Weir River Farm is a nature reserve located in Hingham, Massachusetts. The property is owned by The Trustees of Reservations. It is located adjacent to the Trustees-owned Whitney and Thayer Woods reservation, and the town-owned Turkey Hill property, [1] which the Trustees manage.
Weir River Farm was the former home of painter Polly Thayer Starr, who gave it to The Trustees of Reservations in 1999. [2] [3]
From June 12, 2021, through June 1, 2022, the farm is the site of a special exhibit entitled "Polly Thayer Starr: Spirit of Discovery". [4] The exhibit is intended to "provide visitors of all ages the opportunity to use imagination and observation to explore nature and celebrate the artist’s remarkable 75-year artistic legacy."
Ravenswood Park is a nature reserve in the western section of Gloucester, Massachusetts owned and managed by the Trustees of Reservations, which acquired the property in 1993. It can be accessed from Western Avenue, the road to Manchester through the Magnolia area. Ravenswood Park is frequented by cross-country skiers during the winter.
Weir Hill Reservation is a 194-acre (0.79 km2) public park located in the town of North Andover, Massachusetts. The Trustees of Reservations owns and maintains the property.
The Monoliths, also known as Agassiz Rock, is a 116-acre (47 ha) park in Manchester-by-the-Sea, Massachusetts, owned and maintained by The Trustees of Reservations. The park's name is from two examples of large glacial erratic boulders plucked from bedrock. As glaciers scoured this landscape, the mass of bedrock forming the hill proved more resistant than the surrounding soil, forcing the bottom of the glacier up and over the hill. The north side was smoothed and the south side left steep and rugged as the glacier broke off chunks of rock as it passed.
The Charles W. Ward Reservation is a 704-acre (285 ha) open space reserve located in Andover and North Andover, Massachusetts, 20 miles (32 km) north of Boston. The reserve, managed by the land conservation non-profit organization The Trustees of Reservations, is notable for its open drumlin hilltops and vistas encompassing Boston and Salem. The Ward Reservation offers 13 miles (21 km) of trails and former woods roads available for hiking, horseback riding, mountain biking, and cross country skiing; it is also a link in the 200-mile (320 km) Bay Circuit Trail system.
The Brooks Woodland Preserve is a 558-acre (226 ha) open space preserve located in Petersham, Massachusetts. The property, named after industrialist and diplomat James Wilson Brooks, is managed by the land conservation non-profit organization The Trustees of Reservations and offers 13 miles (21 km) of trails and primitive woods roads available for hiking, horseback riding, and cross country skiing. Second growth forest, overgrown farm fields, granite ledges, historic stone walls, creeks, and rolling hills characterize the preserve.
Menemsha Hills is a protected nature reserve located on Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts in the town of Chilmark. The property is owned by The Trustees of Reservations through three grants of land, the first in 1966. The reserve is adjacent to another Trustees property, The Brickyard.
Coolidge Reservation is a nature reserve located in Manchester-by-the-Sea, Massachusetts. The property is owned by The Trustees of Reservations.
Chase Woodlands is a nature reserve located in Dover, Massachusetts. The property was acquired by The Trustees of Reservations in 1993. The reservation includes 2.5 miles of trails and is located across Farm Street from the Peters Reservation. The Charles River Link Trail crosses both reservations.
Whitney and Thayer Woods is a 834 acres (338 ha) nature reserve and forest located in Cohasset and Hingham, Massachusetts. The property is owned by The Trustees of Reservations. It is adjacent to the Weir River Farm, also owned by The Trustees, and Turkey Hill, a town-owned property managed by The Trustees. The woods include 10 miles (16 km) of walking trails.
Peters Reservation is a nature reserve located in Dover, Massachusetts. The property is owned by The Trustees of Reservations; the reservation's first parcels were received as a gift in 1988. The reservation is located across Farm Street from the Chase Woodlands, another Trustees-managed property. The Charles River Link Trail crosses both reservations.
