Boston Rambles

Boston Rambles

A Rambler Walks and Talks About the Hub of the Universe

Worcester, Massachusetts, Part Five: The Road from Paris to New York

Upper Boston Post Road Entry #18 (UBPR #18) “Spent the Day at Worcester in Riding about with Mr. Putnam to see his Farm. He does what he pleases with Meadows and Rivers of Water. He carries round the Streams wherever he pleases.” John Adams, Diary, June 1, 1771. ***** “The essence of walking is slowness”… (read more)

Worcester, Massachusetts, Part Four: 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 magical place that transformed… (read more)

Worcester, Massachusetts, Part Three: Highs and Lows

Upper Boston Post Road Entry #16 (UBPR #16) “We came through Worcester this afternoon, and a[re] now but 6 miles from it. This I think is where Pappa studied Law, and the appearance of the town pleased me very much; I wished to stop there this Night, but it would have made our Journey of… (read more)

Worcester, Massachusetts, Part Two: 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 in a valley and contains,… (read more)

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)