hale 11¼, compared to Mr. Richard Dummer’s 62¼. On the other hand, as elsewhere in Massachusetts, being one of a town’s first proprietors meant that you would automatically continue to accrue land as more of the commonly held acreage was turned over to private ownership, or as you bought land being sold by those who were nonresident investors, or as you acquired land by marriage to a local landowner’s daughter. It was no coincidence that 19th century newcomer Sidney Newman should become owner of many of Old Town’s original settlement acres: he married a Hale; his daughter married an Ilsley; his nearest neighbors were Plumers and Emerys, and his salt marsh abutted on a Short’s. According to sparse local records, there was apparently little change in the landscape of Old Town through the mid-19th century. Salt marsh, narrow swaths of tillage, and steep-sloped pasture remained in use. Most of the woodlands were cleared – although an 1830 map of the town still indicates scraggly trees on the slopes and around the base of Old Town Hill. The persistent woodland geographically correlates with areas of shallow soil, rock outcrops and hillside seeps that still support a classic array of wetland plants. Some of the cleared land was planted to English grasses that yielded a more nutritious hay than the native salt Spartina grass. As time and stone allowed, fences were largely replaced by stone walls, which more permanently delineated public boundaries and private lots. Rough stone lines even reached up and over the steep sides of the Hill marking parcels that never saw a plough, but whose ownership was still valuable enough to define with markers that would not wash downhill or blow over in a winter gale. Around the Green and down by the river a few new houses were built, and a small boat business developed. No new industry or commerce came to Old Town, however, until the advent of the electric street railway in 1891. Even then, the day-trippers and summer visitors who rode the streetcars were largely headed to Plum Island, where a major summer colony was developing. Old Town was a landscape they saw only in passing.

3.3 Families of Old Town Hill Two families were primarily responsible for the slow evolution of that landscape between 1715 and 1975. The first was the Hale-Newman family. In 1715 John Hale was granted a small (4 rod by 4 rod) house lot out of the common land called ye Oldtown Pasture…Near ye Orchard called James Kent’s. Hale built a house on the site, said to have been located within the formal garden area of Old Town Hill Farm (see cultural resource inventory). A later generation Hale married “Squire” Samuel Newman, who was given land across the road for a house he built about 1812. Newman’s house remains today at the core of Old Town Hill Farm. He reputedly tore down the old homestead shortly after the new one was completed. When Newman’s son married, the father gave him, in turn, a small house lot just across and down the road. That house and its outbuildings are also still standing, having descended through Ilsleys to Chicks.

3- Land Use History and Cultural Resources

3-3

Over the course of the 19th century the Newmans consolidated small parcels bought from several owners into what became known as the large, productive and well-known Newman Farm [HSON, 1977] at the foot of Old Town Hill. By 1907, when the farm was sold out of the Newman family to Wilmot Evans, it consisted of nearly 200 acres of land on both sides of Newman Road, including pasture, tillage, salt marsh and peach orchard that had once been part of the Adams Place. A contemporary survey shows that Squire Newman’s house had expanded along Newman Road in a series of ells, while two outbuildings may have been barns or ancillary farm structures. Behind the house were areas marked tillage and orchard. Wilmot Evans bought Newman Farm as a summer retreat, moving his family from Boston to the cool breezes of the Parker River banks and continuing the agricultural activities of his predecessor, with a sizable infusion of Boston professional money, in what was known as a “gentleman’s farm”. Eighteen years later, at his death, his daughter Florence Evans Dibble inherited the property. Florence Dibble – later to become Mrs. George Bushee – spearheaded a fifty-year reign of benevolent despotism, the result of which was substantial preservation of Newbury Old Town as it appears today. She was interested in breeding show horses, and therefore built a large stable on her property, staffed by what one writer described as an army of employees. She was an avid antique collector, who gifted the Historical Society of Old Newbury with sizable collections still on display in the “Bushee bedroom” and the “Bushee glass room” of the Cushing House Museum. In the 1940s Mrs. Bushee purchased two dilapidated Old Town landmarks, the Dole-Little House and the Seddon Tavern. She then financed the buildings’ restoration and protected them by donating the properties to the Society for the Preservation of New England Antiquities. A third building located by the Parker River Bridge, the Ferry House, was similarly rehabilitated and resold under preservation restrictions. Mrs. Bushee’s relationship with The Trustees began as early as 1929, shortly after she established Old Town Hill Stables. In an act of enlightened self-interest, she purchased the two Old Town Hill parcels belonging to Stephen P. Hale (see Appendix C) as trust lands, in accordance with his stipulation that they be maintained in perpetuity as a public park. Twentythree years later this 25 acres, together with another hundred acres of her own property, was donated to The Trustees in the first of four gifts that eventually formed the core of today’s Old Town Hill Reservation.

3.4

Cultural Resource Inventory

Methods and Sources The following inventory of historic and cultural landscape features was compiled from field observations in 2006.4 Documentary and cartographic research followed an initial property 4

Observations by Vin Antil, Russ Hopping, Franz Ingelfinger and Peter Pinciaro of The Trustees and Electa Kane Tritsch of Oakfield Research

3- Land Use History and Cultural Resources

3-4

Map 3

3- Land Use History and Cultural Resources

3-5

survey, with a second verification field session completing the process. Sources consulted are listed in the bibliography, but special acknowledgements go to Jay Williamson and Nancy Thurlow of the Historical Society of Old Newbury, and to Margo Muhl Davis, whose earlier research on Old Town Hill provided an invaluable base for this study. The inventory distinguishes five separate cultural landscape areas within Old Town Hill Reservation, based on history of ownership and/or land use. The history of each landscape is described in association with those extant features that culturally define it. Areas include: A. B. C. D. E. F.

Boston Road Lot Hay Street Landscape Barton-Humphrey Lots Lower Green Landscape and Newman Road Old Town Hill The Adams Place

Further documentation for these landscapes may be found in Appendices A and B and in the Recommended Actions, Section 9, of this plan. [NOTE: The Cultural Resources are numbered to correlate with sites marked on Map 3] A.

