Boston Rambles

Boston Rambles

A Rambler Walks and Talks About the Hub of the Universe

Posts filed under Demographics

Worcester, Massachusetts, #5.

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)

Worcester, Massachusetts, #4.

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)

Worcester, Massachusetts, #2.

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)

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… (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… (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… (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… (read more)

Jamaica Plain: Traveling the World (WTPR#8)

This is another of the entries from my previous project, Walking the Post Road, which I have transferred over to this project for two reasons. The first reason is that it is relevant to this project in that it is a ‘ramble’ about Boston. The second reason is that the previous project was done on… (read more)

Watertown: Rite of Passage.

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)