Reformatory Branch Railroad Town of Concord The Reformatory Branch Trail was originally a Chronology of railroad right of way of the Middlesex Central Railroad which opened in 1873 running from Lexington to Reformatory Branch Bedford and Concord. In 1879, the railroad was Reformatory extended 2.5 miles west to Elm Street near the Concord Reformatory (now the Massachusetts Branch 1872 – The Boston & Lowell Railroad creates Correctional Institution facility), with a connection to other rail lines at Concord Junction in West Concord. Trail Guide a subsidiary corporation, the The railroad was taken over by the Boston and Maine Middlesex Central Railroad, for the Railroad in 1887. Passenger service was maintained by purpose of extending its Lexington the B & M Railroad until 1926 and remaining freight Branch eight miles further west service until 1962 when the entire branch was through Bedford to Concord Center. abandoned. The right-of-way was purchased by Concord and Bedford at that time. Only the 1873 – The Middlesex Central Railroad straight-as-an-arrow graded path reveals its former opens its new extension to Bedford purpose, with an occasional exposed railroad tie or and Concord Center. concrete signal post to prompt our imaginations of a steam-engine railroad past. The bridges that carried 1879 – The Middlesex Central Railroad the railway across the Sudbury and Assabet Rivers no opens another extension of its branch longer exist; the Sudbury bridge was destroyed by the line 2.5 miles further west to Elm 1938 hurricane. The rail bed immediately west of the Street across from the Concord Assabet River is now overgrown and impassable. This Prison. trail passes by some of Concord’s significant recreational and historic sites. 1887 – The Boston & Lowell Railroad is Location and Access Locomotive at Monument Street, 1951 absorbed by the Boston & Maine Photo by S. K. Bolton, Jr. The rail bed extends from Lowell Road in Concord to Railroad. Collection of George M. Dimon Route 62 in Bedford, with many points of access. 1926 – The Boston & Maine Railroad ends Access points near Concord center are at Lowell Road passenger service on the Reformatory across from Keyes Road, to the right of Concord Lumber Company and where the trail crosses at Branch. Monument Street. Another Concord entry point is at 1927 – The Boston & Maine Railroad Great Meadows National Wildlife Refuge (GMNWR) abandons the 2.5 mile section off Monsen Road. between Concord Station and In Bedford, the trail crosses Route 62 next to the Reformatory Station on Elm Street. Bedford Children’s Center (204 Concord Road). The trail access toward Concord is across the road (behind 1962 – The Boston & Maine Railroad the guard rail) from a small parking area. Originally, the abandons the Reformatory Branch railroad bed passed beneath a wooden bridge on a between Bedford and Concord raised section of Route 62. Center. Concord purchased the Access to the railroad bed west of the Sudbury River is section adjacent to the Great described in the River Confluence Trail Guide. Meadows National Wildlife Refuge Tel: Dog Owners: Keep dogs leashed at all times when in to be maintained as a buffer or Sleepy Hollow Cemetery, and under your control at all protection strip and be used as a path times and away from private yards and buildings. It is overlooking the marsh. the duty of each person who owns, possesses, or Prepared by the Division of Natural Resources, 2021 controls a dog to remove and dispose of any feces left by his or her dog. Reformatory Branch Trail Points of Interest The swamp is named for John B. Moore who Concord Power Station hub of Concord history. Located here are the Old purchased and partially reclaimed it for farming The Federal Revival style brick building at 141 North Bridge of the American Revolution’s “Shot in the mid-1800s. The swamp is of great interest Keyes Road was built in 1899 as the combined heard round the world”; The Old Manse, built for to naturalists as a nesting place of Great Blue electricity-generating and sewage-pumping Rev. William Emerson in 1770 whose grandson, Herons, home to threatened Blanding’s Turtles, station for Concord. Electrical service began Ralph Waldo Emerson, spent time here and and an abundance of other swamp life. Wood February 2, 1900. The sewage-pumping facility Nathaniel Hawthorne lived here in his early- ducks, green herons, several species of never operated as well as planned and was married life; and, The Robbins House which woodpeckers, and great horned owls are among eventually replaced with pumps installed in the accommodates Concord’s African American the bird species often encountered in and small brick building next to the railroad bed. The History with exhibits open to the public on a around Moore’s Swamp. coal-fired station received