The Wayside: Historic Grounds Report, Minute Man National Historical Park, National Park Service
Toogood A. 1970. The Wayside: Historic Grounds Report, Minute Man National Historical Park, National Park Service. Historic Grounds Report. NPS Northeast Regional Office. Northeast Regional Office
The Historic Grounds Report for the Wayside in Concord, Massachusetts, comes as the third in a series of background data studies for the restoration of this home, once the residence of such literary and philosophic notables as Amos Bronson Alcott, Louisa May Alcott, Nathaniel Hawthorne, and Margaret Sydney. Owing to the first two studies-an historical data study and an architectural data study for the Historic Structures Report- sufficient information has already been provided for the backdrop history of the home during the Revolutionary and pre-Revolutionary periods. The Historic Grounds Report therefore begins with the purchase of the home by Amos Bronson Alcott in 1845 and follows through to the present, giving primary focus to the Alcott, Hawthorne, and Lothrop occupancies. Because for interpretational considerations the cutoff date has been set at 1924, the year Mrs. Daniel Lothrop died, the information for the past 46 years outlines only overall, obvious changes that have taken place on the grounds. The contrast between the Wayside grounds during the 19th and early 20th centuries and the Wayside in 1971 is stark: little remains of the historic plantings, and on part of the original property another house now stands. Considerable money and planning would, therefore, be needed to restore the grounds to depict the “flow of history” between 1845 and 1924. Although considerable documentation on the historic grounds of the Wayside during the three major periods-the Alcott (1845-48), Hawthorne (1852-68), and Lothrop (1883-1924) ownerships- has been collected, very little of the historic planting remains. In addition, the grounds of the Wayside appeared significantly different during each of the three periods. Consequently, careful planning will be needed to develop an accurate and representative historical interpretation and restoration of the Wayside grounds.
- Type
- Published Report
- Authors
- Toogood, Anna
- Date of Issue
- 1970-03
- Publisher
- NPS Northeast Regional Office
- Units
- MIMA , NER
- Keywords
- Amos Bronson Alcott, Concord, Louisa may Alcott, Margaret Sydney, Massachusetts, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Planting