Savoring the Fruits of Leicester Part Two- A Walk Up Strawberry Hill Upper Boston Post Road #21 (UBPR #21). “Set out for Springfield with Mr. Davenport….eat Roast Turkey near Strawberry-Hill, I eat mine there at Sarah Stebbings’s.” Samuel Sewall, Diary, Tuesday August 28, 1716. “Geography has its excitements.” Robert Byron, The Road to Oxiana, 1937…. (read more)
Savoring the Fruits of Leicester Part One– A Walk Through Cherry Valley Upper Boston Post Road #20 (UBPR #20). “The township is principally composed of lofty hills, with deep vallies between them. The hills are generally considered as the highest ground between Connecticut River, and the Shore.” Timothy Dwight, Travels in New England and New… (read more)
Walking The Upper Boston Post Road From Worcester To Springfield: An Overview Upper Boston Post Road Entry #19 (UBPR #19) “To Boston from the Meeting House 96½ Measured Miles, Boston Road” From “A Plan of the Town of Springfield, Massachusetts taken from an actual survey thereof made since the Resolve of the General Court passed… (read more)
The Fabric of Dreams Upper Boston Post Road Entry #17 (UBPR #17) “When I mention Worcester to people from New England, they often give a knowing nod or laugh — this unlovely, down-on-its-luck city of dead industry and collapsing buildings. But Worcester was an engine for betterment until the middle of the 20th century, a… (read more)
The Heart Of The Heart Upper Boston Post Road Entry #15 (UBPR #15) The township of Worcester is, throughout, divided into farms which wear a cheerful and prosperous aspect. The town is principally built on a single street, extending, from East to West, about a mile and a half on the road. It is situated… (read more)
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,… (read more)
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… (read more)
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… (read more)
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)
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… (read more)