coal by shipment on seasonal basis. Native American Encampment the Reformatory Branch. Today electricity is Colonial Militia Marker Paleo-Indian settlement is believed to have distributed elsewhere in Town and the building About ¼ of a mile east of the Monument Street followed soon after retreat of the glacial ice houses the offices of the Department of Planning crossing there is a granite monument inscribed cover, placing human habitation here at least and Land Management. “Across these fields passed the Colonial Militia – 11,000 years ago. The ridge formation that was Mill Brook North Bridge to Merriam’s Corner – April 19, a natural route for railroad construction in the The Mill Brook flows under Lowell Road and runs 1775”. This marks the route that the Minutemen 19th century had been a dry campground in wet through Mill Brook Way conservation areas. The took after the battle at the Old North Bridge. It terrain in pre- history. A Nipmuc Tribe of the Mill Brook played an important role in the early was their intent to bypass the British “Red Coats” Algonquin Nation was known to live here as history of Concord. The brook distributed water while they regrouped in the center of Concord, recently as the 1800s. Much evidence of early to a millpond in Heywood Meadow that thereby enabling an ambush and harassment of inhabitants has been found along the railway powered a gristmill in the town center. The mill the British troops as they proceeded on the route including leaf-shaped spear points, gouges, and was closed and the pond was drained and filled back to Boston. Many of the Minutemen from grinding mortars. in 1828. To accommodate railroad construction more distant towns joined the battle at this time. African American Settlement the Mill Brook was routed through a tunnel Sleepy Hollow Cemetery The homestead of John Jack, the first former under the rail yard where Concord Lumber is African American slave to own land in Concord, today. was located on 8.5 acres of high ground above Concord Railway Station and Rail Yard Great Meadow in the early 1700’s. It was near The Concord Railway the current site of the Concord Waste Water Station and rail yard, Treatment Plant. A succession of related African Old North Bridge no longer in existence, American families followed here, including were located off Caesar Robbins who, though born into slavery, Lowell Road, behind Author’s Ridge in Sleepy Hollow Cemetery became a patriot serving as a stand-in for his present day Concord provides a side-trail tribute to Concord’s literary owner in the French and Indian War and later Lumber, in Mill Brook past. Here lie the graves of literary notables enlisting to fight in the Revolutionary War. Two Way. The station served passengers and Henry David Thoreau, Louisa May Alcott, Ralph of Caesar doubled as the publication and print shop for Waldo Emerson, and Nathaniel Hawthorne. The Robbins’ six The Concord Journal. Whitney Coal and Grain headstone for Peter Hutchinson’s grave that children, Company had its facilities on the eastern end of remained unmarked until 2013 may also be found Susan and the yard. north of Author’s Ridge. Peter, and Monument Street Historical Sites Moore’s Swamp their families A short walk on Monument Street from its A short distance west of the Concord Wastewater lived here in a two-family crossing with the Reformatory Branch Trail leads Treatment Plant, a red-blazed trail leads off the The Robbins House to the Minute Man National Historical Park and a Reformatory Branch Trail into Moore’s Swamp. house built in 1823. It was moved in 1871 and again in 2011 National Wildlife Refuge - Concord Unit, an River. This trail connects to trails leading to the when it was transported to land adjacent to the important stop on the flyway for migratory birds. Old Calf Pasture. Walking time: 5 minutes one parking lot for the Old North Bridge where, after Great Meadows is a naturalist’s haven. Growing way. (See also the River Confluence Trail Guide.) restoration, it survives today. in the meadow is a mix of native cattails, water Monument Street - A short walk north (away It now houses The Robbins House - Concord’s lilies, and marshland growth as well as several from Concord Center) on Monument Street leads African American History. aquatic invasive species. Frequently seen birds to the Minute Man National Historical Park Peter’s Spring include red-winged blackbirds, Canada geese, (MMNHP). The area includes the Old North A distant kinsman of Caesar Robbins, Peter mergansers, and other duck species, snowy Bridge, the Old Manse, and the Caesar Robbins Hutchinson lived in the Robbins house by the egrets, and great blue herons. Sightings of the House. Walking time: 5 minutes one way. meadow in the mid-1800s. A nearby natural American bald eagle are also reported.