       
| Property Description |
135 acres | Established 1966 |
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Fork Factory Brook features a short network of trails that track the edges of hay fields of the former Long Acre Farm and meander through wooded upland offering views of surrounding forested wetlands and the remains of a successful 19th-century pitchfork mill. Part of a much larger original farm holding, the fields of Long Acre Farm have been in agriculture for at least 300 years. Throughout the 18th century, Long Acre Farm was a classic New England self-sufficient farming operation that pastured livestock, grew crops, and harvested hay. It also produced rope from hemp, processed flax and wool, made butter and cheese, and used animal byproducts to make candles and boots.
Next to Long Acre Farm, Joshua Morse operated a grist mill along the Mill Brook at least as early as 1771. In 1838-39, Henry Partridge purchased two mills, one on the south side of Main Street (Rte 109) - a cut-nail mill - and one on the north side - Morse's grist mill. He modified both to create a factory that gives the Reservation its name. Partridge and his brother-in-law Malachi Babcock, a blacksmith, had apparently developed a high-quality steel that they used in a Sherborn factory to produce edge tools such as cranberry rakes, adzes, knives, broadaxes, and possibly plows. They saw the Medfield mills as an opportunity to expand their business into hay and manure pitchforks, shovels, spades, and hoes for area farmers who, at the time, produced more than 1,000 tons of hay annually and looked after hundreds of head of livestock. Partridge's operation prospered for twenty years during which time he built a large cut-granite mill building.
For a brief time after the Civil War, new owners used this mill building for a paper cutting enterprise, but it quickly fell into disuse with the advent of coal-powered industry. When the town decided to widen Main Street in 1927, the mill building was dismantled and the granite reused in the construction of a house on Foundry Street. Much of the mill site now sits under Route 109. All that remains is its broad earthen dam and stone raceway at the southern end of the Reservation. |
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| Trails |
| 1.5 miles of trails. Easy hiking. |
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| Facilities |
| A wide range of visitor facilities are located across the street at Rocky Woods. |
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| Literature |
| Printed trail maps are distributed free from bulletin boards in Rocky Woods parking area. Please understand that supplies periodically run out. You may also download trail maps from this web site or mail order trail maps in advance of your visit. |
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| Property Acquisition History |
| Original acreage a gift of Pliny Jewell, Jr. and Mrs. Barrett Williams in 1966 in memory of their parents. Additional land purchased in 1978. Additional land given, by bequest, by Joel A. Goldthwait in 1985. |
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Telephone:
781-784-0567
E-mail:
seregion@ttor.org
When to Visit:
Year-round, daily, sunrise to sunset. Allow a minimum of 1 hour, 3 hours if also visiting Rocky Woods.
Admission Fees & Permits:
Rocky Woods admission fees apply: Trustees members free. Nonmembers: adult $3, child (12 and under) free.
Regulations / Advisories:
Mountain biking permitted only on designated trails May 1 to February 28. Trails are closed March 1 to April 30 during muddy season.
Dogs must be kept on a leash at all times in Rocky Woods parking area.
How to Get There:
From I-95, take exit 16B and follow Route 109 west for 5.7 mi. through Westwood and into Medfield. Take right hairpin turn onto Hartford Street in Medfield. Follow for 0.6 mi. to The Trustees' Rocky Woods Reservation. From intersection of Routes 27 and 109 in Medfield, take Route 109 east. Bear left onto Hartford Street and follow for 0.6 mi. to Rocky Woods parking area (100 cars). The entrance to Fork Factory Brook is on the opposite side of Hartford Street from Rocky Woods.
Road Map:
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