Day 5 – Saturday, July 29 – Quincy, MA and New York City – LAST DAY

 John Adams Home    

Between being a realtor and loving history, my most favorite thing to do in the world is tour historic homes.  I was so looking forward to seeing John Adams homes. 

One thing that came up multiple times while touring Boston… they will close down tours in historic sites if they think it’s too hot.  So always schedule appointments for as early as you can get them in warm weather months.  And keep in mind if its summer you might not be able to take the tour. 

We had the earliest tour given that day.  They let us tour the first and second home.  But when we got to the third home they only let us see two rooms.  It was really a bummer.  But even with the limited tour we had, it was still wonderful.

We started at John Adams Birthplace. It is the oldest presidential birthplace in the United States.  John Adams was born there in 1735. 

It is only 75 feet away from his later home where John Quincy Adams was born.  In this home John and Abigail started their family, launched his presidential career and maintained a law office. Samuel Adams and James Bowdoin also wrote the Massachusetts Constitution here, a document that greatly influenced the development of the United States Constitution.

The painting shows John Quincy’s birthplace on the left and John Adams birthplace on the right.

Eliza Susan Quincy painted this watercolor of the birthplaces of Presidents John Adams and John Quincy Adams in 1822 from the vantage point of Penn’s Hill in Quincy, Massachusetts

Then we all drove our own cars to meet up at the Old House at Peace field.  This was built in 1731 and became the residence of the Adams family for four generations.  It was the home to Presidents John Adams, John Quincy Adams (son) and their wives, the Civil War Minister to Great Britain Charles Francis Adams, and the literary historians Henry and Brook Adams. 

In the photos above the photo with two buildings shows the home (on the right side) and the Adams library covered in ivy on the left.

The absolute highlight was the Stone Library built in 1873 that is next to the Old House.  It contains more than 12,000 books that belonged to the Adams family.  About 10% of the book belonged to John Adams and the greater part belonged to his son John Quincy Adams. 

In John Quincy Adams will, he gave his son his books and asked that he build a fireproof library to hold his books, documents and manuscripts.  And Charles Francis Adams built this medieval style Stone Library to fulfill his father’s wishes.  Many famous Adams writings were done here including the ten volume Diary of John Adams, the twelve volume The Memoirs of John Quincy Adams and The Letters of Abigail Adams, and The History of the Unites States written by Henry Adams.

John and John Quincy Adams weren’t the only family members who loved collecting books. John Quincy’s son Charles Francis also had an extensive collection of books from all across the world. One I learned about after our visit… is a rare copy of the Book of Mormon.  In 1844, Charles Francis Adams and his cousin Josiah Quincy, Jr. were touring the country, when they came to Nauvoo, Illinois. While there they met with Joseph Smith, the prophet of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Following the visit, Joseph Smith signed a copy of the Book of Mormon and gave it to Charles Francis Adams (grandson to John Adams, and son to John Quincy Adams).  Apparently he didn’t have a spare copy on hand.  The Book of Mormon that the Adams brought home was Joseph’s wife’s copy, with her name engraved on it. 

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This library was a treasure to visit.  It’s one of the best preserved personal libraries I’ve seen. 

And such a wonderful way to end our time in the Boston area.

New York City

Last time we were in New York City with the kids was July 2012.  That would make Hannah and Ben six and seven years old.  They don’t remember much from that trip.  We got to New York and parked our car at Citi field (where we would be going to a baseball game later that night).  We had just a couple hours to catch the subway in to New York and walk the city and get back.  It wasn’t much time, and the kids told us later it was too fast : )  But it was the best we could do to say they ‘saw’ the city and still make it to the game.

Our view driving in to New York City.

Our first stop was the New York City Temple.  It was closed when we were there, so we settled for photographs outside.  Unlike most temples built by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, with spires and manicured lawns and gardens, the temple in NYC is on four floors of a renovated six-story building in the middle of New York City.  As you walk through, you can hear virtually nothing from the outside, an unusual sound in NYC.  The architects used soundproofing techniques to block distracting noise.  It’s pretty incredible to come in from the outside noisy city, and just hear silence and feel peace.