Boston Road Lot Donor History: 24-acre parcel acquired by The Trustees in 2000 from an anonymous donor [Essex Deeds 16553:480]. A small corner of this land, at the intersection, is still under a 99year lease to Woodman Farm. It includes a recently-constructed farm stand. History: An 1875 map of “Mining Lands at Newbury” indicates a tin mine in the vicinity of this property. However, recent mapping identifies the location as being east of the property’s eastern boundary.5 The property was owned and farmed by Heber Little about 1900. About 1930 it was auctioned to Frank and Mary Drazdowski; 1958 sold to Stanley Spyrka who farmed part of the acreage and began construction of two houses on the property in the 1960s. Neither house was completed. A cabin of unknown age also stood on the property, as well as a mobile home. A 2000 environmental survey by Clean Soils Environmental Ltd. (CSE) identified the cabin foundation, partial concrete-block house foundation, excavation for another house with installed well, septic and leach field, burned remains of the trailer, and five separate refuse dump sites. All aboveground structural remains and refuse have subsequently been removed.6 Cultural resources: At present the only identified above-ground cultural resources on the Spyrka property are the cellar excavation pits and the corner farm stand. See CSE 2000 plan in Appendix A. Significance: low.

5 6

Vin Antil personal communication Peter Pinciaro personal communication

3- Land Use History and Cultural Resources

3-6

B.

Hay Street Landscape Donor history: Most of the reservation land west of the Adams Place (see below) came to The Trustees as gifts from Elliot and Mary Perkins (27.78 acres in 1977; ED 6335:146), and from Susan Page Little in memory of her husband Justin Little and his parents, Margaret and Silas Little (101 acres in 1995; ED 13340:492). In recognition of this gift The Trustees made Susan Page Little a lifetime Trustee in 2006. The Perkins parcel includes the dam and mill property described below. A 1985 letter to Mrs. Perkins from Trustees Director Frederic Winthrop Jr. includes the following comments concerning land management: I can assure you that our plans are to keep the land in its natural state and to keep the trails and vistas sufficiently open so that those who wish to go for a walk may enjoy the beauty around them.... I do not envisage...any special parking accommodations. In any event, we want to keep the use at a low level in keeping with the quiet beauty of the area.[Trustees property files, July 23, 1985] Land management was also a concern noted by Susan Little, whose donation included a richly varied natural landscape including a half mile frontage on Little River, uplands, woods, marsh islands, brackish and salt marshes. I know that [my parcel] will be in good hands, she wrote, and protected as well as wildlife and wild plants will be protected in their natural environment. [Trustees property files, 1995?]

1. Hay Street An early road from the upper Newbury town common to Pearson’s Mills and the Little River salt marshes. A 1795 map shows the street ending at the mills. By 1830 the road had been extended across the river approximately on its present course, skirting the marshes to join Boston Road. 2. Salt marshes History: The salt marshes that border Hay Street, bracket Newman Road, skirt the base of Old Town Hill and make up much of the view from the Hill’s top were, until recently, a major economic resource for local residents. Salt hay, especially that cut from the betterdrained upper marshes, was used as fodder for livestock from the first years of English colonization. Salt hay met a vital farm need with only half the labor required by planted hay fields. Furthermore, it grew on land that would not otherwise be productive: the intertidal zone that also provided hospitable environment for waterfowl, and provided a buffer between human settlement and the sometimes extreme variations in tidal flow. The broad salt marshes that define Newbury’s eastern and southern borders were a major reason for the area being settled so early, with settlement spurred on by a 17th century getrich-quick scheme of a few wealthy investors, who imported some of the first herds of cattle to the new world. Their large land grants that provided pasturage were supplemented by large tracts of salt marsh to provide hay. The cattle, on the whole, did not survive the first winter, but the hay continued to be a major source of income for Essex County farmers for the next 300 years. One Newbury resident recalled: Hay that is not needed for local cows finds a

3- Land Use History and Cultural Resources

3-7

ready market. Nursery men buy it for mulching, contractors buy it for covering cement in freezing weather [quoted in Davis, 1995]. Cultural features: The predominant manmade features seen today throughout the salt marshes are ditches draining into the nearest creek or waterway. Ditches, like stone walls, historically served a variety of purposes, frequently simultaneously. Their earliest documented function in the New World was to serve as boundaries between individual parcels of wetland. At the same time, the practice of ditching areas along the marsh edge was often enough to convert them to dry land – a practice referred to as reclaiming, and widely employed in England from the 16th century on. Elsewhere the ditches served to regulate water flow within the marshes, while broader ones provided access for the gundalows on which the cut hay was transported to a landing spot. A local resident reminisced: My father used to hire Hobart Kent of Byfield to ditch portions of the meadow so that there would be better drainage, fewer salt ponds, and firmer sod. If a horse was driven where the sod was too soft he might get mired.... The hay on soft spots of the meadows had to be cut by hand [even after horse-drawn owing machines were introduced to the area around 1896-97] [quoted in Davis, 1995]. Beginning during the WPA era (ca. 1935-1939), ditching was practiced on a much larger scale, most often identifiable by its rectilinear grid pattern, in a public health effort to reduce the mosquito population. It is often difficult to distinguish 20th-century ditches from older ones by casual observation, as later efforts recut the side walls of earlier channels, destroying the softened contours and build-up of detritus that would have constituted the archeological ‘features’ of old ditches. The other traditional cultural features scattered throughout Newbury’s marshes are the cedarpost staddles on which cut hay was stored above the high tide mark until winter, when the marsh was frozen solid enough to hold a wagon or sledge. A number of staddles are still evident in the reservation marshlands. Like marsh ditches, staddles are difficult to date, due to the longevity of cedar pilings. Significance: The salt marsh landscape is an enduring emblem of coastal agrarian life and, more specifically, of the North Shore. It is one of the few land forms that has not been substantially altered by men to meet human needs since it provides in its natural state such a wide range of “desirables”. As such it is a rare example of man and land coexisting harmoniously. 3. Mill dam and associated features South of Little River, the ridge of land extending straight where Hay Street curves eastward toward Newman Road is a roadbed remnant running along the top of Pearson’s mill dam. Its point of meeting with the riverbank marks the location of the original bridge crossing. In the 1920s, when the bridge was rebuilt, the road was shifted eastward and this short section abandoned. History: A grist mill was first erected on the north side of the river at this location in 1689 by Henry Short. It was sold by his son John to Jeremiah Pearson in 1708, the property consisting of 9 acres with grist mill, dwelling and water privilege. By 1813, when the mill burned, it had

