30-574: The Middlesex Fells Reservation Parkways are the roadways within and bordering on the Middlesex Fells Reservation , a state park in the northern suburbs of Boston, Massachusetts , United States. The park includes portions of the towns of Malden , Medford , Melrose , Stoneham , and Winchester . The roads inside the park and around its perimeter have been listed on the National Register of Historic Places . Other portions of some of
60-401: A bracketed roof line and gable ends, with round-arch windows at the gable ends. Its setting also has original landscaping elements, including a pair of entrance posts and a granite wall separating it from Woodland Road. The house was built about 1859 by John Botume, a Boston merchant, and was one of a half dozen houses built as summer houses along Spot Pond to capitalize on the setting. It is
90-427: A junction with Fellsway West. There is a parking area, with access to Wright's Pond, on this stretch of road. Fellsway West is partly a border parkway and partly internal; the border section of the parkway connects Elm Street to Roosevelt Circle. North of this junction only about 2,000 feet (610 m) of roadway are part of the original parkway design, having been extensively altered by the construction of I-93 along
120-701: A major interchange including Interstate 93 and Fellsway West ( Massachusetts Route 28 ) in Medford, along the southwestern border of the reservation, northwest into Winchester, where it ends at a junction that includes Highland Avenue, a noncontributing road that borders the reservation on the west, and the Mystic Valley Parkway , a parkway that joins the reservation to the DCR lands of the Mystic River Reservation . There are small, mostly unpaved, parking areas on
150-519: A municipal road heading southeast, it passes through a heavily wooded section of the park before reaching its junction with the East Border Road in Malden. The roadway continues south from this junction as a connecting parkway. East Border Road runs west from its junction with Summer Street, a Malden municipal street, through the intersection with Fellsway East, along the heavily wooded southern flank of
180-480: Is a grassy area, including a parking area, that provides fine views of Spot Pond, along this stretch of road. A non-park portion of Pond Street extends north toward the center of Stoneham, while the parkway section extends south into the interior of the park, flanking the eastern shore of Spot Pond. At its junction with Woodland Road it runs eastward to a junction with Fellsway East and the Lynn Fells Parkway ,
210-729: Is not included in the National Register listing. The parkway provides access to the most centrally-located parking area of the reservation, the Lower Sheepfold lot. Middlesex Fells Reservation Middlesex Fells Reservation , often referred to simply as the Fells , is a public recreation area covering more than 2,200 acres (890 ha) in Malden , Medford , Melrose , Stoneham , and Winchester , Massachusetts, United States. The state park surrounds two inactive reservoirs, Spot Pond and
240-502: Is not visible from the roadway. Woodland Road is one of the two major north–south parkways through the reservation. It is a four-lane roadway with a grassy median for most of its length, running south from South Street in Stoneham to a junction with Elm Street and Highland Avenue in Medford. Its major intersections are designed as small rotaries, and it provides access to the Spot Pond area,
270-538: Is now used by dog walkers and picnickers. John Bottume House The John Bottume House is a historic house at 4 Woodland Road in Stoneham, Massachusetts . Built c. 1849, this stone house was one of several built along the shore of Spot Pond by a Boston businessman as a retreat, and is the only one to survive. It is owned by the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation , and houses
300-547: Is offered on Dark Hollow Pond. Other facilities include picnicking areas, an observation tower, and a tot lot. A concessionaire offers sailing lessons and rentals of kayaks, canoes, pedal boats and row boats on Spot Pond during summer. Rock climbing is also popular in the Fells. Sheepfold Meadow is an open field of 10 acres (4.0 ha) located in Stoneham, Massachusetts as a part of the Middlesex Fells Reservation that
330-643: The Fells Connector Parkways , which connect the park to the Mystic River Reservation in Winchester, and the Lynn Fells Parkway , connecting the park to the Breakheart Reservation in Saugus . The reservation has over 100 miles (160 km) of trails for hiking, mountain biking, cross-country skiing, and horseback riding. Trailheads are accessible from Interstate 93 at exits 24, 25, and 26. Fishing
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#1732856097528360-595: The Metropolitan Park System of Greater Boston . The area around Middlesex Fells is known to have been explored by John Winthrop , Governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony , in 1632. The reservation's lands have been used for the production of timber, granite, and ice. Abundant water power meant that many mills, including one that manufactured some of the first vulcanized rubber products, were located here. Remnants of early mill works are visible in
390-669: The Middlesex Fells Reservation Parkways . The park's visitor center on Woodland Road in Stoneham is in the historic John Botume House , which is not far from the 1906 Metropolitan District Commission Pumping House . Historically important archaeological sites in the park are listed as part of the Spot Pond Archeological District . Roadways connecting the park to other elements of the Metropolitan Park System are also listed; these include
420-563: The Spot Pond Archeological District , located in the Virginia Woods section, the site of the former mill village of Haywardville. The reservation was initiated in 1891 with the donation of Virginia Wood to The Trustees of Reservations by Fannie Tudor as a memorial to her daughter, Virginia. As a child Virginia loved to walk in the woods surrounding the Italianate mansion her grandfather had given her mother on Spot Pond in 1862. The property
450-581: The Fells Reservoir, and the three active reservoirs (North, Middle, and South) that are part of the water supply system for the town of Winchester. Spot Pond and the Fells Reservoir are part of the Wachusett water system , one of six primary water systems that feed metropolitan Boston's waterworks . The park is managed by the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation and is part of
