Boston Rambles

Boston Rambles

A Rambler Walks and Talks About the Hub of the Universe

Posts filed under Worcester

Worcester, Massachusetts, Part One: The Path of Destruction

Upper Boston Post Road Entry #14 (UBPR #14) Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat: Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be… (read more)

Shrewsbury, Massachusetts: Twists, Turns, Topography, and Turnpikes.

Upper Boston Post Road Entry #13 (UBPR #13) ***** For Whom The Post Horn Sounds… As I pass the modest yellow house at 32 Main Circle, about three-quarters of a mile into my walk through Shrewsbury from the border with Northborough along the route of the original road west from Boston to New York, it… (read more)

Northborough, Massachusetts: The Quiet Borough

Upper Boston Post Road Entry #12 (UBPR #12) “We went on unobserved by any one until we passed Shrewsbury, where we were overtaken by a horsemanwho examined us very attentively, and especially me, whom he looked at from head to foot as if he wanted to know me again; after he had taken his observations… (read more)

Best of the Upper Boston Post Road in Middlesex County, Massachusetts: A Top Ten List.

This entry is self-explanatory: now that I have completed my walk along the route of the Upper Boston Post Road in Middlesex County, I want to list what I consider to be the most interesting sites along the road. I am doing this for many reasons: to reflect on the road that I have already… (read more)

Marlborough, Massachusetts: Marlboro Country

Upper Boston Post Road #11 (UBPR #11) “We begged he would recommend some tavern where we should be safe, he told us we could be safe nowhere but in his house; that the town was very violent, and that we had been expected at Col. Williams’s the night before, where there had gone a party… (read more)

Sudbury, Massachusetts: Once Upon a Time…

Upper Boston Post Road #10 (UPBR #10) One Autumn night, in Sudbury town,Across the meadows bare and brown,The windows of the wayside innGleamed red with fire-light through the leavesOf woodbine, hanging from the eavesTheir crimson curtains rent and thin. Tales of a Wayside Inn by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow ***** Once upon a time… Chapter One…. (read more)

Westborough, Massachusetts: On Boroughed Time

Upper Boston Post Road #9 (UBPR#9) Alternate Route Entry #4 “I receiv’d the Vote of the Town of Westborough in which I am call’d to the great and arduous Work of the Gospel Ministry among them.” From the Diary of Ebeneezer Parkman, Minister to the town of Westborough from 1724-1782, February 28, 1724. The old… (read more)

Southborough, Massachusetts: Lost Roads

Upper Boston Post Road #8 (UBPR#8) Alternate Route Entry #3 We then traveled through a very fine country, missed our way and went to Southborough; we were obliged to turn back a mile to get the right road. Ensign Henry DeBerniere in his report to General Thomas Gage, Saturday, February 25, 1775. Sometimes travelers get… (read more)

Framingham, Massachusetts: Everybody Comes To Buck’s

Upper Boston Post Road #7 (UPBR#7) Alternate Route Entry #2 “We then asked him for the inns that were on the road between the house and Worcester, he recommended us two, one about nine miles from his house, a Mr. Buckminster’s….” Ensign Henry DeBerniere, in his report to General Gage, February 23, 1775. Two spies,… (read more)

Wayland, Massachusetts: Framingham Diversion

Upper Boston Post Road #6 (UPBR #6) Alternate Route Entry #1 “About 10 Mr. Gerry called me, and we rode to Framingham, where we dined. Coll. Buckminster after Dinner shewed us, the Train of Artillery brought down from Ticonderoga, by Coll. Knox.” Diary of John Adams, Thursday, January 25, 1776 Immediately upon entering Wayland I… (read more)