3- Land Use History and Cultural Resources

3-8

become part of a small industrial complex consisting of one saw and two grist mills. Pearson did not rebuild on this site, relocating instead about 100 rods farther west on Hay Street near the river’s closest approach to the road. It is likely that Pearson was a major force in the decision to extend Hay Street across the Little River, both for ease of access to his new mill site, and for the fact that the new, raised road bed would serve as a birm for a retention pond at the narrows where his old mills had been. There is no direct documentation as to whether he maintained a mill dam at the old location. Later maps, however, (1830, 1875) show a pond at the river crossing, which could be controlled to provide added water power at the lowering tide. Significance: The site of the buildings, although not part of The Trustees property, is interesting in its long history (the present house, now owned by Nicholas Metcalf, was built after 1920, replacing a much older dwelling at the top of the rise). The site is unusual in New England industrial history, as the mills were powered by tidal flow rather than the more common, falling water power found at mills farther upstream and at inland locations. Archeological potential: minimal disturbance, but low significance predicted for Trustees’ side of river. Metcalf property would merit at least reconnaissance level testing due to early abandonment of mill features. Their destruction by fire potentially created a ‘sealed environment’ providing tight chronological parameters for data collection. 4. Pastures and Wood lots Trustees property on both sides of Hay Street shows strong evidence, including boundary walls, ground juniper and cedar trees, of having been used over a long period as wood lots and pasture land. Scattered old fruit trees on both sides of the road suggest that some of the land may have once been orchard, these trees either being remnants or self-seeded. The 1830 Newbury map shows this area as cleared land.

C. Barton-Humphrey Lots Donor History: Between 1988 and 1995, Mary Barton and her brother, Dr. Storer Humphrey, donated four parcels of family land to The Trustees. These included: ƒ 20 acres on the west end of Old Town Hill, identified in 1907 as belonging to Dr. Enoch Plumer; ƒ a 12 acre trapezoidal parcel north of Old Town Hill, on Emery Lane; ƒ 20 acres adjacent to the Evergreen Cemetery (i.e., Old Town Cemetery); ƒ 15.5 acres adjacent to the above called the Lower Field and Lower Pasture. Despite its name, this last parcel appears to have been wooded by 1995, as Barton and Humphrey reserved the right to cut firewood there during their lifetimes. History: The only historical reference located for any of these lots is a tentative association between the Plumer parcel and a quote from Ilsley’s Old Homesteads: There were other houses along [Newman Road], one where the two great elms stand just as the road dips down to the marsh…. Ilsley does not specify whether the house was north or south of the way, but traditional settlement patterns would place it on the north side. In addition, these

3- Land Use History and Cultural Resources

3-9

lots border on the Parker River near the original landing site of the first English settlers. “Tradition asserts that they landed on the north bank of the river, about one hundred rods below the spot where the bridge now stands.”7 In the early 20th Century a summer community of cottages developed along the shoreline. The open field abutting the current reservation on the north side was owned by Mrs. Bushee who constructed a horse racing track here during her tenure of Old Town Hill Farm. This parcel was later left to Mrs. Barton for service to the Bushee Family. Cultural resources: When the last parcel was acquired in 1995, one of the expenses incurred by The Trustees was listed as cabin demolition: this was the “Mooney cabin” located at the edge of the marsh, which was abandoned and had collapsed before the parcel was acquired. Today, visitors following the trail from the Barton-Humphrey commemorative sign out toward the marsh will pass a large yew bush at the edge of a clearing – cultural remnants of the cabin site and dooryard planting. Archeological Potential: moderate prehistoric (cemetery parcels); low-moderate historic (Dr. Plumer parcel).

D. Lower Green Landscape and Newman Road Donor history: This land, together with the central and eastern portions of Old Town Hill, was donated to The Trustees by Mrs. Florence Evans Bushee and her estate between 1952 and 1972 [ED 3950:171; 3950:175; et al]. Mrs. Bushee had inherited Old Town Hill Farm and the central portion of the hill from her father and mother, Wilmot R and Florence C. Evans, who had purchased the property in 1907 from Sidney Newman. Through an interesting arrangement, Mrs. Bushee (then Mrs. Dibble) purchased the east end of the hill and a pasture at its foot in 1929 from Stephen E. Hale, whose family had owned that land for generations. The purchase was made with the condition that the land should forever be known as Hale’s Old Town Hill Public Park, and no building shall ever be placed on that part of the hill constituting its summit and point of view over the surrounding country, except an observatory of rock or stone and cement, with a canopy top so-called. While the verbiage is taken from Mrs. Bushee’s conveyance to The Trustees, it originates in a penciled memorandum written by Stephen Hale, presently in the Old Town Hill property file. A donor profile on Mr. Hale is included in the Appendix C. 5. Newman Road Earlier known as High Street; labeled “Hill Street” on 1907 plan. This road formed the eastwest spine of the original settlement of Newbury, dating from at least 1635 and likely following a prehistoric path that skirted the southern slope of Old Town Hill. Newman Road originally turned southward at the edge of the salt marshes, following the approximate route of the present Trustees’ trail down to the Little River. Newman Road was extended westward across the marshes to Hay Street in 1846. The Trustees’ Old Town Hill parking area is located in the large gravel pit excavated for material to build the causeway. Two smaller “borrow pits” are located on the north side of the road. 7

Excerpt from Coffin, Joshua. 1845. A Sketch of the History of Newbury, page 15.