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After the temple we walked through Central Park.  One of my strongest memories of walking through Central Park eleven years ago was 6 year old Ben, who was mesmerized by street dancers and acrobats.  He’s always been our gymnast since he was very little, teaching himself to do backflips and front hand springs.  He couldn’t believe people could do tricks like that in a park and get paid (he saw the jar for donations : )   It was all we could do to keep him from jumping into the act.  Fun memories.  This time it was a little less eventful.

The kids biggest complaint was that NYC was rushed.  We just hadn’t really planned on that part of the trip, this trip was more about Boston, and NYC was incidental to Mike and I.  So we walked through New York very quickly looking at the sites. Some places we passed, the Late Show theater, Broadway, Radio City Music Hall, the Empire State Bldg, the Town Hall and Times Square.

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One building we passed that I didn’t remember seeing before was The Town Hall.  I had to look it up when I got home.  It was founded as a pro-women’s suffrage group, the League initially fought for passage of the Nineteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution and provided general education on social and political issues. 

It is now used as a performance hall in the Theater District of Midtown Manhattan in New York City. It was built in 1919 for the League for Political Education. The auditorium has historically been used for various events, such as speeches, musical recitals, concerts, and film screenings. Both the exterior and interior of the building are New York City landmarks, and the building is on the National Register of Historic Places as a National Historic Landmark.

Mets Game and home

We walked from the Temple to Empire State Bldg, to Times Square, and then caught a subway to go to the Mets-Nationals game.  The game started late because of rain, which was a blessing for us since we were running late from NYC.  It was a brutal game, Mets fans aren’t nice to even there own players : (  but a fun memory, since on our last US history trip we went to a Nationals game with our cousins in Washington DC. 

Going Home

I’m so glad we were able to make this trip. I loved Boston. I’m bummed we weren’t able to fit it in with our older children’s trip, but you can’t always do everything : ) I’m glad we got back there with Hannah and Ben and had that time together. Fun, fun memories.  So glad we got to do it before they left home.

Day 4 – Friday, July 28 – Back to Boston

Today was a little less intense than the previous days.  Each of us picked something on our Go City Pass that we wanted to do. It was fun to have some experiences we might not have chosen without the pass.

Museum of Science

This was Ben’s and Hannah’s pick.  Our city passes included the Museum of Science.  It was open before other places we wanted to go opened, so we started our day there.  It’s listed as one of the world’s largest science centers.  They had lots of activities and exhibits.  I think we spent 2 hours there, we probably could have stayed longer.  Is it worth going?  If you like science, absolutely.  I came to Boston for history, so I wouldn’t have chosen it over something open that was historical.  But with kids, I think the museum is a nice stop because there are so many hands on activities.  We were too busy playing to take photos : )

Little Italy Food Tour

Part of our city passes included a North End ‘Little Italy’ Food Tour, and that was on mine and Hannah’s list of to do’s.  Food was not included in the tour cost, but the tour was free for us with the pass, and so adding the cost of food during lunch time worked.  They gave an excellent tour.  We walked around Boston’s Italian Community talking about history, the famous people and food.  They stopped at the best places they recommended for cannoli’s, coffee, pizza and traditional bread, and gave us time to go in and buy things to eat while we were walking.  They suggested bringing $20-30 per person to sample food.  Between the four of us I don’t think we spent over $10 or 15 per person. 

We didn’t take a lot of pictures because we were too busy eating : )  But I do have some notes from the visit.  Our first stop was Bricco Panetteria known for their bread.  Their loaves are ginormous.  I’m not sure how a small family or individual could buy something there.  Even for myself I thought most loaves were too big for our family of four if we were going to eat other things later in the tour.  

But afterwards, I regretted not buying at least one loaf. We ate a lot of sweets at the beginning, and it would have been nice to have some normal food in our stomach before we started our lunch with multiple desserts : )  The fun part about this place is it’s down an alley in a basement off the beaten path.  We were told it was great bread.

