Weir Hill
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Weir Hill
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 The Lake Cochichewick in reserve |
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| location | Massachusetts , United States | |
| surface | 79 ha | |
| WDPA ID | 55554634 | |
| Geographical location | 42 ° 42 ′ N , 71 ° 6 ′ W | |
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| Setup date | 1968 | |
| administration | The Trustees of Reservations | |
Weir Hill is a 194 acres (0.8 km² ) nature reserve around the elevation of the same name in the city of North Andover in the state of Massachusetts in the United States . It is managed by The Trustees of Reservations organization.
history
There is historical evidence that the 305 ft (93 m ) high Weir Hill was already used by the Indians . An archaeological investigation in 1968 found the remains of a tent camp in the southeastern area of what is now the protected area. The Indians used the hill and its surroundings as a hunting ground as well as for fishing using fish traps ( English weir ), which gave the hill its name.
In the middle of the 17th century, the settlers cleared the hill to make room for their cattle and sheep to graze on. In the 18th and 19th centuries, dams were built that dammed the Cochichewick Brook in several places and thus provided water energy for the operation of sawmills and grain mills. The resulting Lake Cochichewick has also been supplying the city of North Andover with drinking water for more than 100 years.
In 1853, Moses T. Stevens married his wife Charlotte Emeline Osgood. He owned a profitable flannel factory, from whose profits he bought the properties on the west bank of the lake, including Weir Hill. There Stevens built a country estate on a plot of land with over 500 acres (2 km²), which included a main house and several outbuildings. Moses Stevens was also one of the founders of the North Andover Country Club, established in 1897 . The foundation walls of the first club house can still be seen today in the south-eastern area of the hill in the immediate vicinity of the bank. In 1909 the clubhouse was moved to the opposite side of the lake, where there was enough land for the construction of a golf course and a new clubhouse.
Charles A. Stevens transferred the first parts of the present protected area to the trustees in 1968. Further donations were made in 1975 and 1994.
Protected area
In today's protected area, there are 4 mi (6.4 km ) of hiking trails available to visitors, which are divided into different sections. The Edgewood Farm Trail leads to the shore of the lake, while the Stevens Trail leads up the hill, from where on a clear day the view extends along the Merrimack Valley to the mountains of Mount Wachusett and Mount Monadnock .
The protected area also includes a 60 acres (24.3 ha) mixed forest of oak and hickory , only occasional streams and wet meadows . The hill also offers a habitat for rare and partially threatened plant species such as the orchid habenaria dilitata , the bush clover lespedeza violacea or the black walnut .
See also
Individual evidence
- ^ Property History. (No longer available online.) The Trustees of Reservations , archived from the original on July 24, 2014 ; accessed on July 16, 2014 .
- ↑ About Weir Hill. (No longer available online.) The Trustees of Reservations , archived from the original on July 24, 2014 ; accessed on July 16, 2014 .
Web links
- Weir Hill in the United States Geological Survey's Geographic Names Information System
- Weir Hill. ( PDF ) The Trustees of Reservations, 2010, accessed on July 16, 2014 (English, map of the area).
- Weir Hill on TripAdvisor
