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Maudslay State Park

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Maudslay State Park is a Massachusetts state park located in Newburyport. The park is managed by the Department of Conservation and Recreation and available (by permit) for weddings and other programs.

Description

Maudslay State Park is a landscaped and decorative park along the banks of the Merrimack River. It features 19th-century plants and gardens, rolling meadows, tall pines, and one of the largest naturally occurring stands of mountain laurel in the Commonwealth. Within the park, visitors can find numerous ornamental trees, azaleas, and rhododendrons.

The pines and the eagles

The most striking natural feature of the park is the primeval stands of white pine on the steep slopes and bluffs of the river, which appear never to have been logged. The laurel forms a continuous thicket along the forest floor around the pines, which are so tall that their tops are not visible in the upper canopy from below. The canopy is a nesting site for bald eagles, who from time to time disrupt traffic by perching in isolated pines hanging over the river outside of the park. The stands are found also in the few ravines that lace the park.

The river

The park covers 450 acres (approximately) of the right bank of the Merrimack River, a tidal estuary at its lower end. The main channel of the estuary runs beneath the bluffs of the park. The channel is navigable to small craft and is marked by buoys. The swift currents and high bacteria counts render the waters useless for swimming or bathing, as well as adding an element of danger to the careless boater. Seasonal floods often sweep away the docks, damage the bridges, flood the homes and wash out low-lying roads on the riverbank. Despite these dangers the lower river is home to a large industry of recreational boats.

The return of the eagles to their former habitat is related to the return of their food supply. By 1950 the Merrimack River was for the most part devoid of marine and riverine life, due to chemical effluents from the cloth and paper mills upstream in Haverhill, Lawrence, Lowell, Manchester, New Hampshire and Concord, New Hampshire as well as the dumping of raw sewage into the river from every community on it. Since then the industry has moved south, sewage is better treated and environmental laws have gone into effect and have been to some degree enforced in every community. Dams upstream prevent the return of migratory piscines but maritime life on the lower river has improved to the point of supporting a new population of eagles.

Upper woods

Colonial Newburyport lacked the bridges that currently link Newburyport with Salisbury and Amesbury on the left bank of the river. West Newbury and Newburyport were originally the same parcel of land, settled in 1635 by an English party, which landed on the left bank of the river later (1697) renamed after its spiritual counselor, Rev. Parker. Before long the pine woods on the ridge of the right bank of the Merrimack had been cleared in favor of homesteads. "Country Lane" (High Street) led from Newbury to Bradford Road (Storey Street). The remaining forest between Bradford Road and the river was called the "Upper Woods", of which a small fragment hosts the eagles today.

In 1641 the General Court of Massachusetts appointed George Carr official ferryman of the ferry he had started between Carr's and Ram Islands in the Merrimack to Colchester, settled in 1639 (shortly after renamed to Salisbury), which included today's Amesbury. Poore's Lane (Woodland Street) connected Country Lane to the ferry. A similar ferry crossed the Parker. The settlers were concerned with getting the links of the original coastal road, now Route 1A, in place.

By 1654 a new settlement had developed around Emesbury Mill on the Powwow River. It needed a shorter route to Newbury than Carr's Ferry. In 1668 the General Court created Emesbury (Amesbury) and appointed one Mr. Goodwin ferryman of a new ferry to land near the mouth of the Powwow River. Newbury agreed to extend Country Lane past Bradford Road to the ferry. It was perhaps at that time that the future High Street became Ferry Road.

Ferry Road ran along the right bank of the Merrimack to a gap in the bluffs of Upper Woods within the current borders of the park. The site is now forested with second growth. No visible trace of the ferry or the houses remains; however, Old Ferry Road appears there as an overgrown sunken lane between stone walls. Directly across the river is the Amesbury Public Landing. Goodman's Ferry changed hands a number of times, becoming Hook's Ferry at one time. It was discontinued in 1792 with the construction of the Essex Merrimack Bridge.

History

The park was formerly the country estate of Frederick Strong Moseley. Originally named Maudesleigh, it was created on agricultural fields by landscape architect Martha Brookes Hutcheson, one of the earliest female members of the American Society of Landscape Architects, who designed the grounds around the main house, entry drive, and formal gardens (1904-1906). Lord and Burnham designed various of the greenhouses. At its peak, about 40 staff serviced the estate's three greenhouses, head house, cold frames, espaliered fruit trees, winter plant house, two-acre formal vegetable and cutting garden, 500-foot perennial border, Italian garden, rose garden, and rhododendrons, azaleas, and specimen trees, as well as the site's native mountain laurels.

William G. Rantoul, of the Boston firm Jacques and Rantoul, served as the estate's principal architect, creating most of the original architecture in the years 1895-1910. He designed the 72-room main house (demolished 1955) and houses for the coachman, forester, and head gardener. A second large house was built 1939-1941 for Helen Moseley, Frederick's younger daughter but in 1978 destroyed by fire. Today only few of some 30 structures remain.

In 1985 the property was acquired by the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Management to become Maudslay State Park. The main gate, the drives, the stone bridges and overlooks have survived, as well as stands of lilac, rhododendron and some of the fruit trees. The sites of the grand houses have been leveled. The tops of the foundations are visible in the mowed lawn. The swimming pool of the main house is empty and is choked with thickets. Except for select locations, the gardens and greenhouses have fallen into ruin, the walls scarcely visible on the overgrown hillside. The dairy farm on the property survived and is a working farm in good repair.

The park service has added a parking lot. A nearby house became the park headquarters. A staff of rangers and grounds employees maintain the meadows and trails and conduct guided tours; however, visitors are welcome to hike the trails, except for areas restricted for ecological purposes. A memorial running course has been delineated. It winds through the meadows and pines. Rest rooms and shower facilities were constructed in the parking lot. Equestrian parties on the larger trails are common. The horses are often brought in privately in trailers, which park in the meadow next to the lot.

Recreational Opportunities

  • Bike Paths
  • Educational/Interpretive Programs
  • Group Day Use
  • Hiking
  • Historic Site
  • Horseback Riding Trails
  • Mountain Biking
  • Picnicking
  • Restrooms
  • Scenic Viewing Area
  • Skiing (Cross-Country)
  • Walking Trails

References

  • Records of the Moseley Garden Collection
  • Currier, John James (1902). History of Newbury, Mass. 1635-1902. Boston: Damrell & Upham. Covers the early history of Newburyport before separation from Newbury. Downloadable from Google Books.
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