Finally arriving at the point I was able to walk and drive some distance, I made the Concord River in Middlesex County my eventual destination. Along the way across the State, I dropped by Fitchburg to view the location of the Rollstone Boulder. Or at least its location for almost the past hundred years. It once lay upon Rollstone Hill, was blasted apart, and reassemble on a small tract of land (traffic island) downtown.
Moving on to Middlesex County it was the Alarm Stone in Acton. This is a memorial boulder marking the home site (now just a cellar hole) of Captain Robbins and the first alarm given in Acton that the British regulars were coming. From here it was on to Bedford a bit of socializing with a friend before heading out to the Two Brothers Rocks. These are ancient land boundaries from 1638 when Massachusetts Governor John Winthrop, and Deputy Governor Thomas Dudley, met on the banks of the Concord River. The purpose was to divide up a large parcel of 2500 acres. In the late 1800s, their last names were carved into those boulders.
Making my way upstream (by land) to the Assabet River was the Town of Maynard. Perched in the near middle of the river is Nanny Goat Rock. The only explanation on this name is that at some point a nanny goat did make its way to the rock. True or not, is lost to history.
The day was finished up in Concord where much more was to be done. Accessing some of the most downstrean sections of the Assabet River, I made my way out to its junction with the Sudbury River and the origin of the Concord River. Along the way, one seemingly little know rock on the river bank carried an inscription to George Bradford Bartlett and dated 1886. But out at the junction of the two rivers was Egg Rock and inscription:
On the hill Nashawtuck
at the meeting of the rivers
and along the banks
lived the Indian owners of
Musketaquid
before the white men came
Late in the day I made my way down the Concord River for my first ever visit to the Old North Bridge and historic sites in the immediate surrounding lands. I had a quick appointment with a local gent at a nearby boat access, then it was on my way home! Later to realize I now had a foot with severe problems [sigh!]
