The Duxbury Rural Welcome to Round Pond Welcome! and Historical Society Cranberry Bogs

The Rural Society in Duxbury was founded in Our town is blessed with the ingredients to make an Since the 1890s, when first purchased by the 1883 by a group of citizens who were determined ideal cranberry growing environment: swamps and an Rural Society (now Duxbury Rural and Historical to form a village improvement society to maintain abundance of fresh water, replenished by rainfall in Society), Round Pond has been a favorite the town’s rural character. excess of 48 inches/year, and acidic peat soil. recreation spot for Duxbury residents. The application of readily-available sand keeps The Society was first set up to place kerosene Today, you are likely to see neighbors walking root systems from binding together, and cool, dry lamp street lights along Washington Street and the paths in the 170 acres of conservation land temperatures during the growing season keep fruit plant trees along main streets. At that time, there between Round Pond, Pine Lake, and Island from scalding. were few trees along the village roads. It wasn’t Creek Pond. The land includes extensive long before the Wild cranberries, in the same family as blueberries, woodlands as well as 40 acres comprising the Society was wintergreen, rhododendron, and bearberry, are mainly Loring Cranberry Bogs north of Round Pond, acquiring open evergreen shrubs with drooping, pink flowers that a parcel purchased with Community Preservation space in town. love acidic soil. These plants are typical vegetation of Act funds in 2006. The bogs are still in In the 1890s, the open moors, damp, low-lying areas. The American production and are leased out by the town for Society began to cranberry is one of only three fruits native to North active management. buy plots bordering Round Pond, and later, the America; the others are blueberry and Concord grape. pond itself. The Rural Society was interested in Our bogs bring us other preserving a country setting that would offer a benefits. Bog ponds are A Gift from the Ice Age pleasant destination for carriage rides, and a picnic stocked with fish. Both spot. The Rural Society’s purchases in the Round ponds and bogs attract a Pond area grew until they totalled about 50 acres. Round Pond is a large kettle hole left by a melting variety of wildlife and help glacier around 10,000 BC. Ice continued to play The Rural Society became the Duxbury Rural maintain the water table a part in the pond’s history as late as the 1940s. and Historical Society in 1916, and continued essential to Duxbury’s its interest and involvement in the rural aspects domestic water supply. Duxbury bogs also provide When known as Cole’s Pond in the 1880s, of its work. In the 1980s, the Reverend Canon excellent walking areas! the pond was the site of the Merry family’s ice Robert E. Merry, as head of the Society’s house, and an abundant source of ice for summer lands committee, worked with the town and residents. Through the winter, Merry crews,

t using long saws, cut pond ice into large blocks, Audubon Society officials to e e t r Parking S Street laboriously pulled the blocks onto sleds, and develop and complete a working trail system on st a E Ma hauled the heavily-loaded sleds across the ice to the conservation land at both Round Pond and y flower wooden storage buildings. Inside, ice blocks were North Hill Marsh. Two Round Pond trails were Round opened in January of 1986. Pond 3A covered with sawdust, piled high, then covered Pine with more sawdust. The sawdust insulated the Lake Round In 2011, the Town of Duxbury dedicated an area Pond d ice blocks sufficiently to allow delivery of ice until 3 Island Creek oa Trails R Pond n of land adjacent to Round Pond as the “David S. e d summer to area homes and summer cottages. ar Cutler Forest.” David, a Duxbury newspaper y G By the 1940s, however, most home and cottage be publisher and advocate for conservation land, To owners had installed refrigerators, causing the Elm St was often quoted as saying: “Buy land, they don’t Elm Street reet ice business to melt away, much as the glaciers make it anymore.” that had made it possible. Natural History Round Pond Trails

Round Pond is one of the more diverse of the conservation lands in Duxbury. This area ranges from forest cover to open cranberry bog. The tree cover along the upland portions of the David S. trail is dominated mostly by a white pine-red oak Cutler Forest mixture adapted to

these soils. Parkin g North Hill Marsh

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The understory is Re d low bush, and dry Re

land blueberries, Pump Hous e Island Creek Pond ferns, sweetferns Red Crocker Park Parkin g

(in sandy Tobey Garden Tobey

openings), teaberry, Private d

Rules and Regulations

Private and ladyslippers. Re

- Hunting and trapping are prohibited - Hunting and trapping are at all times control be under your - Dogs must - Please so others clean up after dogs, your this site enjoy may

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d Where the trail dips into wetlands and along Re • Open sunrise to sunset wildlife: protect To • Cranberry reservoirs, the vegetation changes to red maple with Mayflower Street Yellow

alder, sagebush, highbush blueberry, summersweet, t

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and native azalea. White e Whit White

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These climax forests attract a good deal of northern Bay Circui Trail Sign temperate forest wildlife, ranging from waterfowl to larger animals like white-tailed deer, raccoons, Yellow Pond Lane

opossums, and fox. It also makes great habitat for Cherry

Blue Blue Pond Round White

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our feathered friends, such as osprey, red-tailed White Whit hawks, bluebirds, White egrets, great blue t Pump Bo g heron, and many Houses Cranberry Bo g

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types of interior Bay Circui Trail Sign Elm Street Elm

forest birds such

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as chickadees, N

Bo g tufted titmice, Street East Pine Lak cardinals and cedar Cranberry Bo g

waxwings. Keep

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your eye out for Reserv Chase these birds. The quieter you are, the - Camping, fires, dumping, dumping, fires, - Camping, litteringprohibited are - Motorized vehicles prohibited are - Cutting or removing is prohibited vegetation - New trail or other construction is prohibited

• To protect the land: protect To • Please the Duxbury contact Conservation Commission and for full regulations stewardship information. Questions? Call the Duxbury Conservation Commission at 781-934-1100 ext 134 3 more likely you ROUTE will be to see them. 0 Happy trails!