Wellesley, Wild + Weird

From Dave Brigham:

I enjoyed exploring both Wellesley Hills (see April 23, 2022, "A Wonderful Walk in Wellesley Hills") and Wellesley Square ((see July 2, 2022, "Wandering in Wellesley Square") in recent months, after largely ignoring this well-to-do Boston suburb (a local blog is called The Swellesley Report for good reason) over the years. During those adventures, I also checked out some funky, one-off destinations, which I present here today.

First up is a place I've driven past many times over the years, on my way to the old Baker Estate grounds (see January 20, 2018, "The Fabulous Baker Estate"), the Elm Bank Reservation, Lookout Farm or the Broadmoor Wildlife Sanctuary.

Located on the grounds of Wellesley College, this quaint stone cottage is known as East Lodge. Built in 1869, this Second Empire house (thanks, MACRIS) was designed by Hammatt Billings, whose works include the National Monument to the Forefathers in Plymouth, Mass.; the Civil War monument in Concord, Mass.; and the original illustrations for Uncle Tom's Cabin, according to Wikipedia. He was also the architect for Wellesley College's College Hall, which burned down in 1914.

Located at a Washington Street entrance to the campus, just outside Wellesley Square, East Lodge "is important for its representation of the earliest documented building constructed specifically for the College campus," MACRIS indicates. I assume the little lodge was used as a residence at some point. I'm not sure whether it is currently occupied. At first, I guessed that this building was a gardener's cottage, much like the nearby Hunnewell Estate Lower Lodge.

I didn't make a photo of that lodge, which was built in 1866 as a gardener's lodge and gatehouse for the Hunnewell mansion known as "Wellesley," per MACRIS.

In Wellesley Lower Falls, which abuts Newton Lower Falls, I enjoyed checking out a historic mill and its attendant dam and bridge, as well as a few other places.

The Eaton Moulton Mill at 35 Walnut Street dates to 1853, per MACRIS. It replaced two prior structures that had burned down. All of these buildings were used for constructing and repairing machinery for the Ware Paper Mill, which was located across the Charles River in Newton Lower Falls. The Ware mill buildings are still standing, as well.

Currently in use as an office building, the old stone mill building was "for many years one of the leading builders of paper machinery in the country," MACRIS indicates, citing as a source a book by Clarence Wiswall called 100 Years of Paper Making: A History of the Industry on the Charles River at Newton Lower Falls, Massachusetts.

A footbridge connects Wellesley to Newton, spanning the Charles River and the Cordingly Dam.

The Newton Conservators indicates that this is a rebuilt Victorian-style bridge. There is a fish passage located here as well.

Close by, on River Street, is the former Pulcifer-Healey Carriage Shop, per MACRIS.

I never would have guessed from looking at this place that it was built in 1871. I assume it's been altered quite a bit from its early days when John Pulcifer painted carriages here. MACRIS indicates Pulcifer also did some carpentry and blacksmithing work here in the latter half of the 19th century. In 1899, Harriet Healey of neighboring Newton acquired the property. Timothy Healey (husband? brother? cousin?) continued the business through the 1930s, when his work was done on automobiles.

Across Washington Street, on the dead-end Mica Lane, is a building known historically as the Billings and Clapp Chemical Company headquarters.

This is a building I was unaware of, seeing as how it's tucked behind a row of retail and restaurant spaces along Washington Street, as well as a few newer industrial buildings. I was a bit surprised to see a factory complex in Wellesley, although I shouldn't have been, because this site, hard by the Charles River, is close to the aforementioned Eaton Moulton Mill, and simliar buildings in Newton Lower Falls.

Dating to 1899, this handsome brick building evidently subsumed an earlier fieldstone structure, per MACRIS. The brick complex was erected by the Billings & Clapp Chemical Company. In subsequent years, the mill was used to manufacture electrical insulation, chocolate and marine adhesives, per MACRIS. The building is also known historically as the American Mica Corp. and Rounds Chocolate Company.

Thanks to a fan of this blog who posted on Facebook, I learned about the Babson Globe.

Completed in 1955 on the campus of Babson College, in the Map and Globe Museum in Coleman Hall, the massive globe was the brainchild of the school's founder, Roger Babson, a statue of whom is seen in the above photo. Babson "was an American entrepreneur, economist, and business theorist in the first half of the 20th century," according to Wikipedia. "He is best remembered for founding Babson College. He also founded Webber College, now Webber International University, in Babson Park, Florida, and the defunct Utopia College, in Eureka, Kansas." He attended MIT and worked for investment firms before founding his own stock analysis and business report company, Wikipedia continues.

Like the Earth itself, the Babson Globe has had its trials and tribulations. It fell into disrepair in the late 1970s, and was at one point slated for demolition, according to the college's web site. It was restored during the years 1991-1993, and again in 2018. In 2019 it was moved to Centennial Park.

The final spot on this tour of unusual sites of Wellesley is my favorite, by far.

I learned about the Waban Arches while researching the Crosstown Trail for a prior Wellesley post. As soon as I researched the arches, which were built in 1875, and found photos and videos online, I knew I had to explore there as soon as possible.

The arches are located along the Sudbury Aqueduct Path, crossing the Waban and Fuller brooks as they empty into the Charles River. The path across the top, filled with graffiti from end to end, and the arched bridge itself are reminiscent of Echo Bridge in Newton Upper Falls (see March 8, 2018, "I Seek Newton, Part VIII: Upper Falls (Section 2)").

I love places like this, where teens obviously hang out, get creative, enjoy their freedom, smoke a little dope or drink a few beers, getting away from their parents. I needed places like this when I was young.

As I said, the bridge is part of the Sudbury Aqueduct, which I've explored in Newton (see November 11, 2011, "History Flows On, Part I"). The aqueduct carried water from Framingham to the Chestnut Hill Reservoir, for use by the city of Boston, for nearly 100 years. It came out of service in 1978.

As cool as I found walking across the top -- reading the graffiti, listening to the birds, saying "Hi!" to dogs and their owners jogging by, looking down to people fishing beside the brooks -- the real prize at this site is, of course, the arches.

The path from the top to the bottom is a bit steep, but it's easy to navigate. And, of course, there is ample artwork belowdecks.

Given the focus of this blog, you might think all I cared about was the anachronistic architecture hiding in the woods. But, hey, I enjoy nature as well.

Well, that's it for Wellesley...for now.