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| Category: History | |
| About the Book | |
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We
can travel the world to see exotic wonders, but marvels can exist
close by, too. That's the lesson New England teaches us every day
that we set foot out the door and poke around a little. There's no
reason to think of this region as ordinary just because it's where
we live or work or visit. In truth, there are countless fascinating stories just waiting to be unearthed by anyone who cares to look for them. There are long-abandoned cellar holes, islands that have disappeared, old battlefields, the physical remnants of geological cataclysms, fascinating works of civil engineering both old and new, and historical quirks and legends. This book is, more than anything else, a starter kit. It's purpose is to intrigue you with some of the stories it contains, intrigue you enough to want to go out and explore the places being discussed -- or better yet, to look for other places that aren't listed here that possess their own peculiar stories. Among the tales in this book are the following: Nix's Mate, a now-vanished island where the bodies of executed pirates were once hung in chains Drydock Number One, the stone repair dock where "Old Ironsides" was repaired in the 1830s....and 1990s Ghost Towns of Quabbin, visible remains of communities that were flooded to provide drinking water for Boston The mysterious tunnel dug under Dungeon Rock in the Lynn Woods to find the pirate treasure entombed within The first railway in America, built to haul stone to build the Bunker Hill monument Roam through massive granite follies, forts built in the 1800s that never fired a shot Trace the bed of the old Middlesex Canal, and see where the ropes of horses pulling the canal boats wore grooves into the rocks. Mother Goose really lived - and now lies at rest in the Old Granary Burying Ground Poet Robert Frost's tried to make it as a farmer, and his fields still provide inspiration Dogtown - the location of an abandoned village on Cape Ann Did a lost Portuguese explorer leave a message on mysterious Dighton Rock in the year 1511? If you think Plymouth Rock was always located in its present spot, think again Paul Revere's other, earlier ride, to warn New Hampshire about the approaching British troops Huge barriers built to protect vulnerable harbors from the fury of hurricanes Walden Pond - Thoreau's haven has had a checkered history An entire ghost town, brick buildings and all, sleeps on an island in Boston Harbor Newport's old stone tower, possibly the oldest European building in North America, and reputedly the remains of a Viking church A hidden park that contains a gorge, waterfalls, and a soaring aqueduct, just outside of Boston St. Croix Island, where Europeans wintered in New England nearly a generation before the Pilgrims arrived
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| About the Author | |
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Michael O'Hearn is a freelance writer/columnist, a nautical photojournalist, a children's author, and an inveterate explorer of New England's back roads and shoreline. His writing has taken him kayaking to offshore islands, to sea on an aircraft carrier and a Russian fish factory ship, and underground in caves and abandoned fortifications. |