3- Land Use History and Cultural Resources

3 - 10

6. Island in marsh West of The Trustees trail, a small island of higher ground rises out of the salt marsh. This appears on the 1907 Newman estate plan labeled island in marsh, with a driveway indicated leading to it from just west of the gravel pit. (“Driveway” in this context refers to a path or road bed firm enough to be driven over with a cart or carriage.) R. Hopping reports that there is evidence of the shoreline having been cleared and possibly leveled, as if to provide a drive around the island or fill for the road out to the island. No further documentation is known for this feature, but it is likely that it was improved as part of Sidney Newman’s gentleman’s farm planning. 7. Trail and oak knoll The Trustees’ trail south of Newman Road skirts an open field and descends to a narrow strip of salt marsh before rising again to the top of an oak knoll at the edge of the Little River. A number of features along the trail are evidence of historic use. The cobbled road surface visible where the path descends to marsh is the result of building up the road bed with material taken from a borrow pit on the east side of the trail. It is likely that the original fill included substantial soil and sand, as well as cobbles, but the softer material has been washed away by rain and tide action. Stone walls paralleling and perpendicular to the trail on the oak knoll indicate historically distinct use or ownership of at least two parcels. This visible distinction is supported by the 1907 plan, which labels the west end of the knoll (still maintained as hay field) Grass 5.40 acres while the south and eastern areas are designated Oaks and Pasture (see Appendix A). Rock outcrops along the river edge are visual evidence of the reason for not extending the hay field any further south. They are also indicators that either this location, or a similar site at the eastern end of this parcel (see below) was the site originally considered for construction of a tidal grist mill in 1688, but rejected in favor of the Hay Street site upstream.8 8. Concrete (tower) footings Four square concrete footings, spaced 12 feet apart in an open square are located at the east end of the south field parcel, on the edge of the salt marsh. Each footing holds four iron bolts, indicating that they once supported a superstructure. The 20th century structure may have been a utility tower designed to carry electricity from Newman Road across the salt marsh to Kent’s Island or water tower. 9. Bushee Pasture At the time of Newbury’s initial settlement, the fields south of what is now Newman Road were apportioned to settlers in long narrow strips between the road and the river. This land, together with similar lots east of High Street, constituted the best tillage in Newbury, and was likely plowed and planted from the town’s beginning. Few, if any, houses would have been 8

A grist mill in May 25, 1688 was proposed by Henry Short on the Little River near to where it joined the Parker River, and was granted by the town [but] it seems that no mill was built here. [Chick 1995; information from Currier]

3- Land Use History and Cultural Resources

3 - 11

constructed along this stretch initially, as planting was a more valuable use for the land, although small house lots were laid out around the town green. Opinion is mixed as to whether later houses were erected here. What is clear, is that this field has been worked as farm land for over 350 years. Archeological potential: moderate prehistoric and historic. 10. Stone field walls The southern edge of Bushee Pasture, the cleared field south of Newman Road, is defined by a meandering, but rectilinear, stone wall. The 1907 Newman plan distinguishes land north of the wall line as Large Field 20.16 Acres Tillage, from the Pasture 19 Acres south of the line. For much of its length the wall follows a contour that marks the edge of semi-level (low slope) ground. It served as a collection point for stones that needed clearing from a plowed field, and also provided a stable base for wood or wire fencing that kept livestock out of that field. While it is not often possible to closely date stone walls, it is a fair assumption that this one was colonial in origin, as the fields south of Newman Road provided the good soil, southern exposure, and gentle slope needed for cultivation from the time of Newbury’s original settlement in 1635. 11. Barn? Foundation Near the east end of the Trustees’ parcel, close to the road, is a long stone line that becomes progressively deeper(higher) and terminates with a short wall at its western end. As a wall, it is in poor condition, and its original purpose is not completely obvious. It appears to be a stone construct designed to serve as a back wall for the lower story of a long barn built into a shallow slope. If this interpretation is correct, the lower level would have been open on the south side, with an upper story supported by posts, thus providing either ground-level space for farm equipment, or a south-facing shelter shed for livestock. Support for this theory comes from Ilsley’s 1948 comment on the homestead across Newman Road: the house [was] built by Captain John Newman...at the time of his marriage. The father took a section from his long barn – one hundred feet it originally measured – and moved it to his son’s place to help start the new homestead. 12. Roadway stone walls Stone walls along both sides of Newman Road were erected primarily to define the extent of the public right of way. They served a secondary purpose of restraining animals from trespassing in the bordering planting fields. (Note that there is no stone walling between the Ilsley/Chick house lot, or the Old Town Hill Farmstead, and the roadway, as livestock approached the barns directly from the road.) The wall on the north side of Newman Road, especially toward the eastern end, is a retaining wall of unknown age. A former access point to the north terrace (see below) is located near the eastern terminus of this wall. It is seen in a ca. 1890 photograph and is identifiable today by the mortared stonework that fills in the old opening. The use of mortar may be a clue to the date this entrance was sealed off: a strip of estate wall stonework in front of the

3- Land Use History and Cultural Resources

3 - 12

Newman/Bushee house, which dates to mid-20th century, is also mortar-reinforced, despite its dry-laid appearance. 13. North terrace The terraced area on the north side of Newman Road, especially across from the Old Town Hill Farm yard, has the richest cultural resource history of any area in the Reservation. Today much of the area is a historic archeological site, as there are few surface remains. History: According to one reconstruction map (Chick 1989) the land north of Newman Road included eighteen of Newbury’s original land grants, laid out in narrow strips that extended up and over Old Town Hill (then called Great Hill). At least three houses were built between the east end of The Trustees property and the salt marshes to the west, although there is no documentation for any construction before the early 1700s. ƒ

ƒ

ƒ

Four generations of Henry Doles lived in one and until [World War II] there could still be seen the cinnamon rose bushes, all that was left [Ilsley 1948]. Dole was not an original land grantee in this area. Chick locates the Dole house near the Trustees’ east boundary wall, in the small cleared field above the road. Barton [1984] states it was near the Johnston line and about 100 feet back from Newman Road... on [land owned by] Mr. Stephen P. Hale. 1715, the town granted John Hale a lot Near ye Orchard called James Kent’s...on ye Northerly side of ye way and Hale built a house on his four-rod-by-four-rod (66’ x 66’) parcel. Chick locates this building directly opposite the present Old Town Hill Farm house, in the area that is now a grassy patch punctuated by an old fruit tree. This house was torn down about 1815, when a later generation’s son-in-law (Samuel Newman) completed his new house across the road. Ilsley, writing in 1948, notes recently, workmen laying out the garden on the hillside, uncovered a portion of the foundation of the old house. No surface evidence of the building remains, although the well that has been incorporated into the garden (see below) may have been associated with it. About 1840-1850, Newman’s son John constructed a house on the Ilsley-Chick inholding parcel. The father took a section from his long barn – one hundred feet it originally measured – and moved it to his son’s place to help start the new homestead [Ilsley 1948].

