Address: 670 Baker St, West Roxbury
2008 Status: Protected
2008 Condition: Intact
Site Size: 72.2 Acres
Click here for the Urban Wilds Glossary.
Description: Sawmill Brook Urban Wild is maintained as the Brook Farm Reservation by the MA Department of Conservation and Recreation. The property includes the large freshwater marsh associated with Sawmill Brook. Sawmill Brook flows through the property from Baker Street southeasterly to the north of Millennium Park and Dump Shoreline Urban Wild to feed the Charles River.
A peninsula of upland extends into the site from Baker Street. A driveway leads into the property where MA DCR maintains a parking area, office and a garage to support the maintenance of Brook Farm. An interpretive kiosk stands along the driveway describing the natural and cultural history of the reservation. Further in, at the center of the property, is the Gethsemane Cemetery that maintains the majority of the upland in burial plots.
Current Use: Sawmill Brook Urban Wild or Brookfarm Reservation is open from dawn to dusk for public recreation and enjoyment. Walkers, runners, and bird watchers frequent the site. A trail network extends beyond the property, to the west, to join conservation land in Newton. Brook Farm is rich in cultural and natural history. The marsh and adjacent swamp provides crucial habitat for birds, insects, amphibians, fish, reptiles, and mammals.
History: The Sawmill Brook Urban Wild is on the site of the experimental commune of Transcendentalists known as Brook Farm. In the 1840’s George Ripley started Brook Farm with Nathaniel Hawthorne and others. The society lasted approximately 6 years before it went broke. The property was briefly used as a poor farm in the 1850s and than as a training site for Camp Andrew during the Civil War. An orphanage occupied the farm from 1872 through 1943 and a treatment center was on site from 1948 through 1974. The MDC acquired the land in 1988.
Ward: 13
Site ID: 13-18
Site Owner: Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation
Access Points: Accessible from Baker Street.
Visitation Hours:
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A view of Sawmill Brook and its associated marshes from Baker Street.
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The entrance to MA DCR’s Brook Farm Historic Site and the upland portion of Sawmill Brook Urban Wild.
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