480-601: The Metropolitan Parks Commission, predecessor organization to the Metropolitan District Commission and today's Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR). By 1897 the park had been expanded to some 3,000 acres (1,200 ha). This area included some existing roadways, which became internal roadways of the park. The border roads that surround the park followed a principle articulated by landscape designer Charles Eliot , who
510-602: The Reservation along Woodland Road in Stoneham , until it closed in February 1999. In addition to being a state park, portions of the park and structures within it are listed on the National Register of Historic Places . The entire area surrounding Spot Pond to the east of I-93 is within the Middlesex Fells Reservoirs Historic District , and the roadways in the park and on its borders are listed as
540-404: The border roads that run through parts of the reservation) are described roughly from east to west. Ravine Road is a relatively short (3,000-foot (910 m)) roadway connecting Woodland Road in the west to Fellsway East. The roadway is only 28 feet (8.5 m) wide, and is heavily forested on both sides. The ravine for which it is named contains Spot Pond Brook, and lies just to the north, but
570-500: The latter a connecting parkway joining the Fells to the Breakheart Reservation . The section along the pond is four lanes wide, with opposing travel lanes separated by a wide grassy median. The northernmost section of Fellsway East runs either within or on the border of the Fells. From the junction with Pond Street in Stoneham, it runs south, forming a small miter (triangular) junction with Ravine Road, before passing, shortly afterward entering Melrose. After it passes Washington Street,
600-517: The only one to survive, the last of the rest, the Lang House, being demolished in 1986. The property was acquired in 1895 by the Metropolitan District Commission, predecessor to today's Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation , which continues to own it. The MDC was using the house as a supervisor's residence at the time the property was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1984. It has since been converted for use as
630-419: The park, to a junction with Highland Avenue, a municipal street in Medford. A short stretch of Highland runs north along the park border to a circular intersection with Woodland Road and Elm Street; this stretch of Highland is not part of the National Register listing. Elm Street continues to follow the southern flank of the park westward from the junction with Woodland Road and East Border Road, running west to
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#1732856097528660-438: The reservation side of the road providing access to trails. There is a small dead-end spur of the road that resulted from the construction of I-93, and there is a roughly 1-mile (1.6 km) section which runs inside the reservation as a result of land acquisitions south of the road. Hillcrest Parkway is a U-shaped road, both of whose ends are on Highland Avenue in Winchester. The parkway is, at 4,000 feet (1,200 m), one of
690-417: The roads are covered by more than one listing in the national register; see Fellsway Connector Parkways and Middlesex Fells Reservoirs Historic District . The Middlesex Fells Reservation is one of the oldest and largest of the parks in the Metropolitan Park System of Greater Boston . The reservation was created in 1894 with a gift of 450 hectares (1,100 acres) of land from The Trustees of Reservations to
720-557: The same corridor. The internal section provides access to some centrally located reservation resources; the historic border section now consists of a one-way stretch of road that runs from the northeast side of Roosevelt Circle, while a modern one-way section runs south from the Elm Street junction, over I-93, to join Roosevelt Circle at the northwest, near the junction with South Border Road. The interior parkways (excluding portions of
750-525: The shorter parkways in the system. The west side of the parkway (the inside of the U) consists of residential properties, most of which were developed in the early 20th century; the reservation is to the east. This roadway, which does not generally carry through traffic, is only 24 feet (7.3 m) wide and is unstriped. There is a scenic view of the North Reservoir near its northern end. The Near this point there
780-549: The visitor center at the John Bottume House , and the Metropolitan District Commission Pumping House . The interior reservation parkway portion of Fellsway West runs north from the junction with Elm Street in Medford to a junction with North Border Road and South Street in Stoneham. Because it has been significantly altered by the construction of adjacent I-93, most of this portion of parkway
810-425: The visitors center for the Middlesex Fells Reservation . It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1984. The Botume House is located in southern Stoneham, set on the eastern shore of Spot Pond, the largest body of water in the Middlesex Fells Reservation . It is a T-shaped stone structure, 2 + 1 ⁄ 2 stories in height, built out of uncoursed granite stone. Its Italianate features in
840-488: Was formerly a junction with a North Border Road, which has been fragmented and rerouted in part by the construction of I-93 and partially converted to hiking trails, and is not considered part of the National Register listing. South Street runs from Main Street in Stoneham, at its junction with a newer section of North Border Road, for about 0.25 miles (0.40 km) east-southeast to a point where it merges into Pond Street. There
870-433: Was instrumental in the preservation of the Fells, that such roads clearly delineated the bounds of the park, and provided its neighbors with pleasing views. The parkways are described here in clockwise order, beginning in the south. These roads are generally two-lane paved roads, about 30 feet (9.1 m) wide, and in some cases briefly pass through portions of the reservation. South Border Road runs from Roosevelt Circle,
900-405: Was later donated to the Metropolitan District Commission in 1923. In 1893, the state took the property over and began managing it as a state park. At some point in the 1800s or earlier, a stone tablet was erected on Great Island, which reads "WHERE SHUTE FELL". There are several contradictory stories explaining the significance of this phrase. Boston Regional Medical Center was located within
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