Ilsley tantalizingly finishes her Newman Road survey with the comment: There were other houses along that street, one where the two great elms stand just as the road dips down to the marsh. As no ‘great elms’ are shown on the 1907 and 1929 plans or exist today, and the road verges have been seriously impacted by graveling operations, it is impossible to pin down the location of even this one additional house. Archeological potential: high, for all periods from 1634 to mid-1900s. Earlier occupation levels will be disturbed, due to later building and garden construction activities.

3- Land Use History and Cultural Resources

3 - 13

14. Bushee garden The north terrace is also the location of Florence Bushee’s mid-20th century designed garden, remnants of which remain in the form of structural elements: ƒ cast iron hitching post and granite mounting block (may predate the garden); ƒ short stretch of cut-stone capped estate wall with steps up from the road; ƒ rustic arbor at the top of the steps, leading to ƒ well capped with a massive, rounded-edge slab of granite; ƒ low stone walling with steps forming two sides of a level area west of the arbor; and botanical elements including: ƒ full-grown Norway and blue spruce and yew; ƒ lilac, yucca and spring bulbs; ƒ grape vines and rambling roses on the arbor. All of these design elements are at road level or west of the arbor. On the east side of the arbor, a similar-sized level area appears to have been left as lawn, punctuated by one aged fruit tree. The garden terminates at the east end with a rough stone wall extending upslope – an older boundary wall that marks the end of the Newman/Bushee property. Other than the Ilsley comment quoted above, there is no further documentation known for Mrs. Bushee’s garden. Its design is unorthodox in its unbalanced planting and hardscape, and the fact that it is not aligned with the Bushee house which it obviously was built to complement. This imbalance may have a historical explanation. Although the garden was clearly laid out as two similar-sized areas flanking the arbor – its focal point – the location of the arbor itself was dictated by the location of the well, an extant feature that presumably predated the 1812 house across the street. 15. Cart path A second pre-existing condition that limited the Bushee garden design was the route of a cart path that runs parallel to Newman Road. Present access to it is through a white-painted wooden gate east of the Ilsley-Chick property, along the upslope edge of the terrace. It appears to have originally exited onto the Lower Green at the point where the mortared stone patch seals up an opening in the Newman Road wall. There is some indication that this cart path may, at one time, have continued westward behind the Ilsley-Chick house, joining up with The Trustees’ equipment road (Old Town Hill trail) and proceeding around the back (west) side of the hill. There it provided cart access to the salt marshes along the creek, and livestock access to the grazing lands on the west and north slopes of the hill. The portion of the cart way that has recently been improved by The Trustees definitely served this purpose, being labeled as a right of way with a gate as it passed through Dr. Plumer’s property in 1907. 16. Pair of spruce trees Two even-aged Norway spruce trees stand at the north terrace entrance to the path up Old Town Hill. The trees were clearly planted to present a formal ‘gateway’ to the portion of the property that belonged to Stephen Hale, whether at the time of Hale’s death in 1929, or as

3- Land Use History and Cultural Resources

3 - 14

part of Mrs. Bushee’s 1940s landscaping, is unknown. R. Hopping estimates the trees’ age as being around 80 years old. E.

Old Town Hill History: Little is known of land use on the hill itself during prehistoric times, although nearby archeological testing, and avocational collectors’ finds, suggest that the surrounding area was well-used, if not specifically inhabited by members of the Pennacook tribe, especially during the Late Woodland and Contact Periods (1000 – 300 years before present). Early colonial records indicate that few Pennacook remained in the vicinity by the time Newbury was settled, due to the tribe’s decimation by European diseases in the years preceding settlement. Mary Barton, reminiscing about Old Town Hill in 1984, comments: It is said that there is an Indian Cemetery on the Hill, which was once designated by piles of small stones. Now it would be impossible to locate because of the overgrowth. One of Newbury’s early town meetings, in 1639, voted that a walk sixteen feet broad should be made on Top of the Great Hill, running from East to West. Also, a way four feet broad should be made running North and South from the Green to the top of the Hill [quoted in Barton, 1984]. A sentry box or watch house was to be erected midway between east and west ends. Whether or not these walks were completed, the vote provides information on the 17th century condition and uses of Great – later Old Town – Hill. The need to “make” a walk suggests that the hilltop needed clearing in order to provide a useful vantage point for sentinels.9 The second, narrower path provided access for watchmen to the hill’s summit. In later years, however, it probably served as a herdwalk for the livestock that were pastured there. Like most drumlins, Old Town Hill was judged too rocky and, on two sides, precipitous for easy access; its soils, too droughty and thin for significant cultivation, and its slope, too steep for habitation. Its limited economic usefulness has served to preserve it essentially unchanged over three and a half centuries. Its few cultural features recorded in the past have almost disappeared. This very lack, however, makes Old Town Hill a significant historic feature, attesting to the cultural choices made by those who lived at its foot and knew how to make use of the landscape that surrounded it. Of the cultural features that did exist, the following remain. Archeological potential: low prehistoric and historic except moderate at southeast crest and downslope.

17. Lot boundary markers Running up and over the hill, sometimes with unexpected jogs, stone walls separate parcels of individually owned pasture, designated on the 1907 plan by owners’ names: Hale, Tenney, Plumer, Ilsley. In a few sections the stonework was eliminated in favor of fencing while stone wall, fencing, and ditches can all be found dividing up the wet, salt hay meadow at the northwest base of the hill. 9

Whether opening a swath only sixteen feet (one rod) wide would be sufficient to provide a view is not clear.

