The history in our woods

Stone wall that crosses the trail in
Willard Brook State Forest

A walk through the New England woods wouldn't be complete without coming across the ubiquitous stone walls that dot the landscape. Many forget that once upon a time, this land was cleared for agriculture. Pictured here is a stone wall that crosses the Blue Trail of Willard Brook State Park which parallels Route 119. In fact the developers of the trail obviously removed some stones from the wall to allow the trail to pass through it. At some time in the past someone moved all these rocks into place as they attempted to clear the land in order to cultivate it. I imagine just small plots of vegetables, but this land may have been great for grazing of cattle or sheep with the brook being a prime source for watering. Otherwise it is very hilly and enormous boulders, left by the ancient glacier that once covered this land, dot it. Eventually the call to move West for easier farming or to the work in the city mills resulted in abandoned farms. Now the woods have reclaimed the land leaving us with only markers of the hard labor of those who worked the land before us.