Town of Dunstable, MA

This past year, Dunstable signed up with several other surrounding communities to participate in the Heritage Way Landscape Preservation Initiative, which is being sponsored by the Department of Conservation & Recreation and the Freedom's Way Heritage Association. Within Dunstable, this initiative is being sponsored by the Historical Commission.

In May, they kicked off a landscape inventory project with a slide presentation.

View presentation as PDF file (1.8MB)
View presentation as slide show (Must be viewed with Internet Explorer.)

Heritage landscapes are those special places and spaces that help define the character of your community. They are the result of human interaction with the natural resources of an area, which influence the use and development of land. These geographic areas contain both natural and cultural resources. In short, heritage landscapes are those physical aspects of your town that make you feel familiar, comfortable, and at home.

The Historical Commission worked with some consultants and interested town residents to identify the following "heritage landscapes" in Dunstable.

• The Blodgett House - which played a significant role in the early history of the town, both for its significance relative to the Native American heritage of the town and as the home of early settlers, which was fortified for protection from both native inhabitants and wild animals.
• Camp Massapoag - for its open space and location on the pond, it's 80-year history as a summer camp, and prior to that as the location of one of Dunstable's more prominent ice businesses, which had access to the railroad, for some of the historical features, such as a "cow pass" that let cows pass from one field to the next by going under the railroad bed.
• The "Gateway" - the stretch of Main Street from the east town line into the town center, which would include Meeting House Hill Cemetery, the Town Pound, the Little Red School House, one of two remaining windmills in town, and the homes and farms along that stretch of road, including what was once Kendall Tavern.
• French Street - which includes the John French house and has landscapes that represent Dunstable's farming heritage.
• The Town Center - including not only the buildings, but also some of the open areas, such as the ball fields (of today and yesteryear), the Town Common, Woodward's Pond, and the vestiges of the old grist mill on that pond.
• The Mill Street neighborhood - one of the quieter old streets in town that hasn't changed much, which includes the Ferrari property that has the birth home of Sarah Read Roby, and an one of the old mill ponds.
• The "Red Line" - which is the stretch of abandoned Nashua, Acton, Boston railroad bed north of Main Street, as well as the land to either side of the rail bed.
• The Salmon Brook corridor - for its natural beauty.