3- Land Use History and Cultural Resources

3 - 15

18. Building foundation Midway between the two areas that are maintained by The Trustees as open space on the crest of the hill, south of the trail, is an arrangement of cedar pilings, three rows deep and four pilings per row, measuring 20 by 20 feet square. Its purpose is clear only from a 1929 newspaper photo that shows a hip-roofed house or building at that location. The 1966 Newbury USGS map indicates a building in this location, although long-time local residents do not remember it. There is no other known documentation for the building, which appears stylistically to date from the early 20th century, nor is there any indication of when it was removed or destroyed. It stood on Evans-Bushee land. 19. 20th century reforestation Both the south slope of Old Town Hill and a portion of its north slope show clear evidence of having been purposely replanted to woodlands. The south slope includes full-grown specimens of non-native10 species including pin oak, red pine, Norway maple and black locust [R. Hopping]. The 1929 photo mentioned above shows this reforestation as being already underway. An even-aged white pine stand on the upper part of the north slope is normally thought to be indicative of a planting field in reversion. In this case, however, the parcel was identified as pasture in 1907. The pines are more likely a WPA-era project designed to provide erosion control and, eventually, marketable timber. 20. Elm tree site ...an elm tree grew where the[watch house] once stood.... Here also a flag staff was erected and in 1898 a flag was flown by Mr. Stephen P. Hale, in honor of the volunteers who entered the Spanish American War. A [cross made of California redwood] was erected near the elm tree....[Barton 1984] None of the three hilltop landmarks Barton mentions is still standing, but they were all located in the vicinity of where the south slope trail emerges at the summit of Old Town Hill. The useful 1929 Transcript news article includes photos of the aging elm tree and of the cross and flagpole, which were nearly adjacent. The Trustees 1962 Annual Report includes a note from Mrs. Bushee that the cross on Old Town Hill is falling down. She would like to leave it down. On the other hand: The famed landmark ‘The Temperance Tree’ [one of the elm tree’s designations] was trimmed and fed this autumn. The same document reports that poison ivy on the south side of the hill – dependable indicator of past grazing use – was being sprayed to control it. It is not known when the elm succumbed. A young tulip poplar tree planted by The Trustees in the same vicinity may eventually become an equally dramatic landmark on the hill.

F.

Adams Land The low hill northwest of Old Town Hill, together with surrounding salt marsh has long been known, despite its mixed ownership history, as “the Adams Place” for the only family that actually inhabited the area.

10

Species not considered native to the Newbury area although some (e.g., red pine) are native to other areas of Massachusetts.

3- Land Use History and Cultural Resources

3 - 16

21. Adams Pasture trail From the Trustees’ gate on Newman Road, the raised causeway across salt marsh that continues along the upland edge of a cleared field was identified as a new driveway in 1907. This was in fact a partially rerouted and upgraded older trail, remnants of which may be seen descending on a steeper pitch from the field to the marsh. The upgrade and possibly the extension across the marsh, were among Sidney Newman’s estate improvements. 22. Adams Place History: The Adams homestead originally may have been part of a 1638 land grant to the Woodman family [Chick 1989]. By 1795 at the latest, a road existed in that vicinity, where Emery Lane runs off High Street today between Old Town Hill and Little Old Town Hill, leading toward the pasture and salt meadow land that lies northwest of those hills.11 At least by 1830, Emery Lane had been connected to Low Street, providing an alternative to High Street as a northward route. A jog off Low Street led directly to the Adams house, delineated on an 1850 map and labeled E. Adams. By 1875 the owner was shown as C. W. Adams. The 1907 Newman plan identifies 17.12 acres of the upland now owned by The Trustees as the Adams Place. Its west end – the area maintained as open field today – is labeled grass tillage; while the side that faces Old Town Hill once included a peach orchard. Farther east, toward the Trustees’ eastern reservation boundary, the upland opens out again into a 13 acre area labeled Adams Pasture. At the time the map was drawn, an Old Barn stood in the northeast corner of the reservation, although no certain sign of it can still be located. Nothing further is known about the property or its owners. Cultural resources: Stone walls punctuated by broad-branching field trees define the north and east edges of the field that was once sown to hay. Just across the boundary line is the side-hill foundation of the Adams homestead for which all this territory was named. The half-cellared fieldstone foundation with brick chimney base is similar in size and style to numerous modest late-18th and early-19th century farmhouses, most of which were storyand-a-half in height. Similar cellarholes can be found in the Brooks Woodland Preserve in Petersham, Massachusetts.

3.5 Conclusion In order for the landscape to be considered significant, character-defining features that convey its significance in history must not only be present, but they also must possess historic integrity. [Secretary of the Interior Guidelines, 1995] Old Town Hill is an anomaly as a cultural landscape, as its most prominent “cultural” or historically significant features are also its most prominent natural features: the dominant southeastern aspect of the hill itself, the salt marshes that frame it, and the fields that occur throughout, the latter requiring routine mowing for maintenance.

11

The small trapezoidal parcel of Trustees’ reservation land was part of this pasturage and, according to F. Inglefinger’s estimate, was likely still open land until the last two decades.

3- Land Use History and Cultural Resources

3 - 17

Within those contexts, nearly all of the cultural (manmade) individual features fall into the category of historic archeological sites, including the Bushee garden; Mooney cabin site, hilltop building foundation, and the Hale house site; and, even more obscure, evidence of earlier land use in plowed fields, stone walls, mill sites, and salt marsh. Yet it is these same fuzzily-defined elements that maintain the historic “feel” and integrity of Old Town Hill Reservation. Of the built sites mentioned above, the Bushee Garden is perhaps the most visible and significant cultural feature within the Reservation. This derelict garden draws attention to the “estate era” of land use, an important era since much of the modern reservation has been shaped by this period. Although obscure, the mill site just off Hay Street is interesting for its original design and early construction. The site is unusual in New England industrial history, as the mills were powered by tidal flow rather than the more common, falling water power found at mills farther upstream and at inland locations. This site would merit at least reconnaissance level testing due to early abandonment of mill features. It is worth emphasizing here, that the Newbury Old Town landscape as a whole – the reservation being a significant part of it – is an extremely rare rural agrarian survival. As it stands, Old Town is a visual and natural record of a coastal New England lifestyle that has endured for centuries since European settlement, and that was built on a much earlier indigenous foundation.