They took us to try cannoli’s next.  The four of us aren’t big on super sweet, they were a bit rich for us.  But we shared a couple to see what they tasted like.  Our tour guide thought that Modern Pastry had the best cannoli’s (that aren’t prefilled).  I guess that’s a thing, and some people prefer them freshly filled.  Our palettes weren’t refined enough to notice a big difference.  Places that have prefilled cannoli’s are able to offer more flavors because they aren’t as freshly filled.  He thought Mike’s Pastry was best for prefilled cannoli’s. 

We stopped at Caffe Vittoria for cappuccinos for some of our party, and gelato’s for most of us.  All along the way he’s telling us the history of the places we are visiting.

He pointed out the Daily Catch which is famous for their squid ink pasta.  They only have 7 tables, and the kitchen is in the room so you watch them make your food.  They had a long line to get in, so we just walked by.

We ended our eating tour next to Bovas and Parziales.  Bovas is a local’s favorite that had Sicilian style pizza, and they are open 24/7.  Two of us tried their pizza.  This bakery was closed for a week in March of this year because, Matt Damon and Casey Affleck were filming the movie ‘The Instigators’ inside.

Next door was Parziales Bakery.  It’s one of the oldest bakeries in the area (started in 1907), and the first to bring pizza to Boston.  Two of us ordered that pizza.  Our family favorite was Parziales.

We asked about sit down restaurants and our tour guide recommended Regina’s Pizza for pizza and Monica’s for the best pasta. So there’s our best recommendations from the Italian tour if you want to try food in Boston : )

Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum

‘Mrs. Jack Gardner is one of the seven wonders of Boston. There is nobody like her in any city in this country. She is a millionaire Bohemienne. She is the leader of the smart set, but she often leads where none dare follow… She imitates nobody; everything she does is novel and original. ‘

— A BOSTON REPORTER

I had never heard of Isabella before this trip.  She came from a wealthy family. After losing a child she began to travel to help her depression.  She went to northern Europe, Russia, Egypt, the Middle East, and Asia.  She became a collector and started building a museum in 1899. She moved into the museum when it was done so she could personally arrange the works of art in the galleries.  The museum housed her collection of paintings, sculptures, tapestries, furniture, manuscripts, rare books and decorative art.  She spent the rest of her life acquiring works for her museum. When the museum opened in 1903 it was the finest private art collection in America. When she died she left the museum with a stipulation that nothing could be change in the galleries, no items could be added or sold from the collection.

I’m not usually a huge museum fan.  I know that sounds very uncultured of me.  But this museum was incredible.  The collections were eclectic, the museum itself is a work of art.  We didn’t take a ton of photos (I think most of them are in the garden), but I will let the few we took speak for themselves.  This was mine and Hannah’s pick and we were not disappointed!

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Fenway Park Tour

This was Mike’s pick, and I will be honest, the rest of us were dragging our feet on this one.  I love watching baseball, but touring a baseball park?  It didn’t sound that interesting.  I was ignorant of all the history of Fenway.  It really is an incredible tour.  We weren’t able to go to a game while we were in town, but I was kicking myself that we weren’t.  They told so many interesting stories about the history, the difference about how the game is ran there than in other parks.  We got to sit in the press seats and hear stories all over the stadium about each spot.  We learned to appreciate the amount of work that goes into playing a game in such an old stadium.  Was it worth it?  Absolutely.  It’s a great tour with fascinating history of baseball, the park, and understanding Boston culture.  It was a 60 minute tour, and it did not disappoint. 

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Walk around Boston

We finished the evening walking around Boston to catch the sites we had missed in our race to do it all. 

One place we passed multiple times was Faneuil Hall.  I mentioned its significance as we passed it on July 26.  But we were so busy standing outside learning about it, we didn’t get to go inside.  In front of Faneuil Hall some street entertainers were outside entertaining the crowd.  We watched for a while and then walked through the shops inside.  It’s a great place for souvenirs. 

Next to Faneuil is Quincy Market. Quincy Market has been open to the public since 1826.  It was considered the largest market complex built in the United States in the first half of the 19^th century.  It currently is a huge food hall with all kinds of food vendors inside, and souvenir vendors outside. We all tried to get something different to eat inside.  It was a great stop for dinner.

That was the end of our Boston tour. We drove to Quincy that night so we could be up early to tour John Adams homes. It’s only 12 miles away, but in Boston traffic can be a 50 minute drive.

