Remarks at the Opening of the Peabody Independence Greenway, October 15, 2009
I first walked the old Salem - Lowell railbed ten years ago as part of a series of articles for the Weekly News. One summer, my dog and I traversed the city on foot, describing what I saw and uncovering local history along the proposed trail. After the series was published, then-Mayor Peter Torigian remarked, “I only hope it really gets built.” And, here we are today – a vision realized.
It wasn’t much of a trail then. My first impressions were similar to those captured by local poet Dan Shanahan in his 1997 book titled Crystal Lake. One poem, No Trespassing Peabody Water Supply, seems appropriate to share today.
I am grateful for this forgotten railroad line
from Peabody to Boston
for the rusted rails
gutted refrigerators and shopping carts.
No one comes here any more
and if they do only for as long
as a donut or a smoke
not long enough or often enough
to love the place, the swallows
stitching the moon onto black water.
Otters, curious and ravenous
cracking off the heads of perch
and this dog shocked into super speed
once he gets a rabbit up his nose
an apparition up from the leaf fall
shooting through his legs
a locomotive puffing fur and fear.
I have come for the refuge
to gather the names of these acres
into a book to sing
the litany of their being
to become lost in them
as the leaves do in their surrounding
as the geese and beaver do
vanishing beyond the substances of love and water.
For where this railroad goes I must go
a passenger dreaming on a spur of time
traveling with all creatures to the hub of origin
where the beginning of all the worlds ascend.
What a pleasure to have the opportunity to resurrect my research and develop it into a web-based lesson for our city’s 500 eighth grade students. As part of their Social Studies curriculum, they study American history from settlement through the American Revolution and it as if the history along the trail was written specifically to supplement their studies.
We asked them to become “a passenger dreaming on a spur of time” as we took a virtual tour of the trail, visiting Phelps Corners, at the beginning of the trail near Middleton. We learned about the early ironworks and mills that thrived along the Ipswich River and the hardy residents who conquered the wilderness with their families and slaves.
The area of Crystal Lake, formerly known as the Mill Pond, near where we are today, tells the stories of three families of martyrs. Quakers, the Popes and Flints, who were persecuted and banished in the 1650’s and people who were tried and killed as witches fifty years later. We also learned the story of the Haunted Mill.
Off Lowell Street, the trail connects with the Proctor Trail which is named for witch hysteria victims John and Elizabeth Proctor. It also reflects the history of veteran heroes, such as Henry Jacobs, who died at the Battle of Lexington; Capt. Samuel Flint, a hero of the Revolution, and Capt. Taylor, a veteran of the Civil War, who both lived in the house that is today the Lakeside School. Another veteran of the Battle of Bunker Hill will be honored along with his comrades with a new monument at the North Shore Mall. We also investigated the history of the Salem - Lowell railroad and the importance of transportation to local culture, as well as the nature found along the trail.
Our goal was to have students understand that primary sources are “eyewitness accounts” of history and that by looking at how ordinary people experienced events, they can better understand some of the key points in American history.
And, since the students also study Civics in Social Studies, we wanted them to understand that local cities and towns are called upon to contribute to the defense and safety of their locales.
After receiving this crash course in local history, the students wrote essays suggesting a name for the greenway that fell into one of five categories: Human Rights, Culture, Industry, Nature or Military. The essays followed the district’s John Collins Writing program and were graded and judged by the Peabody Bikeway Committee. One essay from each of the grade 8 clusters at Higgins was recognized, as well as an overall grand prize winner.
Tanner Greenway by Devon Wolf, Gemini
Perseverance Path by Thomas Xerras, Orion
Liberty Trails by Bhruna Bastos, Aquarius
The Rail Trail by Hayley Dowd, Pisces
Revolutionary Trail Sabrina Rizzo, Pegasus
AND
Peabody Independence Greenway
by Caitlin Truesdale, Pegasus
It wasn’t much of a trail then. My first impressions were similar to those captured by local poet Dan Shanahan in his 1997 book titled Crystal Lake. One poem, No Trespassing Peabody Water Supply, seems appropriate to share today.
I am grateful for this forgotten railroad line
from Peabody to Boston
for the rusted rails
gutted refrigerators and shopping carts.
No one comes here any more
and if they do only for as long
as a donut or a smoke
not long enough or often enough
to love the place, the swallows
stitching the moon onto black water.
Otters, curious and ravenous
cracking off the heads of perch
and this dog shocked into super speed
once he gets a rabbit up his nose
an apparition up from the leaf fall
shooting through his legs
a locomotive puffing fur and fear.
I have come for the refuge
to gather the names of these acres
into a book to sing
the litany of their being
to become lost in them
as the leaves do in their surrounding
as the geese and beaver do
vanishing beyond the substances of love and water.
For where this railroad goes I must go
a passenger dreaming on a spur of time
traveling with all creatures to the hub of origin
where the beginning of all the worlds ascend.
What a pleasure to have the opportunity to resurrect my research and develop it into a web-based lesson for our city’s 500 eighth grade students. As part of their Social Studies curriculum, they study American history from settlement through the American Revolution and it as if the history along the trail was written specifically to supplement their studies.
We asked them to become “a passenger dreaming on a spur of time” as we took a virtual tour of the trail, visiting Phelps Corners, at the beginning of the trail near Middleton. We learned about the early ironworks and mills that thrived along the Ipswich River and the hardy residents who conquered the wilderness with their families and slaves.
The area of Crystal Lake, formerly known as the Mill Pond, near where we are today, tells the stories of three families of martyrs. Quakers, the Popes and Flints, who were persecuted and banished in the 1650’s and people who were tried and killed as witches fifty years later. We also learned the story of the Haunted Mill.
Off Lowell Street, the trail connects with the Proctor Trail which is named for witch hysteria victims John and Elizabeth Proctor. It also reflects the history of veteran heroes, such as Henry Jacobs, who died at the Battle of Lexington; Capt. Samuel Flint, a hero of the Revolution, and Capt. Taylor, a veteran of the Civil War, who both lived in the house that is today the Lakeside School. Another veteran of the Battle of Bunker Hill will be honored along with his comrades with a new monument at the North Shore Mall. We also investigated the history of the Salem - Lowell railroad and the importance of transportation to local culture, as well as the nature found along the trail.
Our goal was to have students understand that primary sources are “eyewitness accounts” of history and that by looking at how ordinary people experienced events, they can better understand some of the key points in American history.
And, since the students also study Civics in Social Studies, we wanted them to understand that local cities and towns are called upon to contribute to the defense and safety of their locales.
After receiving this crash course in local history, the students wrote essays suggesting a name for the greenway that fell into one of five categories: Human Rights, Culture, Industry, Nature or Military. The essays followed the district’s John Collins Writing program and were graded and judged by the Peabody Bikeway Committee. One essay from each of the grade 8 clusters at Higgins was recognized, as well as an overall grand prize winner.
Tanner Greenway by Devon Wolf, Gemini
Perseverance Path by Thomas Xerras, Orion
Liberty Trails by Bhruna Bastos, Aquarius
The Rail Trail by Hayley Dowd, Pisces
Revolutionary Trail Sabrina Rizzo, Pegasus
AND
Peabody Independence Greenway
by Caitlin Truesdale, Pegasus
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