3.6 Threats Stone walls represent significant cultural features and provide visible evidence that indicate historically distinct land use or ownership. While it is not often possible to closely date stone walls many are assumed to be colonial in origin, even dating from the years immediately following Newbury’s original settlement in 1635. Threats to stone walls include: ƒ ƒ ƒ ƒ

The most common threat is frost upheaval. This is less of a problem in thin-soiled, well-drained areas, such as the Old Town Hill drumlin, than when rocks sit on a loam base. Tree and shrub growth in wall lines eventually dislodges stones or whole sections of the structure by root action, trunk expansion or the collapse of decaying trees. “Soil creep” – the process of earth moving downhill over long periods of time – will eventually collapse portions of a sidehill wall. Animal (accidental) and human (purposeful) interference will knock down or remove wall components of varying sizes.

Addressing these threats on all of the many stone walls at Old Town Hill is not practical. However, those walls already exposed and cleared of vegetation should be maintained to focus visitor attention to these important features as historic boundary markers.

3- Land Use History and Cultural Resources

3 - 18

Neglect Several derelict structures on the reservation currently receive no maintenance. Without repair and routine maintenance these features will eventually be lost and unavailable to the visitor. Of particular interest is the Bushee Garden. This designed landscape with its many structures draws attention to the estate era of land use at Old Town Hill; an important era since much of the modern reservation has been shaped by this period. However, many of the structural features of this garden have deteriorated and are in need of repair. This informal, designed garden that incorporates old elements with new plant materials provides the ideal context for interpreting this “golden age” of Old Town Hill Farm to the visitor. Development of adjacent lands The field at the base of Old Town Hill adjacent to the Lower Green is currently the site of a proposed subdivision. The loss of this field would: (1) severely damage the historic integrity of the neighborhood; (2) permanently destroy the archeological potential of the richest historic and prehistoric parcel in the area; (3) ruin The Trustees’ viewscape at the historic entrance, from the Switchback Trail, and from future hill top vistas. Artifact collecting Visitors with metal detectors have been observed looking for artifacts in the fields at Old Town Hill. Friendly discussions with these visitors suggest collecting has been a common tradition for many years resulting in the removal of countless artifacts from Old Town Hill. Current regulations and signage are inadequate to prevent collecting of any kind. Land clearing Land clearing for field and vista expansion has the potential to disturb significant archaeological artifacts. See below discussion on opportunities.

3.7 Cultural Resource Opportunities Documentation The submission of completed Area Forms to the Massachusetts Historical Commission can help prevent the destruction of the historic landscape and its embedded archeological features. These forms would document archeological and historic landscape elements of Old Town Hill and support continuing local land conservation efforts by placing the Old Town and Old Town Hill Reservation on state “radar” and may facilitate future funding in the form of grants. Hilltop clearing Old Town Hill has played a prominent role in the history of the Old Town. Much of this role has been as a cleared hill top, useful as a lookout site to guard against approaching danger, as grazing land, as a local navigation aid, and finally as a recreational destination where visitors were rewarded with one of the best views anywhere. However, over time, trees have grown up to obscure much of the hill and its vistas. Clearing back the tree line to expand existing fields and vistas would give viewer and visitor a clearer sense of historic landscape framework (most of hilltop still cleared as late as 1929), improve view of the hill and view from the hill, and underscore its strategic significance. The hill’s southeast slope presents an especially sensitive

3- Land Use History and Cultural Resources

3 - 19

situation, however, as it is also the site of a reputed Indian burial ground once designated by piles of small stones [Barton, 1984]. Should additional clearing be approved, all staff and local committee members involved must be made aware of this important consideration, and be discreet about how this knowledge is shared. Interpreation At the present time, Old Town Hill is not considered to be a site that warrants or lends itself to extensive interpretive programming. Two issues need to be addressed, however, that may be resolved through appropriate sign review and placement. The first issue is that of inconsistent donor acknowledgment among the reservation’s separate parcels. Beside The Trustees’ parking spot on Cottage Street is a green and white sign identifying the land as the gift of Mary Barton and Storer Humphreys (see photo pages).12 No other donor acknowledgment sign is located on the reservation. Stephen Hale, at the time he sold his land to Florence Bushee, specifically requested such an acknowledgment be posted at the south trail entrance to Old Town Hill. Mrs. Bushee reiterated Hale’s request in her 1952 conveyance of the land to The Trustees: ...subject to the condition that they shall forever be known as Hale’s Old Town Hill Public Park..... The second issue is that of helping visitors appreciate the historical dimension of the seemingly natural landscape around them. History is the fourth dimension of a three-dimensional landscape. It unifies seemingly unrelated elements (causeways and borrow pits; forested hills in the middle of farmland), makes sense of mysterious features (Norway maples in an oak-pine woodland; yucca among sumac); and documents the man-land interaction at the heart of landscape evolution and conservation stories. Minimal interpretive signage will provide the visitor with historic “tools” to make his own connections at Old Town Hill.

12

This sign may have been a condition of the Barton-Humphreys gift. If so, documentation may exist in the Old Town Hill property file located at Long Hill.

