Lucy Stone, the "morning star" of the women's rights movement, was born on her family's farm on Coy's Hill in West Brookfield in 1818. Soon the site of her family home will provide visitors an opportunity to learn about Stone, the early struggle for women's rights, and the landscape that sustained and inspired her. 
A Conservation Success
The Trustees' participated in a long-standing multi-partnered effort to preserve the site of the former Stone family home and the natural area now surrounding it. We initially purchased 367 acres of the Coy's Hill property and then immediately resold 306 acres to the Massachusetts Division of Fisheries and Wildlife to be managed for its wildlife habitat and other ecological value. The Town provided critical financial help by buying the development rights on the home site and remaining 61 acres retained by The Trustees, aided by a generous grant from the state's Division of Conservation Services - Self-Help Program. Download a map of the protection project (PDF  - 622K). About Lucy Stone
Lucy Stone was one of the 19th-century's leading women's rights advocates. Born at the farm on Coy's Hill in 1818, she worked and saved for years to acquire an education, becoming one of the first Massachusetts women to earn a bachelor's degree. She lectured and organized widely for women's rights and abolition, acquiring a national reputation for her eloquence, energy, and organizational talents. Stone played a prominent role in organizing the first National Woman's Rights Convention in Worcester in 1850, and remained at the center of the women's rights struggle for almost half a century until her death in 1893. To learn more about Lucy Stone:
Scenic and Natural Resources
Lucy Stone's Home Site is managed in conjunction with Rock House Reservation nearby. The Coy's Hill property contains a variety of wildlife habitats, including rocky outcrops, streams, seeps, springs, vernal pools, and extensive areas of upland woods of varying age and composition. It is also part of a growing greenbelt of more than one thousand acres that connects land owned by the Division of Fisheries and Wildlife to Rock House Reservation and the protected Johnson Farm, altogether comprising more than 1,000 acres of conserved land. The 367-acre Coy's Hill property alone contains almost a mile of frontage on State Route 9, helping to preserve one of the most scenic stretches of this major artery east of the Connecticut Valley. Education and Interpretation
The Lucy Stone Home Site offers a special opportunity to teach future generations about this remarkable woman and her role in an important chapter of our nation's history. Plans call for interpretive signs, trails, a parking area, and a part-time ranger. The property will also serve visitors as another point of entry into the surrounding natural area, and will provide an opportunity to interpret the fascinating evolution of our central New England landscape. |