The East Over Reservation is a 75-acre (300,000 m2) nature preserve and working farm in Rochester, Massachusetts, USA, and is managed by the Trustees of Reservations. There are hiking trails, quarry-stone walls and a "treasure hunt", designed to test one's map reading skills. It was protected between 2003 and 2005.
Field Farm is a 316-acre (1.28 km2) nature preserve and farm in Williamstown, Massachusetts, managed by the Trustees of Reservations. There are 4.5 miles (7.2 km) of hiking trails on the reservation, which pass by swamp land, a pond, and the "Caves Lot" which features underground channels that water had cut into the limestone there. An International Style house, built in 1948 by Edwin Goodell, is operated as a bed and breakfast inn. Also on the site is The Folly, a small guest house designed by Ulrich Franzen in 1966. The Folly is currently open for guided tours. The property also contains a sculpture garden.
Jacobs Hill is a 173-acre (70 ha) open space preserve in Royalston, Massachusetts acquired in 1975 by the land conservation non-profit organization The Trustees of Reservations. The preserve includes scenic vistas, ledges, woodlands, a northern bog, and Spirit Falls, a 30 foot (9.1 m) waterfall. The 22-mile (35 km) Tully Trail passes through the property. Views from the ledges include the Berkshires as well as nearby Long Pond and the Tully River Valley, Tully Mountain, and Mount Grace.
Cedariver, formerly known as The Baker Reservation, is a 55-acre (22 ha) open space reserve located on the Charles River in Millis, Massachusetts. The property, acquired in 2004 by the land conservation non-profit organization The Trustees of Reservations, includes farm fields, woodlots, and 1-mile (1.6 km) of river frontage.
Appleton Farms is a park in Ipswich, Massachusetts, owned and maintained by The Trustees of Reservations. The property was deeded to the Trustees in 1998. The land was granted to Samuel Appleton, an immigrant from Little Waldingfield, England, in 1638 by the town of Ipswich and is one of the oldest continuously operating farms in Massachusetts. In 2002, The Trustees of Reservations established a vegetable Community Supported Agriculture Program. Also maintained by the Trustees of Reservations is the adjacent Appleton Farms Grass Rides. The properties include 4 miles (6.4 km) of walking trails.
Weir River is a short stream and estuary that empties into Hingham Bay, part of Boston Harbor in Massachusetts, United States. The name is attributed to the location of a fishing weir in the stream. The river gives its name to a larger watershed and Weir River Farm, a park and nature reserve owned by The Trustees of Reservations.
Land of Providence is a 25-acre (100,000 m2) open space reservation located in the Ingleside neighborhood of Holyoke, Massachusetts, on the banks of the Connecticut River. The property was previously owned by the Sisters of Providence. In 2009 it was donated to The Trustees of Reservations and is now used for farming by the local organization Nuestras Raices, which allows local residents farm the land and raise livestock.
The James N. and Mary F. Stavros Reservation is a 74-acre (30 ha) nature reserve located in Essex, Massachusetts. The property has been owned by The Trustees of Reservations since 1986. About 50 acres (20 ha) of the reservation consists of salt marsh.
Polly Thayer (Starr) (1904–2006) was a Boston painter and pastel artist. When she was still in her twenties she became known for portraits and figure compositions in the tradition of the Boston School, but took a more Modernist approach after leaving academia. She became increasingly interested in conveying the invisible essences of landscape, flowers and living creatures as her career developed, and was noted for the skilled draftsmanship which provided the substructure of her work.
The Doyle Community Park & Center, located in the city of Leominster, Massachusetts, is a 170-acre (69 ha) landscaped urban park and open space reservation managed by The Trustees of Reservations, a non-profit conservation organization. It is also the location of the Doyle Center: a conservation education center, regional office, and green building initiative. The property consists of three main areas: Pierce Meadow, a landscaped urban park and former estate of Harry W. Pierce; the Doyle Center grounds, buildings, and adjoining woodlots; and a hay field and adjoining wetland.