Walks of the Greater Foxborough Area

On the same day I visited the Patriots Hall of Fame in Foxborough, MA, I took several walks at parks in the greater Foxborough area. I visited sites cared for by the Department of Conservation & Recreation in Massachusetts (DCR), the Trustees of Reservations, and Wildlands Trust of Brockton. Along the way, I discovered ruins in the woods, historic buildings, a massive tree, and a curious baby bird.

My first stop was Barton State Park, which is part of F. Gilbert Hills State Forest. The park is named for Reverend Dr. William Eleazer Barton and Esther Treat Bushnell Barton. Dr. Barton was a leading researcher on the life of Abraham Lincoln, while Mrs. Barton was a philanthropist. Charitable organizations around the world are named in their honor due to their generosity. The forest was named for a forester who had worked for DCR throughout his forty-five year career. Besides many hiking trails and the stone ruins of what appeared to be an early 20^th century building used as a camp, the park included informational signage about Civilian Conservation Corps, a work group for improving public infrastructure that was formed by the New Deal during the Great Depression. Near the sign was a retrofitted firefighting jeep that could be generously described as vintage.

My next stop was Old Colony Railroad Station now owned by the Easton Historical Society and Museum. While the museum was not open during my visit, plenty of information about the unique building was providing on the website. The following two paragraphs will include a lot of name dropping related to frequent guests of this blog, so be prepared. The building was completed in 1883 for railroad vice president Frederick Lothrop Ames, once the wealthiest man in Massachusetts. He was part of the prominent Ames family. His father Oliver Ames, Jr. was president of the Union Pacific Railroad, his grandfather Oliver Ames, Sr. and great-uncle Oakes Ames invented the bend in the modern shovel, and his young first cousin once removed Oakes Ames lived at Borderland, now a State Park. Family trees are often confusing, but the lack of original names made this puzzle even more difficult than usual.

The building was constructed by Henry Hobson Richardson and the landscape was designed by Frederick Law Olmsted Sr. Both names are popular on the blog! While Richardson designed Stonehurst in Waltham, MA, his Romanesque style inspired the designs for Harvard-Epworth Church in Cambridge, MA; Historic New England’s Eustis Estate and Milton Public Library in Milton, MA; and Trinity Church of Copley Square in Boston, MA. As for Olmsted, he designed the grounds for Stonehurst; the Emerald Necklace parks in Boston, which includes Franklin Park and arguably Dorchester Park; parks in Brookline, MA; the Smithsonian National Zoo in Washington, D.C.; and D.W. Field Park in Shrewsbury, MA; while his work inspired what became Rockefeller State Park Preserve in Pleasantville, NY and Blue Hills Reservation in Milton. Of course, I visited his office, now a National Historic Site, back in 2022 and have inadvertently become an expert on his work.

Back to Massachusetts, down the street from the former train station was Governor Oliver Ames Estate now operated by the Trustees of Reservations. The thirty-six acre property belonged not to Oliver Ames Jr. of the Union Pacific Railroad or Oliver Ames Sr. of the bend in the shovel but to Oliver Ames the Massachusetts Governor, son of Oakes Ames who bent the shovel, nephew of Oliver Ames Sr., first cousin to Oliver Ames Jr., older first cousin once removed to Frederick Lothrop Ames of the railroad station, and father to Oakes Ames of Borderlands. While I never quite wrapped my head around the family tree, the park was beautiful. I enjoyed the restored bocce court, meadowlands, carriage paths, stone mansion, and massive ornamental tree that I stood inside like a giant room.

My last stop was at Brockton Audubon Preserve, which connected to Stone Farm Conservation Area. Both areas are part of Wildlands Trust in Brockton, MA. These quiet paths through the woods pass by glacial boulders, old stone walls, and informational signage explaining the history and ecology of the area. During a slightly wrong turn, which happens regularly on my walks, I found Pearl Street United Methodist Church. At 195 years old, this is the oldest church building in Brockton, having opened in 1830 as First Methodist Episcopal Society of North Bridgewater. My other fun discovery during this walk was a baby blue jay who watched me from a pine tree. After a little too much thinking about the Ames family, this walk could be a relaxing way to close out a trip to the area.