Freetown Reconnaissance Report
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FREETOWN RECONNAISSANCE REPORT TAUNTON RIVER LANDSCAPE INVENTORY MASSACHUSETTS HERITAGE LANDSCAPE INVENTORY PROGRAM Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation Taunton River Wild & Scenic Study Committee Southeastern Regional Planning and Economic Development District PROJECT TEAM Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation Jessica Rowcroft, Preservation Planner Division of Planning and Engineering Southeastern Regional Planning and Economic Development District Nancy Durfee, Environmental Planner Bill Napolitano, Principal Environmental Planner Project Consultants Shary Page Berg Gretchen G. Schuler Virginia Adams, PAL Local Project Coordinator Althea Brady Local Heritage Landscape Participants Althea Brady Nancy Durfee Lynwood H. French Kate Gorman Paul Zioblo October 2005 INTRODUCTION Heritage landscapes are places that are created by human interaction with the natural environment. They are dynamic and evolving; they reflect the history of the community and provide a sense of place; they show the natural ecology that influenced land use patterns; and they often have scenic qualities. This wealth of landscapes is central to each community’s character; yet heritage landscapes are vulnerable and ever changing. For this reason it is important to take the first steps towards their preservation by identifying those landscapes that are particularly valued by the community – a favorite local farm, a distinctive neighborhood or mill village, a unique natural feature or the Taunton River corridor. To this end, the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR), the Southeastern Regional Planning and Economic Development District (SRPEDD) and the Taunton Wild & Scenic Study Committee have collaborated to bring the Heritage Landscape Inventory program (HLI) to communities along the Taunton River. The primary goal of the program is to help communities identify a wide range of landscape resources, particularly those that are significant and unprotected. The focus is on landscapes that have not been identified in previous survey efforts in a given community. Another important goal of the program is to provide communities with strategies for preserving heritage landscapes. The methodology for the Heritage Landscape Inventory program was developed in a pilot project conducted in three watersheds southeast Massachusetts in 2002. This project is outlined in the DCR publication Reading the Land. Experience from the 15 communities in the pilot project provided guidance for a similar program in 24 Essex County municipalities. Now the program has been extended to six communities along the Taunton River: Berkley, Fall River, Freetown, Raynham, Somerset and Taunton. Each participating community appoints a Local Project Coordinator (LPC) to assist the DCR-SRPEDD consulting team. The LPC organizes a heritage landscape identification meeting at which interested residents and town officials offer community input by identifying potential heritage landscapes. This meeting is followed by a fieldwork session including the consulting team and the LPC, usually accompanied by other community members. This group visits the priority landscapes identified in the meeting and gathers information about the community. The final product is the Reconnaissance Report, prepared for each participating community. It outlines the history of the community; identifies the resources and documentation that provide background information; provides a short description of the priority heritage landscapes visited; discusses planning issues identified by the community; and concludes with a brief discussion of survey and planning recommendations. A list of all of the heritage landscapes identified by the community is included in the Appendix. Massachusetts Heritage Landscape Inventory Program 1 Freetown Reconnaissance Report FREETOWN HISTORY The presence of the Pocassets, a sub-group of the Wampanoag tribe, in the Freetown area is documented by many confirmed native sites, with concentration near the Assonet and Taunton Rivers and Long Pond. North and South Main Streets (Route 79, historically known as Rhode Island Road) are believed to follow the route of a Native American trail. In 1659 a group of English settlers purchased a large tract from the Wampanoags which encompassed much of present day Freetown and Fall River. Initially the area was used primarily as farmland by the 26 original owners of the Freemen’s purchase. Freetown was established as a town in 1683. Boundaries with Tiverton (RI), Fall River and Fairhaven fluctuated as late as 1815. Early English settlement was initially concentrated near the mouth of the Assonet River where there was a diverse food supply, a convenient waterway and waterpower to operate a mill. By the Revolutionary War there were two distinct village centers, Assonet and East Freetown. Rivers remained important regional transportation routes although roads were also established in the 18th century. Around 1764 Old Freetown had a native population of 59, probably on the Indian Reservation established in the eastern portion of present-day Fall River. Old Freetown, which included Fall River until 1803, had a population of 1,492 descendants of European settlers in 1765. Agriculture was the mainstay of the colonial economy, with several small mills and a tannery along the Assonet River as well as mills in East Freetown. There was also a Quaker community in the Friend Street area of Berkley and Freetown, with a surviving Quaker cemetery. A shipbuilding and shipping industry was established at Assonet Village in the western part of Freetown after the Revolutionary War. In the 19th century the forge established in East Freetown in 1704 grew into a major foundry that produced scythes, axes and other tools, and later machine castings for the textile industry. Freetown’s shipbuilding and shipping industry declined by the middle of the 19th century, in part because of the arrival of the railroad and also because ships were becoming too large for the upstream location. During this period Freetown reverted to an agricultural base with produce now easier to ship to urban markets via railroad. The population remained largely stable through the 19th century, then rose with an increasing number of immigrants towards the turn of the century, many of whom came to work in the mills in nearby Fall River. By the late 19th century a major part of Freetown’s economy was producing bleach used for processing cloth made in Fall River. Forest production was important in the early 20th century, as was poultry, milk production, cranberry growing and hatchery grown trout. A small summer colony was established on the east side of Long Pond in East Freetown in the late 19th century. Freetown- Fall River State Forest was established in 1934 and now occupies over 5,000 Massachusetts Heritage Landscape Inventory Program 2 Freetown Reconnaissance Report acres, primarily in Freetown, including an outstanding collection of Civilian Conservation Corps waterholes. Construction of Route 24 through the western part of town and Route 140 through the eastern part of town in the mid-20th century made Freetown much more accessible from the north and the south. The industrial base of the community also changed with the closure of the bleachery and other industries by the mid 20th century. Like most other southeastern Massachusetts communities, Freetown saw a dramatic increase in population in the second half of the 20th century with a current population of roughly 8,500. RESOURCES AND DOCUMENTATION This section of the Reconnaissance Report identifies planning documents and tools that provide information relevant to the Heritage Landscape Inventory program. Inventory of Historic Assets The Massachusetts Historical Commission’s (MHC) Inventory of Historic and Archaeological Assets is a statewide list that identifies significant historic resources throughout the Commonwealth. In order to be included in the inventory, a property must be documented on an MHC inventory form, which is then entered into the MHC database. This searchable database, known as MACRIS, is now available online at http://www.sec.state.ma.us/mhc. The MHC inventory for Freetown was begun in the 1970s and updated in 1999 as part of the National Register nomination for Assonet Village and East Freetown. Nearly 200 residential properties are documented, including a large number of pre-1850 houses. Other resources that have been documented include 35 burial grounds as well as bridges, industrial structures, a cattle pound and CCC work at the state forest. State and National Registers of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places is the official federal list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects that have been determined significant in American history, architecture, archaeology, engineering and culture. All National Register properties are automatically listed in the State Register of Historic Places. Freetown has two National Register districts, the Assonet Historic District and the East Freetown Historic District, both established in 1999. Also listed in the State Register are those properties protected by a preservation restriction, drawn up in accordance with MGL Chapter 183, Sections 31-33. A preservation restriction (PR) runs with the deed and is one of the strongest preservation strategies available. All properties which have preservation restrictions filed under the state statute are automatically listed in the State Massachusetts Heritage Landscape Inventory