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…. (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)
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… (read more)
Waylaid in Wayland. Upper Boston Post Road #5 (UBPR #5). “We were resolved to go the Sudbury road, (which was the main road that led to Worcester ) and go as far as the the thirty-seven mile-stone, where we had left the main road and taken the Framingham road.” Ensign Henry DeBerniere, from his report… (read more)
Circling The Square. Upper Boston Post Road Entry #1 (UBPR #1) “Main Street through Weston, Waltham, and Watertown to Mill Bridge over the Charles River was the Ancient Post Road, originally called the County Road, and later the Sudbury Road.” Stephen Jenkins, The Old Boston Post Road, (1913), p. 371. *** Watertown Square is less… (read more)
Section 1: Mount Auburn Cemetery to Belmont Street intersection. 0.3 miles. Things change. Borders change. Had I undertaken the walk described in the previous entry, along Brattle Street to Mount Auburn Cemetery, in 1753 instead of in 2018, I would have entered Watertown as soon as I crossed Sparks Street in what is now Cambridge,… (read more)
“Cambridge at any time is full of ghosts” Ralph Waldo Emerson, Journals (1836) “What did you do in this world that cannot be killed? What did you leave behind that the wind can’t blow away? A thing of beauty is here forever. Nothing can kill the beautiful deed.” Brother Blue, eulogy for Igor Fokin at… (read more)
“One if by land, and two if by sea: And I on the opposite shore shall be.” The Midnight Ride of Paul Revere, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. First published in The Atlantic Monthly in 1861 . “We returned from Cambridge by way of Charlestown. Crossing that ferry to Boston…” Dr. Alexander Hamilton, Entry Wednesday, August 15, 1744… (read more)