Day 3 Part 2 – Thursday, July 27 – Lexington

Colonial Inn

For lunch we stopped at the Colonial Inn in Concord.  It was built in 1716.  One of the Inn’s original building was used as a storehouse for arms and provisions during the Revolutionary War.  The North Bridge where the shots heard round the world is near here, so every year in April they have a parade near the Inn and a ceremony at the North Bridge on Patriots Day.  Henry David Thoreau stayed here while he was attending Harvard.

The food was good. They serve in different rooms, and it was fun to peak in and see some of them.  Each is unique. It was a nice stop between tours.

Buckman Tavern and Lexington Green

Built in 1710, Buckman Tavern was a gathering place for both locals and travelers, and the site of many important town meetings. Captain Parker and his militia gathered in this tavern in the early morning hours of April 19, 1775 to await the oncoming British Redcoat troops. Below is a photo of the tavern, and Ben trying on clothes inside.

On the evening of April 18 General Thomas Gage, the British royal governor of Massachusetts, organized 700 British troops for a march to Concord. The troops were ordered to destroy the colonists’ military supplies, or ammunition, in Concord. Fighting started in front of Buckman Tavern at the Lexington Common (or Lexington Green).  The first shots were fired here that started the Revolutionary War. 

King’s troops marched into Lexington around 5:00 am to find a militia company of about 70 men led by Captain John Parker that had been waiting at Buckman’s Tavern. When the vanguard of the British force rushed forward upon the town green, Captain Parker immediately ordered his company to disperse. At some point a shot rang out– historians still debate who fired the shot. The nervous British soldiers fired a volley, killing seven and mortally wounding one of the retreating militiamen. The British column moved on towards Concord, leaving the dead, wounded, and dying in their wake. The militiamen suffered the first casualties of the American Revolution. Below is Amos Doolittle’s engraving of the Battle of Lexington.

We heard the phrase the ‘shot heard ’round the world’ referred to the first shots on the North Bridge in Concord (previous post).  But our tour guide argued that the actual first shots had happened earlier that day on the Lexington Common.  

By the end of the day it was clear the day had been a disaster for the British who had 73 men killed and many more wounded compared to the patriot’s loss of 49 killed. Concord poet Ralph Waldo Emerson dubbed them the “embattled farmers.”  That day, they were simply loyal British subjects who believed that they were standing up to defend and fight for their rights. In doing so they changed the world forever and so was the start of the American War of Independence.

Below is a helpful map of important sites in the area. We didn’t make it to everything as you can see on the map. You have a constraint of between about 10 or 11 and 4 or 5pm when places are open. But I love what we were able to see. This is a place I could come back to again and again.

Harvard

Harvard was a last minute stop.  I hadn’t planned to visit, and I was kicking myself I hadn’t reached out to friends and family that attended Harvard to get some advice on what to do while we were here.  So as a last resort we googled famous old building at Harvard and walked around and enjoyed the campus. Since our visit I found a great resource with information about self-guided tours at Harvard.

Massachusetts Hall – Harvard

Built in 1720, it is the oldest building still standing on Harvard’s campus.  It has been used for a variety of purposes, including as an army barrack during the Revolutionary War.

The building on the right is Massachusetts Hall.  I spoke earlier of Paul Revere being so much more than just a famous ride.  Paul Revere was also an engraver. He made many engravings that were were political, and some were just decorative. This art is one of his engravings made in 1767. 

I hadn’t really known much about engraving before this trip, but engraving is a printmaking process in which lines are cut into a metal plate in order to hold the ink. Once the art is cut into metal it is inked and pressed onto paper.  I vaguely had an idea of it, but because I kept hearing about Paul Revere’s engravings (and he had many), I looked it up to see exactly what it was.  There is a great explanation of it at metmuseum.org.

That seems like an incredible skill to have to be able to carve a picture into metal.  I can’t believe all the places we heard about Paul Revere, and how little we really hear about him in history books at school.

But I digress, here is a photo in front of Massachusetts Hall.

