Whitney and Thayer Woods - The Trustees of Reservations

Property Description	824 acres \| Established 1933
Ten miles of trails include the Milliken Memorial Path, planted with flowering shrubs in the late 1920s by Arthur N. Milliken as a memorial to his wife, Mabel Minott Milliken. Several glacial erratics dot the landscape, including a grouping called Ode's Den, named after Theodore "Ode" Pritchard, who lived under one of the boulders after losing his home in 1830. Bigelow Boulder honors the author of the first volume of The Narrative History of Cohasset. The sixty-two-acre Turkey Hill is co-managed with the Towns of Cohasset and Hingham. Its 187-foot summit affords spectacular views. A cinderblock NIKE building is all that remains of an anti-missile radar control station sited here during the Cold War to thwart potential nuclear attack by the Soviet Union. Much of Whitney and Thayer Woods was originally the "Common Lands of the Hingham Planters," referring to the colonists who settled the area beginning around 1634. Around 1904, Henry M. Whitney began purchasing parcels of abandoned farmland to create a private estate. The Whitney Woods Association later acquired much of the estate and donated more than 600 acres to The Trustees of Reservations in 1933. Ten years later, Thayer Woods was also donated, and the Reservation became known as Whitney and Thayer Woods.

Trails
10 miles of trails including the Milliken Memorial path, a "wild garden" which was created in the late 1920s by Mabel Minott Milliken. Moderate hiking.

Tours & Programs
Interpretive tours and programs for families and adults are offered throughout the year. For listings, visit our Events Calendar or contact Interpreter Meg Connolly at mconnolly@ttor.org.

Literature
Printed trail maps are distributed free from bulletin boards in parking areas. 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.

Property Acquisition History
Original acreage a gift, with endowment, of the Whitney Woods Association in 1933. Bancroft Bird Sanctuary given by the Federation of Bird Clubs of New England in 1935. Additional land purchased from 1944 to 1980. Additional land given by Mrs. Hugh Bancroft in 1937; the Charles B. Barnes family in 1941; Mrs. Ezra Thayer in 1943; Joseph Saponaro in 1950; Mrs. Kenneth L. Ketchum in 1965 and 1966; and David D. Ketchum, Adelaide Sproul, Susan Tucker Borecky, and John Tucker in 1984. Summit of Turkey Hill purchased in 1999 and added to the Reservation.