3- Land Use History and Cultural Resources

3 - 20

Cultural Resources Bibliography and Sources Barton, Mary P., The History of Old Town Hill, Newbury, Massachusetts. Typescript prepared for Trustees of Reservations, June 1984 (property files). Beaudry, Mary, G. Kelso, D. Landon, S. Macia, S. Pendleton, and T. Scarlett, Beneath the Kitchen Floor: Archaeology of the Spencer-Pierce-Little House, Newbury, Massachusetts, Report #25-1251 on file at the Massachusetts Historic Commission, Boston, 1988. Bolian, Charles, A Cultural Resource Survey of the Parker River National Wildlife Refuge, Massachusetts, Report 25-384 on file at the Massachusetts Historical Commission, Boston, 1981. Chick, Robert W., Items from the Notebook of Robert W. Chick (unpublished collection of notes), 1995. Coffin, Joshua, A Sketch of History of Newbury, Newburyport, and West Newbury, from 1635 to 1845. Boston: Samuel G. Drake, 1845. Currier, John J., Ould Newbury: Historical and Biographical Sketches. Boston: Damrell and Upham, 1902. Davis, Margo Muhl, Land Acquisition Targeting Plan, Old Town Hill Reservation, Newbury: Historic & Archaeological Resources, 1995 (report prepared for the Trustees of Reservations). Florence Evans Bushee 1881-1975, pamphlet printed by the Historical Society of Old Newbury. Newburyport, Massachusetts, May 1977. Ilsley, Elizabeth Hale, Old Homesteads. Salem, Massachusetts: Newcomb & Gauss, Co., 1948. Jewett, Amos E., The Bay Road from Ipswich to Newbury Upper Green, Publications of the Rowley Historical Society, No. 3, Rowley. Massachusetts Historical Commission, Historic Building Survey – Newbury (on file at the Massachusetts Historical Commission, Boston). Massachusetts Historical Commission, Prehistoric Site Files – Newbury, (on file at the Massachusetts Historical Commission, Boston). Old Town Hill Reservation, Newbury, Massachusetts, Transcript overview prepared for Trustees of Reservations, October 1975, (property files).

3- Land Use History and Cultural Resources

3 - 21

Reconnaissance Report – Newbury, 1985, (report on file at the Massachusetts Historical Commission, Boston). Secretary of the Interior…Guidelines for the Treatment of Cultural Landscapes. http://www.cr.nps.gov/hps/hli/introguid.htm

3- Land Use History and Cultural Resources

3 - 22

Section 4: Structural Resources 4.1 Introduction Old Town Hill’s fields, marshes and woodlands represent a natural landscape but also a landscape highly influenced by people. This influence is visible in the many structures or “built” features that occur throughout the reservation. These features range from the many trails and associated infrastructure (Map 4) to cellar holes and ruins (Map 3). These features need regular management to maintain their utility and/or significance, and to ensure their survival. No buildings currently exist on the reservation.

4.2 Trails, Roads and Associated Infrastructure Inventory and Description There are more than five miles of trails at Old Town Hill (Table 4-1). The trail network includes paths (e.g., single-track trails) primarily used by hikers and not wide enough for vehicles, as well as roads (e.g., trails maintained for vehicle access). Together, paths and roads serve as a trail network at Old Town Hill that allow visitors to access the majority of the reservation including its salt marshes, woodlands, fields, and the many panoramic views, including those from the summit of Old Town Hill. The only parts of the reservation currently not accessible by trails are the newly acquired 24-acre Boston Road lot and the isolated 12.5 acre Little Old Town Hill lot to the east of the reservation. Currently, there are no universally accessible trails at Old Town Hill. The Bay Circuit Trail passes through the reservation (Map 1). This regional trail circumnavigates Boston and its suburbs by connecting Plum Island and Crane Beach in the north to Duxbury Beach in the south. Due to the many wetlands and creeks that bisect parts of the reservation, many of the trails dead-end, requiring visitors to backtrack or bushwhack. However, several trails do loop over and around Old Town Hill and a recently constructed boardwalk connects Old Town Hill with Adams Pasture to the north allowing visitors a longer loop walk via Newman Road. A very popular, shorter loop trail on the west side of Newman Road brings visitors along the edge of fields and the Little River. The northern half of the reservation and the parcels east of the Lower Green and Route 1A have no loop trails. The main parking area is on the west side of Newman Road near the middle of the reservation and can accommodate 8-10 cars. This location allows visitors to access the main trails at the core of the reservation. Prior to the construction of this lot in 2004 the primary access point was the entrance located near the Lower Green. This entrance is very steep and the embankment prevents cars from pulling off the road, creating a safety issue for visitors coming and going and for drivers on Newman Road. The parking lot can be a meeting location and social destination. Occasionally the parking area is 4- Structural Resources

4-1

Map 4

4- Structural Resources

4-2

damaged from vandals tearing up the surface with their pickups. The Newbury police will increase their patrols on Newman Road by request of the local volunteers. Newman Road is both a favorite daytime walking area for seniors and mothers with baby carriages and also at other times of day sees frequent speeding and jack-rabbit starts by youths. Outlying areas of the reservation have roadside pull-off parking only at trailheads (where trails meet roads) along Hay Street, Boston Road, and Newman Road. To access the Barton/Humphrey’s Trail visitors park at the Evergreen Cemetery.

Current Use and Condition Trails at Old Town Hill provide visitors access to the property but several trails also serve as access roads, important for maintaining the property. Trails and their condition are described in Table 4-1. The Ridge Trail, Adams Pasture Trail and the River Trail allow tractors and maintenance equipment access to hay fields and scenic overlooks. Access to North Field is gained via a right-of-way on Emery Street. Gates are located at access points to keep unauthorized vehicles from entering the property and several “bog bridges” and boardwalks provide visitors dry passage over wet areas. Despite these improvements problem areas remain. Trails on the lower slopes of Old Town Hill are frequently seasonally wet due to ground water breaking the surface. This is most evident on the Boardwalk and North Loop Trails. Trails north of Hay Street and east of Route 1A are frequently wet due to the low elevation of these areas and the close proximity of ground water. Infrastructure associated with the trails is described in Table 4-2 and includes gates, culverts, bridges, and waterbars. Note: this list does not include historic structures such as ruins and stonewalls. These are covered in Section 4.3 below and in greater detail in Section 3. The gates are typical green pipe gates. Bridges are wood and were constructed in 2005 as volunteer work day projects. Due to record breaking rainfall in 2003 that led to significant erosion, the Ridge Trail access road to the top of Old Town Hill was rebuilt and included the construction of waterbars and drainage ditching to prevent future erosion. This road is currently in good condition. Other structures at Old Town Hill that are actively maintained include benches, bulletin boards, entrance signs and gates. This section does not include smaller signs such as trail markers, boundary signs or interpretive signs.

4- Structural Resources

4-3

Table 4-1 Trail_Name

Feet

Miles

Type1

Condition2

Good Fair

2774

0.5

Causeway Road Path

2336

0.4

Path

594 200 470 250

0.1