Harry Elkins Widener Memorial Library – Harvard

While not as old as other places on campus, built in 1915.  It is the largest library on campus. 

Widener has 57 miles of shelf space and the capacity to hold over three million volumes. Unfortunately we weren’t able to go inside and had to settle for in front of the library.

Memorial Church – Harvard

The inscription over the entrance to the church says, ‘In grateful memory of the Harvard men who died in the World War we have built this Church.’  The church stands opposite the Widener Library. 

Memorial Hall – Harvard

Built in the 1870’s the hall was conceived as a memorial to Harvard graduates who fought for the Union cause in the Civil War.  I’m glad this was one of the last buildings we visited, because it was a fabulous way to end our walk through Harvard.  The interiors are breathtaking.  When we were visiting, the cafeteria was only open to students, but there was a door with a window, and we peaked in.  It was beautiful.  I read somewhere that this was the inspiration for Hogwarts Dining Hall.  I read later that wasn’t true.  But imagine Hogwarts dining hall and you have an idea of what the dining hall looked like here.  The only photos we were the exterior able to get was in the entrance and the exterior. You can’t go to Harvard and miss this stop.

I’m sure we missed a ton we should have seen while visiting.  But as it was each day, we had limited time, and we wanted to get to the beach before dark.  So we headed back to Boston.

Revere Beach

Just five miles North of Boston, the Revere Beach Reservation was the first public beach in the United States. We weren’t purposely shooting to see a historic beach, but this was on our way back to the hotel. We promised Ben we wouldn’t leave Boston without letting him go to the beach. I had a funny moment. I don’t know what I was thinking, but having raised our kids on California beaches for a number of years, I was excited to be at the beach for sunset….then realized I was on the wrong side of the country for that : ) I’m sure they have beautiful sunrises…but we missed it.

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Day 3 Thursday, July 27 Part 1 – Concord

We were coming to visit Boston, but I didn’t know how much I’d fall in love with Lexington and Concord.  This was both Hannah and my favorite day!  It was just magical.  In Boston you see old mixed in with the new.  But in Lexington and Concord there were parts that felt like we stepped back in time.  It was peaceful and quiet and absolutely beautiful.

Orchard House

Out of everywhere we visited, this and Old Manse were both Hannah and my favorites.  The Orchard House actually made me cry!!  Haha, and I’m not embarrassed to say it.  We have traveled all over the US and in other countries going through historical homes.  Little Women is a story about Louisa’s life and her families. There are some parts that have been changed, but also many accurate stories. Knowing the story of Little Women and Louisa May Alcott, and then walking through the home where 85% of the items inside are originals and seeing the stories in Little Women displayed from her real life in this home, it was so wonderful. 

We were not allowed to take photographs inside.  But inside we saw the room where Amy (May in real life) drew art she had seen in Emerson’s home on the walls of her bedroom as she was trying to become an artist…and then paintings after she had toured Europe and improved her art so well she was displayed in salons in Paris.  While growing up the Alcott’s did not have a lot of money so Mays drawing are scratched on walls and moldings with pencil, carved into fire-boards, she burned Raphael into cutting boards…her art is found hidden all over the house.

We saw the living room where the girls acted out their plays and real photographs and costumes they had from those days.  We saw the dress that Louisa sewed for her sister Anna (Meg) in the home.  I could go on…But to hear the stories, and see how Bronson and Abby raised their girls, it was amazing.  I loved every second of being there.  Our tour guide was passionate about the Alcott’s, and the home was authentic.  It was a wonderful tour. 

Other interesting facts we learned. May’s (Amy’s) husband was 14 years younger than she was.  They both fudged their ages on their marriage certificate so they didn’t look like their ages were to different.

They have letters from Louisa who refers to the money she makes and sends home as the ‘Alcott sinking fund’ because of how bad her father was with money.  She refers to her dad in her letters as a dreamer. 

Louis felt a lot of pressure to make money and take care of her family.  And unlike in the book when the ‘Little Women’s’ father comes home from war sick.  It was actually Louisa who went to war and came home sick.  She dealt with the effects of being sick and bad health care for the rest of her life.  Because she had days when she was sick and days when she felt better, she worked very hard on her healthy days.  Louisa taught herself to write with both her left and right hand so on healthy days when her right hand got tired she could keep writing with her left.  She worked hard… and we were very surprised after being in Mark Twain’s ostentatious home, to see this humble home and learn that Louisa ended up making more money than Mark Twain at the end of her life.

This photograph is a trail to the side of the Orchard House

One of the neat displays in the home was a bookshelf where people from all over the world, that were touched by the writings of Louisa May Alcott, sent a copy of a ‘Little Women’ book in their own language.  It was amazing to see how far reaching the simple story about her family touched so many lives.

It was also amazing to see how so many famous people merged into this area.  Henry David Thoreau  (naturalist, essayist, poet, and philosopher ) was close friends with the family and actually drew their land plot.  Drawings of Mays (Amy in the book) were drawn from art she saw when visiting Ralph Waldo Emerson’s (essayist, lecturer, philosopher, abolitionist, and poet ) home.  May died after childbirth.  That is not mentioned in Little Women, but it was Ralph Waldo Emerson who came to their home with the telegraph to tell the family what had happened.  The families were so close that Nathaniel Hawthorne, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Henry David Thoreau and the Alcott’s where all buried next to each other. Later on in the day we went to visit their grave sites.

As a book lover, I had to pull the tour guide aside and ask her what her favorite books were on Bronson and Louisa.  She said the book they use the most as a reference in their tours is ‘Eden’s Outcasts: The Story of Louisa May Alcott and Her Father’.  The Orchard House gave the author full access to all the letters and documents they had to write this book.  I am reading it right now, and thoroughly enjoying it.  Another book she recommended was ‘Alcott in Her Own Time: A Biographical Chronicle of her Life, Drawn from Recollections, Interview & Memoirs by Family, Friends and Associates.’ 

I’m kind of at a loss for words to say why I loved Orchard house and why it made me cry. There are probably prettier settings, although the area is very beautiful. There are definitely grander homes. But to be in the Orchard house and feel all the love, and all the creative and intentional ways that Bronson and Abby tried to raise their family, it was inspiring.

The Old Manse Home

From the Revolutionary War to the revolution in American thought under its roof, The Old Manse was the center of Concord’s political, literary, and social zeitgeist for a century. 

(from the Old Manse website)

Manse is an old-fashioned word used to describe a minister’s home. The home was constructed for patriot minister William Emerson.  The upstairs overlooks the North Bridge, where the famous battle of April 19, 1775, took place. Later, some of New England’s most esteemed minds found inspiration inside its walls. In the 19th century, Ralph Waldo Emerson (grandson to William Emerson) and Nathaniel Hawthorne both called the Manse home for a time: Emerson drafted his influential essay “Nature” in an upstairs study. Meanwhile, Hawthorne and his wife, Sophia, started their married life here (3 years); the recreated heirloom vegetable garden on the property was originally planted by Henry David Thoreau in honor of the Hawthornes’ wedding.

The Manse home, just like the Orchard House is in one of the most beautiful settings.  The photographs don’t do it justice.

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Random facts we learned there:

William Emerson was asked by George Washington to go with him to the next battle in New York after the Battle of Lexington.

The Hawthorne’s weren’t the best guests in Emerson’s home.  They scratched quotes and sayings in the window panes with a diamond ring. Scratched windows can be found in multiple places in the home.

When they were restoring the home, wallpaper was found that was old enough it was stamped on the backside showing that the owners had paid the Stamp Tax when they bought the paper (one of the taxes that pushed the colonies into rebellion).

Nathaniel Hawthorne had a stuffed owl that he loved, but his wife thought was creepy.  Whenever he would leave she would hide it somewhere in the house, but he would always come home and put it in a prominent place in one of the sitting rooms. 

According to legend, in the American Revolution, Harvard’s faculty and students temporarily evacuated campus and held classes in Concord, and it’s thought that they brought the owl and left it behind at the Old Manse.  The owl was named Longfellow because Nathaniel Hawthorne thought the old owl bore a striking resemblance to his classmate, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow.

In Emerson’s sitting room was an Aeolian Harp.  I had never seen one before.  It’s a wind harp, and it plays when the windows are open and the wind blows in the home.  It was beautiful. Besides being the only string instrument played solely by the wind, the Aeolian harp is also the only string instrument that plays solely harmonic frequencies.  I have a new treasure I am now in search of….

Beside the harp is a poem written by Emerson about the Aeolian Harp.

Sarah Alden Bradley Ripley was a relation that lived in the Manse home.  I don’t remember hearing of her before, but she sounds amazing!  She was an educator and a noted scholar in a time when women were rarely admitted to universities.  According to our tour guide, she taught herself 7 different languages.  She was a botanist for Thoreau.  She was so brilliant that Darwin sent one copy of Origin of Species to her to edit. Harvard said she was their best professor they ever had that never went to school.  Harvard would send students that weren’t doing well for her to teach and catch up.  While doing all of this she had 10 children! 

Needless to say, the house had so many stories to tell, and we hadn’t even see the back yard yet!

The Old North Bridge

This was a painting in the gift shop at Old Manse showing the home and the Old North Bridge.

The Old Manse is set on the banks of the Concord River.  There is a boat house in the backyard, and just to the right is an arched wooden bridge.  As recorded in Reverend William Emerson’s diary, it was between 1-2 am on April 19, 1775 when Concord’s bells rang out to warn the townspeople that the British troops were on their way.  A skirmish had just taken place on Lexington Green (which I will talk about later on), and the troops marched into Concord about 7:30 am.

British companies dispatched to secure the South and North Bridges.  And here in Emerson’s backyard, Concord’s North Bridge is where the “shot heard round the world” was fired. Significance: Concord’s North Bridge is where colonial minute men and militia were first ordered to fire upon British soldiers. The first British soldiers of the American Revolution died here.

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It’s crazy to think of something that significant and violent happening in the backyard of Emerson and Hawthorne’s home in such a beautiful setting. I can’t find it in my notes, but I believe it was Emerson and Thoreau years after this event, would often float down the Concord river together to enjoy the beautiful scenery, that once earlier had been the beginning stages of the creation of a new nation.  It’s incredible all that has happened on this one small piece of land.

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Sleepy Hollow Cemetery, Concord MA           

In the cemetery is a ridge and a quiet hollow below it that looked, in Emerson’s words, like it “lies in nature’s hand.” Hawthorne described it as “a shallow space scooped out among the woods.”

It was a popular refuge and playground for locals. Emerson began spending time in the woods there in the early 1830s, when he moved into his grandfather’s nearby home, the Old Manse.

Later construction of the Cemetery began in early 1855, and Emerson was elected by the townspeople as chairman of Concord’s cemetery committee, created to oversee the project. Also on the committee was the local sheriff, who later served as a bodyguard for President Abraham Lincoln during the Gettysburg Address. Thoreau surveyed part of the property and designed a pond near the ridgetop.

Within three decades of Sleepy Hollow’s opening, this beautifully wooded cemetery would hold Thoreau, Emerson, Louisa May Alcott, and Hawthorne, all buried within a stone’s throw of one another among a grove of mature pines on what’s now called Author’s Ridge.

Hawthorne’s dream of settling at the top of Sleepy Hollow’s highest point eventually came true. His resting place is marked by a stone bearing simply his last name.

Louisa May Alcott’s small headstone, located within the Alcott family plot, is engraved with the humble initials L.M.A. and the dates 1832–1888. A marker with her name lies flat in the ground behind her gravestone. (Pictured is her family plot. Louisa’s stone is the farthest left, and behind it is the flat stone with her name, where people come to leave a notes and their pencils around her grave)

Thoreau, who also frequented the sleepy hollow, wrote about his two years living alone in the Concord woods beside Walden Pond (on Emerson’s property). He famously wrote, “I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived.” 

By the time Walden was published, Concord had been stripped of 90 percent of its woodlands, and the only “tonic of wildness” accessible to the downtown was the sleepy hollow. Intentionally protecting and cultivating nature in a patch of woods in this way was unprecedented for its time. Although Walden is often credited for launching the conservation movement, the role of the Concord cemetery where its authors’ remains now reside, could be considered one of their first conservation projects.